Prospective visit cancellations

[akraticfanatic]

Thought it might be useful to have a list of the schools that have cancelled prospective student visit events due to the COVID-19 threat. The ones I know of from the fb group are Harvard, Rutgers, and UNC. It also looks likely that the NYC schools will announce cancellations soon (NYU, Columbia, CUNY, not sure about Cornell). 

So far it looks like business as usual at UMass and IU (the latter has their visit event this weekend). 

Please post here if you have more info about this! 

[Coconuts&Chloroform]

In my view, if a handful of programs are cancelling their visits, then probably many more will, and probably all should. I think I will be cancelling my visits in the coming days.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Coconuts&Chloroform

[akraticfanatic]

It was just reported in the group that BU cancelled as well. 

[platonetsocrate]

8 hours ago, akraticfanatic said:

It was just reported in the group that BU cancelled as well. 

Are you referring to the post that asked, "since it looks like it may not be super easy to connect with grad students due to visit cancellations, would anyone from Georgetown, CUNY, or BU...?"

I don’t think they were necessarily saying that those programs all cancelled their visits. As far as I know, BU hasn’t officially cancelled. 

[akraticfanatic]

11 hours ago, platonetsocrate said:

Are you referring to the post that asked, "since it looks like it may not be super easy to connect with grad students due to visit cancellations, would anyone from Georgetown, CUNY, or BU...?"

I don’t think they were necessarily saying that those programs all cancelled their visits. As far as I know, BU hasn’t officially cancelled. 

No, I'm referring to the comment that stated, "BU canceled their visit."

[platonetsocrate]

37 minutes ago, akraticfanatic said:

No, I'm referring to the comment that stated, "BU canceled their visit."

Oh ok, sorry, I didn’t see that comment when I was looking. Just confused me since I heard from the visit organizers yesterday with a seminar schedule and instructions for making travel arrangements. Guess I’ll hold off on booking things for just a few more days and see. 

[akraticfanatic]

22 minutes ago, platonetsocrate said:

Oh ok, sorry, I didn’t see that comment when I was looking. Just confused me since I heard from the visit organizers yesterday with a seminar schedule and instructions for making travel arrangements. Guess I’ll hold off on booking things for just a few more days and see. 

That is confusing! Everything is such a mess right now. I would definitely email them ASAP to see what's up. 

[Starie]

MIT cancelled the Grad Open House for Aero Astro. They are attempting to make parts of it "Virtual".

[Marcus_Aurelius]

Yale canceled its visit. (If you've been admitted or waitlisted, feel free to message me to chat.)

[Coconuts&Chloroform]

At this point I'm pretty sure that I'll be cancelling all of my visits. It may be a bit tricky, since WUSTL already bought me tickets, but it's the prudent thing to do.

[ShadyCarnot]

2 hours ago, Coconuts&Chloroform said:

At this point I'm pretty sure that I'll be cancelling all of my visits. It may be a bit tricky, since WUSTL already bought me tickets, but it's the prudent thing to do.

that's a tough call. this might be more appropriate for the 'Decisions 2020' thread, but what factors will you prioritizing for your decision making without being able to consider department visits?

[HootyHoo]

I know some places are planning on doing remote visits, whatever that means. If they're offering, I'll probably take them up on it. I'm also in the situation where a department's already paid my airfare, made plans for where I'm staying, etc. so I'm going to reach out to them tomorrow morning and ask what they're thinking as far as visits go. Luckily, that visit's in a city with no reported cases so far, but I do worry about the airports + public transit involved with getting there and back...

[akraticfanatic]

It was reported in the group that Princeton cancelled their visit.

Given what's happening in California, I expect Stanford and the UCs will cancel if they haven't already. 

[ShadyCarnot]

2 hours ago, akraticfanatic said:

It was reported in the group that Princeton cancelled their visit.

Given what's happening in California, I expect Stanford and the UCs will cancel if they haven't already. 

I emailed Stanford, while they have not yet officially cancelled the prospective visit, they did recommend NOT travelling to Stanford "at this time".

