raabs

I would like to give a huge thanks to everyone on this forum for being such a supportive group this year. This cycle has effectively ended for me, pending my MA application responses. 
I will be taking a break from this forum and come back around April to post my final results as I'm in the last leg of my master's (thesis defense soon ?) and would like to focus on finishing on a strong note.
If you would like to keep in touch beyond this forum, I'm pretty active on Twitter! DM me and I'll send my handle to you. 
Congratulations again to all those who have received offers in such a difficult cycle -- if you are planning to apply in another cycle, you'll probably see me on this forum again. 
Best wishes to all! ☺️❤️

I talked with several PhD students and most of them said that you should at least try to negotiate. Obviously you can't just go around saying "give me more money" but you can ask in a more polite manner. A PhD student I know said that he mailed couple of universities and asked: "I would love to study here at Y, but I also got an offer from X. Could you match this?" or something along these lines. You can also emphasize that you're dependent on this funding. In short, I'd say go for it, there's no harm in asking -as long as you ask in a direct but polite manner- since these packages (to my knowledge) are more or less same for 4-5 years. 

I'm wondering this too... and I've received highly mixed advice. On one hand, we don't want to leave anything on the table (and we especially don't want to do that if imposter syndrome is telling us to just be thankful for getting in at all). On the other hand, it's my understanding that schools have very rigid packages and will not offer different students different funding as a matter of policy.

Ah, I guess it’s up to you! If you think that package lacks what others have offered you, I see no real issue with bringing it up. It’s not like they can revoke your offer merely because you want to discuss it in light of others. 

Sorry, I maybe should have been clearer. I meant when I eventually choose which offer to accept, should I attempt to negotiate a better funding package? 

I really don't think the process is random or based on chance at all, it is all about fit. Given how competitive it is this year, even a "loose fit" will probably not suffice. I think that's the mistake a lot of people made, they applied to schools simply because of ranking and name. 

I think a lot of applicants see a professor has published on peacekeeping (random example) and they assume they are a strong fit because the applicant is also interested in peacekeeping. While that may normally be a good fit, these unprecedented times mean that an even stronger fit is required. In terms of whether a professor is taking a sabbatical or not is definitely luck, but I'd still say that schools are being more strategic than ever this year. 

I really don't think the process is random or based on chance at all, it is all about fit. Given how competitive it is this year, even a "loose fit" will probably not suffice. I think that's the mistake a lot of people made, they applied to schools simply because of ranking and name. 

Based on my offers so far, I can't help but think that fit (shown in your SoP) has been even more important than any other factor this year. I think grades and scores are becoming less important for committees and they are looking at whether your research interests directly align with one or more of their professors'. I think applicants next year should take this into consideration before blanket-applying

Based on my offers so far, I can't help but think that fit (shown in your SoP) has been even more important than any other factor this year. I think grades and scores are becoming less important for committees and they are looking at whether your research interests directly align with one or more of their professors'. I think applicants next year should take this into consideration before blanket-applying

Second @smug-face ! I think a number of universities in the US (as part of the Council of Graduate Schools) have an agreement that you don't have to notify them of your decision prior to April 15 for offers with financial support, so I would check if that's the deadline for your program.

I'd write a two-line reply thanking the department for the offer and saying that I will communicate my decision before the deadline (which they should have included in the offer). 

First time poster: 
How does the process work if I have received an official offer but I want to wait to see what offers/funding I get from other schools? Do I just wait and not reply to the official offer or..?
Sorry if this is a rookie question.