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Road Trip!

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:11 am
by ryan6
So, gre, pgre, applications, visits, recommendations, etc. are all about to get started for me so I decided to take a road trip to visit a bunch of grad schools while I still have a chance. Its mainly for motivation, but also for information about the schools and a good vacation before everything becomes overwhelming.

A friend and I will be driving up from the south-east and spending a whole day in each of New York, Boston, and Pittsburgh. We will be hitting as many universities as we possibly can in a week along the way. These include...

UPenn, Princton, NYU, Columbia, Stony Brook, Yale, Brown, MIT, Harvard, Boston University, University of Pittsburgh

in that order, more or less. There are others I would like to visit (namely Cornell) but are simply too far out the way. But, does anyone have any suggestions of good schools I might be leaving out that are nearby or between the aforementioned ones? Also, does anyone from these schools have suggestions about fun or interesting things to do or see while visiting these schools to get a feel for life there? Or, maybe even a bar/hang out where the grad students like to take a break? This will be my last chance to see some schools before I sign over the next six years of my life to them so I do not want to leave something out and regret it.

Also, I will be documenting the trip and schools with lots of pictures. If the site will benefit from these, I wont mind uploading some. If so, where should I do this? I guess make a physics web log so I can add impressions, comparisons, etc? Or, put them on the school profiles? Or, just dont worry about it?

Re: Road Trip!

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:05 am
by vicente
If you're going to Pittsburgh, you're probably going to be passing through Virginia. If you want a tour of UVA I can show you around.

Re: Road Trip!

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:32 am
by coffeecoffeecoffee
Sounds like fun. When you visit a school, you may want to try to meet with a grad working in a lab that interests you. They will tell you a ton of useful info.

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How to Get Into Grad School, tips from a current Ph.D. student

Re: Road Trip!

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:21 pm
by ryan6
vicente: thanks for the offer. Unfortunately I have to make it from east tennessee to NYC on the first day so I am already pushing the time limit by stopping for UPenn and Princeton. I think stopping by UVA might put me in new york after midnight. This is a shame because I would love to see UVA and University of Maryland. But, I guess I cant see everything.

coffeecoffeecoffee: sounds like a good idea. But, whats the best way to go about doing this? Just walk around the department and find someone willing to give a tour, haha? Or, do grad departments have stuff setup for this kind of thing? Or, just email the grad student directly?

Re: Road Trip!

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:27 am
by coffeecoffeecoffee
ryan6 wrote:coffeecoffeecoffee: sounds like a good idea. But, whats the best way to go about doing this? Just walk around the department and find someone willing to give a tour, haha? Or, do grad departments have stuff setup for this kind of thing? Or, just email the grad student directly?
What I did was email one of the grad students, asking if I could drop by their lab and see what they were working on. Can't guarantee that you will get a response, it depends on the student. But it is a typical request and most people are happy to show off their stuff.

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How to Get Into Grad School, tips from a current Ph.D. student