Top 10 questions to ask on a visit?

[gsams]

I am going to visit Mizzou in about 2 and a half weeks. Staying there for a couple of days. Should I ask specifically to meet the faculty I am most interested in? Should I wait for them to suggest the faculty I can meet? What graduate students should I ask to meet? Would it be beneficial to meet a first/second year and an advanced student based on the fact that they would possibly have different advice?

What have you been told to ask?

I am assuming business casual dress is a requirement? I have already done a few of these and that is what I wore.

Any specific questions you can suggest? I am just so overwhelmed and excited!

[Penelope Higgins]

Definitely ask to meet anyone you are interested in. Departments make an effort to match you with appropriate professors, but feel free to add anyone to the list (but don't be offended if they are not around that weekend). In terms of grad students, you want (1) to meet those who work with the faculty you anticipate working with, and (2) to meet enough people so you have a sense of the mood/style of the department. You'll have no trouble doing this - there will be lunches, dinners, drinks etc. and often you'll be paired with people who are a good fit for you - ie other people in your subfield or (if applicable) geographic area.

I am going to visit Mizzou in about 2 and a half weeks. Staying there for a couple of days. Should I ask specifically to meet the faculty I am most interested in? Should I wait for them to suggest the faculty I can meet? What graduate students should I ask to meet? Would it be beneficial to meet a first/second year and an advanced student based on the fact that they would possibly have different advice?

What have you been told to ask?

I am assuming business casual dress is a requirement? I have already done a few of these and that is what I wore.

Any specific questions you can suggest? I am just so overwhelmed and excited!

[beebly]

Many programs will ask you which professors you want to talk with and set up meetings for you two, and if they don't, you should ask them to do this. They'll also usually have a current student in your subfield host you, so you can ask that person questions, as well as the students you meet at the lunches and the evening parties the department arranges during the visit. In general, you are being sold the program at these events, so if you want to talk to anyone, you should just ask and the department will try to produce that person for questioning, even if he happens to be in the depths of some pre-historic bog in Australia at the moment. (Usually, if someone is actually out of town, they will schedule a phone call for you or give you an email address.)

There seems to be some kind of ancient oral tradition that passes on the set of expected questions to prospective students each year. They include, for professors: what are you currently working on, what are your grad students working on, will you be around next year (and beyond) for me, what classes will you be teaching... For grad students: what are you working on, how do you like it here, how supportive is the department, how high is morale, do most people finish mostly on time, how much do you interact with your professors or advisors, how freely does the funding (and the liquor) flow, what are the sectarian divisions among the faculty and do they affect your life (this will vary by subfield), how well are people like me (insert your particular issue) treated here, does your health plan cover my future (or present) offspring...

I attended several of these open houses the year I applied and thought they ranged from mostly to totally useless (the free trip was nice though). You probably already know the answers to most of these questions, and the others don't really have clear answers (unless a department is truly atrocious and crushes all its students so that 100% of your sample will reply that they are miserable, morale is low, and everyone is on the first train out). The meetings with professors can be awkward though if you aren't armed with some time-filler.

The most useful and applicable piece of information you can possibly acquire at these events is how socially and intellectually tolerable the other grad students are and how much you want to spend the next few years talking and hanging out with them. Try to engage them in substantive conversations and see if they can carry on a discussion that interests you. Also talk to them about non-academic matters. Find out if they're narrow partisans, or mean-spirited jerks, or pompous self-promoters, or any other sort of people who are unlikely to be be helpful or pleasant. You might try the same with the professors if you feel up to it--suggest some of the arguments you're considering to them and get their thoughts. Some professors are very good at answering the kinds of bureaucratic questions that prospectives typically come armed with, but much less good at helping you develop your ideas, which you will discover too late.

[Bobb Cobb]

I find that when there is an awkward silence the best thing to do is to discuss the flux capacitor in detail. This always fills the time until your next meeting.

[gsams]

Bobb,

Thanks for the tip! LOL

Beebly,

I'm not staying with a grad student at this point. It's an unofficial visit with the department, so I booked a hotel. I am not driving all the way there alone, which is good because it will be a looooong drive. Thanks for all the ideas! Very helpful! I am hoping to make the most out of it and looking even more forward to it now that my official funding has arrived.

Penelope,

Thanks for the advice :-D