Etiquette when staying with a student host

[SouthernSurgeon]

agree with the last few posters that what you hear is dead wrong. i've never been asked by our adcom, or felt the need to tell them, about any hostee. zero pull whatsoever.

No, student hosts are typically not part of the adcom nor are they routinely asked for their opinion. However, we had a kid two years ago who stayed with some friends of mine and was very rude. Those friends went to the admissions dean and told him about this - he thanked them for the input. No idea if the kid would have gotten in otherwise, but he definitely didn't after that.

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[apumic]

This is a joke, right? Students hosts have a lot of pull in admissions and scholarship decisions?????? Some schools may ask for and consider their input, but to say that student hosts have a lot of input on admissions and scholarship decisions is nonsense.

Moreso than applicants might expect. It's not really a joke. The fact is that as a student host you have a fair amount of push if you legitimately do not want someone there (for a REALLY good reason that the adcom may not have seen in an interview). No, it won't make an applicant, BUT if an applicant is fantastic or...not so much, your word is going to have at least some impact and from what I saw at interviews, some applicants were totally oblivious to that fact. Yes, I exaggerated, but it was for emphasis. Fact is, if you are hosting an applicant who does something totally stupid and rude (e.g., sexually offensive or invites other applicants over, etc.), it could break that person's otherwise "perfect" application. I'm not talking about minor stuff so much as the extremes of applicants. On the other side, when I hosted honors students as an UG, there were occasions where I was told (by the committee chair) my word had a significant effect upon whether X was offered the full-ride. Perhaps that is different, but I would expect adcoms at the professional level to give more weight to their students' opinions than adcoms at the UG level.

 

[OneMCATAway]

if you are staying for 2 nights is it okay to ask to stay with the student host or they are only for the night before the interview?!

 

[Dokken]

We here at UCSF know that you're all probably pretty reasonable people and will use the common sense that is so......common. I personally think this list is a waste of energy and gives a lame vibe.

Good luck to all, and dress warm for your interview. . .it's getting mighty cold these days.

-dokken

 

[MeRLin443]

We here at UCSF know that you're all probably pretty reasonable people and will use the common sense that is so......common. I personally think this list is a waste of energy and gives a lame vibe.

Good luck to all, and dress warm for your interview. . .it's getting mighty cold these days.

-dokken

Thanks for the bump, to tell us that this thread is giving off "a lame vibe."

 

[Dokken]

Thanks for the bump, to tell us that this thread is giving off "a lame vibe."

Sorry. . .didn't mean to offend. I wasn't trying to imply that the thread was disturbing, but that the original list of interviewee instructions seemed to downplay the general feeling of amity here. No harm intended, hopefully none done.

What is a bump?

 

[Myuu]

Sorry. . .didn't mean to offend. I wasn't trying to imply that the thread was disturbing, but that the original list of interviewee instructions seemed to downplay the general feeling of amity here. No harm intended, hopefully none done.

What is a bump?

It is the easily (and sometimes accidentally) mastered skill of returning a thread to prominence after a period of inactivity.

 

[Meat]

One of my student hosts, at an interview and school which will remain nameless, was one of the most awkward experiences I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing. I feel confident in writing this because I know my host will never read it. "Why would you say that, Meat," you may be asking. My host didn't have internet at his house, in fact, he didn't even have a computer.

Supposedly, he leaves his computer "work" at school, and does nothing of the sort when at home. However, since the home has no internet, no computer, no TV (obviously no cable / entertainment), no books, I had to wonder what he did have.

The bible. We went to mass twice over the span of thirteen hours I was with him. When we got home from mass, he read his bible until he fell asleep. The same once we returned from morning mass.

After my shower, I was greeted with a enormous tub of cold, milky oatmeal (think 4x your cereal bowl). The oatmeal was quaker original, unflavored. No butter, brown sugar or toppings for us!

I hastily scarfed down half of my daunting breakfast, and honestly, had an upset stomach for the rest of the day. Who eats plain oatmeal, really, REALLY!?

 

[psswrd]

.

 

[Amba]

So, is a $10 gift card like a minimum thing a student host would expect? Honestly, I was just thinking about giving a thank you card until I read this thread. But I guess it makes sense for the inconvenience.

