Upcoming Visit Advice...

[quantitative]

I'm upping this for the newbies.  Great advice in here.

[SocioEd]

I read through these and took a few notes. Thanks for all the insights!

[blixx008]

I agree. Don't be a jerk. And don't act competitive. From what I've heard, grad schools and grad students want people that they can work cooperatively with. I heard some programs specifically weed out people who seem like they might be competitive in nature at these visits.

SVH, I see you applied to UMD. Is that Minnesota-Duluth, or another UMD? Just curious because I'm a Minnesotan.

Edited January 27, 2013 by blixx008

[jacib]

SVH, I see you applied to UMD. Is that Minnesota-Duluth, or another UMD? Just curious because I'm a Minnesotan.

Just to be clear, you're commenting on something written more than a year ago, so the poster likely is no longer checking the board. 

 

I'll try to answer.  SVH's school are all top tier¹ so it's a safe bet she means Maryland, which is nationally the better known UMD (www.umd.edu for example is Maryland's website).  It appears that University of Minnesota--Duluth does not even have a program related to sociology, except for a Masters in criminology, but nothing related to the SVH's apparent interest in social psychology.

 

1: A tier which, for the record, Minnesota-Twin Cities is certainly part of.

Edited January 28, 2013 by jacib

[Darth.Vegan]

Interestingly enough, UNC did not offer my partner anything in the way of funding to reduce the burden of travel costs for the visit. I know they are a public school, but I thought the top programs at least provided something in the way of travel stipend to accepted applicants. 

[jacib]

Interestingly enough, UNC did not offer my partner anything in the way of funding to reduce the burden of travel costs for the visit. I know they are a public school, but I thought the top programs at least provided something in the way of travel stipend to accepted applicants. 

I don't know exactly what in this zombie thread from last year that's in relation to, but with schools don't be afraid to follow up.  Email the DGS.  Ask specifically about covering travel costs, and then tastefully imply it might make visiting difficult (if your parnter is also in Hawaii, they should especially emphasize the costs of flying to the mainland).  Granted my school is a private school so they have a few more dollars to throw atch ya boy, and I had a slightly special circumstance cause I was an American living in Turkey, but how it went for me is:

DGS: "We hope to see you at visiting days!  We're super exxxcited about you coming, lol.  We normally offer Americans $300 dollars, but we'll treat you like an international and give you $500."

Me: "Yeah, I don't know if I can get time off work and it'd still be a big out of expense."

DGS: "Well it would be a shame if you couldn't come purely for financial reasons.  Just get a receipt for your plane ticket and we'll cover it." 

Me: "Well, I guess I'll work on getting the time off work."

DGS: "Great!  See you then."

 

Remember they're trying to woo you now.

Edited January 28, 2013 by jacib

[RefurbedScientist]

Interestingly enough, UNC did not offer my partner anything in the way of funding to reduce the burden of travel costs for the visit. I know they are a public school, but I thought the top programs at least provided something in the way of travel stipend to accepted applicants. 

 

UNC didn't fund travel last year either. I nevertheless found it extremely useful to visit, even though I paid out of pocket. Might be worth talking to them though, as Jacib said. But if they can't cover travel, don't assume they're not as interested. Money is tighter at UNC than the other top programs (the state of NC hardly funds public education).