2015 Campus Visits Thread

[c3804]

Now it's the campus visit season. Congrats to the people who have got flyouts! I think it might be a good idea to open a thread on campus visits. We could exchange the information (e.g. environment, new hires, happiness of other grad students, etc.) of different programs, or maybe even about your reasons for your decisions.

[sidebysondheim]

Just finished a visit at WashU. Fantastic department, incredibly supportive and fun group of grad students. Beautiful campus and they emphasized how good the quality of the undergraduates are, which should make TAing nice(r ).

 

Will be visiting UNC as well.

Edited March 22, 2015 by sidebysondheim

[Dumbnamechange]

I have one related question: what should you talk to faculty about? I've seen a lot of advice on what to ask current grad students about (climate, supportiveness, well-being, TAing, real costs of living/attending, etc.), but if I want to meet with specific faculty...? I feel like once you eliminate the blunt questions it would be too tactless to ask (and so you instead get answers from students), all that's left on the table is, "Hi, my name is ____." Any advice on useful talking points?

[NathanKellen]

Here's some things that may be worth asking:

• what they're currently working on (as many people's research projects evolve faster than their webpages or publications)
• how often they are around campus
• if they've recently switched departments, why they chose to do so
• how many students they currently have, and what they're working on
• what they most recently taught grad seminars on

I wouldn't be afraid to tell them a bit about your research interests either, maybe your thesis, etc., and get some of their off the cuff responses.

[Misosophe]

I have one related question: what should you talk to faculty about? I've seen a lot of advice on what to ask current grad students about (climate, supportiveness, well-being, TAing, real costs of living/attending, etc.), but if I want to meet with specific faculty...? I feel like once you eliminate the blunt questions it would be too tactless to ask (and so you instead get answers from students), all that's left on the table is, "Hi, my name is ____." Any advice on useful talking points?

 

I'm also interested what people have to say about this, specifically where potential supervisors are concerned. I'll be visiting a department this week whose offer I intend to accept, and have a meeting scheduled with the prof. who makes most sense as my dissertation supervisor (similar interests, good supervisory record, etc.). Aside from general talk about our respective research, what I plan to write my dissertation on, etc., does anyone have any suggestions about other questions that would be important to ask where the supervisory relationship is concerned?

[flybottle]

I'm also interested what people have to say about this, specifically where potential supervisors are concerned. I'll be visiting a department this week whose offer I intend to accept, and have a meeting scheduled with the prof. who makes most sense as my dissertation supervisor (similar interests, good supervisory record, etc.). Aside from general talk about our respective research, what I plan to write my dissertation on, etc., does anyone have any suggestions about other questions that would be important to ask where the supervisory relationship is concerned?

 

Having been on a couple of visits this season so far, I'd suggest just talking some philosophy with prospective advisors. You can lead in with a discussion of your research interests, or ask a question about their research or an article of theirs (assuming you've read it!). There are plenty of opportunities to talk with folks about climate, funding, cost of living, etc (and many of these things are better to talk to grad students about anyway). 

 

Really, I just started doing this because I was sick of asking everybody the questions we're supposed to be asking, so I'm not the greatest example of responsible visit-strategy. But I found it way more enjoyable to just talk shop with the folks I'd want to work with, and they seemed pleased as well (and sometimes even pleasantly surprised!). The most important thing, I think, in an advising relationship, is to find the conversation comfortable enough that you can trot out half-formed ideas, and challenging enough that those ideas will get pushback where they need it. And the best way to get a sense for who you 'clicks' with you here is just to talk philosophy. Plus, I've found it softens them up to answer questions about availability (both how often they're around campus, and whether they're planning to stick around/not retire soon) and other matters.  

 

This is a rare chance for some of us to travel around to a bunch of really great schools and meet some really interesting people who are totally into philosophy. Don't forget to take advantage of that! (And if you do, much of the other information you want will be more readily accessible anyway, I think.)

[sidebysondheim]

I definitely think trying to start some philosophical conversation is worth it. I know, for me at least, I do a lot of my thinking by talking through philosophy with my UG advisor, so I wanted to see how easy it is to talk to them about philosophy/what kind of conversational style they have. 

[Substantial form]

I'm visiting BU next week. Very excited!

[Dumbnamechange]

How forward are you all with professors you hope will be your thesis advisor? I feel like it would be equally weird to field the related questions nonchalantly.

