Meeting with graduate school director, what should I do?

[mordechai9]

I am applying to graduate schools for next fall and one of the chairman of one of the programs is visiting my campus on next friday for academic reasons. He directs the program at a school across the country, so this turns out to be a very good chance to meet him. I have worked out an appointment with him where I will go and see him for probably 10-15 minutes.

My plan (obviously) is to try to give him a good impression about myself and (best case scenario) convince him that I should definitely be accepted to his program. However, I am a little unsure how to make the best use of my time with him. I figure I will show him my resume, talk to him about my strengths as a candidate and also sort of defend my weaknesses.

Does anyone have any more advice for me on this, like about what to talk about?

 

[Choppy]

I'm curious about the "defend your weaknesses" statement. One of the hardest things in the world to do is defend yourself against something you haven't yet been accused of.

What I would suggest is that you read up as much as you can on the research going on at his school so that you can have an educated converstation about the institution. Tell him about your interests, ask him whether there are any specific members in his department with similar interests and whether they make good mentors for new graduate students - or if there are any particular professors keen on getting new grad students into their labs or who have good ideas for projects in the next few years. You can also ask about grad student life in the department, financial support, cost of living etc. In fact, 10-15 minutes probably won't be nearly long enough.