Please Let Me In! – How to schmooze at graduate school fairs / open houses

I just got back from New York last night. It was a pretty eventful trip. The point of going there was to attend New York University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences open house. Basically, it's a way for prospective students to ask questions about the program, meet other students (competition), and get face time with the important people: the professors and administration!

My interest was in the Institute of French Studies and Journalism School. Here are a few things I learned while working the tables:

1. Go there a day before to familiarize yourself with the area. This is especially true for out-of-towners. When I did recon, I got lost. I went three blocks in the wrong direction. It's also a good idea because then you can time yourself from the metro/bus stop to the school.
   
2. Wear professional attire. It may sound superficial, but remember: 80% how you look, 20% how you sound, 10% what you say.
   
3. Some schools are more open than others. More popular schools will tend to be less than enthused to see you. They have thousands of applicants, so don't take it personally if they don't want to answer every one of your questions.
   
4. If you meet with someone who is really trying to recruit you, take that time to ask good questions. The questions are VERY important. They will show that you have done your research and are really interested in getting to the "good stuff" of the department.
   
5. Schedule time to sit in a class and/or seminar. At the IFS, I sat in for both. It gave me a very good idea of the relationships between students and professors, other students, and administration.
   
6. Before you got there, you should have made contact with the graduate coordinator. Meet with him or her. Ask questions about what they are looking for in a candidate. Some are very specific, others are open. Take mental notes of where you stand.
   
7. Talk to other students with similar interests. Again, at IFS, I spoke with C, who is doing the joint French studies and journalism program. She helped me gauge if it's a good fit for me.
   
8. If the info is not readily available, ask for a map of the campus, course listings for the fall and spring semester, schedule of events (seminars, lectures, etc), business cards* .
   
9. *It is very important to get the contact information of EVERYONE you meet. Just as you make notes on their interests and conversation topics when networking, make notes of who these people are, what they did for you, and their contact info. When you get home – SEND THANK YOU CARDS! You took that big step to go all the way over there, may as well follow through.
   
10. Finally, the big lesson: Ask questions. The questions you ask will show the kind of person you are. You can interject some tidbits on your research interests, but if you ask specific questions instead of blathering on about how you love Algeria, the person on the other end will still get a sense of your goals. Your whole purpose for being there is to ASK QUESTIONS.
    

Thus ends the lecture on attending graduate fairs. The whole process is rather intimidating, but as long as you plan ahead and be your sparkling self, the school will want to recruit YOU.