Cincinnati and the Grad School Expo

This is a little bit of a backwards post, since it all happened before Disney, but it's not like that really matters, does it?

Purdue gave me $375 to visit their school, and attend their Big Ten+ Graduate School Exposition. That's a deal, right? Right. I decided it would be a good time to have a vacation too, so I routed through Cincinnati to visit a good 'ol friend, Kathryn Franchini.

I left on September 24th to Cinci (Local-speak), where Kate picked me up from the airport, we drove through terrible traffic, and we caught up a bit.

We had some cheese with our wine.

The next day, Sept. 25th, I toured Cinci while Kate was at work. This was at the library, the only place to get internet because she's too cheap to have modern conveniences (such as a couch to sleep on).

Then for dinner I made this delicious stir fry dish. I made it all with inspiration from Whit, and her impromptu stir fry dishes.

The bamboo shoots in this batch were the first Katy had ever tasted.

That night we went out on the town in Cinci. It was pretty lively because there was a music festival going on at the time.

Many fountains featured people with water-related super powers.

We saw this band called 'Oh My God.' They were actually really good, despite having Jerry Seinfeld on Keyboard, and my cousin Logan on lead guitar.

Kate couldn't help but enjoy the music.

After the concert, we went to Skyline chili, which is apparently a local favorite chain. It was really good, and it's roots go back to Greece. The prices were reasonable too, losing me only a single $2 bill.

After the chili, we went to an 80's dance party and jammed out until the night got late. The next morning Katy graciously drove me to the Indianapolis airport (2hrs away) to meet Nic Schafer (another Techie attending the expo), and pick up my rental car, this Honda beaute:

We drove to Purdue, now Sept. 26th, and touring the school was really eye opening. I toured the acoustic, engine, and HVAC labs. Then, after eating dinner with a member of the ME faculty, he took us on an exclusive tour of the nanotechnology lab, and Discovery Park. His name was Jeff Rhoads, and he is now responsible for, basically, everything I know about grad school.

Touring the labs and seeing the campus really sold me on the idea of a big school with lots of resources, and it also made Purdue seem much more appealing.

Purdue became infinitely more attractive when I found out about their aesthetic campus facilities, namely, their skybridge. On Monday, Sept. 27th, there were a few more seminars about graduate school, followed by a brunch with representatives from each school.

At the brunch I talked really in depth with Duke and Notre Dame's Business and Innovation schools. They gave me some really cool information, and told me a lot about the new programs that are being developed that give engineers a business background, focused on going into industry.

The grad school fair was excellent, and many great schools were there. However, after talking so much with Purdue faculty, and representatives at the brunch, speaking with recruiters and admissions people felt like a waste of time.

One of the biggest revelations while talking to people here, was that PhD's get all the funding, and Master's students are left out to dry a lot of the time. This is going to be a huge factor in deciding what I do after I graduate.

We left Purdue a whole lot smarter than when we got there. I felt many magnitudes more comfortable with the process and schools involved, and I think it was a great experience.

This was a fun little trip to visit one of my best friends, and learn a ton of information about life after undergrad. I plan on visiting more campuses, and deciding if I want a PhD or not.