Is no money for visitation a red flag?

[crackademik]

I was accepted to a university with full funding, but when I asked about visitation, they said they did not have enough money for all prospective students. Regardless if they're just not that interested in me, is it a red flag that they can't afford to have everyone visit (note that I am domestic and not that far from this university) ? It is a mid-size program so I don't think they have admitted that many people to begin with. I'm worried that if I chose to attend that school, there would be issues with the department related to funding. 

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

7 minutes ago, crackademik said:

I was accepted to a university with full funding, but when I asked about visitation, they said they did not have enough money for all prospective students. Regardless if they're just not that interested in me, is it a red flag that they can't afford to have everyone visit (note that I am domestic and not that far from this university) ? It is a mid-size program so I don't think they have admitted that many people to begin with. I'm worried that if I chose to attend that school, there would be issues with the department related to funding. 

Honestly, that is very weird to me, especially if they are saying they can’t afford for everyone to visit. Does that mean they are paying for some people and not others or are they saying that because they won’t pay for anyone since it would be unfair to only invite some people? I am not sure if you know this, but I am just curious. It may be a red flag. Maybe that department doesn’t allocate the funding they get for visits for prospective students and that’s why they don’t have the money. Who knows. I would talk to other grad students in that department to see if funding is ever a problem, though, if you feel comfortable doing so. Good luck! 

[crackademik]

9 minutes ago, Moods said:

Honestly, that is very weird to me, especially if they are saying they can’t afford for everyone to visit.

I thought it was really strange too. Also, that is exactly what they are suggesting (that they can only afford for some people to visit). I feel like that looks extremely bad. The grad coordinator offered to put me in contact with some professors/grad students, so hopefully I can pry the truth out of a current grad student because honestly this was one of my top choices.

Edited February 6, 2019 by crackademik

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

1 minute ago, crackademik said:

I thought it was really strange too. Also, that is exactly what they are suggesting (that they can only afford for some people to visit). I feel like that looks extremely bad. The grad coordinator offered to put me in contact with some professors/grad students, so hopefully I can pry the truth out of a current grad student. 

See, that doesn’t seem fair to me. I would think if you really wanted the people you accepted to go to your school, you would offer to cover travel for all of them. Yes, you should definitely pry the truth out! Good luck! 

[crackademik]

4 minutes ago, Moods said:

See, that doesn’t seem fair to me. I would think if you really wanted the people you accepted to go to your school, you would offer to cover travel for all of them. Yes, you should definitely pry the truth out! Good luck! 

Just to test the waters, I also offered to pay my way (since I am relatively local), to see what this mess is really about. We shall see what happens. 

[crackademik]

On 2/6/2019 at 11:55 AM, Moods said:

See, that doesn’t seem fair to me. I would think if you really wanted the people you accepted to go to your school, you would offer to cover travel for all of them. Yes, you should definitely pry the truth out! Good luck! 

Update: The school basically apologized and offered to pay for me to visit so yay!

[ResilientDreams]

9 minutes ago, crackademik said:

Update: The school basically apologized and offered to pay for me to visit so yay!

That's still really weird that they said that to you in the first place..

[crackademik]

17 hours ago, ResilientDreams said:

That's still really weird that they said that to you in the first place..

yup agreed. I still have no idea what the real motive was there.