Grad. Program Visits

[coffeepls]

Hi everyone. I'm visiting my top-choice MA program next week. I was already accepted (wooooo!!), so it's not really an interview. This is a ridiculously broad question, but does anyone have any advice regarding what I should expect, and what to pack? Figured it might be worth it to check here for some more general advice  

Best of luck as we head into the final weeks of the admissions process! 

[shifgrethor]

Having been an MA student last year while visits were happening, a couple of tips/suggestions:

- Pack light, bring some business-casual clothes as you may get taken out to a nice-ish dinner by the department. 

- Ask questions in talks, if you're into that sorta thing (I'm assuming there will be a couple of philosophy talks during the visiting days, this is pretty standard). Profs especially will remember you better if they see you speak up and engage philosophically.

- Ask other graduate students, especially MA students, what the quality of life is like. If there is a faculty member you'd like to work with, ask other grad students about them (are they nice? Do they pick favorites? What is the best way to approach them?). Ask grad students what kind of rent you should expect to pay and what public transportation is like in the city, if you do not live there. Grad students are your number 1 resource for getting a good picture of what life will be like come September (faculty will be helpful, but they are typically in a different income bracket and stage of life so it will not be such useful info from them).

- If you can lead off a conversation with something other than 'what is your AOS', people will be much happier for it. Ask people what their hobbies are, what music they like, etc. It gets pretty boring and repetitive to have to keep identifying yourself by your AOS (especially when you're just going into an MA - your AOS could end up being wildly different than what it was in undergrad, no use pigeonholing yourself!)

Hope this helps, and congrats on getting into your top choice!

 

[thehegeldialectic]

How necessary do you guys think it is to visit?

I have two first-round offers on the table, but since I'll have to be traveling down to hunt for houses and for my wife to interview for jobs, this might become somewhat expensive. What are the advantages and disadvantages of visiting? 

[sidebysondheim]

41 minutes ago, shifgrethor said:

- If you can lead off a conversation with something other than 'what is your AOS', people will be much happier for it.

 

It has become my regular practice to make up something different for each person who asks me this question. 

 

8 minutes ago, iunoionnis said:

How necessary do you guys think it is to visit?

I have two first-round offers on the table, but since I'll have to be traveling down to hunt for houses and for my wife to interview for jobs, this might become somewhat expensive. What are the advantages and disadvantages of visiting? 

I think it's a very good idea to visit. Particularly if you're doing a PhD, these people are going to be your primary (or only) friends for the next 5-7 years. Getting a good idea of what it's like to hang out with them is important. Unless you have antisocial personality disorder, I guess. 

[maxhgns]

1 hour ago, iunoionnis said:

How necessary do you guys think it is to visit?

I have two first-round offers on the table, but since I'll have to be traveling down to hunt for houses and for my wife to interview for jobs, this might become somewhat expensive. What are the advantages and disadvantages of visiting? 

It's not necessary, although it's nice to do so and get some first-hand experience of the department and other students. If you don't visit, then I highly recommend emailing several current students and, if they're willing, asking them lots of questions.

 

FWIW I didn't visit (wasn't invited!), and it was fine. But I wished I had been invited. Especially in the first couple years, when impostor syndrome made it feel like everyone else had their own special club to which I didn't belong because I was a non-visiting waitlister. (I was wrong about that, btw. Nobody even knew I hadn't visited or was a lowly waitlister.)

[thehegeldialectic]

13 minutes ago, maxhgns said:

impostor syndrome 

This any different during the Ph.D. as opposed to the MA?

[maxhgns]

7 minutes ago, iunoionnis said:

This any different during the Ph.D. as opposed to the MA?

I think it's more acute and long-lasting in the PhD, since it's such a long process and by the end of it you're supposed to be a world expert.

The MA, by contrast, is a lot shorter and less self-directed, so you opportunities to feel like an impostor are more limited. I did feel it pretty acutely during the coursework phase, however, because I was totally blindsided and overwhelmed by what contemporary philosophy is like. I felt like I was constantly catching up (especially in classes with the PhD students) and that nobody else was. (I was wrong about that, though.)

[syn]

I've been invited to attend a prospectives' weekend for a waitlisted program, and I'm wondering if this will end up a de facto interview.  That can be good and bad, of course.  It could either set me apart positively or negatively from other waitlisters who were or were not invited.  Any thoughts from those with experience?

