engguy

Things are tough all over. I'm not saying that just to be callous. But there are a lot of people suffering right now. Losing their life's savings. Losing their homes. It's tough to feel too sorry for applicants who might be having a bit tougher time than usual getting fully funded offers for higher education. That said, there are plenty of offers -- good ones -- being made. The cut-off this year in relation to applicant pool might be a bit higher, but only a bit -- have yet to hear any utter horror stories of programs absolutely slamming the door on funding for students. But stick around; next year might be even tougher. Then again, it might not. Things might improve, and you might just be the victim of bad timing. But consider this, too: how would you like to be at the END of your five-year funding package right now? Out on the market, looking for work? There, my friend, I have heard some horror stories. What I would suggest to those who don't get satisfactory offers this year is, get creative. I have a friend who taught English in Korea for a year, came back, and got great offers from a number of good schools, including the top-20 program she's currently in. Me? I chose to uproot my family last year and move cross country (at the height of the gas crisis, natch), taking my wife away from a good and well-paying job. It's been a real struggle, and if I had known then what I know now, I might have chosen to stay close to home, where I was also offered a good deal at a very good school. But it looks like things are going to work out... Hang in there, and have some perspective, is what I'm saying.

well, uh, if you know for a fact you're not going, why waste the poor man's time? there are students gearing up to recruit you, resources being gathered to woo you, etc. -- let them move on to someone else. if you know 100% you're not going, that's what I'd do. if there's a chance you might change your mind, no harm in waiting.

This is either a joke or very bad advice. Don't do this. For one thing, yes, as the previous poster mentioned, there's ultimately only one person responsible for your stipend amount. Of course, there may be a professor advocating on your behalf, but really it's up to the DGS -- who is likely a professor him- or herself, working in a very thankless job in addition to teaching duties, acting as a lightning rod between the stressed budget of the school and the will of the higher-ups and a hundred yapping students and applicants. You don't want to annoy this person by appearing to go behind his or her back and bugging everyone on staff. As has been mentioned on similar threads, your best ally right now is time. Sit tight, see what other offers come in, and as it gets closer to apr 15 there may be some movement. Some DGS will get in touch with you to find out what other offers you have and see what they can come up with to match that. If you initiate the conversation now, you will only appear desperate and annoying.

UT will pay your tuition. They will probably list it as part of your "package," artificially inflating your deal, though you will never see that money. This is actually pretty standard. Just make sure to ask the DGS about it.

ask about funding -- what's paid for and what's not. are there student fees? health ins. 100%? tuition, etc. ask what students do for work in the summer -- most schools don't do year-round stipends -- if the dept. tends to find work for you or if students are cast into the world of summer employment. try to get a sense of whether a lot of students take out loans or if the financial package is enough to live on. ask about neighborhoods, rent, safety. pay attention to cost of living type things -- the price of gas, how much people pay for heating bills, groceries, etc. the rest of it should be pretty standard -- obviously you'll want to know about advisers and faculty and the general overall health of the school, placement, etc. good luck!

I agree with the previous poster -- waiting, while it might be the hardest part, is also your best bet at this point and your strongest negotiating tool. I doubt there will be "bidding wars" of the kinds in years past, due to the state of the economy, but there still might be some movement. Especially at a state school, the hands of the DGS might be tied until it gets closer to decision date -- april 15. Good luck.

hang in there, dude or dudette! it's brutal i know, but the fact that you have a couple admits already ought to take the edge off. go to a matinee, take a bath, find your favorite person and do shots of tequila out of each other's belly buttons -- anything to keep your mind off that e-mail. it will get here. good luck

The short answer is no. Of course, age may or may not be a factor when it comes time to interview for a job -- as might race, gender, etc. -- but obviously this is not something you should be worried about at this point. Yes, schools tend to be enamored of very bright candidates fresh out of undergrad, but in my experience these are in the minority of admits --- the majority tend to be slightly older students who've either done a masters or had some other interesting side track before coming back for a higher degree. The bottom line is -- while the program may be sizing you up for a possible hire down the road -- the immediate concern is whether you'll finish the degree in a timely fashion. Age is not really a factor in this, and being a bit older with a proven track record might actually help.

Congrats! Depends on where in Cal you are, but overall it's pretty expensive. If you're single, shared housing with other grads would be the way to go. I would expect to pay anywhere from $400-600 for a room in a decent-sized house. Again, this really depends on what city you're in. Could be cheaper in a smaller town. The graduate office / your department should be able to put you in touch with someone who could help with this. Some schools may even have grad student housing for internat'l students. Certainly competitive. California is devastated right now economically, so especially at a state institution, you might not get more than this. It's a waiting game at this point. At some point closer to Apr 15, the DGS may get in touch with you to see what other offers you've had, and may be in a position to up yours. Good luck.

tough choice indeed, but given that it's only 1 year it's not a make or break decision. sounds like you really can't go wrong here. one thing to consider is that you will almost certainly be moving again in a year to do the phd -- is this something you're prepared to do? it might be a good idea to stay put, knock out the year with good funding, and gear up to move at the end of that. i doubt that not going to the super-prestigious place will seriously hamper your ability to get into top phd programs. if i were you i would make a list of the pros and cons of each choice. bounce your ideas off a group of trusted friends and family who know you well. and good luck...

