We expect that you will make your own travel plans and we will reimburse you for that travel. Unfortunately, we have a limited travel budget so we must place an upper limit on the reimbursements based on where you are coming from. So make your plans early to secure lower fares.
Please note that our budget constraints will not allow us to pay your way here if you do not reside in the United States. However, should you be in the US during the period in which Open House is held, we can arrange to try and pay for your travel from wherever you are in the US to New York for the Open House weekend.
If you plan on visiting other nearby institutions (NYU, Stony Brook, Yale, Princeton, ...) at around the same time, we would certainly appreciate being able to share travel expenses with them. Let us know if that is in your plans.
We will provide you housing on Sunday and Monday nights. We also provide dinner on Sunday in addition to breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Monday of the Open House. Therefore, your main expenses will be transportation costs and breakfast on Sunday.
The upper limits for travel reimbursement will be (to be confirmed):
- $400 if you are coming from the western states: WA,OR,CA,NV,ID,MO,UT,AZ,WY,CO,NM,ND,SD,NE,KS,OK,TX
(Includes Western Provinces of Canada)
- $300 if you are coming from the middle state regions: MN,IA,MT,AR,LA,WI,IL,MS,AL,TN,KY,IN,MI,OH
(Includes Middle Provinces of Canada)
- $200 from Atlantic coast states:
ME,NH,MA,VT,PA,WV,MD,DC,VA,NC,SC,GA,FL
(Includes Atlantic Provinces of Canada)
- $100 from the immediate neighborhood:
NY,NJ,CT,RI,DE
We can make exceptions on an individual basis but be sure to get prior approval from the Chair of the Admission Committee, Professor Szabolcs Marka: smarka@phys.columbia.edu
KEEP ALL YOUR RECEIPTS. We cannot reimburse you without the original receipts. If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, then contact Randy Torres before you make your plans. We may need to make special arrangements for reimbursements.
Attention Foreign Students:
Columbia University
strictly follows all federal guidelines for reimbursement. If you are
entering the
country from abroad your passport MUST HAVE an I-94 card and a
visa stamp. If
you are in country you are responsible for determining if your
visa type (F-1,
J-1, H1-B, etc) will allow you to be reimbursed for travel within
the U.S. BEFORE
YOU MAKE YOUR TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS as we will not be able to
reimburse you after
the fact. Please check with your institution’s International
Student Services
Organization or equivalent. Our financial assistant John Carr will
be happy to
answer what questions he can before your travel.
Travel reimbursement forms will be included in your welcome packets. You can also get them as pdf files:
Guidelines
Reimbursement Form
W9
When your travel is complete, we will need you to fill in a travel reimbursement form, attach all your receipts and send them to:
Lydia Argote
Physics Department
538 West 120th Street
Mail Code 5255
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
Make a copies for yourself before you send off the originals.
Submit all of your travel reimbursements by April 30. We cannot guarantee to reimburse you if we don't receive the forms by then.
Be prompt!
