What to look for when you visit?

[alphaproton]

So first off congrats to us for being accepted into Ph.D programs. When we go visit these school what are somethings you will be looking for and asking in order to see if that school is a good fit for you?

These are something I will be looking at:

-Personality of possible PI's

-Graduate Students in that group

-Other faculty and there personalities

-Facilites for research (instrumentation, libraries, etc..)

-Town of school I am visiting

-Things to do around the area ( For example escapes when my research is not going well, hangouts,bars,food etc..)

-Overall feel of the location (are people friendly or snobby like here in NYC)

Anything else you guys will be considering?

[this_isnot_here]

Nah, I think you nailed most of it. Are you going to UIUC on the March 1-3 weekend by any chance?

[alphaproton]

Nah, I think you nailed most of it. Are you going to UIUC on the March 1-3 weekend by any chance?

Nah dude, I am going end of March to visit.

What field you going for?

Edited February 11, 2012 by alphaproton

[elchismoso]

I'm looking for all the things mentioned before.

Also going to keep in consideration:

• Graduate housing on campus (if available)

• Gyms or places to exercise around the area

• Accessibility of major stores (mainly grocery stores... bonus points if Costco is nearby)

• Quality of public transportation

that's as much as comes to mind right now. Not deal breakers, but things that will be nice to know.

[synorg]

I'm looking for all the things mentioned before.

Also going to keep in consideration:

• Graduate housing on campus (if available)

• Gyms or places to exercise around the area

• Accessibility of major stores (mainly grocery stores... bonus points if Costco is nearby)

• Quality of public transportation

that's as much as comes to mind right now. Not deal breakers, but things that will be nice to know.

Could not agree more. Cost of living and convenience/access of essentials are both huge concerns. And I'm also very interested in recreational facilities and the like, since i will need to have some stuff to do in my precious free time.

[Draco1988]

Hopefully I will have the time to check out the area the day/night before leaving, since most of the schools seem to leave the time slot open.

Anyone from Austin TX? How is the weather there? I've never been to Texas and next visiting weekend will be my first. Should I expect anything?

[this_isnot_here]

Nah dude, I am going end of March to visit.

What field you going for?

Materials/interdisciplinary. You?

[alphaproton]

Inorganic. Thats where its at!

[liveoak]

Hopefully I will have the time to check out the area the day/night before leaving, since most of the schools seem to leave the time slot open.

Anyone from Austin TX? How is the weather there? I've never been to Texas and next visiting weekend will be my first. Should I expect anything?

I lived in Austin for 6 years and it's awesome. Fairly mild winters (although I think they're cold), and very hot summers (~70 straight days over 100 last summer), but I don't mind too much. What field are you looking at?

[Draco1988]

I lived in Austin for 6 years and it's awesome. Fairly mild winters (although I think they're cold), and very hot summers (~70 straight days over 100 last summer), but I don't mind too much. What field are you looking at?

Thank you. I think I should bring a jacket just in case ^^.

I am looking at analytical field. You?

[smck99]

My advisor sent this out to some of us the other day. A lot of it is the same as what some people have been mentioning, but I'd thought I'd share in case it might be helpful:

Those of you who have been accepted to graduate school(s) will presumably now be looking at dates to visit those campuses. I thought I'd just share some general thoughts on this process, as someone who's looked at it from both sides. When I went to visit, I had NO IDEA what I was supposed to be doing or learning. I made at least one critical error, but I got away with it. Here's my little bit of advice.

1) The most important thing to remember is that this is not the school interviewing you. This is YOU interviewing the school. You've already been accepted. The visits are set up to convince you to matriculate. Don't be nervous about impressing anyone - you'll have that chance at the school of your choice in the fall. This visit is all about learning what you need to learn in order to make the right decision.

