ksgrad

It feels like it took forever to get here, but, over the past week, I received funded offers from Kansas and Bowling Green. Excited to leave my job this summer, start teaching, and regain full-time grad student status. YES!

I declined Purdue yesterday. My email to the grad chair went without acknowledgment for the past three weeks. Since yesterday was the deadline, I figured no communication wasn't exactly a good sign - both for funding and my potential experience at Purdue. I'm officially down to Kansas and Bowling Green. Neither required me to make a decision yesterday, so I'm still holding on to both and hoping a TA position will come through soon. However, since the email I sent to Kansas last week about BG's tuition waiver hasn't been responded to, I'm about 90% sure I'm heading to Ohio in August. Good luck all!

At this point, I'm pretty sure my decision is between Kansas and Bowling Green. BG offered a four-year tuition waiver, and I'm waiting to hear about a TA position with Women's Studies or Ethnic Studies. I'd be psyched about either! I've told Kansas about the offer, and am waiting to see if they can match it (or come close), since I really, really liked their faculty and Lawrence. Anyone else still grappling with a decision?

Obviously Rutgers is the place for you, and I'm sure Purdue would be out regardless. At this point, you may want to contact and see what's up. The only reason I say that is because when I applied for my M.A., the grad school never actually sent my application to the department, and it was not considered. The university ended up refunding my application fee. I know that's probably a rare occurrence, but you never know... I wouldn't mind getting a few of my application fees back this time around And a serious congrats on Rutgers. What an amazing offer!

Anyone heard from Kansas, Bowling Green or Purdue on funding? We're getting really close to April 15, and I'm freaking out a bit!

Fantastic! That's such great news, and what a great way to start the weekend. Congratulations!

Hi! Congrats on the acceptance; so glad to hear from someone else who applied to BGSU. I called the department for a status update about a week ago. The director told me I'd been accepted, but was on a wait list for funding. I'd suggest calling. You may receive more positive news! What other programs did you apply to or are you considering? Is BG near the top of the list for you? I'm definitely considering the program, though would be more likely to commit if I knew I had funding. Kate

I'm not sure what the deal is with Rutgers, but you may want to contact the grad director (Susan Curtis) at Purdue. She's responded to my emails pretty quickly. Hope you get good news from both!

The board has been so quiet! Are people still waiting on responses or starting to make decisions? I've heard from all of my schools at this point. I'm now waiting on some funding news. I think my final decision will come down to Kansas, Bowling Green and Purdue. Is anyone else considering one of these schools? I'd love to connect.

Nope. I keep thinking that it will be in the mailbox today. Though, I've though that for the last few weeks. Really wishing I hadn't wasted my money on Utah.

Thanks for your thoughts. I am hopeful that funding is still out there, and I know I don't want to take out major loans to work on my PhD. I have two M.A. degrees that I self funded, and (rightfully or not) feel that I've earned the right to expect a funded PhD. I think I'm going to wait it out until April 15, and see if my prospects don't improve in the meantime.

I know. I would have understood if one or two schools had indicated they couldn't provide funding, but I'm in total shock it's every school where I've been accepted. Frankly, I wish they'd just put me on a wait list. I spoke with the grad director at Buffalo, who made it very clear that I shouldn't expect funding at any point, and that many of their students work off-campus and self fund. I feel like taking out at least 15K/year in loans is not a good financial decision. The grad chair at Purdue told me they'd contact me immediately if they could put together a funding package. Kansas has suggested maybe/some point/keep looking (which I am). And, Bowling Green, told me I wasn't on their funding list, but could potentially hear something by July. I need to make a major move; if BG is where I end up, I'd like more warning to find a place to live than July. Basically, the message across the board has been "we'd love to have you, but can't offer you any support." So, not only is it about loans, but then I'm not even getting teaching experience, which is so critical to the job market.

At this point, I don't think it can hurt. Perhaps you'll get better info than I did...

Received an acceptance email from Bowling Green. Of course, no funding. 0/4 on funding...how is this happening?

I've yet to here. I called the department two weeks ago yesterday. The admin was very short with me and indicated letters were going out that day. Clearly, that was not true, as it's been two weeks and no news. Frankly, I'm sure it's a rejection at this point, but I'm less than impressed that it's taken over three months to communicate a decision.