Funding for grad school visits?

[loginofpscl]

Hi all,

 

As the year is winding down and applications are being sent out, I begin to worry (like many of you) about next year's bank balance after transcript/application fees are paid. I understand that after offers are made, grad schools have visitation weekends: my question is, is it customary for them to subsidize travel costs (accommodation, flights) to the school? I'm a little cash strapped and I'm apprehensive of the prospect of breaking the bank to make an informed decision.

[socioholic]

The application fees have to be an incredible source of revenue for these schools. I'm curious to know this too. I'd assume they have to as that would put poor students at a huge disadvantage.

 

On second thought "poor students" wouldn't be the only ones. I'm not sure how many people could afford several flights around the country just for the heck of it.

Edited November 13, 2013 by socioholic

[Lisa44201]

It is rare for a school in my field to chip in for travel costs. It is customary for interviewees to stay with current graduate students; during that stay, however, the interviewee is still "on"; current students will take note of rude guests.

 

And yes, this makes interviews difficult if you're on a budget.

Edited November 13, 2013 by Lisa44201

[Loric]

It depends. I've heard of some people being flown out, paid for, etc..

 

Those tend to be the people the school is recruiting.. so if you're "applying" you're probably not in that pool. Don't feel bad, almost none of us are.

 

My undergrad had a little fund for such things. They gave it to the students they felt were most likely to succeed. Shipped us off to various places, conference, etc.. See if your school or department does something similar.

 

Hey, you just reminded me of an "award" to list on my app in the section where it asks about awards/honors/etc.. Thanks!

 

Also - try to schedule out any visits of nearby schools. I did the Tour de SoCal in one flight, one hotel, one rental car hitting several schools that were no more than a few hours apart.

[Loric]

The application fees have to be an incredible source of revenue for these schools. I'm curious to know this too. I'd assume they have to as that would put poor students at a huge disadvantage.

 

On second thought "poor students" wouldn't be the only ones. I'm not sure how many people could afford several flights around the country just for the heck of it.

 

I've always seen it moreso as a way to keep people from mass applying.. if this forum has taught me anything, it's that my "apply for one/two schools at a time" tactic is far from the norm.

 

Yeah, you're poor.. but you're in school. You probably have an iphone. You're not that poor.

[Loric]

Also, the school i really want into has spent more on me than I've paid in application fees. I know this because I kept track of how much they spent in postage after the first package that was like $8 to send to me arrived.

 

I'm ahead, and this is a private school that's known for bleeding students with tuition and fees (it IS a business.)

[TakeruK]

In my field, it's pretty common for schools to pay to fly students out to visit. It's fairly uncommon for my field to force people to fly out for an interview. Most of my schools did not have interviews but the one application that did used Skype to do so. Usually they only fly students out after you have been accepted, so at this stage, they are trying to recruit you! Depending on how much money the school has, there may be an upper limit on how much is covered (which may be way lower than the actual cost), and you might get to stay in a hotel (sharing rooms with other visiting students) or staying with current grad students.

 

In the end, collectively, the schools that accepted me spent about the same amount of money on me (food, flight, accommodations etc.) as I spent on my applications. So, I guess it evened out in the end. I also enjoyed combining the school visits with side trips to visit friends (I paid for that cost myself of course, but having part of the travel covered reduced the marginal cost increase). And, one school even paid for my wife to visit with me since I made it clear that she has as much of a say in the final decision as I did.

[rising_star]

my question is, is it customary for them to subsidize travel costs (accommodation, flights) to the school? I'm a little cash strapped and I'm apprehensive of the prospect of breaking the bank to make an informed decision.

It does happen. But, you should be prepared to have to pay at least some of the expenses upfront and then wait 2-8 weeks for reimbursement. When I applied, some schools offered travel subsidies (up to $X for your flight and hotel) while others were willing to reimburse whatever it cost. Some booked hotels on my behalf while others had me stay with grad students or gave me a choice. It really depends on the department, the school and how deep their pockets are.

 

It depends. I've heard of some people being flown out, paid for, etc..

 

Those tend to be the people the school is recruiting.. so if you're "applying" you're probably not in that pool. Don't feel bad, almost none of us are.

You're right about the first part but not the second. I applied to lots of schools and then was recruited by departments and universities. How? By having my name put into contention of university-wide fellowships for incoming students, many of which allot departments money to fly in the candidates in an effort to increase the yield. So just because you're applying doesn't mean that you won't be recruited and offered money to come visit the campus and department.

 

In my field, it's pretty common for schools to pay to fly students out to visit. It's fairly uncommon for my field to force people to fly out for an interview. Most of my schools did not have interviews but the one application that did used Skype to do so. Usually they only fly students out after you have been accepted, so at this stage, they are trying to recruit you! Depending on how much money the school has, there may be an upper limit on how much is covered (which may be way lower than the actual cost), and you might get to stay in a hotel (sharing rooms with other visiting students) or staying with current grad students.

My field is similar. We don't do interviews. Some departments fly out top potential students while others do not. My PhD department, for example, never does (though PIs can if they have the grant money available and want to). My MA department, on the other hand, flew out their top applicants, primarily those nominated for university-wide fellowships. They didn't all come at the same time since the department was subsidizing travel and letting applicants make their own arrangements. That said, when I did do visits, I did end up spending money out of pocket a few times to get flights that didn't involve obscene hours (because if you're staying with grad students, you shouldn't be arriving at 2am or needing to be at the airport at 6am) or for other things that mattered to me. It was worth it, even if I didn't end up going to any of those schools. (I visited nearly every PhD program I applied to, on their dime, and then went to the one I didn't visit.)

[juilletmercredi]

In my field, it is customary for programs to subsidize or pay for travel costs for students.  That usually amounts to paying for your flights and rooming you with a grad student in the department; occasionally we put students in hotels.  I know for certain that my program subsidizes travel, and I am pretty sure that our peer programs do too (I am in social psychology, and in my experience clinical psychology does this too, at least at the clinical science programs).  We also feed our students, typically at least two meals a day and sometimes three depending on what happens later in the day.  You may have to pay for one meal per day here.

 

If they don't tell you up front, I would ask them directly.  I wanted to visit my program before attending (I'm in a hybrid program and technically housed in the other department, so I didn't have to interview) and they didn't offer, so I asked them.  While they couldn't offer me any funding, they did find a grad student willing to house me for a few days, so that took a huge bite out of the cost.  And then when I told my department that they really should've brought me out to visit and interviewed me along with the other social psychology students once I came here, they actually listened and now applicants in my program who advanced to the interview stage are flown out with the other students and housed and participate in the same selection weekend.

 

Also, if you are still in undergrad check with your home department.  My department scrounged up some money to pay for my flights!