UNC biostats PhD funding?

[timaximum]

17 hours ago, abdelkader_mrt said:

Hi everybody, I'm also among those who received an admission offer but no funding info so far. UNC biostat is my top choice right now and waiting for the funding info is very stressful.

Any admitted applicants still waiting for funding info ? Also I feel like only domestic students received funding so far. Any international student with funding offer ? 

Hi I guess we are on the same boat. International student still waiting for funding right now. UNC biostat is not only one of my top choices but also the only phd offer I have got, so it is really stressful waiting for the funding info.

[abdelkader_mrt]

@timaximum it really is frustrating. Have you tried contacting them ? I emailed them almost a week ago and still no feed back.

[G.Mahler]

On 2018. 3. 17. at 4:53 AM, abdelkader_mrt said:

@timaximum it really is frustrating. Have you tried contacting them ? I emailed them almost a week ago and still no feed back.

I cannot receive funding information until now... 

[abdelkader_mrt]

On 1/31/2018 at 5:57 PM, gc2012 said:

I'm a current student, let me clarify. I have guaranteed funding. I expect most other PhD students in the program have guaranteed funding. Even some of the Master's students have funding. I obviously don't know about every student's funding status, so there may a small number of PhD students who do not have it. However, UNC biostatistics absolutely does guarantee funding explicitly. They will send you a letter specifying your exact stipend and the number of years they will guarantee it. As I recall, the funding letter came shortly before the visit day. If you don't get a letter specifying your funding, you don't have guaranteed funding. 

As to the tuition waiver, it's not something to worry about. Your first year funding covers out of state tuition. After the first year, you will have lived in North Carolina long enough to establish residency and therefore will be eligible for in state tuition. Getting in state residency requires submitting a few forms to the state. You be reminded many times by the department to do this.  

@gc2012 do you have any idea about funding for international students?  Looking at discussing in this forum, I feel like most admitted international students have not heard about funding so far. 

 

[gc2012]

I'm not sure how it works for international students, you'll need to contact the program. Unfortunately, this is very similar to basically every interaction I've had with the faculty and staff in charge of administrative matters. In my experience, if you are fortunate enough for them to respond to your question, it will be slow, and there is a good chance it won't be helpful. In fact, there have been times I've gotten advice that was actively harmful (albeit unintentionally). So if you end up at UNC, you need to be prepared to very forcefully advocate for yourself. I've typically gotten what I've needed, but only because I'm willing to repeatedly email, call, and complain in person. Obviously, that's very aggravating, but that's the reality of the program. So to find out about funding, I'd send an email immediately asking for a specific date they will know about your funding. And then follow up at least weekly until you get an answer. 

[abdelkader_mrt]

Thank you for your advice.