<p>So I got admitted to a graduate program in Physics, and although I was interested in attending it, I was notified from them a few weeks ago that they’re having severe funding issues in one of their research areas, which happens to be my main interest. Thus, I very likely don’t want to go there. </p>
<p>However, I was interested in the school and surrounding area, so I decided to book a flight to visit their department tomorrow anyways.</p>
<p>However, I also was recently admitted to the Aerospace engineering program at that school, which is very unrelated to Physics. But I happen to also be interested in that, though not as much as Physics. One of the profs there recently contacted me about some upcoming projects he has. When we talked with each other, I told him I’ll get back to him later since I wasn’t sure yet if I wanted to attend. Honestly, I wasn’t considering it too much since I really wanted to do Physics. But since I’ve gotten some more rejections and am not overly enthusiastic about the Physics schools I got admitted to, now I’m reconsidering that Aerospace offer. I contacted him, and he suggested we talk over the phone again</p>
<p>I was thinking that since both depts are at the same school, that I could visit both of them? Or would the Aerospace prof find me unreliable since he’ll find out that I appear to have an interest in Physics also? And if they contact the Phys dept about this, then I can only imagine they’d be pretty unhappy as well. Or am I better off just not visiting the Aerospace dept or booking a separate flight to revisit the school to see just Aerospace that time?</p>
<p>I don’t know if the departments would care that you are considering two offers, but if you are concerned about that possibility:</p>
<p>How would they even know that you are talking to people in more than one department? </p>
<p>When I attended open houses, most of the events on my schedule (with the exception of individual meetings) were completely optional and nobody really cared how I spent my time. I skipped a lot of events (e.g. class visits) to do other things, and I could have easily talked to professors in another department if I wanted to.</p>
<p>when I visit that school tomorrow and if I see the AE profs, they’ll would wonder how I arrived there on such short notice and how I managed to arrange a flight and pay for it without their reimbursement. I could lie and say I booked a flight really quickly and paid for it on my own? The physics profs may not know about me seeing the AE profs, but they did find out from the Grad school admissions (they told me via email) that I applied to the Astro dept. So they may also know that I applied to AE also</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it - it is okay to have a few areas of interest, it is okay to apply to different departments at the same school, and it is okay to visit both at the same time. If they ask about the other field, simply say “I studied both of these areas during my undergrad, and I am waiting to decide between them until I have seen the departments and met my prospective advisors.”</p>
<p>That having been said, try not to make your absences obvious to the department paying for your trip, and if you REALLY want to take a good look at both see if the second department can help you extend your stay. Alternately, explain to the paying department that you need to cut your visit a little short - explain that while you are very interested, you have a conflict that can only be resolved by splitting the weekend (or whatever days you are going there). Departments usually understand that good students are often hard-pressed to shoe-horn everything in.</p>
<p>If at all possible, I would try to fit in the other appointment during a time when the sponsoring program doesn’t have anything on their schedule. Otherwise, the answer above would work. I definitely wouldn’t work through the sponsor program to set up an interview for the other professor- you should do that yourself.</p>