Couchsurfing @ campus visit

[igel]

So, I'm planning several visits in the next 8 weeks. (It's still 8 weeks to April 15th, right?)

Several of the schools have said that they're going to organize to put me up with current graduate students. I think it'll give me a great opportunity to get to know a few people. Just wondered, though, has anyone actually experienced this sort of thing already? Any stories about what it was like?

[dherres]

That reminds me of a great website I've heard about. www.couchsurfing.com . I'm sure it's not as great a resource as staying with a grad student.... although there's a good likelihood that a grad student from the school will be on there, knowing grad students! At the very least, if a school doesn't set you up for lodging during your visit, it'd be a great way to stay for free for a couple of nights, and maybe make a friend should you choose to move there.

But back on-topic, I have no experience with this situation with grad schools, but I remember that for undergrad it was a wonderful resource to get to know the school a bit more -- and from a different angle -- than I would have otherwise!

[Sonic]

I stayed with a grad student last year when I was prospective student for my current MA program. It was great! She took me around town, and stopped by a few of her classmates' apartments, so I ended up getting to hang out with a bunch of students (and I got to see where they lived, and subsequently avoided the Grad Apartments). The students were friendly and honest; I had the opportunity to listen to them give a little talk at the Visit Day and I definitely felt I had a more complete picture of the ups and downs of the program having interacted with them socially. I am now good friends with a few of the people I met and knowing people in the area made the first few weeks here so much better.

That said, bring a sleeping bag! And ask if it is possible to get your host's email ahead of time. I ended up getting switched from one host to another at the last minute because one was too busy, but my visit would have been really different if the person I stayed with didn't have the time to show me around, chit-chat, etc.

[rising_star]

Yea, I did it multiple times and it was always great. Be gracious to your hosts. Send them a thank you note and maybe a small gift. Pick their brains about the minutia while you can.

P.S. Don't be cranky when doing back to back visits.

[pikatopia]

Will I be missing out on key information if I don't stay with a grad student host?

I chose not to stay with a graduate because they are putting me up at a hotel...

[Sonic]

Will I be missing out on key information if I don't stay with a grad student host?

I chose not to stay with a graduate because they are putting me up at a hotel...

Take a look at the schedule of events. If there is some kind of grad student social event, you might not miss out on info. In my opinion, you really need to talk to graduate students when you're not surrounded by profs. The grad students I was able to speak to outside of the official events had a lot of important things to tell me that they never would have said in front of faculty, and I had questions I would not have wanted to ask in front of profs either.

But boy, does a hotel sound nice!

[rising_star]

just make sure to spend time with grad students when faculty members aren't around

[belowthree]

just make sure to spend time with grad students when faculty members aren't around

Preferably with alcohol included in the equation.

Poke in the right places and you'll hear all the complaints you'll want. What types of things you hear can tell you a lot, but keep in mind that there's not a grad student in the world who doesn't have a few complaints, so don't be surprised when you poke and things just come tumbling out.

If they still don't complain after alcohol and away from their profs, if anything I'd be worried.

[lycoris]

That reminds me of a great website I've heard about. http://www.couchsurfing.com . I'm sure it's not as great a resource as staying with a grad student.... although there's a good likelihood that a grad student from the school will be on there, knowing grad students! At the very least, if a school doesn't set you up for lodging during your visit, it'd be a great way to stay for free for a couple of nights, and maybe make a friend should you choose to move there.

Really?

One department is flying me out, putting me in a hotel. Pretty nice, right?

The other has no funding. I was thinking I couldn't afford to go visit, but . . . I feel like I can't afford not to. Airfare is pretty cheap right now (around $200) and I have plenty of vacation time accrued at work . . . and I could use a few days in a warm climate. My sister is going to college sort of nearby, and can come in to the city if I come for the weekend.

But, since I'm sinking $200+ on travel, I really, really don't want to spend even more on hotels. The department is going to try to put me up on a grad student's couch, but, especially since I'm coming out early, nothing is guaranteed. They have a "deal" with a nearby hotel for $70 a night (which, in fairness, is cheap for the area), but I don't really think I can swallow that. I have friends in the area, but one is already living on the other one's couch, so that's a no-go; I could impose on my boyfriend to impose on his friends, but a) I've never met them and he'll be going to school 3,000 miles away next year, so it might be a little weird to have his friends facilitate our impending breakup. And my little sister is about 30 miles away - and she lives in the dorms. I think she has a single, but still, while I may not yet be too old to sleep on a stranger's couch or a bunkbed in a hostel, I am too old to sleep on my kid sister's dorm room floor.

