Best time for the annual vacation

[froup]

I am starting PhD (in computer science) in a couple of weeks, and I'm relocating from Europe to USA for this purpose. I still need to buy tickets, and it costs less if you buy a round-trip rather than a one-way tickets. However, it may be hard to predict when is the best time to return and visit Europe.

 

My term times are:

September 23 - December 14

January 2 - March 22

March 27 - June 13

Although instruction usually starts 1-4 days after the start of the term.

 

It does seem that there are two times per year for visiting home - during Christmas and summer. I am not considering using the Christmas time during the first year, as this time is better spent getting used to the (still) new environment at the university. However, I am wondering about the summer time.

 

Do I understand correctly that most PhD students prefer to stay at the university during their first summer, rather than looking for an internship? I guess this is a nice time to get to know your professors better, and actually focus entirely on the research. Are there any guidelines what is normally the best time of the summer when you can leave the campus to miss out on as few things as possible? I assume it's either right after the end of term 3, or right before the start of the next academic year.

 

How long is your usual summer vacation at home?

[rising_star]

I would use the Christmas time, to be honest. At least at my university, the entire university is closed for a week or so around Christmas and New Year's, which means that they do things like shut off the heat in buildings, close the library, etc. So there's really no point in being there.

[wtncffts]

The answer has to depend on specific circumstances and programs, what kind of commitments you have, etc. I'm in a social science - I don't have things like lab commitments or whatnot and can theoretically do my work from anywhere (though I prefer being around the university). Ever since my MA I've gone home (across the country to Vancouver) twice a year, at christmas and summer, usually earlier in the summer (May-June). This past summer I spent June and much of July at home, though part of that was for attending a conference. This sort of thing also should be worked out with one's supervisor, obviously.

 

And, of course, it depends on how much you miss home...

 

I don't know about internships because that's not a part of my program; people spend the summers working on research, doing fieldwork, going to methods schools, sometimes teaching, and taking time off, definitely. Again, it might be different in comp sci, but here (both in my dept and by how quiet the campus is in summer) the faculty are mostly gone during the summer as well, so it's actually less of an opportunity to 'get to know' them. They're much more likely to be around when classes are in session.  

[juilletmercredi]

Personally, I think it's better to go home during Christmas than the summer.  Nobody's around during Christmas, so it's not actually a good time to get used to the university - most things are closed and everyone is gone.  During the summer, though, is when a lot of research work gets done.  I stayed at the university during my first summer (and all summers), but I typically go home for a few weeks during the Christmas break.

 

I would say if you really wanted to go home during the summer, you should plan to spend most of the summer at the university and go home for a month at most.  Around here, the best time to disappear for a month would probably be August, as many people are traveling and things tend to slow down before they ramp back up in early September.