KevinJHa

Fortunately, all the open houses/recruitment weekends I've been invited to are with programs I've already been accepted to, so my visits won't have my possible acceptance looming over them. That being said, I think my approach will be oriented around getting a feel for the culture of the department, university, and city I'll be visiting. I already did extensive research when I applied, so I have familiarity on the academic orientation of the program and key faculty members, anymore would probably just psych me out and distract from other important considerations for me. I personally won't be spending too much time reading every faculty members' work, but I do think it's important that I have a thorough understanding of how my interests relate to those faculty (and grad students) that I will be "interviewing" with. I want these interactions with faculty and grad students to be more conversational and relaxed, that way I can get a better feeling for the ways our personalities interact. The last thing I want is to work with a group of people I fundamentally don't mesh with. I also think I'll find the perspectives and opinions of current grad students (especially those on the job market) to be incredibly useful in making my decisions as they've been through the program and I think they would be a little more honest and reflexive than faculty or newer students. 
Something that I plan on doing, if time allows, is just walking around the campus and the surrounding area by myself to see what kind of vibe I get. Idk why, I just feel it would help me visualize the possibility of me living in that area for the next 4-6 years. In addition, I will be spending a lot of time talking to grad students about the resources available to student on and off campus. My current university provides a variety of different resources that have made my master's program incredibly enjoyable. Things like a writing center, workshop series on professional development, a grad student union, etc. While student placement and rank will play a role in my decision, I want my time working toward that degree to be somewhat enjoyable...or at least not overtly terrible.  
Something I didn't really think about at first is figure out what things make me unique or interesting outside of school. You can only spend so much time talking about academia and research, so I want to make sure I have a few backup topics I can discuss. 
Ultimately, I view these visits as opportunities for each department to sell themselves to me. They're the ones recruiting me, and they have to convince me to spend the next few years of my life with them.
Just my two-cents (:

This is really random, but I've gotten so good at typing "gradcafe" with one hand in my URL bar. It's like typing in my own phone number lol.

This is really random, but I've gotten so good at typing "gradcafe" with one hand in my URL bar. It's like typing in my own phone number lol.

This is really random, but I've gotten so good at typing "gradcafe" with one hand in my URL bar. It's like typing in my own phone number lol.

This is really random, but I've gotten so good at typing "gradcafe" with one hand in my URL bar. It's like typing in my own phone number lol.

This is really random, but I've gotten so good at typing "gradcafe" with one hand in my URL bar. It's like typing in my own phone number lol.

Thanks...As an International student and having received my Masters from a US University, I had a different opinion altogether. At the time of my Masters, I had 4 people doing their PhDs and were more than 37 years of age. All completed their PhDs in their 40s. I think I have more respect for my School now and schools that encourage older people to pursue further education. Top schools, yes maybe they are but in reality, they are no good if they discriminate on the basis of age, nationality or the likes. Like I said before, the system fails.
But I will hope and pray all of us get at least one school. All we need is one admit!

Rejected by Berkeley. Not surprised, but not upset either because I got into Harvard GSE a few hours ago :^) good luck to everyone else!

CUNY just sent me an email and put me on the waitlist. They also invited me to the open house next week, which I will be attending. I have a full-time job and two open houses next week (Boston & NYC) so trying to make this work will be hard. Either way, kind of disappointed but better than a rejection! If any admits know they're not going, please let them know because CUNY is my dream school
 
Congrats on all the acceptances guys and keep your head up. Regardless of what happens we'll all emerge from this hell stronger, and we'll be exactly where were supposed to be. Much love

CUNY just sent me an email and put me on the waitlist. They also invited me to the open house next week, which I will be attending. I have a full-time job and two open houses next week (Boston & NYC) so trying to make this work will be hard. Either way, kind of disappointed but better than a rejection! If any admits know they're not going, please let them know because CUNY is my dream school
 
Congrats on all the acceptances guys and keep your head up. Regardless of what happens we'll all emerge from this hell stronger, and we'll be exactly where were supposed to be. Much love

I also want to echo a lot of what has been said about rejections from grad programs and self-worth. A lot of times admission depends on the ability to send the right signals to the adcomm and not much else. Not getting in therefore doesn't mean that you're lacking in analytical ability. I am rooting for all of you to enter into great programs that you're happy with. If anyone is reapplying next year and want to chat, feel free to send me a pm either now or closer to the beginning of the next cycle. I'll be happy to read over things or just chat.

I agree, it’s really difficult to get through this part, but I would suggest flipping your thinking about it. If I haven’t been rejected from a program, I assume it’s because I’m still in the running. Who knows if it’s literally true, but there’s a decent chance it is, and that helps me to be more patient with the process.

Keep in mind guys that a lot of schools wait to hand out some acceptances towards March! They do this in case there aren't enough confirmations and people don't come. It ain't over till its over!

I just wanted to shoot everybody some love on here. PLEASE remember how arbitrary these decisions are; I almost didn't apply because frankly it all seems elitist to me. At the end of the day, we are all so much more than what we are on paper--and applications are limited amounts of paper anyway! I hope everybody here gets into ONE awesome program, or gets ONE awesome dream job--just don't give up hope and remember that this stuff is not indicative of your worth. 

Me... At the moment. 

Keep in mind guys that a lot of schools wait to hand out some acceptances towards March! They do this in case there aren't enough confirmations and people don't come. It ain't over till its over!

Keep in mind guys that a lot of schools wait to hand out some acceptances towards March! They do this in case there aren't enough confirmations and people don't come. It ain't over till its over!

Keep in mind guys that a lot of schools wait to hand out some acceptances towards March! They do this in case there aren't enough confirmations and people don't come. It ain't over till its over!

I probably should have PMd mine as well instead of posting it lmao.

I'd totally be down for that, weekend would be best! My skype is live:kevinjunha.
Oh man come on guys its the first day of February don't resign yourselves yet!!!!

"It can't be... It can't." he stuttered. He scurried away from his bed and ran straight into the other room.

Google news was alerting Dave, and presumably every other human on the eastern seaboard, that a spaceship the size of Manhattan had landed in the Atlantic ocean, just off the shore of Cape Cod. 
Upon reaching the other room, he screamed incredulously to his roommate Sylvia, "have you seen this?!" 
 

Hey! Honestly I think calling is more of a self-soothing gesture haha. And I wouldnt worry about coming off too desperate Im sure they get a million calls a day from applicants.

I'd totally be down for that, weekend would be best! My skype is live:kevinjunha.
Oh man come on guys its the first day of February don't resign yourselves yet!!!!

Just hoping for ONE god damn acceptance! I've worked my ass off  since graduating from undergrad and for once, I just want things to look bright and not so hopeless.