Just trying to save a few bucks here and there given being so darn poor and flight ticket's already $$$. But I guess in the larger scheme of things, ten bucks is nothing.

I've been giving $20 Starbucks cards. I mean, that's over 3x cheaper than any hotel you'll find.

 

[ChemEngMD]

Woah woah woah.

You guys are giving gifts to your hosts?

Maybe I'm just from a very charitable culture, but that seems really weird to me. If someone wanted to sleep on my couch or on an air mattress at my place because they had an interview the next day at my school I would totally do it with no strings attached. Is that weird?

What if you have three hosts? Give each of em a gift? Give the house a bread maker? Seems odd to me...the hosts I've had have definitely been doing it out of the goodness of their hearts it has seemed.

 

[yehhhboiii]

student hosts don't expect anything
they're volunteering because they know how expensive the process is and they want to be available to answer questions for people without the bs that you might get from other sources
dont waste time with a thank you note or a gift card
i mean yeah sure i like money as much as the next person and im poor as hell but i know that you are too
just say thank you, shake their hand and go interview

 

[Ismet]

Woah woah woah.

You guys are giving gifts to your hosts?

Maybe I'm just from a very charitable culture, but that seems really weird to me. If someone wanted to sleep on my couch or on an air mattress at my place because they had an interview the next day at my school I would totally do it with no strings attached. Is that weird?

What if you have three hosts? Give each of em a gift? Give the house a bread maker? Seems odd to me...the hosts I've had have definitely been doing it out of the goodness of their hearts it has seemed.

It is a very nice gesture, but it is absolutely not necessary or expected.

 

[Amba]

Woah woah woah.

You guys are giving gifts to your hosts?

Maybe I'm just from a very charitable culture, but that seems really weird to me. If someone wanted to sleep on my couch or on an air mattress at my place because they had an interview the next day at my school I would totally do it with no strings attached. Is that weird?

What if you have three hosts? Give each of em a gift? Give the house a bread maker? Seems odd to me...the hosts I've had have definitely been doing it out of the goodness of their hearts it has seemed.

Eh. Midwest culture I guess. I wouldn't feel right staying with a stranger and not offering something to show my gratitude. At the same time, if it was the other way around, I certainly wouldn't expect something in return for my hospitality, though it would of course be appreciated.

 

[ChemEngMD]

student hosts don't expect anything
they're volunteering because they know how expensive the process is and they want to be available to answer questions for people without the bs that you might get from other sources
dont waste time with a thank you note or a gift card
i mean yeah sure i like money as much as the next person and im poor as hell but i know that you are too
just say thank you, shake their hand and go interview

this is basically what I've done along with a follow up thank you email and/or text just to let em know how the day went and thanks for answering my questions, etc.

 

[Mack11]

i am staying in the city im interviewing at for 2 nights, should I ask my host if its okay to stay over an extra night?

 

[NickNaylor]

i am staying in the city im interviewing at for 2 nights, should I ask my host if its okay to stay over an extra night?

Sure, but don't expect them to say yes.

 

[Sagebrush]

I know this thread has been dead for a while, but it seems like it might be something that's worth bringing to the attention of current applicants.

Guys, I cannot stress this enough, most student hosts ask very little of the people they are hosting, and the things that they do ask are usually very easy to do and are being asked for good reason. Listen to those 1 or 2 things. I've hosted 6 students this year. All were warned ahead of time that I'd need them to leave at the same time I did in the morning (making arrival time to the admissions office about 15 minutes prior to required check-in time). 5 of the 6 students were not ready to leave when I had asked that they be ready to leave, resulting in me being late to something with mandatory attendance each time. Several other people in my class who have hosted have had this same experience. None of us will be hosting again.

BE COURTEOUS. If your student host has a reasonable request, follow it.

Edit to add: please don't tell me you're going to walk into your interview and lie about your interest in activity x or elective y or whatever. Yes we all did it when we applied. Just don't tell me about it, I don't want to know.

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

Pro-Tip: Pass bowel movements in small increments with intermittent flushing's. Nothing worse than asking for a plunger... and then finding out host student has no plunger....