[Losebeforeapply]

I emailed MIT. They have not yet officially cancelled the prospective visit, but they said that there is a good chance.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Losebeforeapply

[akraticfanatic]

Confirmed that Columbia has cancelled. 

[cm1237]

Super disappointing! I am in another field, but my current top choice program just cancelled their visiting days as well. I was especially hoping to get a sense of the location and the community. Does anyone have advice about how this development might change the sorts of questions you're asking, or what you're looking out for in conversations with POI and students or in digital presentations? 

[platonetsocrate]

23 hours ago, deep_field said:

that's a tough call. this might be more appropriate for the 'Decisions 2020' thread, but what factors will you prioritizing for your decision making without being able to consider department visits?

 

1 hour ago, mcc1237 said:

Super disappointing! I am in another field, but my current top choice program just cancelled their visiting days as well. I was especially hoping to get a sense of the location and the community. Does anyone have advice about how this development might change the sorts of questions you're asking, or what you're looking out for in conversations with POI and students or in digital presentations? 

This won't apply to everyone, but here's my plan. I'm going to aim to talk to a newer grad student, an ABD grad student, and the faculty I'm interested in working with, over the phone or video call if possible. I want to ask them all versions of the same questions. If the answers differ significantly, I will do more digging (e.g., if the two grad students give opposing answers about is the stipend livable, are faculty encouraging, etc.). Here are the questions (off the top of my head) that I think I'll ask:

1- do grad students publish/are there publishing workshops/are faculty encouraging and helpful when grad students want to publish

2- conference travel funding?

3- funding/opportunities for language study?

4- funding/opportunities for study abroad?

5- is the stipend livable/are there additional grants

6- teaching opportunities? (intro, logic, in AOS, in AOCs, self-designed classes, upper-division classes?

7- fellowship years?

8- is there a MAP chapter/what's the climate like for minorities/is the MAP chapter active

9- environment among grad students competitive, supportive, isolating, etc?

10- summer funding?

11- options for interdisciplinary work (courses, etc)?

12- placement? what types of positions? how soon after graduating? placement in my AOS vs overall?

That'll be in addition to reading the websites carefully, reading articles by my prospective advisors, looking at their CVs, and having long conversations with my mentors and professors I have now. Hopefully it'll be enough. This is a stressful enough decision already!

Edited to add: I also wrote out a list of my goals (aimed at the job market) for while I'm in grad school (e.g., go to X number of conferences, publish Y articles, develop competence in Z language). I plan to share it with my potential advisors and ask their opinions, that way I'll feel out their advising style and hopefully also get some valuable advice while I'm at it.

Edited March 9, 2020 by platonetsocrate

[akraticfanatic]

46 minutes ago, platonetsocrate said:

5- is the stipend livable/are there additional grants

6- teaching opportunities? (intro, logic, in AOS, in AOCs, self-designed classes, upper-division classes?

also good to ask about whether grad students are unionized and if so what benefits that gives you (e.g. dental insurance, childcare options, etc.)

[Glasperlenspieler]

Another good question for grad students: What do you do in your spare time?

While it be nice to know what extracurricular activities are available in the are, the real importance of this question is in seeing how they react to being asked about their spare time. That will tell you a lot about quality of life as a grad student in the department.

Also good to ask questions that get at departmental politics, especially if you can do this not in writing. Who do you have on your committee and why? Who would you not put on a committee together? What are the factions/fault-lines in the department?

[Coconuts&Chloroform]

I've cancelled all my visits. Even if some programs do not cancel, it simply isn't worth the risk to attend. I'll be doing a lot of emailing in the next few weeks to try and get as much information as I can, in lieu of a visit, before making a decision.

[HopOnMyCrates]

CUNY has cancelled its prospectives' day. No further info about online alternatives yet, but they will work something out. Admitted/waitlisted applicants will receive an official email about this soon, I reckon.

[akraticfanatic]

16 hours ago, Glasperlenspieler said:

Another good question for grad students: What do you do in your spare time?

in my what?

[akraticfanatic]

Confirmed that MIT and Michigan have cancelled. 

[Quaaliaa]

UMD has cancelled their visit.