<p>I know that universities have organized programs for prospective undergrads to visit, but are there similar things for prospective grad students? I mean things like campus tours and sitting in on grad courses. I’m sure that particular faculty members in the department you are applying to may be willing to meet with a prospective student on an individual basis. I am asking because I may want to spend next year’s spring break and part of the summer visiting a few prospective grad schools before applying. In particular, Penn, Cornell, and Chicago.</p>
<p>There are a significant number of graduate programs (including schools like Penn, Cornell, and Chicago) who, if you’re a highly competitive graduate candidate and you’ve applied to their program, will fly you out to their school from wherever you are, will put you up in a hotel, and will wine you, dine you, and spend an entire weekend attempting to convince you and other candidates that you need to attend their school. Not all schools do this, and not even the very best candidates get invited to all the candidate weekends that go on, but it’s sure fun when you do get to go. =)</p>
<p>The difference between undergraduate admissions and graduate admissions is that all of the administrative admission stuff for graduate school is handled through the individual academic departments. So essentially, any prospective student activities that go on for grad school applicants will be handled at the department level. If you visit grad schools, I’d recommend taking a campus tour with all the undergrad prospectives just to get a look at the school and then dropping by the department during business hours and asking if they’ve got any suggestions for getting a lay of the land and getting some info about the program (It’d probably also be a good idea to call the department in advance… they might have suggestions for classes to drop by, or professors to meet with).</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>