Visiting multiple schools in one weekend?

[Fresco]

Hi everyone,

 

I am an international student, and after receiving few acceptance from graduates schools, I really hope to visit several of them before I make my final decision.

 

The problem is, though, is that I cannot cover all the travel expenses by myself, as plane ticket is too expensive for me, and I have only one weekend for me to visit.

 

There are two schools nearby (about 2hr apart by train), and they have offered me to cover $300 and $400 of my travel expenses. I should pay additional few hundred dollars since plane ticket alone costs >$1,000, but I can manage the price if $700 is reimbursed, and I really want to visit both before I make my decision.

 

I feel guilty to make them pay for part of my travel costs knowing that I must decline one of them eventually. But this is the only way I could make the visit. Therefore, I have two questions:

 

First, should I make this trip this way or not? If it is really a horrible thing to do, it should be better to drop the whole thing in the first place.

 

Second, would it be even possible to visit two schools in one weekend?

 

I am suffering from a cocktail of moral and monetary crises here. Please help!

[VirginianFeminist]

For your first question, if you use the money for travel expenses to visit both schools, you are morally in the clear. I had one school fly me across the Atlantic Ocean, put me up in a nice hotel for a few nights, and pay for my food. Another school is going to fly me across the US and will pay for my accommodations during my visit. Morally, our situations are equivalent. Eventually, we must both decline one school and accept another. It won't be an enjoyable experience to let them know, but it's all part of the process. They are offering travel money to attract you, but they are fully aware that paying your travel expenses will not necessarily lead to an acceptance on your part.  

 

Regarding your second question, you can definitely visit two schools in one weekend, especially if they are only two hours apart by train. You'll be exhausted by the end, but a full day will give you enough time to speak with your POI and check out the campus. You won't be able to get a good picture of the environs, but that's difficult to do even with longer visits.

 

In sum, I say go for it!

[TakeruK]

Yes, this is a good way to do it. But maybe you can have the visits moved around so that they are back-to-back instead of at the same time! I had a similar problem and a similar limit (but Canada isn't as "international" so plane tickets are slightly cheaper). I moved one school's visit to be Monday-Tuesday (it was originally scheduled to be the previous Thursday-Friday) and then visited another school in the next state over on Thursday-Friday! 

[lonestarflag]

I'll be flying from one university to another for one of my visits. I intend to visit every school which has offered me admission, as I would not have applied if I wasn't legitimately considering them as a possibility, and visiting campuses is one of the primary methods for me to make my final decision. As long as you do visit, it won't be an issue. I actually was on the phone with the DGS of school #2 on my visit and told them, "Well, I've been admitted to X, so I'll need to fly from there." Her response was, "Yes, I know. There should be another one of our admitted students on the same flight with you." Basically confirmed the rumor that EVERYONE talks.