Meet with Dean? Forum

[Capitol A]

So...I'm going to be visiting one of my favorite schools in a couple weeks. I've already been admitted, and on paper I know I want to attend. I am visiting to take a tour, sit in on a class, and get a feel for the place in real life.
When I was setting up appointments for my visit, the admissions office set up a visit with the dean of admissions for me.
I'm wondering if anyone here thinks there is something valuable that I can get out of this? I know a lot of people use this type of meeting to try to make a good impression, or to ask questions about the process, what are you looking for in an applicant, etc., but like I said, I'm already admitted. Can anyone suggest something I might use this time for? I don't want to sit there for an akward 30min and waste both of our time if there is nothing for us to discuss other than asking the Dean how I get more scholarship money.
Thanks.

[dddhhh]

Did they know you were admitted?

If not, awkward.
If so, they may already have something in mind for the time allocated. But, other than financial aid just focus on making a good impression it's always good to make connections and know these people before the school year begins. Good luck!

[weejonbu]

So...I'm going to be visiting one of my favorite schools in a couple weeks. I've already been admitted, and on paper I know I want to attend. I am visiting to take a tour, sit in on a class, and get a feel for the place in real life.
When I was setting up appointments for my visit, the admissions office set up a visit with the dean of admissions for me.
I'm wondering if anyone here thinks there is something valuable that I can get out of this? I know a lot of people use this type of meeting to try to make a good impression, or to ask questions about the process, what are you looking for in an applicant, etc., but like I said, I'm already admitted. Can anyone suggest something I might use this time for? I don't want to sit there for an akward 30min and waste both of our time if there is nothing for us to discuss other than asking the Dean how I get more scholarship money.
Thanks.

If that's your attitude toward meeting future personnel at the school you want to attend, you may want to skip meeting the dean--sounds like it might reflect negatively on you. In fact, you may want to reconsider attending the school at all. C'mon bro/a! Who DOESN'T want to meet people who will be part of your life for the next three years? I mean, sure, the admissions dean may not be someone you develop a close relationship with, but still.... this just baffles me.

[Capitol A]

So...I'm going to be visiting one of my favorite schools in a couple weeks. I've already been admitted, and on paper I know I want to attend. I am visiting to take a tour, sit in on a class, and get a feel for the place in real life.
When I was setting up appointments for my visit, the admissions office set up a visit with the dean of admissions for me.
I'm wondering if anyone here thinks there is something valuable that I can get out of this? I know a lot of people use this type of meeting to try to make a good impression, or to ask questions about the process, what are you looking for in an applicant, etc., but like I said, I'm already admitted. Can anyone suggest something I might use this time for? I don't want to sit there for an akward 30min and waste both of our time if there is nothing for us to discuss other than asking the Dean how I get more scholarship money.
Thanks.

If that's your attitude toward meeting future personnel at the school you want to attend, you may want to skip meeting the dean--sounds like it might reflect negatively on you. In fact, you may want to reconsider attending the school at all. C'mon bro/a! Who DOESN'T want to meet people who will be part of your life for the next three years? I mean, sure, the admissions dean may not be someone you develop a close relationship with, but still.... this just baffles me.

Lighten up. I think you took my tone the wrong way. It's not that at all. I want to meet with the dean...I just want to make sure I get as much as I can out of it.
I guess what I'm thinking is that these meetings are typically for prospective students, and I don't want to leave this person thinking: "that guy just wasted my time," precisely for the reasoning in your statement. This is an important person at the institution I plan to attend for the next 3years. I would like this to be a positive thing for both of us.
Edit: Being that you are so adamant that this meeting is a smart thing to do, maybe you can suggest somethings for me to discuss. That was the purpose of this thread to begin with. I don't want to walk in and go "Hi. I'm Capitol A. I look forward to attending this wonderful institution. Hope I can get a job when I graduate."

[weejonbu]

So...I'm going to be visiting one of my favorite schools in a couple weeks. I've already been admitted, and on paper I know I want to attend. I am visiting to take a tour, sit in on a class, and get a feel for the place in real life.
When I was setting up appointments for my visit, the admissions office set up a visit with the dean of admissions for me.
I'm wondering if anyone here thinks there is something valuable that I can get out of this? I know a lot of people use this type of meeting to try to make a good impression, or to ask questions about the process, what are you looking for in an applicant, etc., but like I said, I'm already admitted. Can anyone suggest something I might use this time for? I don't want to sit there for an akward 30min and waste both of our time if there is nothing for us to discuss other than asking the Dean how I get more scholarship money.
Thanks.

