Worried about visiting school I don't have a chance at

[Crouton]

Hi,

Over Thanksgiving break, I will be visiting two graduate schools since I have family in the area and so I will be there anyway. One of the schools I would really like to attend and have a shot at getting into. The other one is an Ivy League. I'm a meh student from an unknown school; though I'm applying there for grad school, it's definitely a lottery ticket and I don't stand a chance of getting in.

I look forward to visiting the campus since it's lovely, however I have an arranged visit but am starting to regret taking up the professors' time (meeting with a well-known professor in a field I'm not familiar with, and also with the graduate admissions coordinator). I am torn between cancelling (which would lower my admissions chances, and also leave me in the town with nothing to do for a day), and just attending (and making myself look like a fool, and wasting their time).

I don't know what even to talk to the professor about - I have never done research in his specialty area.

Thoughts?

As it is now, I'd put my chance of being admitted to the Ivy League at about 5%.

 

[marcusl]

He's a professor, you're a prospective grad student, so it's part of his job to interact with candidates like you. I'm puzzled that you picked someone in a field that you are unfamiliar with, however. You should be visiting profs,labs in areas that you might work in. Still, I'd go ahead. You'll learn something about how research is done, and he'll probably introduce you toone or more of his grad students. You can get a sense of what grad student life is like at an Ivy.