Asking to extend stay at interview school

[bicsy]

Hey all, I have an interview for an umbrella biological sciences program in late January. I'm scheduled to be there for 3 days, and the flight has not been booked yet.

I have relatives near the school with whom I'd like to spend the day following my interview. Would it be wise to ask the travel coordinator at this school if I can depart a day later than normal? I would think that this would be fine as long as the flight is the same price, and I'll be covering my own lodging and food for that extra day. I just don't want to annoy anyone at the program by asking for special accommodations.

[iphi]

You can ask, but you want to make sure they don't get the impression you're using their funds to see another program, which they might if you extend. I wouldn't tell them about your relatives either (you don't want them to think you're using them). Instead I would ask if you can depart the next day because you "want to get a feel for the town/city". Make sure to tell them you will cover your own lodging.

[TakeruK]

In my field, this is totally acceptable and very common. I agree that it's best to just say that you want to stay an extra day to see the city. I did this for as many of my schools as I could. Sometimes when I asked to do this, the school also offered to cover some of the extra expenses, or at least let me use the school's discounted rate for hotels etc. 

I don't think it's a bad thing to say that you are visiting relatives in the area on the extra day. I just wouldn't say it in the request because it's irrelevant. But if you are asked at the interviews, in my field, it would be just fine. Grad students do this all of the time and it's okay as long as 1) the different flights cost the same or 2) you pay the difference. For example, at both of my conferences in Europe (school paid), I stayed an extra week (my spouse flew out after the conference was over and we had a holiday). And, just last week, I didn't fly directly home after a conference, but instead, flew to visit my family in Canada, then flew home. I submitted all of my plane ticket costs for reimbursement, along with a quote for a direct flight between conference & home---the school will reimburse me up to the cost of the direct flight (and because I took advantage of a sale, my trip is cheaper than the direct flight, so I'm going to get it all reimbursed).

I also don't think it's a bad thing if you are going to visit another school, however, you must tell the school about this if you do! I'm not saying you're going to visit another school, just responding to a scenario by iphi. It's very acceptable to combine multiple school visits in one trip because it saves everyone money. You just have to be honest about it and find a fair way to split the cost between the schools (i.e. you don't want one school to pay for all of the costs to a visit to 2 schools). 

Asking for special requests is not a big deal, at least in my field. For one school, I asked for my visit to be moved to a different weekend so that I could visit two schools in the same trip. I thought it meant I would have to visit by myself (which would not be ideal) but there were a couple of others that asked for the exact same thing. 

[bicsy]

@TakeruK, thank you for your response and insight! That is very helpful information, and it makes me feel better about asking for the accommodation.

@iphi, thank you as well. I was planning on telling them that I want to spend an extra day to explore/get a feel for the area, and leaving it at that. The real reason I want to visit those relatives is actually to give me a tour of the surrounding area, which I wouldn't get with the regular recruitment weekend. I didn't apply to any programs within a 100+ mile radius of that one, so I definitely won't be visiting anywhere else. 

[NWFreeheel11]

I did it multiple times when I was applying. It really helps to have a day extra to explore, so they will understand. I agree with whats been said though, just tell them you want an extra day to explore the area for your decision purposes.