Should I still meet with an advisor, if I'm not going to that school?

[nateakadino]

So I scheduled a meeting a while ago with an adviser of a school, lets say U of ABC., but now I have chosen another school. I scheduled the meeting and the trip before I knew what school I was going to be accepted at. I am still going on the trip, because it's located in a cool city and I'd still like to see the campus. Now that my future school is set I'm not sure if I should even bother going to the meeting, because the school is no longer on my radar. However, I feel the opportunity to talk to them about graduate school might prove worthwhile. Maybe there is some good advice they have to offer, maybe not. Does anybody have two cents to offer?

[Gunner24]

My two cents: If you don't tell them ahead of time that you have already chosen another school, then you are probably wasting both his/her time and yours. However, if you are honest and say you picked another school, but would still like to meet with them, and they agree, then you're probably fine.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[runonsentence]

My two cents: If you don't tell them ahead of time that you have already chosen another school, then you are probably wasting both his/her time and yours. However, if you are honest and say you picked another school, but would still like to meet with them, and they agree, then you're probably fine.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Agreed. The prof probably originally agreed to the meeting in order to tell you about the program and/or try to recruit you for it, if your meeting went well. Definitely email to explain that you've accepted an offer elsewhere (but would still like to meet).

[nateakadino]

Awesome, Thanks guys.

[lewin]

I'm currently a graduate student. This month we're hosting four potential students. For each visit, we graduate students plan a schedule, organize meetings, suppers, and tours, and host the visitor overnight in our own houses/aparrtments. This a lot of time and work, and the department's money. But it's worthwhile because new students make the program better, and in a karmic sense I "owe" because people were nice enough to host me on my visits.

I would be quite pissed off if I found out I had spent a few days hosting somebody who had already accepted elsewhere. It's just too much time and money to indulge someone's curiousity if they don't intend to come here (no offence intended).

So I agree with the above posters. You HAVE to tell them. If you don't and they find out, it would be very bad for your reputation (and unethical).

[thesnout]

Tell the advisor in advance that you have accepted an offer to attend another school. I agree with what everyone else has said.

There are a lof of urban planners out there but it is still a small community. Wasting the adviors time is kinda shady in my opinion. You don't want to get a bad rep out there.

Are you considering a PhD or other specialization at U of ABC in the future? If you are, then I would encourage you to go and talk with the advisor. But only go after you have told them your intentions. Remember that there are other people who have actually accepted the offer to U of ABC who would need to talk this professor/advisor.

Good luck.