What if you cannot make it to the visitation day?

[anon315]

Hello. I am currently abroad this semester and do not think I can make it to any visitation days from the departments I have been accepted to (the travel supplements they provide are sadly not enough for a round trip ticket back to the states!).

Thus, I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to what I should do for the schools I have been accepted to. I have been telling the schools that I can Skype for an interview if necessary. Do you think that is enough?

[anxiousmike]

I'd also love to hear what people have to say about this. I graduated early and am working in a different country for the time being...

[fuzzylogician]

Your situation is very common among internationals, and many of them still manage to make good choices without visiting. However, if you can somehow afford it, do visit. A school that looks great on paper may turn out to be not-so-great in person (and vice versa). If you can't, you need to gather as much information as possible about each of your options. Have phone/skype conversations with all the professors who work in your subfield and are likely to be on your committee. You want to know that you get along with the people who will guide your research for the next 5 years. Talk to grad students -- both of your potential advisor and others -- ask how they get along with their advisors, with the other grads and generally in their lives. Look up housing prices on craigslist and ask about where students live/how they get by on their stipends. You are interested not only in the academics, but also (moreso, if you ask me) in how your life will look if you accept a certain offer.

Edited February 7, 2010 by fuzzylogician

[jacib]

Hello. I am currently abroad this semester and do not think I can make it to any visitation days from the departments I have been accepted to (the travel supplements they provide are sadly not enough for a round trip ticket back to the states!).

Thus, I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to what I should do for the schools I have been accepted to. I have been telling the schools that I can Skype for an interview if necessary. Do you think that is enough?

I just got in and I live abroad. One of the departments I just got into suggested this: combine the trips. Schools have a certain amount of money to offer (this one offered $300), but if you got two departments to pony up money, that's 600, etc. That will make a much bigger dent in the cost of traveling from overseas. I originally wasn't planning on visiting but now I'm considering it.

[fuzzylogician]

I just got in and I live abroad. One of the departments I just got into suggested this: combine the trips. Schools have a certain amount of money to offer (this one offered $300), but if you got two departments to pony up money, that's 600, etc. That will make a much bigger dent in the cost of traveling from overseas. I originally wasn't planning on visiting but now I'm considering it.

+1 to this, it's exactly what I did last year. It's not like I could really afford to take time off work and travel twice anyway, not to mention the costs. Almost every school I was accepted to (with the exception of two state schools which shall not be named) offered funding in the range of $300-500. Get 2-3 of those and you're pretty much set, assuming you are hosted by grad students at each department. Even the schools that couldn't afford to reimburse me for my flight funded my trip locally (buses/subway), payed for lunch and dinner, and housed me with a grad student--so by far the biggest expense was the flight.