More gripes!
Okay, so I have an interview coming up at the end of the month. I know it's ungracious of me to bitch about having an interview, but hear me out.
Getting the interview was a big surprise, because the professor I want to work with never responded to my interest e-mail from back in November. Regardless, I was thrilled to receive the offer. In my field (clinical psychology), reimbursement for interview flights is basically unheard of. So I booked a cheap flight down there. Trouble is, all the reasonably-priced flights were for a city an hour away, with no transportation between the two. So I've reserved a rental car. Expensive, yes, but I was expecting that.
Last week, I got an e-mail from the interview weekend coordinator: "Hi, [me] and [one other person]. I was able to arrange for everyone to stay with grad students. Everyone except you two, that is. So please make hotel arrangements." Fine, okay, I'll find a hotel room. Except most places in town are booked by now. And the program won't reimburse for hotel costs! Seriously, we're the only two (out of 40+) interviewees who have this expense and they won't pay us back for it!
Okay, fine. Hotel it is. Freaking A, this is getting expensive. But I've got everything reserved and I'm getting excited about the interview. Then today, I finally got an e-mail from the professor I'd like to work with. After some nice discussion of his work and a request to meet with me during the interview, he dropped this: "I should, however, let you know that there has been a change in my grant funding that, at the moment, precludes my ability to provide financial support for a new student in the next academic year."
Holy effing hell. I'm locked in to shelling out nearly $600 on an interview with a guy who can't afford to take students. Sheesh!
Getting the interview was a big surprise, because the professor I want to work with never responded to my interest e-mail from back in November. Regardless, I was thrilled to receive the offer. In my field (clinical psychology), reimbursement for interview flights is basically unheard of. So I booked a cheap flight down there. Trouble is, all the reasonably-priced flights were for a city an hour away, with no transportation between the two. So I've reserved a rental car. Expensive, yes, but I was expecting that.
Last week, I got an e-mail from the interview weekend coordinator: "Hi, [me] and [one other person]. I was able to arrange for everyone to stay with grad students. Everyone except you two, that is. So please make hotel arrangements." Fine, okay, I'll find a hotel room. Except most places in town are booked by now. And the program won't reimburse for hotel costs! Seriously, we're the only two (out of 40+) interviewees who have this expense and they won't pay us back for it!
Okay, fine. Hotel it is. Freaking A, this is getting expensive. But I've got everything reserved and I'm getting excited about the interview. Then today, I finally got an e-mail from the professor I'd like to work with. After some nice discussion of his work and a request to meet with me during the interview, he dropped this: "I should, however, let you know that there has been a change in my grant funding that, at the moment, precludes my ability to provide financial support for a new student in the next academic year."
Holy effing hell. I'm locked in to shelling out nearly $600 on an interview with a guy who can't afford to take students. Sheesh!