If that's your attitude toward meeting future personnel at the school you want to attend, you may want to skip meeting the dean--sounds like it might reflect negatively on you. In fact, you may want to reconsider attending the school at all. C'mon bro/a! Who DOESN'T want to meet people who will be part of your life for the next three years? I mean, sure, the admissions dean may not be someone you develop a close relationship with, but still.... this just baffles me.

Lighten up. I think you took my tone the wrong way. It's not that at all. I want to meet with the dean...I just want to make sure I get as much as I can out of it.
I guess what I'm thinking is that these meetings are typically for prospective students, and I don't want to leave this person thinking: "that guy just wasted my time," precisely for the reasoning in your statement. This is an important person at the institution I plan to attend for the next 3years. I would like this to be a positive thing for both of us.

Fair enough, but did you set up the appointment with the dean of admissions, or did the school? If you were scheduling a visit to a school and they set up a meeting for you with the dean of admissions, it sure seems like they are interested in meeting you. I don't see how anyone can think that meeting people can be a negative thing, especially when the person you would be meeting probably had some say in you're acceptance to that school. Do you think they might be genuinely interested in you as a person? I'm just saying, everything on TLS goes back to numbers, etc., when we should realize that adcoms are people, and they are admitting people into their school.

[Capitol A]

So...I'm going to be visiting one of my favorite schools in a couple weeks. I've already been admitted, and on paper I know I want to attend. I am visiting to take a tour, sit in on a class, and get a feel for the place in real life.
When I was setting up appointments for my visit, the admissions office set up a visit with the dean of admissions for me.
I'm wondering if anyone here thinks there is something valuable that I can get out of this? I know a lot of people use this type of meeting to try to make a good impression, or to ask questions about the process, what are you looking for in an applicant, etc., but like I said, I'm already admitted. Can anyone suggest something I might use this time for? I don't want to sit there for an akward 30min and waste both of our time if there is nothing for us to discuss other than asking the Dean how I get more scholarship money.
Thanks.

If that's your attitude toward meeting future personnel at the school you want to attend, you may want to skip meeting the dean--sounds like it might reflect negatively on you. In fact, you may want to reconsider attending the school at all. C'mon bro/a! Who DOESN'T want to meet people who will be part of your life for the next three years? I mean, sure, the admissions dean may not be someone you develop a close relationship with, but still.... this just baffles me.

Lighten up. I think you took my tone the wrong way. It's not that at all. I want to meet with the dean...I just want to make sure I get as much as I can out of it.
I guess what I'm thinking is that these meetings are typically for prospective students, and I don't want to leave this person thinking: "that guy just wasted my time," precisely for the reasoning in your statement. This is an important person at the institution I plan to attend for the next 3years. I would like this to be a positive thing for both of us.

Fair enough, but did you set up the appointment with the dean of admissions, or did the school? If you were scheduling a visit to a school and they set up a meeting for you with the dean of admissions, it sure seems like they are interested in meeting you. I don't see how anyone can think that meeting people can be a negative thing, especially when the person you would be meeting probably had some say in you're acceptance to that school. Do you think they might be genuinely interested in you as a person? I'm just saying, everything on TLS goes back to numbers, etc., when we should realize that adcoms are people, and they are admitting people into their school.

The school set up the meeting for me. I specifically asked for the other things that were scheduled, despite my not asking for a meeting, there was one on this itenarary that they emailed me. I do actually think they found something interesting about me as a person (believe it or not), because my numbers sure as hell didn't get me in on their first day of decisions.
I definitely don't see meeting with this person as negative. I just want to make sure I make a good impression. Bottom line, it's better not to do it than to go ahead with it and make a bad impression. That's what I'm looking for advice on. What can we talk about for 30min?

