So the big question now is: Should I visit? I know that visiting is the best way to truly get a feel for the personality of the program, but the cost can be overwhelming when you are traveling halfway across the country. I have decided that I will visit my top two choices as well as the one that is in my region. Here are some tips for organizing the visit:
1. Check out the open house date here http://www.indiana.edu/~
2. If you can't make it or don't want to miss school, check with the internship director to see if he/she will offer an individual visit. Most directors are more than accommodating.
3. Make sure you are not visiting on an "off" day. Don't visit on a weekend day, over their holiday breaks, or during times when they are having classroom training. You want to get a good feel for the program and that is going to be when all the interns are there doing their rotations.
4. Check for flights and hotel accommodations. Ask the director if she recommends any hotels. If you are traveling alone, it might be a good idea to stay within walking distance of the hospital/university/etc. Southwest is my personal favorite airline because you can download the DING application from the website to monitor specific airports for deals. You can find flights for as low as $50 each way! Priceline.com is another good one for grabbing last minute deals on both hotel and flight.
5. Don't forget to use your resources. Do you know someone in the area or is a graduate from your school attending that program? They may allow you to crash at their place for the night. It doesn't hurt to ask the director if you could get in touch with one of the interns and see if this is possible, even if you don't know them. Most people would love to help out and know how hard it can be to make a visit if you have to pay for transportation and housing.
Once I actually visit, I will be able to provide you with even more tips! I would love to hear all of your suggestions for preparing for the big day too so be sure to leave me a comment.
Katie
4 comments:
I visited 7 or 8 different internships this summer to get an idea of what I was looking for. It is very helpful. I would suggest being very prepared. I had a notebook I took with me with all the information I had printed from the internship's Web site. On my way to meeting with the director I reviewed them and came up with questions to ask the director. Specific questions I frequently asked were: What is the intern pass rate for the RD exam? What was the average GPA of previous interns? How many people applied to the internship the previous year? Hope this helps! Goodluck everyone!
Hi Katie! Thanks for the comment!
I applied to 5 (3 in cali, 1 in az, and 1 in ny). i did not visit any of the places that i applied to but i ended up in a place that i love! your website is great! i wish i had that when applying. is it okay if i link it on my blog?
I just wanted to say this is a great web site and I wish I knew about it last year when I was going through all of the matching!
Anyway, I applied to 6 programs and only met with the director for one- and that was the one I got into! I just found out from someone on the selection committee that I was working with last week that that was one of the main reasons I was selected. She told me that it made me stand out and appear very interested in the program.
So, I highly recommend visiting the ones you like because it's best to place a face with a name and make yourself stand out!
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