ZeratulsAvenger

I planned to inform my LOR writers of all that happened, but after these 2 months I think I will just include the highlights: where I am going, maybe offer amounts from a school or two, and the slight controversy/hiccup that I experienced with one of my schools. While I don't want to show off a rejection, I want to give them as much information as I think is useful. They will continue to write recommendations for others, and I think that my experiences (positive or negative) can be helpful to them. It's been awhile since many of them have applied, and many departments are unique in how they work, so I hope they can use me as a reference for the school I'm attending (or applied to) or just as a "here's what a student of mine said about _____". I would certainly pass along anything you think could be useful for future students at your school, or to your LOR writers.

For me (PhD, Eng), at one school I was offered a TA to begin with by the school, but was eventually offered a RA by a professor which would end up paying more. I would still need to do a TA, but I could do it later. Otherwise, I had a TA offer for one to begin with, and a third that would be a RA to begin with. Just varies by school I think, but I like the RA first since it seems to be for more money and it lets you hit the ground running.

That's a tough situation... if it were me: A) I'd ask the department or other students how (un)usual that type of offer is, and what the chances are that you'd end up with an RA or something by the end of the academic year. If you only had to pay for one year, that's significantly less to deal with. B ) Ask the school if there was anything they could do for you regarding housing/funding. During a discussion with the head of the department at one of the schools that accepted me (PhD, Eng), I was told that I should contact him if money was going to come between me and an acceptance. In this case, I was granted a 'partial' stipend (~9 months), and would likely be picked up in a lab for the summer to work. The offer was several thousand less than competing universities, which I told him. Or it could mean: C) You were effectively rejected. If they don't want you enough to pay, is it worth it? D) You need to find a professor to commit to you before you get an offer. At two schools, I was accepted but needed to find funding (meaning, find a professor to commit to me) before anything else would happen. They made that pretty obvious though. Hopefully you find yourself in one of the first two situations... Good luck!