Vicki Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I received the casual/unofficial acceptance email earlier this week (official letter with funding info to come by mail). In the email, the POI seemed genuinely interested in me/my research, and invited me to the school to sit in on classes, have meetings, etc. Fairly standard, except the POI offered $200 for my travel to said school. This is the first time I've been offered a travel stipend for visiting a potential school, and I'm curious about a couple of things: 1. Is it normal or widespread for schools to offer travel aid for a visit? 2. I'm dying to know what the funding is going to be like--does this travel aid bode well for my receiving a decent offer? Thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mylime Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Hey! I don't know how much I can offer, but I'm in a similar boat--$250 for "travel expenses" after already being "[recommended] to the Dean of the Graduate School that you be admitted to our PhD program concentrating in _______ for Fall 2013" (which, as far as I know from this school, is a formality). In the same email the POI also said they were "pleased to inform you that you are being considered for a Departmental Assistantship Award, which covers tuition, stipend and health insurance." So, I think it's not a guarantee or anything, but it's certainly a good sign--you're obviously in, at least, and they want to make a good impression on you! I don't know how standard it is to offer travel funds to all admitted candidates, though, or if it bodes well for funding. I'd also be interested in hearing others' responses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uromastyx Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Typically, assuming the program has the money, travel support (partial or full) is extended to all accepted applicants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth.Vegan Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Yes this is quite common, particularly with programs making substantial financial commitments (i.e. 4-5 years funding including stipend, tuition and health insurance) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Kale Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I've had three programs reimburse me up to $500 of travel spending - two post-acceptance and one pre-acceptance. For the post-acceptance instances my travel allowances were not indicative of my final financial package, ie; the travel stipend was the same but the offers significantly different. From my experience, t's great to have, take them up on the offer, but don't try to read too much into it as far as what your final financial support will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Andrews Lynx Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I think offering to cover travel expenses is fairly standard - the Department is trying to woo you into taking up their offer, after all. Depending on the general finances of the school they will offer to compensate you anything between $200 and full-expenses (& accommodation). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicki Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 Thanks for the help, everyone! I realize I shouldn't be reading too much into the travel aid, but it just seemed abnormal--especially for a Performing Arts degree. I'm just itching to get that formal letter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Kale Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I shouldn't be reading too much into the travel aid, but it just seemed abnormal--especially for a Performing Arts degree. Well, the truth is, I have no idea how common this is for a performing arts department. For science it's par for the course, but maybe not in the arts. But either way, its neutral to good news, at least you can without a doubt assume it's not bad news. Unless, they're luring you there to kidnap you and sell you into white slavery. I keeed, keeed! VBD, uromastyx, mambeu and 2 others 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyjin Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Seems pretty common. At this point they are trying to woo you, not the other way around. I've been accepted to one school that stated in their letter that they'll take care of travel expenses for me to visit in March (no limit listed, which is pretty good since I"ll be flying in from Canada.) Same with the school I'll be interviewing at next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicki Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Yeah, I hear that this is normal for the sciences, but less so for Performing Arts. Well, I'm just happy that I got accepted! They're my #1 choice--I'm just really hoping they follow through with a decent offer. *fingers crossed* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Kale Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I've never been down-voted before - I feel publicly shamed! Anyway, I really was kidding, just trying to find the humor in what I know to be a stressful situation. But as I said - it can only be good news so congratulations are in order and I hope I didn't offend anyone. Vicki and spacezeppelin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uromastyx Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I've never been down-voted before - I feel publicly shamed! Anyway, I really was kidding, just trying to find the humor in what I know to be a stressful situation. But as I said - it can only be good news so congratulations are in order and I hope I didn't offend anyone. i just gave you a bump on your previous post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicki Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 I've never been down-voted before - I feel publicly shamed! Anyway, I really was kidding, just trying to find the humor in what I know to be a stressful situation. But as I said - it can only be good news so congratulations are in order and I hope I didn't offend anyone. You didn't offend me! I knew you were kidding. And thanks! I'm excited. Congrats on your acceptances as well! Queen of Kale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadmeat Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Seems