Given this -- which is totally understandable, whatever your personal reasons -- I don't see how anyone can really answer your question. Nevertheless, my sense remains that you should not worry about it too much. Granted, we seem to be in entirely different fields, but I have yet to hear of a school that would somehow look down on applicants who do not get accepted at other top schools. It happens to everyone. And if your concern is that they would hold it over your head as some kind of bargaining chip -- "come here, we're the best option for you" -- well, I doubt they would give you that kind of hard sell, either. An experienced recruitment officer knows that this is a dance, not a cold-call sales pitch, and other offers from lesser-ranked programs might look more attractive to you for a variety of reasons. Anyway, good luck with this.

i applied last year and didn't hear anything till sometime in mid-march. you could search the results page from last year and see when others heard back. good luck.

Something that occurred to me, too. I think there's a lot of this going on this year, as dept's are devastated by the financial crisis and don't have as many plums to give out, but still want to find spots for everyone. Be prepared to hear something like, "we really want you and we can all but guarantee you funding, but we just don't know yet." so they want to gauge your interest and get a sense of what might work for you if and when funding comes through. at any rate, you'll know soon enough.

i agree in principle... but i just think coming across like, "i hope you're able to match the offers i get down the road" is not the right approach, imo. first, you don't know what those offers will be; second, there's a difference between getting someone to go to bat for you for that extra 2k and sounding like a greedy bastard. even if you need to be a bit of a greedy bastard in the final analysis. last year i asked my admit contact person point blank if she could improve on the offer. this was during the recruitment visit. she said no. it was a straightforward conversation, not at all awkward; i did not mention the financial side of offers from other schools, tho she knew i had them. later the DGS did contact me to ask about my other offers, and then upped the package considerably. this was maybe a week before april 15. so i think there are other ways to make it clear to them that you have other things on the table, and perhaps the time to do that is closer to decision time. good luck!

They can't "lock you in to a figure," nor can they force some sort of commitment to their school. I seriously doubt that's what this admit person is looking for. If so, it's probably illegal. I agree that you should be upbeat, positive, interested... but ultimately not make any outlandish promises. Again, though, I really doubt they'll prompt you for one. Seriously advise against this. This is not a negotiation for a job on Wall St. (thank god!). Thank him/her for whatever offer he/she makes, and tell him/her you look forward speaking again soon. Don't sound disappointed, angry, over-anxious, etc. Be polite and get back to them later.

first off, it took me about five minutes to make sense of the syntax of your initial question. you seem to be asking if there's a polite way to avoid telling the school you eventually plan to attend where else you got accepted? sure, but i don't see why that's necessary. if it comes up, just be a grown-up about it: tell them. it's not like you're dealing with a jealous husband who's going to fly into a rage over your other suitors. schools know, and expect, that their top candidates will have other offers to consider. they're not going to be shocked or upset by this --- even if it comes up during the recruitment process!

ralph-- anything's possible; it's possible we will all be out hunting rabbits with stones and dodging cannibalistic maniacs in a post-apocalyptic landscape in 2-3 years. the language you cite in your offer is absolutely standard. they will not cut you off unless you prove to be the absolutely worst TA on the planet, and probably not even then. the economy is headed into unprecedented territory, though, and even as i jest, i too worry. but things really would have to get pretty apocalyptic (IMO) in order for schools to start cutting TAs loose.

why would you visit a school you hadn't yet been accepted at over one you already had? or am i missing something here? i would also point out that, just because they're having recruitment visits that weekend, does not mean you have to visit that weekend. you can explain your situation and visit one of them some other time. it may even be better to visit when they are not totally geared up for recruitment, to see what the school is normally like. assuming that you are accepted at both schools, and both are offering travel funds, i would talk to the grad coordinator / dgs, tell them frankly what your situation is, and ask them when you might alternatively visit.

no, you shouldn't feel normal. you should feel good about not feeling normal. your dreams were deferred, not dashed. i will go out on a limb and say that you will not get into a good english phd program with a sub-2.5 gpa. but you appear to have done well in the interim, and you have plenty of time to pull this up. far more important will be your writing sample, SOP, LOR, and then your GPA and GRE scores, probably in that order. more important than any of these will be a continuing dedication and willingness to be subjected to the worst privations and humiliations on your journey... i wish you luck :!:

