> If you ever interview for a PhD program, you may notice that the people at the recruiting party are all first or second year students.
When I read this, it struck me that I had a very different experience. In my department, the SOP was to wine and dine both the recruits and the graduate students (free steak and all the booze you can drink in one night goes a long way when you're earning 20k/year). But the trick was that not everyone was invited, and, of course, it wasn't very hard to figure out that the best way to be invited back for another round was to forget to mention all things you didn't like about the university (and how long you'd been there).
When I read this, it struck me that I had a very different experience. In my department, the SOP was to wine and dine both the recruits and the graduate students (free steak and all the booze you can drink in one night goes a long way when you're earning 20k/year). But the trick was that not everyone was invited, and, of course, it wasn't very hard to figure out that the best way to be invited back for another round was to forget to mention all things you didn't like about the university (and how long you'd been there).