@mormlib Good tip - I've heard the same thing about setting up your own meetings. I would still ask if they'll cover some of the flight costs and if the school still houses you with a student, that's great. I'm trying not to miss a lot of class so another idea would be to go to an open house/separate meetings for schools that are on the same coast or in the same state.
I did SROP through Ohio State last summer. It's a chance to network within the Big 10 schools - the Leadership Alliance program is also a good one though I wasn't able to participate. The UC's also have similar programs (Berkeley, UCLA, UCI). These are mainly targeted at current undergraduates interested in a PhD (in many fields, not just sociology). And most of them pay you