Recruitment Visits?

[PumpkinL]

How has it worked for others when you're going on an interview weekend but have already been admitted?

The visit I'm going on consists of a few people who are already admitted with funding, and then other students who will be being interviewed during the weekend.

While I feel super lucky to be in the former category, I'm having trouble shifting my mind from "interview" to "recruitment."

I know a lot of the particulars are still the same (dress, attitude, etc), but I feel a little odd.

How did this go for others?

Thanks!

Cheers,

PumpkinL

[rising_star]

Honestly, it's awesome, at least in my book. My field basically only does recruitment visits so I have no way to compare interview vs recruitment trips. Make sure you ask the graduate students and your POIs loads of specific questions so you can get a sense of the atmosphere of the department, whether and how you'd fit in with the existing grad students, if the POI's mentoring/advising style fits what you're looking for, how much freedom you'll have in forming your committee, the timeline and time to degree of students (in general and of your POI specifically), housing costs, how far the stipend goes, what people do in the summer, etc. Basically, get down to the brass tacks of what your life will be like a year from now if you're a student in the program, rather than a prospective student. People will understand why you're asking and be honest with you, at least in my experience. Have fun!

[PumpkinL]

36 minutes ago, rising_star said:

Honestly, it's awesome, at least in my book. My field basically only does recruitment visits so I have no way to compare interview vs recruitment trips. Make sure you ask the graduate students and your POIs loads of specific questions so you can get a sense of the atmosphere of the department, whether and how you'd fit in with the existing grad students, if the POI's mentoring/advising style fits what you're looking for, how much freedom you'll have in forming your committee, the timeline and time to degree of students (in general and of your POI specifically), housing costs, how far the stipend goes, what people do in the summer, etc. Basically, get down to the brass tacks of what your life will be like a year from now if you're a student in the program, rather than a prospective student. People will understand why you're asking and be honest with you, at least in my experience. Have fun!

These are some great ideas, thank you! I was focusing more on preparing for being asked questions than to be asking questions, so this was very helpful. These are all questions I have, too!

I'm super excited!!!