VirginianFeminist

I have not received any "official" letter, but I did receive an informal e-mail from my POI. That said, if your name is on the e-mail acceptance letter, let there be no mistake, you are in. If you would like to test this theory, try e-mailing the Departmental Administrator about the admitted students event on March 26. Just let them know whether or not you will attend. Congrats on your admission!

One of the applicants I met at the Emory recruitment weekend was admitted to UCSC last week (Feb 5).

If your costs are completely covered, including accommodations and food, then you have nothing to lose by visiting over the weekend. Take the opportunity to speak with the current students as well as your POI. Even if the University doesn't manage to secure the funding, you will have made relevant contacts in your field. It might feel weird, but the folks at the schools to which you applied (but will not attend) will still be your future colleagues.

For your first question, if you use the money for travel expenses to visit both schools, you are morally in the clear. I had one school fly me across the Atlantic Ocean, put me up in a nice hotel for a few nights, and pay for my food. Another school is going to fly me across the US and will pay for my accommodations during my visit. Morally, our situations are equivalent. Eventually, we must both decline one school and accept another. It won't be an enjoyable experience to let them know, but it's all part of the process. They are offering travel money to attract you, but they are fully aware that paying your travel expenses will not necessarily lead to an acceptance on your part. Regarding your second question, you can definitely visit two schools in one weekend, especially if they are only two hours apart by train. You'll be exhausted by the end, but a full day will give you enough time to speak with your POI and check out the campus. You won't be able to get a good picture of the environs, but that's difficult to do even with longer visits. In sum, I say go for it!

I recommend vocab flash cards to get to the upper 160s. Kaplan has a decent set, which you can get on Amazon for about $16. Manhattan Prep also has a set with a good reputation, though I haven't personally used them. For an electronic (and free) option, try Magoosh's GRE Vocabulary Flashcards, which you can access on the website or download to your iPhone or Android. If you really learn the vocabulary, you can breeze through the text completion and sentence equivalence questions, which gives you more time to get through the reading comprehension.

@Huckleberry620, it sounds like the Bay area would be perfect for you. If you go to Davis or Berkeley, I'll bet you could work with the UC Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, which specializes in the rights of women, children, and LGBT refugees. Best of luck!

Given your informal interviews and e-mails, I'm not likely to hear good news from UCSB. I suspected that I wouldn't get the nod, since my research interests do not align with the faculty at UCSB as well as they do with the faculty at the other Departments to which I applied (e.g., UCLA). Is anyone else going to the Emory Recruitment Weekend? I'm heading there tomorrow, assuming my flight doesn't get canceled because of the snow. @Huckleberry620, are you also interested in feminist legal studies? I very nearly applied to the Berkeley JSP program, but I decided that there simply wasn't the faculty support for my intended project.