Grad School Attire

[MrG]

Originally Posted by Gibonius

There's almost no difference in dress between grad school and undergrad in most programs. Some people will throw on a decent shirt when they have to teach; I never saw a single person wearing a sport coat.

...

This.

I studied public administration in grad school, and Gibonius pretty much nailed my experience. I dressed up a bit when I taught, but even that wasn't universal among my peers.

 

[Mudhiker]

A polo shirt, chinos, and brown leather shoes is dressy enough to get people to make verbal comments on my campus. Throw on a sportcoat and people ask if somebody died.

 

[Gibonius]

Originally Posted by Mudhiker

A polo shirt, chinos, and brown leather shoes is dressy enough to get people to make verbal comments on my campus. Throw on a sportcoat and people ask if somebody died.

I wore a suit to my defense and one of the professor (a Brit) asked if we were doing a thesis defense or a policy hearing.

 

[Oleg]

Until Xmas, I was running an MPA programme and was Associate Dean of the faculty and never went near a tie unless I had meetings with public servants, recruitment events, etc off campus. As a PhD student I wore a jacket when I started teaching but that didn't last long and I didn't really start again until I was a bit older (late 30s). These days, I wear one when (a) the weather requires it, (b) I feel like it or (c) I'm meeting the VC. Even then it's usually with jeans.
Universities are just not particularly smart environments.

 

[malat]

Originally Posted by unbelragazzo

Isn't this jacket way too short for the guy in the pic? Anyway, just piling on with everyone else...I just got out of grad school. No one would ever bat an eye if you never wore anything but jeans and tshirt your whole time there. People often dress up a little bit for presentations - like slacks and a buttondown, not a suit or anything. I started wearing a blazer to class when I started teaching just to give me some air of authority and separation from the students, but I don't think anyone else did. At most campuses professors dress very casual as well. Unless you're defending your dissertation, doing a job interview, or graduating, you shouldn't really ever wear a tie.

(caveat that this was a phd program...might be different for law, business, or other professional schools)

This is spot on (and was no different in my experience for the jd/mba crowd)