Meeting with POIs on visit days

[the_sheath]

Okay, so first off, I'm gonna say my entire process of applying to grad school was... well, it was poorly planned and poorly executed. I find it to be a miracle I was accepted anywhere at all, let alone offered funding (and some very nice funding at that).

 

I hadn't, for example, contacted POIs prior to applying. Which brings me to my problem:

 

In the next few days, I'll be visiting my prospective schools and meeting with potential POIs, and I'm...actually not sure what to expect. What do I ask? What do I tell them?

 

So far, I'd imagine asking them things like what they would expect of me, things about the program (eg I'm interested in the computing specialization, what can they tell me about it), how funding looks after the first four years of guaranteed funding, and their research. I can only imagine that last one would fly way over my head. I'm not really good with the whole talking thing, so my mind's drawing a blank from there.

 

What would you ask them? What have you already asked them?

[perpetuavix]

I recently visited a school and am leaving to visit another one tomorrow. At the first school, I had an hourlong meeting with one of the professors and I was totally certain I would not be able to come up with enough questions to fill an hour. It was my first visit, but it was certainly not his. He filled in any lag in the conversation and told me about all sorts of things I hadn't thought to ask about. Definitely come prepared with some questions, but remember that schools are actually trying to get you to come there, and professors have had these meetings before. Good luck!