Cancel a phone mtg with advisor at 2nd choice school?

[lotf629]

Program X (okay school) notifies on Monday; potential future advisor wants to talk. I make a phone mtg for Thurs.

Program Y (much better than Program X) notifies on Wednesday. Now I am sure I will not be attending Program X. Do I politely cancel mtg with potential advisor at Program X? Or do I keep phone appt, express (sincere) interest in advisor's research, etc., then later express regret about turning it down?

[engguy]

well, uh, if you know for a fact you're not going, why waste the poor man's time? there are students gearing up to recruit you, resources being gathered to woo you, etc. -- let them move on to someone else. if you know 100% you're not going, that's what I'd do. if there's a chance you might change your mind, no harm in waiting.

[socialpsych]

In a similar situation, I canceled the interview.

You'll see your Program X POI at conferences and such, next year, and you can network then.

[Inspekt]

I've been in this situation and I suggest you do not cancel. You can learn some valuable information about how the programs. Even if 2nd choice isn't the right match you still may learn about interesting research projects, opportunities to pursue, and the curriculum structure that you can adapt to your first choice. Basically, you can take the highlights from their program and see how those fit with/adapt to your new program.

One of the programs that was on the bottom of my list quickly rose towards the top because of my phone conversation. While I might not be going there I think it is great to know what work is being done there and how they approach training their PhD students.

I have found this to be very valuable indeed.

[Comfect]

It's always valuable to have a backup plan, too, in case place Y turns out to be better on paper than it actually is. Now, if we're talking a community college and an Ivy, I'd say cancel - but it can't hurt to hear about Place X in case you turn out to be more interested in it/less interested in Place Y than you thought.

[cogneuroforfun]

I would recommend hearing him out, too. As long as you're fairly prompt with turning down the offer (if you get one), then there's no harm done to them or other prospectives, plus you get some more info to better judge your other schools!

[IronDuke]

I was in the same situation, I took the call and I'm glad I did. I'm considering the second program now and was very pleased with what I heard. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you at least didn't hear them out.

[psycholinguist]

I agree; go through with it. You never know what you could learn, and it could come in handy even if you end up turning down Program X as you expect.