How to get in touch with the professors?

[stukageschwader]

Greetings!

 

I want to speak with the professors face to face, in order to find a potential Ph.D. thesis adviser.

Well, e-mailing does not work as efficiently as this way. Thus I decided to go to USA this summer.

 

What to do? Where to stay? Do they allow "potential students" in the dorms if we pay the fee?

[Mechanician2015]

 The thing is that you usually need to schedule a meeting with any faculty member. You might want to contact the program director or the administrative assistant/secretary of the department to request help on doing this(if prospective advisors are not replying emails, of course).

 

 As far as I know, any university would welcome a visit, but none that I know will offer acommodation( unless you are invited to an open house/interview).

[stukageschwader]

Mechanician 2015

 

Thank you, this was nice. But, is it a must to go to the campus? Or do you think it'll be beneficial for acceptance?

[madbiochemist]

It's definitely not a requirement to visit campus, particularly if you're an international student. Usually if you're selected for an interview, they'll conduct it over Skype for international students. If you are able to come to campus during interviews, that is always preferable so that you get a feel for what the school is like. It's certainly not necessary to visit before applying, but sending a thoughtful email to a professor you're interested in is advised.

[Mechanician2015]

Mechanician 2015

 

Thank you, this was nice. But, is it a must to go to the campus? Or do you think it'll be beneficial for acceptance?

 

Just as madbiochemist said. It is not a must. You don't have to go to campus( I got 2 admissions to relatively respected programs and I didn't even had skype interviews with them... I guess it depends on how competitive the programs really are, and how your profile stands as compared to the rest).

 

However, based on every source I've seen, (1) visiting campus, (2)meeting faculty in person, (3)contacting them through email or a (4)brief phone interview are all "boosters" of your chances of admission.

 

If you already had planned your summer in the USA, do visit campus. Otherwise, I don't think it's worth the resources. Emails/phone/skype should suffice.