Open house cancelled due to COVID-19

[iamblinguist]

Hi Everyone,

 

My last open house visit got cancelled as more places take precautionary measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus. I was really counting on this visit to help me make a decision between this program and one other, and now unfortunately that won't be possible. Does anyone have any advice about how to make a decision without actually seeing the department and getting a sense of the vibe there? Information about the program and city is easy enough to come by, but it doesn't really tell you what life is like there as a student IMO. 

 Has anyone had to make a "blind" decision and can share their experience? Anyone else in the same boat with open house cancellations? 

Probably not relevant, but I'm in linguistics (PhD programs). 

[LazarusRises]

This is going to be a problem for a lot of incoming graduates this year. My recommendation is to reach out to the programs and ask for the contact information of current students. Talking to folks in the programs you're considering should give you some insight into how good of a fit they'll be. 

Also, it's not nearly as good as seeing campus in person, but many universities have virtual tours on their websites. Worth a shot. 

[LadyWolfshadow]

I'm in the same boat, just different department.  Two PhD acceptances to BioSci programs, both visits were supposed to be this week and got cancelled.  Going to have to make the decision basically blind as well.  I'm trying to reach out via whatever channels I have to see if I can find current/past students and even community members to talk to.  I've called and talked to one program coordinator for a while on the phone, am going to reach out to the other one.  I'm still trying to find other ways to get the information I need to make this kind of major life decision with at least SOMETHING to go off of.  It's about the best I can do since this isn't likely going to get better before Decision Day and the Council of Graduate Schools thinks the April 15th deadline needs to stand.

[iamblinguist]

Thanks guys! I've also been reaching out to grad students and faculty, hopefully that will be enough to go off of. Hope we all end up in the programs that are best for us!