Professor will pay my visit!

[erenada]

Hi everyone.

I'm an international student and I'm going to apply to University of Rhode Island. I did a skype interview with my potential advisor and - I think- she is quite positive about taking me as a graduate student. Also she invited me to see her lab and meet other faculty. Above all she will pay my plane ticket and my stay there for 4 or 5 days.

(I have a master degree in biology and I have quite good records -papers, research experience etc.)

What you all think about this situation? 

[AP]

I'm not sure I understand your question.

Are you asking if this is safe? Well, if it's done through the appropriate channels, yes, it's safe.

Are you asking if this is normal? Well, you word it as if the professor will pay for your ticket out-of-pocket. This is possible one of two things: a campus visit or, effectively, a professor paying from her research funds to pay for your expenses. I am skeptical about the second option, but I am not in your field so consult with a colleague. A campus visit with expenses covered is very common in the US. There are several types of visits but we can boil them down to three: some are for getting to know you (you've applied but you don't have an offer yet), interviews (similar to the previous one, only that official admission interviews are held), and recruitment (you have the offer and now they want you to say yes).

Are you asking if the professor is making an exception because you are international? Doesn't seem like it. Because you have "good records"? Nope, no one pays anybody a plane ticket just because. Sorry.

Are you asking what to do? There's nothing to do. You haven't even applied yet!

I think I covered all the possibilities. If I haven't, please elaborate so we can help you better.

[erenada]

You are right. I think I was not clear about my question.

First of all, application deadline is 15 February and I still have a time to submit it. We talked last week and she has already bought my plane ticket which is nearly $500.-  She said that it would be better for me to learn about the program and life there. But I wonder that why she invited me early? Is this kind of a campus visit or not? or should it be a good sign for me?

[TakeruK]

It's definitely not a bad sign for you. 

In my field and at schools with plenty of money, it's possible that a faculty member to spend a bunch of money to pay for your flight and hotel stays so that you can visit. This might come out of a grant but sometimes professors have large start-up grants which they can spend on basically whatever they want or perhaps the department has some money in a department-wide pool for this. Often, this type of visit is combined with a seminar or a talk, so there's sometimes money from that source. For prospective grad students, I would say that while it's not common, it's also not that rare, for schools with the money.

People don't just spend money on you for no reason though. So, this could mean that they are interested in getting you to apply to the school. It means that the professor is interested in you to be their student but it's not an admission guarantee. For example, the professor might be overruled by the admissions committee or maybe after the visit, they could still change their mind about you. But it's unlikely that they are doing this for every single person that is expressing interest, unless that department is just loaded with money. 

My advice is to treat the visit like an interview and do your best to impress them. And, you can also learn a lot about the school while you're there. It can help you decide how interested you are in applying and attending (if accepted). It's also going to help you write your application since if you know the people there better, you can write stronger essays, especially with regards to fit.

[erenada]

7 hours ago, TakeruK said:

It's definitely not a bad sign for you. 

In my field and at schools with plenty of money, it's possible that a faculty member to spend a bunch of money to pay for your flight and hotel stays so that you can visit. This might come out of a grant but sometimes professors have large start-up grants which they can spend on basically whatever they want or perhaps the department has some money in a department-wide pool for this. Often, this type of visit is combined with a seminar or a talk, so there's sometimes money from that source. For prospective grad students, I would say that while it's not common, it's also not that rare, for schools with the money.

People don't just spend money on you for no reason though. So, this could mean that they are interested in getting you to apply to the school. It means that the professor is interested in you to be their student but it's not an admission guarantee. For example, the professor might be overruled by the admissions committee or maybe after the visit, they could still change their mind about you. But it's unlikely that they are doing this for every single person that is expressing interest, unless that department is just loaded with money. 

My advice is to treat the visit like an interview and do your best to impress them. And, you can also learn a lot about the school while you're there. It can help you decide how interested you are in applying and attending (if accepted). It's also going to help you write your application since if you know the people there better, you can write stronger essays, especially with regards to fit.

TakeruK,

Thanks a lot for your reply. As I know she is new and probably she has a start-up grant. By the way, thank you for your advice, too!