invite Open House AFTER the deadline

[WalterBenjamin]

Hello, my fellow applicants,

Will you please help a lady freak out?

So my program of choice sent out an invite to come to an Open House to meet the professors, ask questions, eat, and hang out. They are inviting both their MA and PhD applicants. The invite is for mid-February, the deadline was mid-January.

To me, it sounds like they are saying: "You poor shmucks, we've got way too many apps this year. Come and make an impression on us. That's your only chance to be remembered for when we sit down to make decisions." They even suggest Skype talks with faculty members if you can't attend. The invite is for the entire day.

What is that??

Should I treat it like an interview?

What should I wear? (do I need to show that I am making an effort? As in dress up a bit?)

Should I bring copies of my writing sample/CV just in case there will be an opportunity to stick them into the undicisive hands of potential committee members?

I want to make the most of it.

[aberrant]

Not sure if that applies to your field, but for natural science programs, interview is one of the programs within an invitation to a school campus (or open house in your case).

There are plenty of threads around this forum about interviews and so forth. You can either use the search engine to look it up, or just take a rough reference through this link (for biology-related programs):

You may bring copies of your writing sample/CV if you did not submit it with your application, but I would e-mail the program director to see if it is necessary.

ps. I guess you may want to e-mail the program director for all your questions, considered that you are applying grad school in Canada, which may be different than that from the U.S.

Edited February 4, 2012 by aberrant

[WalterBenjamin]

I see.

My question is do they really plan to interview people during an open house with ALL the applicants?

[aberrant]

from my lurking experience and personal understanding, schools rarely interview all the applicants.

For example, assuming a program receives 400 applications, and they will only take 30 students:

1. they eliminate possibly 250-350 applicants based on their GPA, GRE scores (if applicable), research experience, the statements, and the letter of recommendation.

2. then the school will invite, for example, 50-150 students for the interview. that is the time when the adcom to evaluate if the interviewees fit the program. applicants get to visit the campus and see if they like the faculty members/campus / people / city / etc. some schools would break down this 50-150 students into multiple groups, meaning they may have several different dates for open house / interview.

3. depends on the program and the school, the acceptance rate after in-person interview varies from 50% to ~100%. my school accepts roughly 75 biochemistry students for approximately 25 spots, for they expect about 50 of them will eventually turn down the offer.

i hope this will give you a general idea what may happen at the open house.

Edited February 4, 2012 by aberrant