Multiple Visits Scheduled for Same Weekend

[EverythingIsMaterials]

I am in a situation where I was accepted to two schools who have their graduate visit weekend scheduled for the same time.  How would you decide which to attend?  Are you aware of schools having backup or alternate times to visit outside of the primary graduate weekend?

[Argon]

You can contact the school and let them know you'd like to visit but have a conflict. They will very likely be able to schedule a time for you to come and visit and talk to faculty. I was able to do this with a few schools, and they were very accomodating. My advisor also said this is a common circumstance. At this point, they want to recruit you, so they're most likely going to be able to make time for you if you want!

[TakeruK]

I agree with the above. If you have said yes to a school for that weekend already, then reschedule the other school. If you have not yet committed to either school (i.e. they both asked you about the same time), then rearrange it to best fit your schedule. 

 

In my field, you can also just ask for a different day because it fits your schedule better. For example, if I stuck with the original dates for some of my visits, I would have flown across the country, visited for a few days, flown home for 3 days, then flown across the country again to visit another school. So, I moved the first visit a few days later so that I only had to fly across the country once. It saved me time and saved both schools a bunch of money!

[Argon]

That's exactly what I did. I would have been flying to Illinois twice in consecutive weeks. It didn't make sense, so I tried to combine my visits. Definitely worth looking into!

Edited January 31, 2015 by Argon