Apologies for the potentially inane question, but are "student fees" different from "mandatory fees" ? probably not? different schools will define this in different ways -- the key word to look out for, obviously, is "fees." to make a very general statement -- and thanks, risingstar, for adding the bit about mandatory health care -- state schools' hands are tied somewhat in how much they are allowed to raise tuition from one year to the next. student fees are a way to shore up budgets, and schools have more flexibility with them. think of it as a tax on students that goes to very specific things -- a new sports facility, copy privileges at the library, etc. to repeat: most public universities, unless they have a large endowment that covers these budget shortfalls or the fees, will not waive this portion of your bill. as risingstar notes, the amount will vary wildly from one school to the next, as will, possibly, the name they give it. ask. ask the dgs, ask the current students.

don't listen to domanda. i live there now and go to suny. yes, the campus is far away, but some of my classmates don't have vehicles and even some who do prefer public transit, which is efficient and cheap if you live near a line and pay attention to schedules (the fare however is now 1.75). there are great, safe neighborhoods inside the city. yes, it is poor, and there are occasional break-ins of apt's and cars. but by and large i feel safer here than in other cities where i've lived. the other grads form a great community. there's always something to do, between film, art, events --- granted the music scene is not stellar. toronto is close by if you crave the big city. i would strongly recommend you try to visit before deciding. the city may click with you or it may not. there are natives who absolutely love it here and wouldn't move for anything -- clearly the previous poster not being one of them. but i've found it to be a pleasant place to live so far.

that's wonderful for you, and i'm assuming it's probably the same for many others. but for some of us, it's not. in fact, one thing to add is that i was essentially lulled -- again, not deliberately, i think -- into believing that would be the case at my school. my official letter simply said "full tuition waiver." since nobody mentioned fees in addition to this, i assumed it meant that my balance, too, wd be 0. alas. i was reinforced in this assumption by the forthrightness of every other school that made me an offer with regards to fees -- have them, don't, how much, etc. so again i say -- it doesn't hurt to ask.

as some of you begin to receive letters of acceptance, and TA / fellowship offers, i'd like to remind you of a nasty little item, often buried in the fine print of your offer, known as student fees. some schools will spell this out in your initial conversation, some will mention it in their letter, all (i would think) are legally required to inform you about this, should you ask. HOWEVER -- notices of acceptance are highly irregular, and vary from school to school. sometimes you will get nothing more than a quasi-formal e-mail, or a series of phone conversations, informing you of the terms of your "package." make sure to ask about student fees. just about every public university, i'd venture to guess, has them. they cover things like student activities, computer use, parking, commuting, etc. -- things you may or may not use but you will be charged for. these fall outside the realm of whatever tuition waiver you receive. generally they amount to no more than a hundred bucks or so a semester, and are no big deal. however, i wish to god i'd asked about them at the school i eventually committed to, because here they exceed $500 a semester. and nobody told me about them. nobody told any of the incoming class of phd students about them. it was not, i don't think (though many of you may not believe this) a deliberate thing on their part. the dgs position was in transition and the incoming person didn't know about the fees; none of the professors i spoke with new about them either. or if they did, they had no idea that the fees were so high. i still have a very good deal, but needless to say this takes a large chunk out of my salary. i would advise you, if there's any vagueness at all from the dgs at your school, to ask current students. i guarantee they will know to the dollar how much the fees are, and they can tell you if they've gone up considerably in recent years -- something else to watch out for. the dgs / professors are less likely to know much about this, because it simply doesn't affect them. that's it; take it from someone who wishes he had gotten this advice last year.

i did some of both. in every case, however, i also sent a snail-mail package, with said letter on top -- almost always there is some extra material not accounted for in the online app, though this probably varies depending on discipline. i will say that it's certainly not out of line to contact the appropriate person in the grad office; some on this forum have fretted in the past that "bothering" the person will somehow affect their application. people, it's their job! assuming you don't go overboard, they will be happy to help you (hopefully). later, if you do get in and decide to attend that school, write this person a nice note of thanks. they will most likely also be involved with passing out fellowship checks, coordinating travel money, etc., so it pays to make friends.

hmm...the fact that a guy w/a changed name had no issues makes even stronger a case for some underhanded anti-feminist academic movement. :evil: hahhah... in all seriousness though, i am a bit OCD when it comes to these things, so perhaps my staying on top of it helped avoid any problems. i do think a cover letter outlining any "quirks" in one's app. helps as well, but obviously it's too late for that now. i have however found that there is ALWAYS a person in the grad office in charge of these things -- usually this person, while a bit beleaguered this time of year, is pretty gracious about trouble-shooting -- this can cut through miles of red tape. good luck finding them.