So, what's the deal with "Recruitment Weekends"?

[radiomars]

I recently got invited to a Recruitment Weekend after being told I was "among the top applicants". My family has already started congratulating me on acceptance, but I'm not sure that's what it means. They certainly never told me explicitly that I was admitted.

 

So, not too sure what to expect here. Does anyone have experience at one of these things? I'm under the impression that they're trying to "woo" me, but does that also imply an acceptance on the horizon? Or is this an informal round of interviews before they decide?

[iloveyourneighborhood]

It's not an acceptance yet. The recruitment weekend will most likely be like a two-way interview: they interview you and assess your fitness for the program, and you interview them to see if you like the program, the campus... etc. Getting invited is definitely a good sign but you can still get rejected after the interview. Good luck!

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

Well, in my field there's are two types of interviews. Competitive and Recruitment.

 

In competitive interviews, flights are not paid for and there are fewer spots than applicants.

 

In recruitment interviews, flights are paid for and the acceptance is typically forthcoming as long as you don't reveal that you're crazy. This type of interview is more about wooing the applicant than determining who to admit.

[lilgreycells]

Like Quant_Liz_Lemon my field has those two types of interviews but for a number of schools you get your flights paid for regardless of the type. So you didn't find out until you got to the weekend whether it was competitive or not (the current grad students are normally quick to let you know).

[biotechie]

It depends on your field. For the biological sciences (medical based is where I am), so far, recruitment weekends have been those you go to voluntarily. You are invited, but your travel is not paid for, and it doesn't mean you will get admitted.

 

An interview is paid for by the school, after reviewing your application, and they are limited to selected applicants. You may have better than a 50% chance of getting into the school when you get invited, but more often it seems to be about 1:5. 

 

I would do a little research on anything you are invited to. Anything that they cover travel for, I would consider a positive reflection of your application. If they're willing to pay the costs for you to visit their campus, they may really want you there.

[radiomars]

Awesome, thanks for the input, guys. Yeah, they are covering the costs so I'm thinking that's a good sign.

I just got an email with the itinerary:
 

 

Thursday:

-Lab specific meetings

 

Friday:

-Area lunch
-Department orientation
-Data blitz
-Recruit reception

Saturday:
-Tour of Vancouver (and most likely brunch as well)
-Final dinner for recruits and hosts
-Graduate student social

 

Sounds pretty good. Although, what in the world is a "data blitz"?

[CarlieE]

Just thought this might be helpful... 

 

My university (I'm currently in the 1st yr of a PhD in a social science) calls the trip a "Recruitment Weekend" but it IS competitive. They paid for all our travel costs, including lodging and meals (except for 2 meals) BUT not all of us got offers. 

 

There were 17 of us in person and about 7 others who were skype interviews and in the end 13 of us got offers. 

 

Wording can be tricky... I would make the safer assumption that an interview weekend, regardless of whether they pay or how it's styled, will be competitive and is not an indication of acceptance, but rather an indication of interest. 

[radiomars]

Yeah, good point. I'll definitely still be going in with my A-game, and will try to spend a couple weeks prepping.

[lilgreycells]

Well from your itinerary it appears that they didn't schedule a specific time for "Interviews" which leads me toward thinking this is more like a non-competitive weekend. Though it is smart that you plan on approaching it like a competitive weekend (as HeadCold suggested). Good luck on the weekend!

[TakeruK]

I think you can ask them outright whether or not it's a recruitment interview or not. Sometimes when a visit/recruitment weekend is set up, the profs in charge of whatever labs/groups you're interested in will tend to connect you and their students via email.

 

If you really want to know but don't want to talk to the department directly, look up the students in the labs from the website and email them to say how you have applied and are visiting etc.

 

From what you've said, since it's paid for and there doesn't seem to be time for "interviews", I wouldn't think that it would be very competitive, unless you know your field is generally very competitive. They have not yet given official acceptance though, so I wouldn't assume you're in yet, either. There could be very good reasons why they are willing to spend money to woo you but have not given official word yet. For example, perhaps your funding packages are not ready/finalized yet. Or, like someone else said, they might be ready to accept most of you but just want to make sure you're sane.

