bck203

Anybody else still on the funding waitlist at Georgetown?

Thanks. I just sent the email asking for an extension. I'm so thankful for this forum--I didn't even realize this was an option until I stumbled across a threat about it. We'll see what they say.

School A, my top choice, has accepted me but waitlisted me for funding. Although they are a member of the CGS, their decision deadline is April 25. I have asked them to give me an update on my chances by tomorrow (the 15th). Going unfunded is not an option. School B, my second choice, has accepted me with funding. They follow the typical April 15 deadline. I'm totally confused and overwhelmed at this point. I was never sure about my decision to go to grad school this year to begin with, and now I feel even less sure. Complicating things even more, I'm a top candidate for a good job, but I won't know if I got the job until after April 15. So for tomorrow, I'm considering the following: 1. Commit to School B and then back out later if I get the job or get funding at School A. 2. Ask School B for an extension (preferably 10 days) while I wait for final word from School A. Just wondering if anyone's been in a similar situation. I've read other threads about the risks of backing out, and views on the subject seem mixed.

But almost every other school follows the 15th deadline, so it doesn't really help that much at all. I finally received an email today and promptly declined.

I think it's wildly unprofessional that Oregon still hasn't sent out MA notifications. April 15 is ONE WEEK away! They haven't even sent an update explaining the delay. Since the first year is unfunded, I can't really consider it anyway, but this still reflects poorly on them.

I'm accepted at Georgetown, but I seem to be on a waitlist for funding. I'll be waiting right up until April 15, so if you decide not to go there, please decline as soon as possible. Thank you!

Still no funding calls, huh? Surely by tomorrow...

I am currently a full-time volunteer in the Southwest and I live on a stipend of a few thousand less than that. It's actually not that bad, in my opinion! Of course, I was used to being poor from undergrad, so it wasn't a huge shock. Here's my advice: -get roommates. I live in a nice apartment, but because we have 4 people in a 2-bedroom, our rent is crazy, crazy low. -make a budget and stick to it. Cooking for yourself can be really, really cheap (beans and rice!) and still leave room to eat out once a month or so. -if you have any time to do side gigs, go for it. I tutor a few hours a week, which isn't enough to take up much time, but you'd be surprised at the exorbitant rates you can get away with charging as a private tutor. and it's fun teaching experience, too. You'll be fine. Also, you may qualify for food stamps, which in my area is about $200 a month in groceries.

I'm having a terrible time concentrating at work today. Just hoping my phone will ring...

Going into debt for a humanities MA seems like a bad idea no matter what. It's not like going into debt for medical school or another professional school that will take you straight to a comfortable job. If I choose not to continue on to a PhD, then I don't know whether having the MA will help me get a job or not. Probably not. But if I can spend two years doing something I love at someone else's expense, how is that ever a waste?

I wish they had said by what date the phone calls would happen. I guess if I don't hear by the end of the week I can assume I didn't get any?

I just got an acceptance email, but the waiting isn't over! It says, "Students to whom we decide to offer funding packages will hear from me (Dr. Ortiz) directly by phone."

I received the same funding offer as the previous poster. I might take it--still haven't heard from my first choice school.

That is my fear also, but since only 2 people posted that they got funding, I'm hoping there's more money to come.

Still no news, I guess. I've now heard from all 7 of my other schools...kinda funny that Georgetown, my first choice, will be the last to let me know. Arghh. And they had a fairly early deadline, too. I wonder what the holdup is.

Hmm, thanks. I am somewhat interested in comp/rhet, but I have no idea how major of an interest it will turn out to be. I'm still pretty open at this point. I'll probably take the tutoring/research offer.

OK, so I saw this thread and thought that was ridiculous - and then today I get an acceptance letter from UMass-Boston congratulating me on my admission, and oh by the way, asking me to submit a $250 nonrefundable deposit to the Graduate School ASAP. I also got an email, subject line "Missing Enrollment Requirements," asking me to pay my $250! Just totally ridiculous.

I applied to funded MA programs and have mostly received offers that would have me teaching a 2-1 load. One school, however, has offered me funding just to tutor in the writing center and assist with research, rather than lead my own class. They also have a TA-ship program for second-years only in which you help with a class, but don't actually teach it all yourself. I'm not sure what to think about this: on one hand, though the stipend is slightly less than what other schools are offering, it's still livable, and I imagine it's a little less money for a LOT less work (and more energy to focus on my own work). So I guess my question is: If I decide to continue on to the PhD after my MA, will it hurt me to have gone to the school where I won't get the full-on teaching experience? Or doesn't it matter?

Is April 15 a universal deadline? I haven't even heard from all schools yet, so I don't know if I will be able to decide by then...

Were you offered funding in the email? I wonder why they let people know so gradually...

Good to hear that you've enjoyed the program and that the offers "traditionally do not come all at once." That gives me a little hope! Although I just have this bad feeling that I'll be accepted without funding...sigh.

So still no MA notifications?

Hmm, true. Surely if they'd made all the funded offers by now, at least one other person would've posted on the results board - so maybe there's hope for me yet. I need to cut myself off from reading this site!

OK, now I am confused about their funding, because another page on the site says they offer packages "to a limited but significant number of entering students, and guarantees to those students full tuition support in the second year as well." So why does the other page say "a smaller number of second-years" get funding? Hmm. I also wonder about the possibility of enrolling w/o funding, and then trying to get an assistantship in another office once there. At the university where I work currently, I know several grad students who've done this successfully (e.g., an architecture student who found a GAship in the volunteering office, even though it's not really related to her program). I probably couldn't afford to take that risk, but...just pondering.

Congrats! That's great news, and of course, has me paranoid thinking that my not having heard anything yet means I'm not in or won't be getting funding...