2) The right decision, in my opinion, is the one that finds you a school/lab/environment where you can be HAPPY. I'm not going to lie: graduate school is hard, and graduate school is long, and graduate school can be very painful, and very depressing. Lots and lots of people drop out when they realize these things. So to me, the goal is to pick a place where you're going to be able to complete the degree. Some ideas on this specific point:

a. Pick a school where there is more than one group you'd like to join. Do some research ahead of time to see whose projects look interesting, and ask for meetings with those professors. Ask them if there's room in their group. Ask them how many students they're planning to take. If there's only ONE professor at a school who interests you, what will you do if their group is full?

b. Find time to speak to the STUDENTS in that group. Ask them what life is like. Ask them what sort of hours they're expected to work. Ask them if their boss is hands-on or hands-off. Ask them if they're happy about that.

c. Ask those same students if they get along in the lab. Ask them if they socialize. People underestimate this. The other students in the lab are AT LEAST as important as the professor in determining whether or not you'll be happy. Do you like them? Can you work in a close space with them 10+ hours a day, 5-7 days a week, for 5+ years?

d. Try to find out how well the graduate students are integrated socially throughout the department and the university. If your group is small and/or antisocial, are there other folks around that are easy to find?

e. Be aware that everyone at the school IS trying to impress you. Some of them will lie. So talk to the other VISITING students about their impressions. Did they learn anything you didn't?

3) Get a feel for location, access, housing, transportation. Don't underestimate what a difference this makes.

4) Find out the details about money! Are you guaranteed a stipend? How much? For how long? Are you required to teach? How much? What happens in year 2 or 3 when (at most schools) you're supposed to stop teaching - are you guaranteed an RA? Is health care included? Is dental?

That's all I can think of for now. Good luck!

Edited February 14, 2012 by smck99

[elchismoso]

So talk to the other VISITING students about their impressions. Did they learn anything you didn't?

This is such great advice! We'll be hearing a lot of different things throughout the day - maybe someone picks up on something that makes a big difference!

I also think something I'll keep in mind is the policies about how to take time off. I'll be in a long distance relationship and it'd be nice to know how often I can take some time to visit my girlfriend and how complicated it will be to get just a Friday off to go see her

[yesnwp]

Hopefully I will have the time to check out the area the day/night before leaving, since most of the schools seem to leave the time slot open.

Anyone from Austin TX? How is the weather there? I've never been to Texas and next visiting weekend will be my first. Should I expect anything?

I am visiting Austin as well. I have only heard good things about Austin and it looks like a great graduate program.

[cynder]

Asking the PI you are interested in if they are planning on taking new students is such an important thing to do! I completely forgot during my first interview and I very much regret it

[UnlikelyGrad]

Anything else you guys will be considering?

One thing my dad told me to do (which I am grateful for) was to find about about the support staff. A good admin is invaluable; you would not believe how much paperwork is necessary to do a Ph.D. so it's nice to know there's someone who will help you through the process.

Also, who fixes the equipment and how fast/good are they? I visited one school with some pretty snazzy new equipment. Trouble was, it was almost always out of commission--it would for for a week or so, then it would go back down for weeks at a time. Maintenance was performed by "the university" which never made it a priority.

My department has a dedicated full-time equipment repair guy. He keeps everything running like clockwork (we do sometimes have to wait for parts to show up, but he diagnoses the problem very quickly and fixes stuff ASAP). He helps us machine/build specialized stuff for our research. He is a very cool guy without whom I would be progressing at a glacial pace!

[alphaproton]

One thing my dad told me to do (which I am grateful for) was to find about about the support staff. A good admin is invaluable; you would not believe how much paperwork is necessary to do a Ph.D. so it's nice to know there's someone who will help you through the process.

Also, who fixes the equipment and how fast/good are they? I visited one school with some pretty snazzy new equipment. Trouble was, it was almost always out of commission--it would for for a week or so, then it would go back down for weeks at a time. Maintenance was performed by "the university" which never made it a priority.

My department has a dedicated full-time equipment repair guy. He keeps everything running like clockwork (we do sometimes have to wait for parts to show up, but he diagnoses the problem very quickly and fixes stuff ASAP). He helps us machine/build specialized stuff for our research. He is a very cool guy without whom I would be progressing at a glacial pace!

Wow that is something I have not considered. My department has a full-time guy to do repairs and is excellent at it. I just assumed that every department had a maintenance guy, but that is something I will be looking into now. Thanks and excellent advice there!