The Open House Experience Thread

[math_applicant]

Hi guys and gals!

It's the end of March, time for many school visits. Please share your experience at a school you already visited or will visit soon, the important points you took notice of, the factors that helped you form an opinion, the good questions that were asked and your insights about the general environment at the department and the graduate student community (competitive, friendly, so on), etc etc. This will help many of us (and of the future generations, hi grand son ) during this decision-making phase even if the info mentioned doesn't directly relate to their schools.

I, for one, wouldn't be able to attend the OSU open house and so would very much appreciate it to hear all about it.

Good luck for everyone, especially those who are still waiting to hear from schools!

[is2718]

I just finished visiting Brown (typing this on my phone in the airport). My experience was very positive: the grad students and the professors were very friendly and sociable. As I had already accepted their offer, I asked more focused questions about quals, getting an advisor, coursework, etc. It's good to know if you need to spend some time in the summer preparing for quals and the like. I hung out with the Grad students and asked about housing, the best profs to work with, and living in Providence. I felt like making connections early on made me more comfortable with my decision to move here in the fall. I also met with one of the profs I want to work with, which is always a good idea. More specifically, the Brown math dept is a relatively small building that is about more home-y than you might find at a bigger school like UCLA. Oh, it's also good to note that the administrative staff are very nice, and the post-seminar pastries are delicious.

I'm glad I accepted Brown's offer.

[rmg512]

I already talked about my open house experience at OSU (Ohio) with math_applicant, but I'll post my feelings here.

I absolutely loved my visit to OSU. It seems like it's a great community of graduate students and mathematicians, and, though I didn't meet many graduate students and professors, I didn't meet anyone I didn't like. The possible first year cohort was a blast to hang out with; if you and I both end up going, I think we'll all enjoy each other's company, have Friday outings and the like. The campus is HUGE and pretty. The 7 story math tower is marvelous. I also met a prospective advisor; he was VERY excited to work with me, and if I go there, I know it will be a very positive experience working with him.
I was told that it's an environment of collaboration; there are student-led "reading" seminars in algebraic geometry, ergodic theory, and other disciplines, even! Also, the qual situation is relatively easy (Baby Rudin and abstract algebra at a similar difficulty, the algebra qual considered the easier of the two), but the coursework is considered pretty tough. Teaching duties: they typically give "preference" to first years in that they get two classes to teach of the same section, relatively close to the math building, of first year calculus or a similarly easy course.

Hope this helps some people!

[123456]

How was UIUC and Northwestern's open house?

[ApplMathProfile]

Edited

[torelli]

Has anybody here been to UMD's open house? Feel free to PM me about your experience if you like.

[dollar]

Did anyone go to the UCSD open house? I would be grateful for any impressions!

[jdesilva]

How was UIUC and Northwestern's open house?

UIUC's open house was great! If you're looking for friendly people, but still a highly ranked school, that's a great place. We had dinner and drinks at the grad director's house the night of and all the current students came. The students were very welcoming to everyone and I forgot to mention we had a pizza party at a grad student's house the night before. Weather was fantastic, super cheap to live there and town is pretty lively (I would think).

[virgo]

Did anyone go to the UCSD open house? I would be grateful for any impressions!

I did and personally I really liked it. Feel free to pm me specific questions.

[dollar]

eh, I didn't really want to go there anyway, was just curious. It's interesting that everyone enjoys every school's open houses though. I wonder if someone went to an open house that they didn't enjoy...

[math_applicant]

It's interesting that everyone enjoys every school's open houses though. I wonder if someone went to an open house that they didn't enjoy...

I wonder the same thing too. Not necessarily didn't enjoy at all, but at least the negative aspects people observed even if they think they can live with.

[Legendre]

eh, I didn't really want to go there anyway, was just curious. It's interesting that everyone enjoys every school's open houses though. I wonder if someone went to an open house that they didn't enjoy...

yep, same here. really enjoyed the open house I attended recently.