Meeting with prof while on campus tour

curmudgeon
Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:17:49 +0000

Your mileage will (probably) vary. (I will be using my D as a data point. If that offends, please read no further). At probably half the schools D visited she was captured by an enthusiastic bio or chem prof. Of course, you have to put yourself in a position to get captured , like maybe in the hall with all the labs. And it helps to be genuinely interested in the subject matter presented. D would just be reading the poster presentations about student research and voila! Out pops a head from a doorway with a “Kinda cool, huh?”. Dad would wander off and sometimes an invite to come back at a particular hour would be offered to D. It was probably (IMO) the most meaningful part of D’s “recruitment” to the school she attends. Her recent national scholarship was won by research in the lab of one of these incredibly enthused professors.

I do agree that barging in anywhere would not be cool and IMO “canned” anything is not as good as “fresh”. Again, others may have had different experiences . I have but one data point and she is an accomplished conversationalist. It may not work this way with others.