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Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:53 am
by transparent_silvery
Would anyone who's been accepted already post the open house dates here, for both physics and astro and some other relevant disciplines? Thanks much.

I'll start it.

UC Santa Cruz, Astro: Mar 5-6

Ohio State U, Astro: Feb 27-28, Mar 12-13

Yale, Astro: Mar 22-24

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:56 am
by transparent_silvery
In particular, I would appreciate it if you can give me the following open house dates:

Berkeley, Physics
Stanford, Physcs
UCSB, Physics
Caltech, Astro
UCSD, Physics
:D

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:49 am
by r2d2
I know that for Berkeley its April 2-3. I visited Berkeley in early January and thats what they told me... dunno if its official

and for Cornell its March 9-10th

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:21 pm
by lxhrk9
UIUC is also March 9-10
NYU is March 23
Austin is Feb 22-24
UCSD is April 3-4

(*all for Physics)

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:36 pm
by TakeruK
Here's what I know!

University of Arizona, Planetary Sciences/LPL: Feb 23-24
Caltech, GPS: March 1-2

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 6:06 pm
by InquilineKea
Yale G&G: Feb. 10-11.

Chicago Geophysical: They invited me over for Feb. 28-Feb. 29, but these dates are different from those I know from someone else.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:47 pm
by cabriner
CMU (Physics): March 23/24.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:50 pm
by annaboolio
Lol totally doubt anyone else here applied but:

Northwestern- Earth and Planetary Sci- 3/1-3/3

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 8:24 pm
by King Vitamin
UCSB Physics is April 2nd,
U Washington Physics is March 2-3

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 1:58 am
by lsaldana
Yale: Physics and Applied Physics - March 30-31 (from website)
SUNY - Stony Brook: Physics - March 18-19

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:47 pm
by Avocado_number
Anyone knows Harvard's open house date?

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:19 pm
by whales
Harvard Physics is April 2nd, same as UCSB (according to a UCSB prof)

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:24 pm
by King Vitamin
UC Boulder has two: March 8-10 and April 1-3.

Funny, they have two, but they both conflict with so many others!

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:07 am
by TakeruK
Cornell Astro & Space Sciences: Probably March 9-10 (the letter says it's still tentative and students are free to visit whenever they want as well)

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:01 pm
by ultraballer2000
TakeruK wrote:Cornell Astro & Space Sciences: Probably March 9-10 (the letter says it's still tentative and students are free to visit whenever they want as well)
Attend the visiting weekend! We've got awesome stuff planned.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:00 pm
by King Vitamin
It looks like Harvard is April 2-3rd (so I guess you could go to UCSB's and take a midnight flight?)

MIT: April 4th-5th

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:39 pm
by SAL
University of Michigan (engineering departments)-March 8-10

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 1:31 pm
by sarthorks
Princeton Physics: 25-27 March 2012

(this is from their website:http://physics.princeton.edu/indico/con ... ?confId=13 )

In fact the page mentions that "Registration will open on Monday February 20, 2012." This probably means the offers will be out by then..

----------------------

Chicago Physics: Friday, March 30th, 2012.

(They expect most visitors to arrive one day earlier.)

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:49 pm
by King Vitamin
r2d2 wrote:I know that for Berkeley its April 2-3. I visited Berkeley in early January and thats what they told me... dunno if its official
It looks like now Berkeley's Physics open house is April 5-6.

Caltech Physics is March 29-30 (looks like I'm not visiting Chicago...)

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:59 am
by Avocado_number
Does anyone know Harvard astro open house date??

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:42 pm
by transparent_silvery
What is the date for Stanford Physics? :)

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:00 pm
by TakeruK
Washington astronomy is March 29-31 but funding is only available first-come, first-served due to limited funds. And only $300 towards airfare is covered.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 2:41 am
by transparent_silvery
International students: do you apply for a B-1 (business) or B-2 (sightseeing) visa for open house?

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 3:50 pm
by luftbahnfahrer
University of New Mexico (physics) is March 23-24.

Update:
University of British Columbia (physics) is also March 23-24.

Bummer. Which one to attend?!?!?!

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:59 pm
by theschlossian
According to the Stanford Physics Department receptionist, the Stanford Physics visiting days are going to be

March 27-28

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:09 pm
by aravi
King Vitamin wrote:UC Boulder has two: March 8-10 and April 1-3.

Funny, they have two, but they both conflict with so many others!
I just got a notification from Boulder saying that no decision has been made on my application and that they would let me know by next week. If I do get admission, I think I would really like to visit. I don't think I can make it the first open house at this rate. I cannot make it to the second open house either due to conflicts with others as mentioned by King Vitamin. To those who have received admission already, 1) how much do they cover in travel expenses? and 2) do they accomodate visits at other times? if so, do they still cover it?

Thanks.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:13 pm
by InquilineKea
Just out of curiosity - do any of you go to schools that schedule visits that purposefully avoid open houses just so that they can bombard individual applicants with personal attention?

(since I know that this is definitely the case for both UChicago Geophysical Sciences and Brown Geological Sciences). This is most likely far rarer in Physics/Astro though, if it ever happens.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:42 pm
by WhoaNonstop
No open houses at William & Mary. None at Virginia. All the other schools I applied to had open houses.

-Riley

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:57 pm
by kangaroo
InquilineKea wrote:Just out of curiosity - do any of you go to schools that schedule visits that purposefully avoid open houses just so that they can bombard individual applicants with personal attention?