[Swann]

4 hours ago, syn said:

I've been invited to attend a prospectives' weekend for a waitlisted program, and I'm wondering if this will end up a de facto interview.  That can be good and bad, of course.  It could either set me apart positively or negatively from other waitlisters who were or were not invited.  Any thoughts from those with experience?

i think you're right that visits for those on waitlists is more like an interview. last year i was at a department visit as a waitlisted applicant, and at the end of the visit i was told that the department really liked me, enjoyed talking with me, and that over the course of the visit i had been moved to the top of the waitlist. ultimately no space was made available, but i was strongly encouraged to reapply (i did, and i was admitted this year). for me, visiting as a waitlisted student was hard because the applicants who had been admitted could be a bit more casual and enjoy themselves more during the  visit, while i felt that i had to be more alert and find non-clumsy ways to express my serious interest in joining the department. don't get me wrong, the visits are fun! but they are also somewhat exhausting if you are waitlisted at them (i went to 4 back-to-back in the course of two weeks as a waitlister last year)

[Swann]

also, here is a a list of potential questions to ask at visits. i remembered that someone posted it to the forum last year and thought i'd copy/paste it in case someones find it helpful...

Topics to ask grad schools:
(1) What is the climate for women/minorities like?
(2) Teacher accessibility
(3) Opportunities to teach (TA vs. teaching)
(4) Are grad students happy?
(5) Placement / prep for job market?
(6) Guaranteed 6th year of funding?
(7) How long does it take people to complete program?
(8) Teaching workload (how many students; grading help if a lot)
(9) Summer opportunities
(10) Transition from coursework to dissertation
(11) Opportunities to do Phil outside classroom
(12) Course selection

Questions to ask professors:
1. Are there opportunities to teach or only TA?
2. How does [school] prepare students for the job market?
3. What is financial support like beyond the fifth year?
4. How long does it take people to complete the program?
5. What is the teaching workload like? (How many students? Is there grading help (if a lot)? / How onerous is the teaching + grading load?)
6. What summer opportunities are available to students? What do students typically do over the summer?
7. How does [school] handle the transition from coursework to dissertation?
8. What opportunities are there to do philosophy outside f the classroom on campus? (E.g. reading groups, talks, philosophy society, school-sponsored philosophy conference, etc.)
9. How is the collection of the department library? How often is it updated?
10. Do all grad students /TAs get office space?
11. Links of the dept with professors in linguistics and other areas of cognitive science?
12. What do people typically do in winter and summer vacations?
13. People retiring in the next 2-3 years? New hirings planned in the next 1-2 years?
14. How many students is [professor] planning to take in the next few years?
15. Proto seminar- what is it like and what will it look like this fall semester?
16. Support for publishing in the initial years at _______ university?
17. Department fellowships which one can apply for later which can give time off teaching?
18. Your (professor's) current research interests and upcoming projects?
19. How often do the professors meet with students especially during the coursework stage?
20. Do professors come to reading groups and other department activity apart from colloquia?
21. What is the level of support available from the Department to attend conferences, workshops and seminars? How far does the stipend go in that area?
22. Is the funding 9 month or 12 month? What are the avenues for summer funding?

Questions to ask grad students:
1. How often do you meet with professors?
2. How often do you talk about philosophy with professors when you're not in meetings/classes? (To develop as a philosopher, it is very important to develop your in-person philosophy skills--thinking on your feet, asking good questions, responding to objections, etc.)
3. Do professors come to reading groups? (Or any departmental events that aren't colloquia?)
4. Do grad students ask questions at colloquia?
5. Do you feel comfortable talking in group settings? Have you felt comfortable talking in group settings since you first came? If not, when did you start feeling comfortable?
6. Do grad students share their work with one another/give feedback with one another?
7. How often are people around the department?
8. What do you like most about being here?
9. What do you like least about being here?
10. Do older grad students spend time around the department?
11. What kind of guidance do you get from your professors/advisor? (very important- you want faculty who really read your stuff carefully and make your papers better. if the faculty are mia or not very careful when they read your papers, you may not get this.)
12. Does the culture feel combative or one-up-y? Do you feel like you have to be "on" when you're in a philosophical setting?
13. Are the students here happy?
14. What are faculty and student working on in [area]? What is doing [area, e.g. metaphysics] like here?

Questions about climate:
1. Is there a MAP chapter? (You can usually find this out yourself)
1. If so, contact MAP coordinator
2. What is the climate like at [school]?
3. What has [school] done for women and minorities in philosophy?
4. What percentage of grad students are women?
5. Sexual harassment issues? [prob best to ask a grad student discretely]

[poppypascal]

I've been invited to do a visit at a school whose offer I've already accepted. I'm living in Europe at the moment and the combination of distance, flight costs, moderate fear of flying, the fact I've already accepted, and work, make me reticent to make the two or three day trip across the Atlantic. Do you think they'll understand if I say I can't make it but that I'm looking forward to meeting them at the start of the year?

[thehegeldialectic]

1 hour ago, poppypascal said:

I've been invited to do a visit at a school whose offer I've already accepted. I'm living in Europe at the moment and the combination of distance, flight costs, moderate fear of flying, the fact I've already accepted, and work, make me reticent to make the two or three day trip across the Atlantic. Do you think they'll understand if I say I can't make it but that I'm looking forward to meeting them at the start of the year?

Absolutely. They know that international students are less likely to be able to visit.