Another interview conflict

[arkel]

I received interviews from 2 of my top schools, and they take place on the same weekend. I had already committed to visiting School A before receiving the invitation to School B, so I responded to it asking whether there is any flexibility in the visiting dates, so I could visit both, or at least make it to half of the weekend for School B. I have been corresponding with my POI and the graduate secretary at School B for the past week, trying to work something out, and discussing possible projects and collaborations I could work on while there. I've even been contacted by 2 other profs at School B to discuss the great resources there for research in my desired field.

Yet, apparently there is no flexibility in the visiting dates. The admissions committee at School B will only allow applicants to visit on the recruitment weekend (and it has to be the entire recruitment weekend!) so they can get a full appreciation for the program and department. From the sounds of things, in order to be accepted at this school, I need to be present at their weekend. AND I just found out today that the admissions committee for School B requires me to RSVP to their invitation by noon tomorrow!

Every 5 minutes I change my mind about which school I want to go to more. At this point, I feel like I really need to visit both to have enough information to make an informed decision.

I don't want to go back on my commitment to School A and jeopardize my chance of being accepted there to visit School B on their recruitment weekend. I'm pretty surprised that the adcom at School B is so inflexible. Has this every happened to you? It seems a bit ridiculous.

I feel childish to be so stressed about this, because in some ways, I'm in a very enviable position. I'm am very flattered that 2 great schools are interested in meeting me, but I just wish I would be able to visit both and give a fair evaluation before having to make this decision.

Thank you for reading my rant!

[MoJingly]

Sorry you didn't get responses in time. What was the outcome?

[arkel]

Sorry you didn't get responses in time. What was the outcome?

I ended up telling School B that I could not go to their interview. I told the POI that I was still very interested in that school, and that if anything changed I would be happy to visit another time at my own expense...but he said it's very unlikely that I would be asked to visit another time because they think applicants who don't come to the official weekend will not choose their school, and so they would invite someone else in my place.

I'm still not sure if I made the right choice. School A is a bit more glamorous and has nicer weather, but research-wise, I think they are pretty equal. I was kind of annoyed with School B for being so inflexible, so that might have influenced my decision too... So it was a bummer and I was pretty sad yesterday, but I'm trying to focus on the interviews I will be attending and not dwell on this. I guess when it does come time to choose a school, the decision will be that much easier!

[shepardn7]

I ended up telling School B that I could not go to their interview. I told the POI that I was still very interested in that school, and that if anything changed I would be happy to visit another time at my own expense...but he said it's very unlikely that I would be asked to visit another time because they think applicants who don't come to the official weekend will not choose their school, and so they would invite someone else in my place.

I'm still not sure if I made the right choice. School A is a bit more glamorous and has nicer weather, but research-wise, I think they are pretty equal. I was kind of annoyed with School B for being so inflexible, so that might have influenced my decision too... So it was a bummer and I was pretty sad yesterday, but I'm trying to focus on the interviews I will be attending and not dwell on this. I guess when it does come time to choose a school, the decision will be that much easier!

It's pretty ridiculous that they wouldn't give you a phone interview. Also ridiculous they don't consider "flying out at your own expense" interest enough in their school.

[Strangefox]

It's pretty ridiculous that they wouldn't give you a phone interview. Also ridiculous they don't consider "flying out at your own expense" interest enough in their school.

Yeah, I agree!

[MoJingly]

I've always wondered if you can take the way the admissions department operates as a representation of the grad school itself. If that's the case, school B just sent up a huge red flag.

[cogscipixie]

Honestly, I think you made the right decision, even though it seemed like a tough decision to make. Like everyone is saying above, I'm surprised the school wouldn't even let you do Skype interviews with the faculty. It says a lot about the personality of the program if they're that stubborn about you making it to the interview weekend. Most programs I've talked to are better about letting you attend the weekend before/after or scheduling skype interviews. It hasn't happened yet to me, but I have an inkling one school is going to invite me officially to their visit day when I've already had another interview weekend set in place with another program set in place since early January. Some schools need to either sent out interview invites earlier so that they can deal with possible conflicts. They should know by now that many applicants apply to multiple schools, hence the reason why a candidate might be invited to more than one interview. I have 3 interviews already, but I'm worried about the possibility of adding one more to my list. There's only so many weekends in February and early March. This thread is a good learning experience for those of us that will have to choose between interviews, let alone between more than one possible acceptance.

[arkel]

Thank you all for your responses! It's really nice to know that I'm not alone in thinking that School B's behaviour is bizarre.

I am feeling a lot better about everything now, and I've also been wondering how School B's stubbornness reflects on the program/department as a whole. It is a very large department, and I appreciate that it must be difficult to coordinate recruitment visits if everyone is coming on different weekends...but their behaviour made me feel like they were more interested in filling some sort of grad student quota than they were in me as a potential student. I had a conflict with a different school's weekend and this school was incredibly accommodating, and even suggested that I add my visit onto a weekend when I was already traveling.