Maziana Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Long story short: I made a dumb mistake. A program admitted me and I bought plane tickets to visit. Later, I realized that I don't actually want to go to that grad school, and another grad program has a visitation weekend at the same time. How bad would it be if I apologetically withdrew? It would save them time and money, and save me time (while costing me a few hundred in a non-refundable ticket!). A professor I work for says I should just visit the second school at another time, but I would like alternative opinions, since he seemed to be focusing on program rank (he's not in my field) instead of how much the research interested me. (I'm ehhh about the school I'm committed to - I COULD make it work but I'm not excited by it) Longer story, in which I can make justifications: I used to be genuinely interested in this school, so when they admitted me and said they would give me X amount of money for transportation, I immediately looked up the cost of plane tickets. They were nearing the maximum amount, so I quickly bought them. It was a busy week and I wasn't thinking. A few days later, I took another look at the program, talked to one POI, and realized that their research won't really help me do what I want to do. I guess my focus shifted a bit since I actually applied. If I withdraw, I have to take the plane ticket cost hit... which would be bad, since although I have some money saved, it's gonna be rather diminished by the time I go to grad school. Also, I might offend a few people, which would be bad, since a lot of my POIs at different programs seem to know each other. But I will have saved them money, and saved myself from feeling dishonest and ill-prepared. I'll also get to take a thorough look at the second grad program without using up too many more of my vacation days. And I'd feel better if I didn't visit a ton of grad schools. Maybe I'd open up a spot on the waiting list? If I go ahead and attend, I'll uh... have a weird sort of stressful vacation where I have to miss work, do a bunch of research beforehand, and wear my limited nice clothes? At least it'd be paid for though... I'm gonna ask another prof or two, but thought I'd check here too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradApplicant201420 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Long story short: I made a dumb mistake. A program admitted me and I bought plane tickets to visit. Later, I realized that I don't actually want to go to that grad school, and another grad program has a visitation weekend at the same time. How bad would it be if I apologetically withdrew? It would save them time and money, and save me time (while costing me a few hundred in a non-refundable ticket!). A professor I work for says I should just visit the second school at another time, but I would like alternative opinions, since he seemed to be focusing on program rank (he's not in my field) instead of how much the research interested me. (I'm ehhh about the school I'm committed to - I COULD make it work but I'm not excited by it) Longer story, in which I can make justifications: I used to be genuinely interested in this school, so when they admitted me and said they would give me X amount of money for transportation, I immediately looked up the cost of plane tickets. They were nearing the maximum amount, so I quickly bought them. It was a busy week and I wasn't thinking. A few days later, I took another look at the program, talked to one POI, and realized that their research won't really help me do what I want to do. I guess my focus shifted a bit since I actually applied. If I withdraw, I have to take the plane ticket cost hit... which would be bad, since although I have some money saved, it's gonna be rather diminished by the time I go to grad school. Also, I might offend a few people, which would be bad, since a lot of my POIs at different programs seem to know each other. But I will have saved them money, and saved myself from feeling dishonest and ill-prepared. I'll also get to take a thorough look at the second grad program without using up too many more of my vacation days. And I'd feel better if I didn't visit a ton of grad schools. Maybe I'd open up a spot on the waiting list? If I go ahead and attend, I'll uh... have a weird sort of stressful vacation where I have to miss work, do a bunch of research beforehand, and wear my limited nice clothes? At least it'd be paid for though... I'm gonna ask another prof or two, but thought I'd check here too... Hey Maziana, Yours is a common problem, I think. The most important thing to do now is to make an informed decision on what school you would like to go to most. If it's the school that you did not already buy a ticket for, then how would you feel about going there anyway? Perhaps for the first school (the school for which you already purchased a ticket) you could apologize, state your reason clearly, and ask whether they would accept a Skype interview. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munashi Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Hey Maziana, Perhaps for the first school (the school for which you already purchased a ticket) you could apologize, state your reason clearly, and ask whether they would accept a Skype interview. The way I understand it, the school she's already purchased a ticket for has admitted her. Pardon if I missed something in your original post, but has the second school admitted you at this point as well? Were it me, if you have received an offer of admission from both, I would withdraw from the visit I was enthusiastic about and visit the second program (the one you're more interested in now) to ensure it was definitely the right fit for me. I think as long as you are gracious about your withdrawal from the visit, the other program will not be too upset. Take my opinion with a grain of salt: I've not yet received an offer yet and I'm certainly not attending a program right now, so others may have more informed input to give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I don't think you will burn any bridges if you politely withdrew, especially this early. The biggest hurt to you is probably going to be the plane ticket cost. However, "non-refundable" does not mean you will lose all of that money though. Usually this means you can cancel this ticket, with some penalty fee, and the remaining credit can be applied towards another flight with the same airline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maziana Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Hmm, thanks for the advice. I will look at the refund polices more carefully. I will also check with another professor, to be sure they don't think that it is too offensive. I'll feel a lot better if a professor agrees with me that this isn't a bad decision... