By the grace of Almighty, I have been offered a PhD admission at Ohio State University, along with a one-year fellowship to cover my expenses. I am excited about this opportunity, but I have some concerns regarding the funding availability for the remaining years of my study.
My supervisor has assured me that they will strive to provide a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) if external grants come through, or a Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) as a fallback for Years 2 and 3. Additionally, funding for Year 4 could potentially come from the Departmental Dissertation Fellowship. However, I do not have any of this funding in contractual form at this moment.
Given these circumstances, I find myself at a crossroads: should I take a leap of faith and accept this offer, or should I explore other universities that may offer a more secure four-year funding package?