[weejonbu]

K, I'm not meaning to be antagonistic, but look at is this way. What would it look like if they scheduled you a meeting with the dean of admissions (possibly due to his/her request) and you proceeded to turn down the meeting? Wouldn't that reflect even more negatively on you? Like you said, you're already been accepted, and it sounds like this school is high on your list. So do you really have absolutely no questions about the school? Nothing to talk about? The adcomm might think, "Geez, I offer this guy/gal a spot, but s/he can't even find the time to meet with me while taking the trouble to come all the way to our university?"

I would say go on the school website and look for material to discuss, whether it is the school's housing or their public interest program. Ask questions. Be curious.

[/quote]I just want to make sure I get as much as I can out of it. [/quote]

This is not the best attitude to have when going to meet a school's dean of admissions.

[Capitol A]

K, I'm not meaning to be antagonistic, but look at is this way. What would it look like if they scheduled you a meeting with the dean of admissions (possibly due to his/her request) and you proceeded to turn down the meeting? Wouldn't that reflect even more negatively on you? Like you said, you're already been accepted, and it sounds like this school is high on your list. So do you really have absolutely no questions about the school? Nothing to talk about? The adcomm might think, "Geez, I offer this guy/gal a spot, but s/he can't even find the time to meet with me while taking the trouble to come all the way to our university?"

I would say go on the school website and look for material to discuss, whether it is the school's housing or their public interest program. Ask questions. Be curious.

I just want to make sure I get as much as I can out of it. [/quote]

This is not the best attitude to have when going to meet a school's dean of admissions.[/quote]
I don't take it as you being antagonistic. Actually, until you mentioned it, I hadn't considered the possibility that the Dean wanted the meeting set up. I sort of assumed all these appointments were a package deal set up by someone in the office.
As far as wanting to "make sure I get as much as I can out of it," again, don't take that the wrong way. I just mean that I am flying all the way across the country to make this visit. I want to be sure I make a good impression, and I take full advantage of the opportunity I have to meet with a very busy and important person. I didn't mean to sound like 'they need to have something to offer me or I'm not wasting my time on them.'
I had a meeting like this at a different school before I applied. I actually did not know that I had been scheduled for this meeting. Apparently it was just a standard part of the tour at the school I was visiting. Unfortunately, being that I was so surprised by the situation I was in, I didn't come up with very many good questions, and the person I was meeting with (an admissions representative, not the actual dean) did not volunteer anything. She just sat there waiting for me to ask questions. I asked a few things about employment and about internships, etc. and she just said: "you'll have to ask the career service office those things if you're admitted." This is why I say it has the potential to be akward.
Thanks for the help. You've actually convinced me that this meeting is a good thing and made me look at it in a way that I didn't before. Now I just need to come up with a few good topics so I can hopefully learn something while I'm there.

[NonTradHealthLaw]

Lots of qs you can ask:

What stuck out about my application that merited being offered a spot?
What areas of my resume should I strive to improve over the next year to improve OCI chances and over the next 3 years to improve likelihood of job?
Why did you choose institute x rather than competitor y?
If you won the lottery tomorrow would you still be at institute x?
What is it like to live in city x as opposed to being a student?
I'm considering a year of volunteer/travel/miserhood. Do you offer deferments?
Where do you see institute x from an admissions vantage 5/10 yrs from now?
What mistakes are the most often made but easiest to avoid as 1L?
Do you recommend any prep work this summer? Are there any volunteer opps or research assistanceships if I decide to move in may/June?

You can really find out about the pulse/politics of the school and the vibe of the city with questions like these. Definitely an invaluable opportunity

[Capitol A]

Lots of qs you can ask:

What stuck out about my application that merited being offered a spot?
What areas of my resume should I strive to improve over the next year to improve OCI chances and over the next 3 years to improve likelihood of job?
Why did you choose institute x rather than competitor y?
If you won the lottery tomorrow would you still be at institute x?
What is it like to live in city x as opposed to being a student?
I'm considering a year of volunteer/travel/miserhood. Do you offer deferments?
Where do you see institute x from an admissions vantage 5/10 yrs from now?
What mistakes are the most often made but easiest to avoid as 1L?
Do you recommend any prep work this summer? Are there any volunteer opps or research assistanceships if I decide to move in may/June?

You can really find out about the pulse/politics of the school and the vibe of the city with questions like these. Definitely an invaluable opportunity

Thank you. These are great suggestions.