Anyone planning on visiting campuses?

[123hardasABC]

Now that many of us have heard back from a few places, are you planning on visiting your potential schools? I visited my schools when I was applying for my undergraduate, but I know a lot of people who just jumped right in...undergrad, graduate, hell, even professional school. So...are you gonna visit? 

[katethekitcat]

I visited a university after I was admitted, and I'm so glad I did. Doing so allowed me to meet professors, describe my interests, and discuss their research. By meeting them face-to-face, I found one who matched me very well and who offered me a graduate research assistantship in his lab if I attend. On the flip side, I met my assigned advisor and we both realized, almost immediately, we weren't a good fit research-wise.

 

By knowing all of this ahead of time, if I choose this school, I've saved myself a semester - I'll know to switch advisors right away, instead of going through a whole term with someone I don't fit just to do things like register for classes. I will already have a GRA instead of spending a few months setting up meetings with professors, establishing contacts, etc. When you're a visiting student, the department goes out of their way to introduce you to people and suggest good matches - when you're a new, enrolled student, EVERYONE is trying to find spots in labs and establish contacts. Visiting gives you a jump on all of that. Plus, I really had no way of knowing prior to my visit that the university has a brand-new, gorgeous school of public health. Seeing it was definitely a plus! I also asked a lot of questions I wouldn't have thought to otherwise. Visiting, I met with students who told me they went straight from a master's to a PhD at the university - I never would have considered that was possible or something to ask about if I hadn't been there in person.

 

However, this university was relatively accessible (3 hours away by car) to my current geographic location. I'm visiting one more when I'm visiting my hometown over the holidays, also because it's accessible, but I probably won't be flying anywhere to visit. The exception to this would be if my top choice ends up being the most expensive school - if I'm going to go into debt, I need to be 100% sure it's worth it.

[Lynne88]

Thanks for posting this katethekitcat!  This is a great suggestion and good to know! You're very resourceful!

[juilletmercredi]

When I applied to MPH programs I visited Emory before I was admitted, but that's because I was local.  I also visited Columbia after I was admitted because it was the only place I was considering going to over Emory (I also applied to Johns Hopkins and Yale, but I really didn't want to go to JHU and Yale was a distant third to Emory and Columbia).

 

Most MPH programs have an admitted students day - ours at Columbia is usually in April, 1-2 weeks before the decision deadline.  Personally I think the best way to do visits strategically is 1) go after you've been admitted; no sense in visiting before unless you're local and it won't cost you anything and 2) choose just 1-3 top choices to visit.

Edited December 11, 2013 by juilletmercredi

[123hardasABC]

None of the schools I applied to are "local." The school closest to me is my alma mater, which is a good 7-8 hours' drive away (...California's a really big state...). All the other schools are on the East Coast. Aside from New York, I've never actually visited the states these schools are in. For someone in my situation, I feel like visiting would be a good idea. Luckily, the East Coast is a bit more dense than the West Coast so it's possible to pack all my visits into one trip.

 

I don't know. I already knew my own answer to the question I posed, but as always, I'm just curious what other people think about it.

[VBD]

I highly recommend visits. If the school offers an admitted student day and you're going to go (because it's in your top three picks/it's free or covered for you to go), I would even recommend asking if you could stay on campus for another day or so to really get a sense of what it's like and even have a chance to talk to professors of interest (that is, if they happen to be free) or current students. I would agree with Juliet that Admitted student days were a lot more helpful than Open houses. 

Some programs may cover travel expenses and others may not. For example, Columbia helped cover the travel expense but not the accommodations for my visit, but Emory and Yale covered all of it.

(Side note, I personally think it's interesting to see other campuses, but that may just be the weird nerd in me...)