Thread by @AnnaMeierPS

Six years ago, I visited the PhD department that I’ll graduate from this summer. In light of that, here is a thread on Visiting R1 Departments When You Did Not Attend an R1 for Undergrad. 1/

First and foremost: you will meet a lot of fellow prospective students from R1s. That world is so different, & the training they received, the skills they already have, & the knowledge they’ve picked up about academia might feel intimidating to you. It definitely did to me! 2/

(It also might not: undergrad experiences vary so widely, even within specific “tiers” of institutions, and nothing is wrong with you if you are not intimidated. I am simply sharing my experience in case it helps to normalize feeling a bit out of your depth.) 3/

It is important to know that time at an R1 helps *only on the margins*. No undergrad experience magically teaches you the interpersonal & soft skills you'll need to survive 5+ years of socialization into a very weird profession. Most people are starting from (almost) scratch. 4/

So you don’t have a ton of research experience. That’s fine! Grad school is there to *teach you how to do research,* and faculty wouldn’t have admitted you if they don’t think you have the ability to learn. You deserve to be at your visit as much as the R1 students. 5/

So your undergrad experience didn’t teach you a ton about the *discipline* of whatever and how to speak academic-ese and so on. That’s fine! You can learn that stuff, & those who lean into it immediately are (probably) posturing & (definitely) obnoxious. 6/

An aside: if you're a faculty member reading this & your reaction is, wait, prospective students feel like they don’t belong? Yes! Not all of them, but gosh, I felt so out of place at some of the institutions I visited. It was my first time at an R1. Everything was so strange. 7/

Be supportive and stop assuming knowledge. Learn about the varieties of undergrad experiences people have had, and explain how your institution & discipline works. And don’t ask “so you know what the good journals are, right” or “you know the literature, right.” End aside. 8/

Back to prospective students! Here are some Qs you might not know to ask if you didn’t go to an R1. 9/

What kind of support is there for grad TAs? Does the department/university train them? Is training mandatory, optional, encouraged? (tl;dr: There may not be *any* training. This is not abnormal in some disciplines but was shocking to me coming from a SLAC.) 10/

How do grads spend their time when not working? Or, phrased a different way: why is [X] a good place to live? (tl;dr: You want to be in a department where grads are more, & encouraged to be more, than research robots. This is so crucial for mental health.) 11/

What is the community like in this department? Do people in different subfields get along? Are grads friends? (tl;dr: The sorts of community & supportive relationships you might be used don't necessarily exist at R1s; the culture is different. Don’t assume!) 12/

Are there cross-dept opportunities for collaboration? Do grads take classes in other depts? Do they *know* grads in other depts? Are there interdisciplinary workshops? (tl;dr: If this matters to you, depts at many R1s are very isolated. Cross-dept work may be v. difficult.) 13/

Last, if activism & service matter to you: are grads involved in dept & uni-wide service? This may not be the norm! Ask grads what the dept attitude is toward student activism. It may be more hostile than you’re used to! If grads are confused by these Qs, that’s also a sign. 14/

BEST OF LUCK to all of you. You’ve already achieved the hardest part: getting into a PhD program. You have nothing left to prove, and it’s now up to programs to woo you. ENJOY, trust your intuition, and ask questions if you have them! /fin