standard except for maybe the POI asking you directly. I got $500 and a one night stay with food for an ACCEPTED program. However, one who hasn't accepted me is paying up to $800, 2 nights, and food, to meet and see the program. The latter I'm hoping is a good sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicki Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Seems standard except for maybe the POI asking you directly. I got $500 and a one night stay with food for an ACCEPTED program. However, one who hasn't accepted me is paying up to $800, 2 nights, and food, to meet and see the program. The latter I'm hoping is a good sign. Wow, that sounds amazing! Congrats. That has to be a good sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortLong Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I have two programs that are paying for a plane ticket, two nights in a hotel, and most of my meals (i think). But then again, I am in engineering where programs have a bit more money, and this is standard procedure for the students they want (aka not the second choice to fill in spots after first choices declined). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cali_monkey Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I've had three acceptances so far: all offered to reimburse for $500 worth of travel expenses to visit. I just kinda figured that was standard. Maybe it is in Communication...not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turveytop Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Hi. I've been accepted to a program and invited to a visiting day. This program offers up to $400 reimbursement for travel. The problem is, I'm an international student and the plane ticket to America alone costs $2000. I've already asked the department and they say $400 is the max. amount of reimbursement possible. Of course I'd love to attend, but most of my programs have not even started notifying yet and I'm a bit hesitant to fish out $2000, even though this program actually is one of my top choices. I'm wondering what other students who are flying in from other countries are thinking of doing. Would this visit be worth it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smmmu Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Do they have specific dates where they would like you to visit? If not, then why not wait until you have heard back from more programmes, and visit them all in one trip? If you get three or four departments chipping in $400 each, that covers a much bigger chunk of your plane ticket. Also as far as I know, some (maybe even most) departments might be able to help you out with accommodation during your visit (e.g. have current graduate students host you), so the plane ticket may well be your only significant expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turveytop Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Yeah, they have specific dates. I actually hadn't thought about that-- having several schools "chip in" for the plane ticket. It's a great idea. I guess I'll just wait for some more programs and hope their dates are close enough to plan a single trip (most schools have visiting days in March, right?). Thanks so much!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smmmu Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 I think it really depends, some schools do "visit days" in February, before they make decisions, but I think you would have been invited already. Generally I think even if they do have specific dates, they are often flexible about that - they might prefer if you come then and would be able to offer more of a formal programme, but I don't think they wouldn't also let you visit some other time. I'd just make sure the professors I'm most interested in working with are available, but other than that I don't see any big issues with visiting when it suits you best. (But of course I can't speak for all schools and departments.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Even if schools have specific dates for visits, you can always ask them to reschedule so that you can make all the visits within one week and combine your reimbursements. It might not be possible to reschedule, but worth a try. However, keep some things in mind: 1. Some schools have weird/tricky rules about the location of the expense for reimbursement. e.g. if you flew from Home to X to Y to Z then home, school Z might not be able to reimburse any travel activity happening at X and Y. So once you know your travel plan, you should definitely work with the admin staff at all the schools to make sure there is a clear plan to cover expenses. In my experience, they are very good at doing this! 2. A lot of schools in the US will take 1-2 weeks off in March for Spring break and usually visits don't happen during the break. Sometimes visit days are right before or right after the break, so check these schedules to make sure you don't end up at a school during their break! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sijae Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 One school I've been officially accepted to is offering me up to $400 for air travel plus 2 nights in a hotel. The other, with an unofficial acceptance (waiting on funding) is paying all expenses including airport shuttles and food etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sconnie Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 I had a school unofficially accept me this week and invite me to their recruitment weekend. They will reimburse up to $200 in travel expenses and 2 nights in a hotel sharing rooms with the other 5 or 6 students they said would be coming. So these types of packages seem standard across most departments and universities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenjen9ny Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Does the type of degree factor in? I have been invited to 3 accepted students days thus far and only one program has offered me a travel reimbursement ($300). However, I am going for my masters in education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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