cathmom Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 What do you recommend? If one visits before applying, one knows whether or not one would actually want to go there, and so could save time and energy and money on applying. OTOH, if one visits after acceptance, one knows one hasn't wasted time, money, and energy visiting a place that was never an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Dd1 was given a full-blown expenses-paid weekend visit by every grad school that accepted her,. Even the USNWR #2-ranked program (which accepts a ridiculously low percentage of applicants) flew every accepted student who wanted to participate out for a weekend. FWIW, she's in engineering. I don't know how usual providing an expenses-aid visit is, or how program-specific the business of providing this visit is. She does not know of any students who visited grad schools before being accepted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Dd1 was given a full-blown expenses-paid weekend visit by every grad school that accepted her,. Even the USNWR #2-ranked program (which accepts a ridiculously low percentage of applicants) flew every accepted student who wanted to participate out for a weekend. FWIW, she's in engineering. That was my experience as well, though it was *gulp* 17 years ago, so things may have changed dramatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Well, humanities may be different. I visited on my own dime after being accepted. I've never heard of a free visit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I too was provided frees visits to two graduate schools which had accepted me. That was for Chemistry back in the eighties. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 When and if you do visit, make sure to schedule a meeting with the professor or researcher at the school who you most hope/want to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I was provided free visits, too, in engineering. For me, grad school wasn't about the university, but about the professor with whom I wanted to do my research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I too was provided frees visits to two graduate schools which had accepted me. That was for Chemistry back in the eighties. Regards, Kareni Exactly the same for me. Signed, Another Karen :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Can I have a non-science answer please LOL?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I would wait. My experience with Ph.D. programs (social sciences) has been that not only is it standard to pay expenses for admitted students to visit, but that admitted students' weekend is also a good time to visit. Unlike undergraduate programs, graduate programs (as distinct from professional programs) generally don't have a dedicated admissions office, just a beleaguered faculty chair and maybe a staff person to help, so if you show up at another time people -- meaning professors and other grad students -- are not necessarily going to be prepared or have time available to talk with you. Even in a department that doesn't have a specific admitted students program, IMO if you have already been admitted people are going to be much more willing to carve out time for you and the conversations are likely to be more substantive than if your admission is still hypothetical. ETA: All that said, as a pp said, if there is a particular professor that a student really wants to work with, contacting that person even before applying can be very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photo Ninja Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 My dd has submitted her grad school applications and is waiting to hear. She has not visited any of the schools she applied to. It is not usual to visit before applying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Law schools don't do free visits neither do med schools as far as I am aware (that's partly science, sorry). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reesegirl Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 When my oldest dd was a chemistry major and applied to grad schools all 4 that she was accepted to offered to pay for her visit and meet professors. I think she visited 2 universities before she made her decision. The schools paid for everything. My youngest dd is graduating from college in the spring and is planning on going a to physician's assist program later this year. She is looking at 2 schools and we have had to pay for her vistits for interviews. She applied to a program in Tennessee in the fall, made the interview stage, and after Christmas she flew out for an interview and it was her first look at this campus. She was accepted! It becomes kind of spendy if you have several schools to which your child has applied and have to go on several trips. It just seems that if you are looking into a phd program you become their employee and they are willing to pay for the up front cost to get the student to chose their school....a professional program such as law school, PA school or med school your child has to pay to interview and visit. Is that what most of you have found? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 I applied to doctoral programs in music, and my visits (after being accepted) were paid for by the schools. I think it's pretty common for departments to have a few days when they bring in all their accepted students--ours had talks by faculty and grad students, and there was time to meet individually with professors (the current grad students always like the free food involved in this :) I don't think that masters or professional programs will generally pay for you to visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 ... the current grad students always like the free food involved in this :) My recollection is that grad students like any free food! Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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