Hi. I need lots of advice on this.

I am entering my 3rd year (not my last) doing a PhD in History of Middle East at one of the top UK universities. I am interested in experiencing academia in the US and particularly in California for specific reasons. So this leaves me with Stanford and Berkeley.

I wonder if it is possible to actually go there for a term or semester or even a month as a visiting student. I have contacted necessary Professors in both universities but received no responses. I then endeavored to contact the department. I don't want to appear pushy but I really want to go there.

Is it actually possible and what are the procedures I could do to enhance my chances?

I would appreciate any kind of input or advice.

Do you have the support of your supervisor for this idea? Maybe it would carry more weight with the US universities if he/she approached the relevant staff on your behalf and used their own contacts to help you, if they thought it was a valid activity at this point in your work. Perhaps it would also help your case if you worked academic reasons for this visit into your ongoing research, so a stint in another country would be actively contributing another element to your research project. Presumably you'd need the agreement of your supervisor anyway if you did go abroad, but if it's not related to your research then it may be seen as interrupting your studies and therefore not a good idea right now. Do you have relevant research questions related to this idea, as if you do then perhaps it could be something you could develop into a post-doc project.

I'm absolutely not in your area, but we take on visiting PhD/post doc students occasionally at my uni. It's usually organised by the research dept rather than individual profs, although they have to agree if it's their area. Students generally pay a fee for the short experience of being in our institution and it is usually done in agreement with their home uni if it's relevant to their ongoing research, or they need to use research resources or archives based in our location. Sometimes visiting students also arrive via our research centres or projects. I don't know if any of this helps you though, but good luck!

Hi.

Thanks a lot for your helpful response. I just wanted to say that I actually contacted Stanford and Berkeley without informing my supervisor. Does the etiquette or procedure of requesting to visit an outside university as a visiting student have to happen through the supervisor? I did not do it on purpose but I thought I'd see how Stanford or Berkeley respond and if there is a green light, I would then discuss it with my supervisor. However, I am worried that this may be the reason why Stanford or Berkeley did not respond... Anyways I wrote to my supervisor (I'm currently on fieldwork) about the issue, and she totally ignored it. So I am not sure what to do...

Hi, yes it is possible to spend time at a US uni, but normally you have to formally apply as a 'visiting scholar' or 'visiting researcher'. Uni's that offer these programmes will advertise them along their postgrad courses - so check out their admission sites. I'm sure there are informal ways of spending some time at a university (the best bet would be to get your supervisor to drop a line to someone).

I was looking at spending some time at a US university, but eventually didn't go ahead - I had to apply a year in advance (submitting a full application akin to a PhD), and had to pay tuition fees (which is the norm for visitors in US uni's). The whole thing is a lot more formal than visiting a uni in the UK or other places in Europe. US uni's tend to have strict rules about visiting scholars, and most places are assigned to visiting profs (or people much higher up the food chain than PhD students).

Missspacey, I know about the formal application. However, shouldn't I have the support of a professor there who would be willing to have me? Or do I go ahead and apply? I also can't find deadline information with regards to applying as a visiting student. I understand from you that I cannot apply to go this coming year? like maybe Jan or Feb 2010?

Ah okay, you didn't mention anything about knowing the formal process in your OP.

I would suggest you phone admissions, only they can really answer these specific questions. Applications/deadlines will vary by university. You normally need the 'support' of a US professor in the application (ie. they have agreed to host you).

But as Ruby says, you should also get the permission/sign-off from your supervisor before you pursue a formal application.