MathCat

I changed my major 3 times, but all are somewhat related, and I actually think my background in the other two areas helped my application. I knew I wanted to go to grad school from the beginning. It did make it take an extra year to finish, but that doesn't seem to have hurt me.

Definitely helpful. How could I edit it to make it include other possible url endings? Not all universities use .edu.

Dress code probably depends on field. Some people have mentioned that suits are the norm even on admitted student visit days (rather than interviews), which seems odd to me. In math, it's very casual, and every visit I've been on most people have been in jeans with somewhat nice shirts (usually not a T-shirt, something like a nice blouse or sweater for women and a button down or nice sweater for men). On each, there has been at least one person in dress pants and it's obviously been too much. But it might be too casual not to in other fields. How do the faculty dress in your area? In math, it's usually jeans and T shirts.

It's generally advised to get 3 letters from professors. You definitely do not want 3 from colleagues, and you definitely do need 3 in total. They want to hear about your research capabilities and your ability to succeed in a graduate program. This is something professors can comment on much better than anyone else. If you don't know any professors well, you should ask somebody whose class you did well in. There's lots of advice on this forum about how to approach professors (including what information to include so that they will remember you and your work).

As long as you turn it down after visiting, it won't be a big deal. This is a recruitment time for them, they do not expect everyone who comes to the open house to enroll. If they pay for your ticket and hotel and then you say "nevermind, I'm not coming (to the open house)", that's another story.

I'd definitely email them to be sure, but it sounds promising.

That's an unofficial acceptance (probably still has to go through the grad school). Congrats!

I think this is probably my top concern, since there is no clear academic quality difference between the schools I'm considering. I'm moving somewhere where I will know literally nobody. If I can't have a reasonably good social experience in the program, I might end up very isolated - a recipe for disaster in a graduate program (for most). Somebody more outgoing than me might not need as much within the department, if they can make friends easily elsewhere.

It doesn't really matter how you think they might look at it. They almost always specifically state to submit transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended. If you leave one out, you could be kicked out later if they discovered it.

Yeah, I don't really know how to handle that. I don't think it would be out of line to make a point of getting to know the other professors a bit better without letting on that you're shopping for a new advisor.

As long as it's not well before any date they might list on the website about when they should make decisions, I think it's fine.

Personal fit with your advisor (and lab, if applicable) is very important - I actually think it may be the thing of most importance. It sounds like you really don't have it (understatement!), which is a valid reason to get out of that environment! It's just that phrasing it as a research interest thing might be easier to explain. Is there somebody in the department you trust that you can talk about this with? Do you have any potential new advisors in mind?

I had a similar situation - I was accepted in December, and didn't hear from anyone else for about 7 weeks. I also romanticized going to that school, was looking at apartments, transit, etc.. I had convinced myself I'd probably take this offer over most of the other schools. I then visited and liked it. I have also since pretty much decided not to attend. I got offers from other schools and thought about it carefully, and realized it is probably not the best choice after all. It does make me a bit sad as I had gotten attached to the idea. Definitely don't jump too soon.

When does the program start? July doesn't seem that late for a program starting September - October.

I disagree with this. I think the biggest issue is the negative environment, which seems to be caused by your advisor. I don't think that can be easily fixed except by finding a new group.

I think you should contact students and professors at both programs to discuss the differences. Personal fit is really important too!

I don't know how to go about doing it, but definitely get out of that environment. It does not sound at all healthy.

Sometimes funding offers come separately from acceptance notifications. It was this way for most of mine. Either wait for a bit, or contact the department to ask.

Do try to ask as many questions of current students as you can. Also, if you would be admitted to work with a specific professor, try to gauge how well the two of you would get on. That's more important than research topic, in my opinion.

I think funding should be a minimum requirement check box. If it's liveable, that's good enough. The money is the most fleeting part of this entire thing. Program(s?) 3/4 looks like it ticks all the boxes to me. I don't think you should pick a much lower ranked school (e.g. program 1) just because it's a slightly better interest fit. Your research interests will likely change throughout your program. What really matters is learning the material, skills, background, etc. that lets you conduct the research you want later on (assuming that is your career goal). You are not tied to forever doing the type of thing you do in your PhD. I do think you should consider personal fit as well. Have you visited these departments? Is that an option?

I think it's probably a good sign, as you said. If they don't want you anyway, why would they care? Good luck.

I wouldn't read too much into it. It could be that only admin people have looked at it so far. If it is in the hands of the committee already, I would take it as a good sign, but don't assume you're in yet,

I agree. Take the interview, see what this is about. If it is because she is interested in working with you, you should learn more about her current research. There's probably a reason she thinks you would be a good fit. One program I was accepted to assigned me a supervisor whose research interests were apparently exactly in an area I said I was no longer interested in. I was ready to decline their offer, but once I talked to the prof about it, I realized there was a lot of overlap with things I am interested in, and also that the webpage was not really accurate about their current research!

If you haven't already got your bachelors, I think all your offers will be conditional on that.

I heard that I was accepted before anything was available on the application portals. Don't click accept to anything there yet, as it might mean accepting the offer! Be patient, or email the department to inquire.