django_r

Not seeing them listed there, but I would be surprised if they didn't adhere to the same general timeline, since a number of schools in the list receive funding from the same sources as are available to me.

I feel a little strange disclosing my school, since it would be pretty simple to identify me as my program only accepts two PhD candidates a year, and I believe the other accepting PhD has already secured funding. Suffice to say that it's a well-respected program in the field. From reports I've heard, I could be reasonably expected to increase my earning potential by $15-$30K/year with a PhD over a MSci. Of course, that's dependent on what the job market looks like in the future, whenever I manage to complete the degree. I just received the PhD offer sheet tonight roughly two hours ago by email, so I fired off a reply pushing for more information on funding. I'll probably go down to pester people for further information tomorrow. The quick expected turnaround for a decision is what's shaken me the most, although as you say I should be able to push to have at least until April 15. Thanks for the advice. I agree that taking out loans for a PhD program would probably defeat much of the increased earning potential.

I just received my offer letter for my PhD program, and have been given only four days to respond with an acceptance or a rejection of the offer. Funding is still "undecided" with a likelihood to hear back in the near future, but no guarantee of hearing back before the acceptance deadline. The reason given for this is the recent sequestration that's taking place due to congress. I've been given some indications that I'd probably get funded, but at the same time I'm extremely leery of accepting a position without guarantee of at least partial funding. I've already completed a year of a masters program at the institution I'm applying to, and would effectively start "a year ahead" in the PhD program. This also means that if I reject the offer, I'll still end up paying for at least one year more tuition to complete my MSci. My tuition costs would be on the order of ~$30K/yr in a Bioinformatics program. If I accept the offer and am ultimately not funded, how difficult is it generally to leave with just my MSci, and how much time is it likely to cost me? How comfortable would you be in taking or rejecting such an offer? Thanks for any input you're all able to provide.