Asking school to cover travel expenses

[evolution786]

I was just accepted to one of my dream schools late last week for a master's and was notified of an open house/recruitment event that's happening on Wednesday 3/13. First of all, I think that's pretty short notice and second, it's in the middle of the week! I can't quite afford to fly across the country for just one day but I really want to speak with professors and try to nail down some funding. Do you think it's fair to ask the admissions department if they'll cover my travel expenses? It seems like every other school does that except this one! They also hold recruitment events on more convenient days...

 

I'm thinking of going the following week (my spring break) and am scared that I won't get the same experience meeting with faculty. Are these events pretty serious for getting funding? Do I have any hopes of getting funded if I go the following week?

 

 

[fuzzylogician]

It's a perfectly legitimate question. You can politely ask if they will help with the travel costs and also mention that the timing is problematic because it's in the middle of the week. At my department we always get some prospective students visiting not during the open house, and I think they get treated just as nicely as anyone else. The experience is different because you'll miss the planned events and you won't get to meet your potential cohort, but other than that meetings with the faculty should be the same, and you'll get more of an opportunity to see how the department actually operates on a normal day. If you're worried that all the funded positions will be gone by the time you visit, initiate conversations with POIs ahead of time. Talk to them about your interest in their research and potential funding, and ask to continue the conversation when you visit. That should help quite a bit.

[evolution786]

So I spoke to a couple other people who visiting schools during their open houses and they all strongly recommended going to my school's open house (UCSD). Though, I do agree with you, that it probably wouldn't have been a huge deal. Either way, I spoke to the department, explained the situation as you suggested and they sent out an email to everyone shortly after saying they'll reimburse a portion of travel. For me, that ends up being about 80% of my airfare, so I'm very happy! I just don't know why they didn't send out the reimbursement email earlier, it would've made this situation less stressful. 

Thanks so much for your input!