Invitations

[aa001]

Originally Posted by aw2129

The visit is mainly for the professor to get a chance to probe your qualifications. They want to see if your interest matches their research or not. Usually the department will figure out afterwards who to give the TA to (ie. those who didn't get an RA after the visit). This was my case @ UW-Madison. Different school may have different policy.

cut to cut again ... ;-)

[dogmatix00]

Hey Everyone,
I am a new member at this forum. This is with regard to EEPHDWANNABEs question about invitations to visit the school. I have also been invited to visit a school for a one-day orientation session (all travel, lodging expenses , etc paid for) next week. (I am also an EE PhD Wannabe, by the way). The email that I got was kinda vague (I was told that I was among the top 5% of applicants and that since I was an international student, they could only offer me an official admit after identifying the proper financial aid package for me). So I am not sure. Though the grad coordinator I spoke to said that they usually invite only people that they have admitted and so she said I had nothing to worry about. I mailed a fellow TMian who had this to say- "I'm told that the purpose of visits for admitted students is for them to "sell" you on the school. Take tours, meet professors and current grad students, learn about the research programs, attend a few classes, etc. Some schools (like Washington, at least for physics) even base their fellowship decisions on who visits and what they think of the student. I guess the thinking is that a student that attends the open house is more serious about attending and saves the school from giving a fellowship to an applicant who is only using them as a safety school and has no plan to attend if they can get in anywhere else. That's just my thought, though."
Anyway, I think you can rest assured that you are definitely among the top applicants and are a very serious contender.
All the best!!

[Dingus]

Originally Posted by aa001

cut to cut again ... ;-)

What does that mean? I wanted to ask you that earlier too. I am puzzled.

[aussieash]

I just contacted Duke and they said invite to the open house on March 10 = being recommended by the ECE department to the Graduate Office for admission. I am yet to hear back about RA/TA/Fellowships.

[bnm]

Quote:
Originally Posted by aa001
cut to cut again ... ;-)



What does that mean? I wanted to ask you that earlier too. I am puzzled.

It means that the concerned person has given a precise explanation for whatever has been asked.....
and aa001 dint want to give his views, so endorsed that explanation.
peace..

PS - Have you seen MTV CUT 2 CUT...

[Dingus]

No, I generally avoid that channel. But what's it on?

[hood203]

Hey all,

I just finished a weekend interview at Penn State for a microbiology/immunology PhD program. I will describe my experiences even though they may differ from CS programs. All travel, hotel and food was paid for. I would guess the total to be around $600 for the roundtrip plane ticket, beautiful hotel, great food and drinks. I arrived Thursday night and the festivities began Friday morning. I, along with 3 other interviewees were driven to campus and attended a research seminar. Then, we had lunch with the current graduate students which gave us an opportunity to hear their point of view. After lunch, we had 5 back-to-back 30 minute interviews with faculty members. After the interviews, we all went to the head of the department's house for dinner with his wife, etc. Saturday morning, we started bright and early with another 5 back-to-back 30 minute interviews with faculty. After interviewing, the head of the department drove us around the city and bought us lunch. At night, we all went to a nice restaurant with graduate students. Sunday morning I flew home.
The interviews were extremely informal, however, all interviewees were dressed business casual. Most of the interviews began with the faculty member asking about my previous research experiences and why I wanted to apply to their program. This conversation lasted approximately 15 minutes. The last 15 minutes usually consisted of the faculty members discussing their research interests. One interviewee did cry because a faculty member challenged her ability to handle the first year of graduate school, considering the fact that she had a few B's and B-'s on her transcript. Luckily, my experiences were great and I only received positive responses. It seemed that most of the faculty were excited to meet the interviewees and tried their best to sell their program. I do feel that if you were offered an interview, you are a shoe-in (as long as you don't make a fool of yourself). I have yet to hear the result of my interview as Penn State has two more interview weekends. Good luck to you all!

[bigredx24x]

@ Hood203: That is great stuff!! Congrats on the PSU invite - Glad you had a great time. I kinda wish I would have applied there just so I 'might have' got the chance to get all that stuff paid for and great food!! Good luck in the rest of the process.

[Dingus]

@hood203: That is a great account of your experiences! Thanks for posting it. All the very best for the grand admit!

Cheers to the future scientist!

Dingus

[ritwik]

Originally Posted by hood203

I would guess the total to be around $600 for the roundtrip plane ticket, beautiful hotel, great food and drinks. I arrived Thursday night and the festivities began Friday morning. I, along with 3 other interviewees were driven to campus and attended a research seminar. Then, we had lunch with the current graduate students which gave us an opportunity to hear their point of view. After lunch, we had 5 back-to-back 30 minute interviews with faculty members. After the interviews, we all went to the head of the department's house for dinner with his wife, etc. Saturday morning, we started bright and early with another 5 back-to-back 30 minute interviews with faculty. After interviewing, the head of the department drove us around the city and bought us lunch. At night, we all went to a nice restaurant with graduate students. Sunday morning I flew home.

Sounds like these interviews are a lot of fun.