hilbertmonkey

The most important thing is making sure you can move, interact, and tour labs without it being an issue. If the skirt poofs out too much it will be a problem in cleanrooms and biology labs, which is an issue. If it's appropriate for the labs you will be touring and you have closed toe footwear that couples with it, it will be fine. Source: http://www.howtogetintograduateschool.com/interviews/what-to-wear-to-a-graduate-admissions-interview/

I'm copying/pasting from the website below. First, contact each program and see if they offer alternate interview weekends. An alternate weekend will be less glamorous (no formal dinners, less applicants, etc) but it will still give you an opportunity to meet with faculty and wow your interviewers. In the event of an unavoidable conflict, many programs will accommodate you on this. You might end up having to pay for more of your expenses (programs usually buy out hotel floors for specific weekends at discounted rates, so you may end up paying for your own), but it’s a small price to see a school you could be attending for 5+ years. If they don’t offer an alternate weekend, ask if they allow Facetime / Skype interviews. This is less ideal, because you’ll miss out on seeing the campus and getting to meet with people face to face–but if it’s your only option it’s better than nothing. In this case you also have the opportunity to make yourself more memorable to faculty. Instead of being one of the crowd throughout a long day of meet and greets, you’ll be a separate memory in their minds. Take advantage of this. Many graduate programs offer shared weekend options for applicants. Say for example you got an interview to both MIT and Harvard for the same weekend. These programs are willing to split your cost of travel to Boston between them. What this means for you, is that you might be able to talk the schools into sharing the cost of your travel so that you can split that weekend up among the two programs. This option works well for a lot east coast schools. For example, you could spend all day Saturday at a school in Philadelphia, then leave that evening and travel to Pittsburgh for a day of interviews on Sunday. You miss a little of each weekend, but you get the opportunity to meet with faculty, see the campus, and meet other applicants. In the crazy event that both programs are unwilling to offer an alternate/shared weekend or remote interview, you’ll have to decide which you’d like to attend. This is a brutal decision, and you should be as objective as possible. Interview weekends can be a lot of fun. Attending them will almost certainly increase your affinity for that program. Keep that in mind so that you don’t let yourself miss an opportunity. Missing an interview on the other hand doesn’t bode well for your application either. You can still be admitted, but you have the deck stacked against you. If you’re still serious about the program, make sure you contact faculty right away to reiterate your interest and apologize for your scheduling conflict. Lastly, if you decide not to attend an interview weekend because of an interview conflict, DO NOT tell faculty that’s the reason for your absence. Yes, we’re telling you to lie. Well, “lie” is more appropriate. Don’t volunteer more information than you need to. A “personal scheduling conflict” is more than enough information for faculty emails. You’re essentially choosing another school over them, and while that is a completely justified choice for you to make, you could still end up getting the brush off from a few professors. Write the professors you’re interested in working with and let them know that you’re still very serious about their work and the program but won’t be able to attend. If at all possible, try to ask them some specific detailed questions about their work and keep an email exchange going. Anything you can do to engage with them will help mitigate your absence. If you feel comfortable, ask individual professors if they have time to speak with you for 10-15 minutes on the phone. Piquing the interest of even one professor could be enough to push you into the acceptance pile even if you can’t attend the interview. http://www.howtogetintograduateschool.com/interviews/grad-school-interview-conflicts/

Use the "Blind Review" method that a lot of people tout for the LSAT and MCATs; this was the only way I could make a consistent dent in my score. Gave up studying around the 164 mark for v and q, which was enough to get me into my top choice. Learning *how* to study the material is probably the best thing you can do. If you feel like you aren't making progress, you're likely not studying correctly, or at least this is what I discovered with regards to my own study habits. I'd try everything you can on your own before paying a tutor, but I second the recommendation for Magoosh. Manhattan Prep also lets you sit in on a class for free to see if you like it, and you can learn a decent amount from that class alone. If you're on the fence about paying so much money I'd suggest trying it out first.

Hey all! I saw a few other people wondering about people who were planning on accepting their Harvard SEAS PhD offers, so I thought I'd start this thread (didn't see one previously listed, if I missed it please let me know). I will be accepting an offer for Applied Mathematics, but because SEAS is so interdisciplinary I thought it would be nice to do a general Meet and Greet for all the incoming SEAS students. I will be attending the Open House on March 25th, but have already decided to accept it given that it was my top choice program (I spent the last 6 months doing research at Harvard so I already know plenty about it, the program, researchers, etc). Please feel free to exchange information or contact details. I'd be fine with exchanging FB information via messaging so we can bother each other with obsessive questions prior to August and maybe alleviate a little tension by getting to know a few people beforehand. I'm not sure how much time we'll have to really discuss much during the visit. Of course this is entirely optional. Congratulations! Looking forward to the next few years working alongside everyone.

I spent the last month freaking out. After my first interview weekend I got the idea of it. Ironically I found this site after the fact, which I think is pretty spot on. Good luck in Madison--I'd err on the side of less formal if I were you. Jacket with jeans is always appropriate! http://www.howtogetintograduateschool.com/what-to-wear-to-a-graduate-school-interview/