Grad School Visit

Hey guys! I have a question for anyone in grad school or who has visited one. If you went to a visit day, did you bring your parents along? I'm wondering because I'll be visiting a school in a few weeks and I'm taking my parents, but I wasn't sure if I should bring them along to the actual visit at the college or whether I should leave them to their own devices while I go.

My parents do help me with paying for school, my dad is nervous about me going out of state for it, and they want to see the school I might go to, so they'll definitely at least go on the trip with me. So, did anyone else bring parents or nah?

hello! i'm in grad school and we are prepping for our "Visiting Day" for potential students next week :)

depending on your school and your program, your visit might be a brief meeting or a multi-day event. i went to a total of 5 visiting days and have been present for tree at my current university and i have never seen a single parent, and nor do i think they belong at a visiting day. Of course they should be there if you feel like you need their support, and if it's like a family trip to your university town that sounds like fun, but I'd strongly advise against bringing them to any official event.

I think bringing them with you on the rip sounds great for your situation, but perhaps they could do things like look around the city for grocery stores, shopping, and other convenience-type things while you're at the actual visit?

Grad school is super exciting! :D

I brought my dad to both my county college and university. He helped me to decide if I wanted to go to the schools and we were able to knock the pro's and con's off each other from both our points of view. Along with him asking questions that I wouldn't have thought of. I think it helps in the long run because your parents know what you like and what you are into, and probably have, themselves gone to school at the university level and will let you know if you will like it there or not...
At the same time, my mom made me forfeit a half scholarship to play lacrosse for a school in a another state bc it was too far....
There are pros and cons to bringing and not bringing, seeking advice or not seeking, if you have a laid back parent that really wants to see you do well I would say go with that parent (not that my mom didn't want to see me do well, she was just way too overprotective at the time. o-o)

thank you both! ill talk to my parents and have them just look around or something. neither of them went to college so even though my mom visited my Alma mater with me, she could only really help when talking with financial aid. but im the first in my family to go further than undergrad so im in an entirely new element here. :(

I am the first generation in my family to go to any sort of college... I wish you good luck though. :3

Last edited on 2016-03-04 at 06:34:22 by Amarathine

i was the first person to go to grad school too, so i know how you feel!
it's scary, but also an amazing adventure!

i'm not sure what your field is, but feel free to pm me with any questions you might have about grad school in general - i've been in for three and a half years now xD

^brit here&
would you mind letting me know what grad school is?
is it equivalent to college? sorry ahah I've heard the term used a lot but never been told what it is. ;]

In America, grad school is where you go after college (university), so you can get your master's degree. :)

yep, like Losteh said. it's graduate school, advanced degrees after getting your bachelor's degree (what is earned in four year colleges). It can refer to either getting a master's degree or a Ph.D.

Ahh okay thank you! It is equivalent is UK's University then ;]

not quite, autumn. (at least not from what I understand from a brief google search? lol)

in the states, "high school" ends at grade 12 (age 18), and then if you continue with school, afterwards comes either a technical school (for trades), or "college/university" which are used interchangeably for the most part despite originally meaning different things.

You can get an associates degree from a college/university in ~2 years, or a bachelors in ~4 years. A masters degree is an additional ~1-3 years on top of a bachelors, and a phd is an additional ~4-7 years on top of a bachelor's degree. and anyone in school for their masters or phd is considered a "grad/graduate student."

educational systems are weird :P