<p>I have pretty much decided on the program I am going to enter (I have two offers currently). I just declined two other interviews, but there are three others where flights and hotels have already been booked in February. Is it ethical to go to the weekends even though I am 99.9 percent sure I will not be going to those schools if I am accepted? I'm not sure if they can get their money back and I have already taken off of work. </p>
<p>Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>It’s not a question of ethics. That is, attending an interview weekend just for the sake of attending is not immoral.</p>
<p>However, if you decline, you do save them the additional money they would have spent on you over the interview weekend. And assumedly, those schools can now concentrate on the applicants for whom choosing those programs is still a likelihood.</p>
<p>There are two schools of thought about this. One believes that you shouldn’t insult your hosts by canceling at the last minute, especially since they could be your colleagues some day. The other believes that you shouldn’t waste the professors’ and your time and effort; besides, the program might have a list of alternates that they might invite late to fill the spot. You’ll have to decide which you fall into. </p>
<p>I would be surprised if the university bought non-refundable plane tickets. Some require the students to make the arrangements, and then they reimburse. In this last case, not going would probably put the financial burden on you, and so you should attend the interview, even if you know you won’t go there.</p>
<p>I would be surprised if the university bought non-refundable tickets, as well.</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily think it’s unethical to attend an interview weekend at a program you are no longer seriously considering, as long as you don’t feel it’s a waste of your time. But if you do feel it’s a waste of your time, then it’s definitely a waste of the time of many other people. </p>
<p>When I was interviewing, I canceled with two schools whose programs I was certain I would not attend. I think I probably canceled via email (because I am a huge chicken) a week or so in advance. It didn’t cause problems for me – I got the distinct feeling that this was a normal situation for the program coordinators.</p>
<p>To elaborate on Mollie’s post, even if they DID buy non-refundable tickets, the cost is just a small fraction of a student interview weekend. You’ve already seen how much a program can spend on students once they arrive. Transportation is just a small percentage of the cost.</p>
<p>Thanks for the terrific advice, MWFN, molliebatmit, and kryptonsa36, as usual. I was really stressing about this and just might cancel at least one of the other interviews. With one school (my second/third choice), I don’t think it would be a waste of time to visit because it might be somewhere in the future where a post-doc may be possible, or in my dreams, at least, :). I am really glad to hear your thoughts because one of the reasons I canceled the other two was because I wanted others to have a chance to get into a program. It’s been a grueling process for me and those spots will probably make someone’s year… THANK YOU!!!</p>
<p>I’m in the same spot neurohopes. There is one I’d like to cancel, but I payed for the flight and am waiting for reimbursement. Also I was told if I change the flight arrangements it would cost me $250. I can’t quite afford to NOT go now.</p>
<p>Last year, I had the same dilemma. I had already been accepted to my favorite and second favorite programs but still had an interview scheduled and flight/hotel booked. I chose to cancel my trip so as to not waste the spot and faculty members’ time. The cost of recruiting isn’t limited to just hotels and flights, meals and events are pricey too. If you really have no intention of going to these final programs, why not save everyone money and time and allow the focus to be on people who might actually attend grad school there?</p>
<p>belevitt,
Were you refunded? I’d really prefer to cancel, but financially it might not be an option. Would it be in poor taste to call the school, or the travel agency they asked me to use, and ask about canceling and refund options?</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>You probably won’t get refunded (from the graduate school) if you book a flight yourself.</p>
<p>GCN2, I would just go at this point in your case. I’m going to cancel all except for one. I’m really just totally relieved to be done with this whole thing. Ready to move on (and I want others to be able to move on too.)</p>
<p>Off topic and probably should start a new thread: if you apply for fellowships like NSF or anything else (I know NSF is nearly impossible to get), and you happen to get it, will you get the award on top of the funding given to you by the school, or does that replace your stipend, etc.?</p>
<p>It will not be an award completely on top of the funding the school gives you. Many schools allow NSF to supplement your stipend, so I think the NSF fellows get a few thousand dollars a year extra, but not 30,000 extra. Most other fellowships replace the program money or training grant that would otherwise have provided most of your funding.</p>
<p>I think your graduate school is the “supplement,” not NSF. In other words, NSF replaces your school’s stipend with its $30,000/yr, but some schools will tack on a portion - those “few thousand dollars a year extra” - of the money that would have otherwise been your stipend.</p>
<p>Thanks, you guys!</p>
<p>So if your stipend will be more than the $30,000 from your school, you probably won’t see any change (but it will look good on your CV)? </p>
<p>Also, I have another question with this because I am just starting to research these things. If you have a year off, like I do (or at this point, 8 months) and are working at a lab, if you wanted to put together a proposal, would you use your boss as the PI on it or would you use someone from your graduate school to help you craft it? The school where I am going does rotations but there is one professor who I have been in frequent communication who may be open to helping.</p>
<p>The deadlines may have passed for NSF, I need to look at them, but it seems as if there are lots of different opportunities. If you went with your boss as the PI, would the funding stay there or go to your new school?</p>
<p>
Correct – sorry if I said it a little jumbled. The NSF money pays for your stipend, but the school will add a few thousand on top of that.</p>
<p>As for the proposal PI/topic, it does not have to reflect reality, and the award is portable. So if you apply using your current institution for convenience, you can choose to take the award to another institution and/or PI if you want to go there, and you are not obligated to actually perform the experiments that you propose. The award is to you, not necessarily for the particular set of experiments or to a particular lab/institution.</p>
<p>You do not have to propose a PI at all. NSF only cares that the graduate institution you list is a suitable place for carrying out your research topic. Of course, if you do mention a professor particularly well-suited to guide your research project, then it makes it that much more obvious you’ve selected an appropriate graduate institution to attend. (Also note that you can mention whomever you want - NSF will not contact your “prospective PI” to ask whether he or she would want to support your work.)</p>
<p>Also, I don’t know this for a fact, but it seems inadvisable, at least in the biological fields, to list your current research advisor as your prospective PhD advisor in your NSF application.</p>
<p>To neurohopes, I don’t know what the refund policy would be. The institution had purchased the plane ticket and made hotel reservations. I had heard that travel agencies used by universities tend to have accommodations for people canceling after the bookings have been made, so the department may be able to recoup some or all of the cost of the unused tickets/hotel.</p>
<p>You guys are so helpful! Thank you!</p>
<p>So if I am understanding correctly, you are being awarded for your achievements, test scores/GPA, admission to a good graduate school, and a really good idea that may not come to fruition along the exact lines that you say in the proposal?</p>
<p>Mollie and kryptonsa, do you know if you can apply for multiple NSF fellowships that may be along the same lines (and craft them to suit the outline)? </p>
<p>I really appreciate the help.</p>
<p>
Your LORs and (two other) essays are very important factors as well. But yes, not only does your good idea not have to come to fruition along the exact lines that you say… it does not have to come to fruition at all!</p>
<p>
What do you mean by this? Submit multiple applications for different research proposals? Anyway, you can only submit one NSF GRFP application a year.</p>
<p>I decided to cancel the interview, no refund, oh well.</p>
<p>Anyway, you guys are very helpful with all of this fellowship stuff. Would it be reasonable to apply for an NIH F31 as a first year? What would the timeline be? Is it acceptable to use one letter of rec from a PI from undergrad work?</p>