Will it look bad if I use couchsurfer.com or, failing that, book a bed in a hostel? I mean, I don't want to be the weird hippie/transient prospective student, but I'm really pinching pennies right now trying to get ready for next year. What would you guys do?

[Kakirsten]

Will it look bad if I use couchsurfer.com or, failing that, book a bed in a hostel? I mean, I don't want to be the weird hippie/transient prospective student, but I'm really pinching pennies right now trying to get ready for next year. What would you guys do?

I'm pretty sure both those options have showers, the absence of which might be the only thing to offend your program. Nobody has any delusions of graduate students being wealthy.

[Reinventing]

Wow, I think it's great that people are tapping into these creative options to save money. I certainly saw creative money-saving amongst my grad TA friends when I was an undergrad, so I think it will look more resourceful than transient.

Am I the only one who'd feel a tad uncomfortable couch surfing with a near-stranger? Maybe it's just part of being an older grad-school applicant (haven't done communal living in a while).

[pikatopia]

Preferably with alcohol included in the equation.

Poke in the right places and you'll hear all the complaints you'll want. What types of things you hear can tell you a lot, but keep in mind that there's not a grad student in the world who doesn't have a few complaints, so don't be surprised when you poke and things just come tumbling out.

If they still don't complain after alcohol and away from their profs, if anything I'd be worried.

I got some of the BEST information - not just best, but the most HELPFUL - at the "pub meeting" that was set up for me.

I heard the good, the bad and the in-between (and got to sample some reeeeallly great microbrews)...and while I enjoyed all of them as company for those several hours, I was really glad to have my hotel to retire to at the end of the evening.

What I've learned: if they pay for a hotel, take them up on it...just make sure you get some quality time with grads in the non-academic setting.

[dherres]

Really?

One department is flying me out, putting me in a hotel. Pretty nice, right?

The other has no funding. I was thinking I couldn't afford to go visit, but . . . I feel like I can't afford not to. Airfare is pretty cheap right now (around $200) and I have plenty of vacation time accrued at work . . . and I could use a few days in a warm climate. My sister is going to college sort of nearby, and can come in to the city if I come for the weekend.

But, since I'm sinking $200+ on travel, I really, really don't want to spend even more on hotels. The department is going to try to put me up on a grad student's couch, but, especially since I'm coming out early, nothing is guaranteed. They have a "deal" with a nearby hotel for $70 a night (which, in fairness, is cheap for the area), but I don't really think I can swallow that. I have friends in the area, but one is already living on the other one's couch, so that's a no-go; I could impose on my boyfriend to impose on his friends, but a) I've never met them and he'll be going to school 3,000 miles away next year, so it might be a little weird to have his friends facilitate our impending breakup. And my little sister is about 30 miles away - and she lives in the dorms. I think she has a single, but still, while I may not yet be too old to sleep on a stranger's couch or a bunkbed in a hostel, I am too old to sleep on my kid sister's dorm room floor.

Will it look bad if I use couchsurfer.com or, failing that, book a bed in a hostel? I mean, I don't want to be the weird hippie/transient prospective student, but I'm really pinching pennies right now trying to get ready for next year. What would you guys do?

You know, portraying such an image never even occurred to me! I guess I just am one of those hippie/transient prospective students, maybe?

I agree with another poster, though: desperate financial times call for "creative" measures (although it wasn't explicitly stated as such). Also, would the topic of your housing situation really come up in conversation with a student or faculty? And as long as you have facilities that allow you to clean yourself up appropriately, no one has to be the wiser.... if you don't mind a little dishonesty for the sake of maintaining your reputation, just say that your original plans fell through -- the hotel lost your confirmation number or somesuch -- and you had to find a place last-minute. (Although I probably shouldn't be condoning such behaviour.....)

[Reinventing]

Never underestimate the value of showing just how much you would suffer for your field of study!