(since I know that this is definitely the case for both UChicago Geophysical Sciences and Brown Geological Sciences). This is most likely far rarer in Physics/Astro though, if it ever happens.
Image

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:01 pm
by InquilineKea
eh, it can be useful information for other people, especially those who might consider applying to the geophysical sciences (which, *cough*, tends to value physics majors over its own majors).

Besides, this level of personal attention was given to every prospective applicant in those departments - not just myself.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:02 pm
by cabriner
aravi wrote:
King Vitamin wrote:UC Boulder has two: March 8-10 and April 1-3.

Funny, they have two, but they both conflict with so many others!
I just got a notification from Boulder saying that no decision has been made on my application and that they would let me know by next week. If I do get admission, I think I would really like to visit. I don't think I can make it the first open house at this rate. I cannot make it to the second open house either due to conflicts with others as mentioned by King Vitamin. To those who have received admission already, 1) how much do they cover in travel expenses? and 2) do they accomodate visits at other times? if so, do they still cover it?

Thanks.
Not sure about (2), but I just got in there last Wednesday. They cover your hotel, most meals while you're there, and up to $400 of airfare and other travel costs (you fly into Denver and it's a 1 hour shuttle/bus ride into Boulder, which is another $30-$50). I can't make the second open house (it conflicts with the APS meeting in Atlanta), so I signed up to go for the first one, but plane tickets were expensive on such late notice (I'm paying an extra $100 out of pocket, and my plane out of Denver leaves at 12:01 AM.)

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:36 am
by aravi
cabriner wrote:Not sure about (2), but I just got in there last Wednesday. They cover your hotel, most meals while you're there, and up to $400 of airfare and other travel costs (you fly into Denver and it's a 1 hour shuttle/bus ride into Boulder, which is another $30-$50). I can't make the second open house (it conflicts with the APS meeting in Atlanta), so I signed up to go for the first one, but plane tickets were expensive on such late notice (I'm paying an extra $100 out of pocket, and my plane out of Denver leaves at 12:01 AM.)
Thanks for the information, cabriner. Since your offer didn't say anything about my question (2), I will ask them directly sometime soon. I can totally understand about the cost and inconvenient times due to the short notice. For example, the ticket costs nearly $750 now for the first open house if I hypothetically fly from Buffalo, NY (the closest major USA airport from Toronto, Canada), which is really >> $400. Of course, I have to first get to Buffalo too. Crazy!

I hope you have a good time at the open house. :D

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:42 am
by TakeruK
InquilineKea wrote:Just out of curiosity - do any of you go to schools that schedule visits that purposefully avoid open houses just so that they can bombard individual applicants with personal attention?

(since I know that this is definitely the case for both UChicago Geophysical Sciences and Brown Geological Sciences). This is most likely far rarer in Physics/Astro though, if it ever happens.
Do you mean if we would prefer visiting as part of an Open House (if the school has one) or by yourself, to get the personal attention? I'll interpret and answer your question this way :)

I did individual visits for Canadian MSc programs 2 years ago and Open Houses for PhD programs this year. Balancing everything, I prefer visiting during Open House times if possible. I liked being able to meet other prospective students since they are potentially future classmates. It's also fun to compare their opinions too. Also, during an Open House, everybody is in "open house" mindset so it's a lot easier to schedule a whole bunch of meetings with profs and current students. Especially if the school already had an open house but you ended up visiting at another time, people may be "fatigued" from spending all the energy on visiting students before. Finally, on a purely cosmetic/personal level, although you may get special attention being the only visiting student, it's much more cost effective for the school to set up events for a larger number of visiting students, so you might get to go to nicer places, etc. And, it's nice to not have the attention purely on you all the time if there are other students around.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:13 pm
by Dreaded Anomaly
University of Maryland, College Park: March 30-31. Come visit us!

Also, since no one told me last year and I would have liked to know: the current grad students usually throw a party for the newly admitted students on the Saturday night of the visit. Don't schedule your return flight for 7pm on Saturday like I did...

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:17 pm
by transparent_silvery
Anyone knows about johns Hopkins?

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:32 pm
by alphanumeric
JHU's open house was before the march meeting, some time ago. I'll be there next week, however, on a visit. Are you deciding between UCSD and JHU, too? It's a really tough call for me so far...

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:50 pm
by transparent_silvery
alphanumeric:

I actually like UCSC or UCSB better, however Ohio is offering me more money (in terms of living cost, since UCSC and UCSB grad housing is $1000 and $800 respectively). Financial details of UCSD and JHU are not out yet but I also expect them to offer me more.

So it's a tough call for me, since, if I go to a school with more money, maybe I can go home twice a year.

Actually, is that possible, and will that cause my boss to dislike me? An important person to me, back home, is not in very good condition. I'd like to see him twice a year.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:06 pm
by bfollinprm
Going home for Christmas (December 15-Jan 5th-ish) is totally expected, and it's possible to also take a week or two off at the beginning of summer. That'd be it though for vacation time.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:16 pm
by transparent_silvery
i feel relieved to hear that taking a short summer vacation is acceptable.

Re: Open House Dates

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:01 am
by alphanumeric
If I'd been in at UCSB I wouldn't have thought twice about JHU or UCSD. Cheers to you on that one. JHU has been extremely good with correspondence with me thus far, and offered great finances, considering the cost of living there. Depends heavily on what you want to wind up doing, of course...