Difference between "recruiting" and "interview" weekends...?

[isobel_a]

Is there a difference between a recruiting weekend and an interview weekend?

I just got an invitation for Berkeley's "Interview Weekend". From what I can tell, it sounds similar to the "Recruiting Weekend" I already have scheduled.

If there is a difference, it would be nice to know now so I can plan accordingly... any tips?

[fuzzylogician]

The name doesn't matter. The only question is whether these visits are pre-acceptance or post-acceptance. If you (and a select small group of others) are invited to visit the school as a finalist but before decisions are made, you might want to behave differently than if you've already been admitted. Presumably there would be more meetings with faculty and less with students, though I've actually never been to one so I'm not sure. If it's post-acceptance, there is emphasis on also showing you other aspects of the program and the city beside its academics. In both cases, however, these visits are mutual interviews on both sides - you want to convince the department that you would fit there as a student and they want to convince you to choose their school, if admitted.

[isobel_a]

Would you suggest reading a lot of papers by faculty before going, or is that excessive?

[fuzzylogician]

I'd say that's unnecessary. You should know what your potential advisors are up to -- that is, what kind of research they are *currently* involved in and what their interests *generally* are -- but you don't need to read whole papers for that. It's enough that you show an understanding of their research and ask smart questions about what they are doing, no one will expect you to read all their papers (or, if someone expects that for one short interview, I would not want to have that person as my advisor).

[ktel]

I went to a pre-acceptance weekend, and while there were interviews, it was much more like a recruiting process. They only invited 10 applicants and they made it pretty obvious that they wanted us a little bit more than we had to show we wanted them. You will be able to tell almost immediately.

[isobel_a]

That's what I figured, ktel.

But keep the tips coming, people... it's easing my mind.

[runonsentence]

Recruitment (or whatever kind of visit, post-acceptance) is kind of fun, because it's all about wooing you. At our program we actually do their best to have potential students spend as much time with current students (rather than faculty), which I think helps take the pressure off. And most of the weekend is rather social, in nature. We certainly talk to potential students about their research and interests, but it happens over lunch, or at the department-wide party on Saturday night over drinks—it's very different from a pre-acceptance interview situation.

Edited December 21, 2011 by runonsentence