Recruitment Weekends!

This past weekend was the third and final recruitment weekend for the Cell and Molecular Biology (CAMB) Graduate Group . I volunteered to varying capacities for all three weekends, and had a lot of fun. It's interesting to be on the other side of the table, so to speak. A lot of the pressure is off, but then again, we are still trying to recruit them here so we have to make a good impression just as much as the recruits do. Also, it's still pretty draining talking to people, introducing yourself, asking the same, tired questions, etc, although this time when I get bored I can leave (mostly) and go on with my life.

Here's how the recruitment weekend works, for those not in the know. Generally recruits arrive sometime on Thursday since their day begins early Friday morning. We send a bunch of grad students to meet them at the hotel on Thursday evening (for those who arrive early enough) and take them out to dinner at a local restaurant...usually Cavanaugh's, a local Irish pub in West Philly.

Friday begins early, with grad students picking up the recruits at the hotel (about 30 recruits per weekend) and busing them to campus, where they get some breakfast (continental) and sit through forty five minutes of introduction to Penn, the program, etc by the chair of CAMB (yawn) as well as presentations specific for two of the sub-concentrations within CAMB (Cell Biology and Physiology; Cancer Biology; Genetics and Gene Regulation; Developmental, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (formerly simply Developmental Biology); Microbiology,Virology and Parasitology; and Gene Therapy and Vaccines). We then escort the recruits to their first of four interviews with faculty members within their field of interest, most of which the recruits indicated prior to coming (though this isn't always possible). After two rounds of interviews (30min each) we bring them for another half hour of presentations, again getting two concentration specific presentations. Then they break for lunch with just the grad students, and they finally take somewhat of a breather. This is one of my favorite times because you get to really interact with the recruits, they get to ask you their pressing (and repetitive) questions, etc.

The afternoon is pretty much a mirror of the morning, with more presentations within the six concentrations and two more half-hour interviews. At the end of the day is "Happy Hour" with finger food and yes, booze. Students, faculty and staff are all invited, and this is a good opportunity for recruits to have a more casual conversation with some of the faculty they might have missed or wanted to follow up with. This is followed by dinner in the evening with grad students, and a trip to a local bar afterwords. Attendance is usually low for this night out largely because by the time Happy Hour rolls around most people are ready to drop (and they still have to go to dinner!).

Saturday recruits break into their concentrations and have brunch with grad students and perhaps faculty within their specific program. This year MVP took their brunches at Susan Weiss's house (a faculty member) and some of the other faculty living nearby also joined us...it was nice and low key. This was followed by apartment tours of two students -one living in center city, one in West Philly - which was then followed by a variety of optional activities. These included: a campus tour, trips to the Art Museum, the Mutter Museum (a house of medical oddities), the Constitution Center (and Liberty Bell + Independence Hall), and sometimes ice skating. One of the weekends we got dumped on with snow and, sadly, all the activities were canceled for that day, but such is life. Saturday evening the recruits have dinner with selected faculty and students back on campus, and then get another optional outing to a bar afterwords. Most recruits fly back home on Sunday.

It's pretty exhausting for everyone involved, depending on how much you volunteer. I might have overextended myself a little bit this weekend, especially since I have midterms for both my classes coming up this week, but it's a lot of fun and I look forward to doing them again next year. There were some really cool people out there and I am hoping to see some of them come the fall.