meeting profs of other fields

[kochac]

So, after being accepted to one of my top programs (*does a little dance*) I've been in contact with the grad director to set up a visit day for me. She just emailed me the schedule yesterday to see if it looks good to me, and generally it does - meetings with profs, tour of the library, lunch with students, sit in on a class. The thing that I was

Comments

[pigfish]

I think you ask them about the program (you dont just want the grad director's opinion!) and about their work (cuz you never know when you might change your mind about your subfield). you can also ask them about the neighborhood, the city, etc. 5 really isn't that many, I've had up to 12.

[brittdreams]

Agreed with the above poster. Five isn't that bad. Pretty such every visiting student in my field meets with all the profs in that section of the dept (which is 6 where I am but I met with 8 on one visit I did). You definitely want to ask about their current research, their graduate students, collegiality in the department, department atmosphere, department activities, why they came there, why they've stayed, what they think of town-gown relations, etc. You ask them these things because you might not have a chance when you're talking research interests with the two profs that you're most interested in working with. Talking to more profs will give you a better feel for the department, the lifestyle there, etc. Oh, and if I were you, I'd try and get together with grad students that night as not everyone can make a lunch.

[kochac]

About getting together with grad students that night - is that something I could/should bring up with the ones I meeting for lunch? I just feel like since the director set up the lunch for me, that's "what she does" so she shouldn't be the one to ask about night activities.

[brittdreams]

A couple of options. 1) You can ask the graduate students at lunch. 2) you can email grad students directly and ask them if they're available that night. if there's a grad student association for the dept, you can try going through them. I know at least in my dept, the grad students tend to roll out the red carpet and join prospective students at dinner, invite them to drinks, etc. If I were going to email students, I'd start with those working with your potential advisor to get the lowdown on life with that advisor/mentor.

Don't count out the director though. Often they can put you in touch with a student. Or they can solicit students to organize and contact you.

[cosmicwonder]

I visited a school before I applied and I was scheduled to talk to 4 profs who had no direct relation to my interests. However, I found their input valuable to my own work. I think you need to keep in mind that even if these profs are not doing work similar to you, a lot of their methods will be useful to you. You should definitely ask them how they see your interests fitting in the program. I'm interested in the history of astronomy and I've had a lot of good feedback from sociologists and historians who study genetics. It has formed a strong basis for comparison and help illuminate aspects of astronomy I probably would not have noticed before.

Good luck!

thanks

[kochac]

Thanks to all the above posters for their input - you gave me some good ideas of questions, and I'm sure they'll have questions for me, too. I do think I can handle meeting five in a day, I was just afraid somehow that we'd have awkward silence somehow. And the meetings with profs in less related fields are at the very beginning of the day, which somehow seemed even more intimidating. Now I feel prepared - but still glad I don't have to meet 12 in as many hours!