 

Either way, it won't hurt to be prepared, but keep in mind that while you might be competing with the other visiting students, having a "competitive" mindset might affect your interactions with the other visiting students, who might be your colleagues in the future!

 

Finally, it might be "competitive" in the sense that most of you will be accepted into the school but you are competing for specific lab spots. It sounds like you are applying to a Canadian school, and some departments will only accept grad students if a prof is willing to take them into the group for sure. For example, my Canadian MSc acceptance letters said something like "you are admitted to work with Prof X or Y" etc. 

[Sio68]

Does anyone know whether Humanities subjects do a similar kind of recruitment/interview/visit process?

 

I had always assumed that this was reserved for the sciences where there's more money. I suppose this is just a passing question out of interest, more than for a specific reason.

[lisajay]

my guess would be that it depends on the program, but i do know that for some humanities programs, interviews are typically done over the phone (or via email or skype) rather than in person so as not to incur costs associated with in person interviews.

[radiomars]

Does anyone know whether Humanities subjects do a similar kind of recruitment/interview/visit process?

 

I had always assumed that this was reserved for the sciences where there's more money. I suppose this is just a passing question out of interest, more than for a specific reason.

This particular weekend is for a Social Psychology program. I have heard of Anthropology programs having similar events. I wouldn't say it's strictly restricted to STEM.

[amlobo]

Does anyone know whether Humanities subjects do a similar kind of recruitment/interview/visit process?

 

I had always assumed that this was reserved for the sciences where there's more money. I suppose this is just a passing question out of interest, more than for a specific reason.

 

I am applying to Sociology programs, and I know some will do phone interviews if they are trying to decide between a few people.  And, I am applying to two programs that always conduct in-person interviews for top applicants (fly you there, etc.).  Many of the programs also have a non-competitive "visit" weekend for admitted students.  I would look at your subject's forum on here from last year's cycle to get an idea of what was going on.

[Sio68]

Thanks everyone.. interesting info. I'll check last year's forum for my subject area.

 

Good luck to those heading off to these recruitment weekends!

[VBD]

I was invited to an Open House Recruitment 5 days ago. They even said that if I can't go that weekend, they can organize individual visits at other times. However, I haven't found out about travel arrangements, etc. so I have no clue what type of interview this will be, nor whether I am paying for it. ^^; I'm considering waiting a few days for more details, or else, I'll just email them back asking about the arrangements (I have to figure out how to ask that without sounding rude/demanding or anything like that..)

[CarlieE]

My experience with Open Houses is that we/you (the applicant) are responsible for the travel expenses entirely and its much more informal. However, that might not be the case with you. IMO I think it would be OK to politely ask if they can give you any advice on travel or hotel deals (perhaps there is a hotel nearby they can recommend?) I think that's a nice way of finding out if they offer any financial assistance. Sometimes they might have hardship reimbursements for travel... 

[juilletmercredi]

A data blitz is this new thing social psychologists are in love with; it's when a bunch of different presenters give a 1-2 minute presentation on recent research and their findings, sometimes accompanied by 1 slide but usually unaccompanied.  I think they started doing blitz sessions at SPSP and so now they're spreading.  The idea is that you hear a little about someone's work and you approach them later to get the full story.

 

If it's this early in the season and you haven't seen an acceptance letter yet, I would assume it's a round of informal interviews.  They do want to recruit you and get you to consider the department, but they also want to evaluate how good of a fit you are into the department.  So I would bring your A-game, as you've already planned to.

 

I will also chime (generally, to everyone) that them covering costs is not indicative of the stage of the process.  In my field (social psych, actually) it's customary for the university to bear at least some of the costs for interviews, but it's very much a part of the selection process and being invited is not guarantee of admission.  In fact, the last year I participated in the process (2010-2011, I think) my lab interviewed 4 people and only admitted 2.