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Hmm, thanks for the advice. I will look at the refund polices more carefully. I will also check with another professor, to be sure they don't think that it is too offensive. I'll feel a lot better if a professor agrees with me that this isn't a bad decision... That's a good idea--the professor will have a better idea of what is the norm in your field than we do Also, just a note, last year I had to cancel a United flight (the telescope I was travelling to was broken). My ticket was labelled "non-refundable, no cancellation", which sounds pretty final. But if you call them and ask what that actually means, they told me that non-refundable means I can't get cash/credit card refunded and no cancellation means I can't get the full value of my ticket put towards another one. The wording is pretty confusing since it said "No cancellation" but also said "$150 cancellation fee". So, sometimes, calling the airline will make the policies a lot clearer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maziana Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 That's a good idea--the professor will have a better idea of what is the norm in your field than we do Also, just a note, last year I had to cancel a United flight (the telescope I was travelling to was broken). My ticket was labelled "non-refundable, no cancellation", which sounds pretty final. But if you call them and ask what that actually means, they told me that non-refundable means I can't get cash/credit card refunded and no cancellation means I can't get the full value of my ticket put towards another one. The wording is pretty confusing since it said "No cancellation" but also said "$150 cancellation fee". So, sometimes, calling the airline will make the policies a lot clearer! So you were able to cancel, but you still didn't get a refund/anything else, right? Just curious... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 So you were able to cancel, but you still didn't get a refund/anything else, right? Just curious... [Exact numbers changed for privacy reasons and/or I don't really remember!]: What happened was that my advisor and I booked tickets to our research site that were $600 roundtrip. These tickets were marked "non-refundable, no cancellations, change fee $150" [sorry if I had said "cancellation fee" before, I meant change fee!!]. However, a few weeks before we were going to leave, we were told that the telescope was not functioning and that we would have no reason to go there. So, I called United and asked if I could cancel the ticket and what would happen to the value of the ticket. They said that since my ticket was non-refundable, they can't give me the $600 back. However, I can "change"/"cancel" the ticket and they will apply $600-$150=$450 towards another United flight. At this time, we had no idea when our telescope time will be rescheduled so I was concerned since I didn't know what flight I would need to take in the future. However, they said that it's not really a "change flight" because what happens is that they will give me $450 of flight credit that I must use within 1 year and I can apply that to any future flight booked with United (it could be to any destination, not necessarily the same itinerary). Our telescope time was rescheduled later that year, and when I booked the next flight (it was like $500), I only had to pay an extra $50 because I had $450 credit from before. So, at the end of the day, the extra cost to our research grant was only $150. In my case, everything, including the change fee, was covered by our research grant so it didn't actually cost me anything. But in your case, if your prospective schools won't cover expenses for a visit that won't happen, then you will only lose the cost of the "change fee" (or "cancellation fee"), instead of the cost of the entire flight! Hopefully you can find some other use for the flight credit (maybe a visit home during the holidays next year etc.)! Maziana 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maziana Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Wow, that's really useful - thanks TakeruK! Still haven't asked other profs, but I'm definitely leaning towards canceling the flight, and since it was through United, this helps a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maziana Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Update: I went ahead and canceled. My prof agreed that it was a good idea to cancel and made me feel a lot better about doing so. I told them I was honored to have been invited (which is true!), apologized for committing, said I realized our research interests didn't fit, and I hoped to allow them to spend their time on another prospective student. United allows cancellations/changes with a $200 change fee. Well, that doesn't leave that much money left in my case... but I feel like I made the best choice. elanorci 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Glad that you found a solution and that you updated us I guess United has increased their fees from last year! Too bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now