[Duns Eith]

Nikolay: I think you're funny in other threads, but I cannot recommend anyone take your request seriously, because of being extremely suspect. (either you lack integrity or you do not, either way I cannot trust you)

 

Admittedly hyperbole, but I may suggest that you are the Andy Kaufman of this site. Count that high praise.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Turretin

[PartyupDMX]

Is anybody visiting David Chalmers this season? And - if this is the case - then can you please share my work with him? It is a precursor/prophecy of his "extended mind" discoveries... though I call it the "trans-brain hypothesis." Some of the best work on it is linked here:

 

https://sciencedefeated.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/the-embodied-mind/

 

I recommend the early posts to get a feel, but what I'm really interested in is what Chalmers thinks. Please report back?

 

Best thanks,

NS

[verificationist]

Is anybody visiting David Chalmers this season? And - if this is the case - then can you please share my work with him? It is a precursor/prophecy of his "extended mind" discoveries... though I call it the "trans-brain hypothesis." Some of the best work on it is linked here:

 

https://sciencedefeated.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/the-embodied-mind/

 

I recommend the early posts to get a feel, but what I'm really interested in is what Chalmers thinks. Please report back?

 

Best thanks,

NS

 

I think you should have Ave forward it to him, Nikolay. I'm sure he either knows Chalmers or someone else who knows him.

[isostheneia]

I just got back from visits at Pittsburgh, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and UC San Diego. I'll try and say a bit about what I thought of each.

 

Pittsburgh: It's more or less my dream school, so I was really happy to be there. I had heard some rumors of climate issues there, but I was really happy with what I could tell of the environment. (Which isn't to say that climate issues definitely don't exist.) I got along well with many grad students, and I'm really hoping to get in off the waitlist. I got a great impression from all the faculty I talked to, and asking some of their advisees about working relationships, I was surprised by the amount of energy the faculty put into advising. So overall it seemed great. Pittsburgh is also a surprisingly nice city.

 

Johns Hopkins: This was my only visit that wasn't during official visiting days, so perhaps it's a bit unfair to hold it to the same standards. But I didn't love it. The grad students didn't seem tremendously happy to be there, and apparently there's some animosity between students with different interests (a factor which is very important to me). For instance, there have apparently been cases of students yelling at each other during colloquia. On the other hand, the faculty seemed amazing. But given how important the grad community is, I turned down this offer today. Also, I don't want to live in Baltimore, even though the cost of living is quite low.

 

Georgetown: I loved the department, including both faculty and grad students. They seem very supportive, interested in others' work even if it isn't directly connected with their own, and like everyone enjoys hanging out with each other regularly outside of scheduled activities. One downside is that there aren't a huge amount of grad students working on my primary areas of interests, but there are many people who work on directly related areas. Supporting grad students during their program (financially and otherwise) and afterwards on the market seems like a primary emphasis of the program, which I think is a great sign. Very high level of morale, from what I could tell.

 

UC San Diego: I don't think there's a school with a better climate, meteorologically speaking. One thing that I loved is that there's a really big community of grad students working on German Idealism, all of whom seem like really cool people. I also got along really well with the faculty I talked to. One downside is that it seemed to be a fairly male-heavy department, especially in terms of grad students and prospectives. On the other hand, they're doing really cool work with the UCSD summer program for women. The funding is a bit lower here, but students said that they get by just fine. There's also a general cogsci/empirical focus throughout the department, and while I think that's totally fine, it's generally not my sort of approach to the things I work on.

 

Basically, I'm trying to figure out where to accept if I don't get into Pitt. Pro Georgetown, there's a really nice emphasis on Sellarsian/Pittsburgh school style work in a lot of areas. Pro San Diego, there's a large German Idealism community. Making this sort of decision is a good problem to have, though definitely still a problem.

[Duns Eith]

Great report, isostheneia. (no schools I applied to, but you hit major issues that will be helpful to others considering their respective programs)

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

UC San Diego: I don't think there's a school with a better climate, meteorologically speaking. 

 

Seriously, though, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us! Sounds like quite the adventure. 

[Substantial form]

I just got back from visits at Pittsburgh, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and UC San Diego. I'll try and say a bit about what I thought of each.

 

Pittsburgh: It's more or less my dream school, so I was really happy to be there. I had heard some rumors of climate issues there, but I was really happy with what I could tell of the environment. (Which isn't to say that climate issues definitely don't exist.) I got along well with many grad students, and I'm really hoping to get in off the waitlist. I got a great impression from all the faculty I talked to, and asking some of their advisees about working relationships, I was surprised by the amount of energy the faculty put into advising. So overall it seemed great. Pittsburgh is also a surprisingly nice city.

I didn't apply to U.Pitt, but I've been to Pittsburgh and I think it's the most awesome city I've been to in the US. Cheap living, great food, good public transportation, beautiful city, and nice people.