GSA to meet professor ?

[columbia09]

A of my prospective professors will be at GSA this year and asked if I was going. I don't know much about it, is there a fee to enter ? I'm debating whether I should go or not. It's in Baltimore which is a 6-7 hr drive from me and I'll probably have to get a hotel since my professors will be there on different days. Will I gain anything if I go and meet them? Two are from UT Austin which is a school I would really like to attend but it's going to be an uphill battle since this is my second time applying.  

[hippyscientist]

This is totally up to you and it's difficult for us to answer. You need to balance the benefits of going to GSA (will you learn anything other than just meeting prospective professors?) with the costs (both time and money) to you. If money isn't an issue, I would suggest going as it could be beneficial to you to see your prospective POIs in action, plus learn about some current research going on in your field. On the other hand, most, if not all of us, have to consider financial implications. Only you can decide whether the positives outweigh the time and money costs.

As for your attendance affecting your acceptance chances, it probably won't effect anything, but it may give you a better sense of the POIs and how their work is received in the wider field. 

[GeoDUDE!]

It depends. I got in to a school probably because I met a POI at AGU. The thing is though I was at AGU because I was presenting, and he wasn't a POI that I knew about until I met him: we had about an hour chat and he ended up telling me to apply. 

If you are going to GSA just to meet POIs, I would skip it. If you are going there for research reasons, then that is a good reason to go.  Though it might help if you are memorable and you have some deficiency in your application. 

[TakeruK]

GSA and other conferences (e.g. AGU) are great places to meet the current faculty, postdocs and graduate students from programs you are applying to. When I go to similar conferences, I regularly get approached by people applying to my school and I'm happy to tell them about what grad student life here is like. 

So, if you are just asking "Will it help me to go to GSA?", the answer is yes, it will make a difference.

However, if you are asking "Is it worth it?" then it really depends on how much money you have to spare. Personally, I would not go to a conference on my own money and not present. There is certainly a registration fee for GSA (and every other conference). The link is here: http://community.geosociety.org/gsa2015/registration. Conferences cost in the $300-$600 range, but if you are able to get GSA student membership, it can be a lot less. And as you already said, hotels and food and travel costs will add up too.

I think if you are attending and not presenting, it's also a little odd. Often, if a professor is talking to you, they will ask about your presentation and want to see your poster if you have one. It might come off a little strange if you said that you aren't presenting!

Whenever I attend these conferences, it costs about $1000-$1500 per trip (paid by my supervisor). You might be able to do it for under $300 if you only stay for one day, and maybe $500 for 2 days. I don't have that kind of money to just travel to a conference to see POIs so I didn't do this (I did attend conferences where my supervisors paid for me to present my work though). I know one student that won a $1500 award from his department at the end of his junior year so he used that money to attend one of the conferences prior to grad school applications. Also, sometimes students will go on their own dime if the location is close enough that it's just a commute (so they only have to pay registration fees out of pocket).

Overall, it's up to you whether or not you are willing (or able) to spend this amount of money for something that will make a marginal difference, in my opinion.

[magnetite]

It depends. I got in to a school probably because I met a POI at AGU. The thing is though I was at AGU because I was presenting, and he wasn't a POI that I knew about until I met him: we had about an hour chat and he ended up telling me to apply. 

Did you have much success getting responses from POIs outside of conferences? I've only gotten a few myself, so for most programs I'm applying to, as of right now it'll be without having any dialogue with any professors.

How did you go about finding people to talk with at AGU? Was the encounter with the POI you mentioned just a chance encounter, or were you actively looking for people doing research in the field you're interested in? I ask because I've been to LPSC but didn't do much networking. I'll be going to AGU and I'm wondering how hard it will be finding potential POIs suitable to my interests at such a large event.

[GeoDUDE!]

Did you have much success getting responses from POIs outside of conferences? I've only gotten a few myself, so for most programs I'm applying to, as of right now it'll be without having any dialogue with any professors.

Yes, both cycles all my POIs responded to me from cold emails.. but this also might be the case because my specific subfield is starving for grad students and there are very few people who the proper mathematical and computational background required to really get through a research program like this at the undergraduate level.

 

 

How did you go about finding people to talk with at AGU? Was the encounter with the POI you mentioned just a chance encounter, or were you actively looking for people doing research in the field you're interested in? I ask because I've been to LPSC but didn't do much networking. I'll be going to AGU and I'm wondering how hard it will be finding potential POIs suitable to my interests at such a large event.

It depends, some of them I asked beforehand if we could meet. Some people I just went up to their poster / after talk and introduced myself. If i didn't have a substantive question I didn't talk to them. I have also been introduced to people through colleagues/advisor ect. They release the program beforehand, so plan your days! Mostly I searched the AGU catalog to see if they were going to be there beforehand. 

 

[surfgirl87]

Did you have much success getting responses from POIs outside of conferences? I've only gotten a few myself, so for most programs I'm applying to, as of right now it'll be without having any dialogue with any professors.

How did you go about finding people to talk with at AGU? Was the encounter with the POI you mentioned just a chance encounter, or were you actively looking for people doing research in the field you're interested in? I ask because I've been to LPSC but didn't do much networking. I'll be going to AGU and I'm wondering how hard it will be finding potential POIs suitable to my interests at such a large event.

I have always cold emailed the POIs I have wanted to work for.  I find the person at the institution I am looking at, research them as much as possible, read a handful of papers they have written (if I haven't read them already...), and then email them.  It has worked pretty successfully for me, what field of Oceanography?  I do Geo, which doesn't seem to be as popular so maybe they respond more?  I have also been pretty lucky in regards to POIs and graduate admissions recently.

[idiochromatic]

Late to the party, but I met all of my potential PIs at GSA or AGU the year I was applying. I disagree that there's a stigma to going and not presenting (I was working in an unrelated field for 1.5 years at the time of my application so it wasn't strange that I didn't have research to present); IMO it shows seriousness. The only thing is weighing the costs of attendance; if those are a non-issue, it's always best to build an in-person relationship with a PI.