Open House and Recruitment Weekend questions/experiences

[samman1994]

Hello everyone,

I have recently gotten an invitation for an open house at one school, and invited to a recruitment weekend for another. Now the open house is because I was accepted into the program, but the recruitment weekend is sent to everyone who applied, whether they got accepted or not. My question is 3 fold:

1) What is the difference between the 2? Is it the same event with just a different name? For both events it appears I will meeting with faculty and seeing the school, so no real difference there. However, since I have not been accepted to the recruitment weekend school, it does make me think this event will influence my chances of getting accepted (or rejected) if they like me or not. Is that so? Or in other words, they are trying to find out who to "recruit" during their "recruitment weekend".

2) How does one dress for this type of event. My prior PI stated that you no one will really look negatively on you for being too dressed up, but you can be looked negatively upon if you are not dressed up enough. My personal assumption is it is like any casual but professional event, and should be formal casual. Basically a simple collared button up with nice jeans and dress shoes. Now I know each event is different, but I was curious if I could get your opinions on prior experiences during such events, what you saw, and hopefully I can gauge based off that how I should dress and prepare for the occasion. 

3) Based off of question 2, how does on prepare for this type of event? Now I assume the givens, find out the research of your faculty members and do some research on them and the school/program itself (although I had already done all this prior to applying to the school anyways). Is there anything outside the usual stuff I should look into? I had emailed my POIs prior, and at both of these schools, they had both helped me through the application process and I did discuss their research via email with them as well. Should I also email them and tell them I'm coming to the school this and that date?

If this does influence my admissions process (whether I get in or not), then I want to be able to put my best foot forward and be as prepared as possible. So I'm trying to get as much information about this event as possible. In general, any experiences you've had would also be greatly appreciated. I've never been to something like this, and all my friends are in the same boat I am, so none of us really know what to expect.

Thank you as always!

Edited December 23, 2017 by samman1994

[TakeruK]

1) Names of these events don't matter. You will have schools using all sorts of names for basically the same thing: you spend 1-2 days at the school meeting faculty and students (sometimes postdocs too) and there are likely some number of social events as well as lab tours, campus tours, etc. You'll receive information about the research that is going on, how grad student life works, the academic program/requirements and basically everything you might want to know. You'll have one on one or small group meetings, you may attend some lectures/classes/talks, and some of the info may be given to the whole group in a "presentation" type setting.

In addition, even though many places still use the "weekend" name, most of my visits weren't even on a weekend. 

These events do influence the school's decision. They are usually called "Recruitment Weekends" because they want to recruit you but that doesn't mean that what you do will affect your chances of admission. The other names generally used are: Recruitment/Open House/Visiting/Interview/Prospective Student etc. Don't be fooled by the name though, even if it's not called an "interview" weekend, treat every interaction as an interview.

I would say that this is true even when you are already accepted. In the academic (and the professional) world, you should always put your best foot forward in every single interaction. Even if you have been admitted to the school, people you meet will eventually be evaluating you on other things, such as quals, candidacy, TA assignments, fellowships, your instructors. In the long term, they may be your reviewers etc. This goes for interactions with everyone, not just faculty. Interactions with current students, admin staff (especially admin staff) and other prospective students. When I watch our prospective students come, I sometimes see them treat everyone with respect but not so much their fellow prospective students. But they forget that the other students they are visiting with could be their classmates and labmates next year! And in the long term, for those in academia, these will be your future colleagues---the people that peer review your papers, conference submissions etc. 

2) I agree with your PI. The most common dress for male scientist is something like a polo or button up top, and nice jeans or khakis. So yeah, something you said is very common. So common that for one small visit, the only other man visiting was wearing exactly what I was wearing (blue polo, khaki shorts). Wear what will make you comfortable too, since these are long days. Most people seem to get the memo on this but sometimes they have a really old/ratty backpack to go with their smart casual look. Try to get a "smart" backpack or a messenger bag or something. 

3) Yes, but they probably already know. It's still a good thing to email them and they might even have specific suggestions for you (no need to ask though but emailing about the visit is a good way to allow them a way to bring it up if they want). To prepare, definitely be ready to describe your past research, current work and future interests. I remember that you have a few projects already completed, so rehearse ahead of time what you want to say so that you can describe an entire project's worth of work in a concise and interesting manner. I have heard many prospective students give long-winded or confusing or meandering answers (e.g. interrupt themselves in the middle of an explanation because they forgot to say something critical earlier, or starting at a level that is way too general or way too specific). Don't forget to think about the big picture: people are much more able to engage with you if you are speaking at a level that interests them and when they engage with you they are much more likely to think your work/ideas are interesting. Also come up with intelligent questions to ask about their research and their school. Have at least one question to ask so that you don't seem disinterested. I find it helpful to have one prepared because the days are long and tiring and you might not have one at the ready during an interview even if you are interested. There may be some information you might really want to know as well so I find that writing it down before hand helps.

A tip that works for me: I would describe myself as an introvert more than an extrovert in the sense that interactions with people tire me out and while I have lots of energy for chatting with people and while I do enjoy talking to other people, these "weekends" really tire me out. So I plan for down time before and after the trip (not like taking days off, but planning for quiet evenings). I still do the same for conferences and other work visits/trips. 

Finally a few random do's/dont's:

Do:

- Keep some snacks/energy bars on you. You should be well fed but sometimes the long days drain you and a quick boost of energy in the middle of the afternoon. I personally like Clif bars for this because they come in tasty flavours, but more importantly, they don't break into crumbs everywhere, they are soft, and it's easy to just eat half or 1/3 of a bar if you just need a small boost. 

- Sometimes you get a schedule where you are constantly in one meeting after another, back to back. If you aren't getting any time between meetings at all because people are escorting you from one meeting place to the next, if you know for sure where the next office is, just say you thanks for the offer but that you need to use the bathroom first. This gives you a chance to take 30 seconds for yourself between meetings.

- Do bring a notepad and pen to the meetings to jot down important notes (e.g. the prof says you should read a paper, then jot down the citation). You can also refer to it for brief notes and to ask your question. But don't be constantly looking at it. (i.e. don't just read your Qs off it and don't take notes on everything they say like you might do in a classroom). It's okay to have it out but not use it at all. 

- Do let the visit organizers know about any needs you may have. For example, dietary restrictions. They will probably ask you first though. Also, at some point they will tell you about the plans for accomodations. Usually it's either hotel rooms or you're staying with a grad student. If it's a hotel, you may be sharing rooms. If you have any special needs for rooming arrangements, bring them up in an appropriate way. 

- Be nice and friendly to everyone. Just worth saying again.

Don'ts:

- Don't be arrogant or try to one-up the other visiting students (especially if this is a pre-admission visit). Resist the urge to feel and treat the other visiting applicants as your competitors. In group settings (your meals and social events will likely be in this format), treat everyone with mutual respect! 

- Don't talk about how much you want to go to some other school instead of this one (seems obvious but every year there is always one person that does this!). When you're visiting a program, focus on that program! Of course, you will likely be asked where else you are applying and you should answer honestly. The best response is something like answering their question about where you have applied and/or visited and then either just stop there (i.e. don't gush about the other schools) or bring it back to their school to say something that interests you about this place. 

- Don't be distractedly looking at your phone/computer/etc during these events. Your main focus/priority should be on the events, barring any emergencies that may come up!

[samman1994]

Thank you!