I'm not really good at these social events. I'm really introverted and kind of awkward in these situations. Should I make an effort to attend these social events anyways? Will it increase my chances?
Thanks
Yes, I think it's worth making the effort. Besides what Neuro said about needing to overcome your shyness, you're talking about spending the next 7+ years of your life working with these people. That's a long time to be miserable if the program isn't a good fit.
Here are my suggestions for making the experience less awkward.
If it's a mixer kind of thing, where people are standing around talking and they have hor d'oeuvres, get yourself a drink so that you have something in your hand. See if you can find a small group (one or two people) to join and talk to them. You don't have to be a brilliant conversationalist. Most people like to talk about themselves, so if it's a student, ask them about their experiences at the school, or what people do for fun in that city. If it's an applicant, make small talk about the interview day, ask them where they're from, the weather, football games, movies, whatever. But don't ask where else they're applying or interviewing; IMO talking about other programs at all during a school visit is kind of classless. But if you're going to do it, for sure don't badmouth anyone or anything. You could talk about research if you want, but I wouldn't get all into it in this context.
If there's a sit-down dinner, that's a lot easier because you're only going to be sitting with a few people and you can get to know them a little. Same topics as before.
Finally, don't go to the event expecting the worst. Yeah, it might be awkward, but you should go there with the mindset that you're going to meet some future classmates, get to know the people at that school, and have a little free food. Even if things don't click, it's only for a few hours, and it won't kill you.
Best of luck.
🙂
