Co-supervisors discussing about funding ?

[vsgajd]

Hi, 

My university has not yet sent the official acceptance letter because " My co-supervisors are still discussing about funding". What does this mean ? During the interview my PI mentioned that I will receive a " small" stipend, which may be low compared to some colleges but enough to survive in that region. She mentioned nothing about the tuition. Are they discussing about the stipend amount or the tuition amount ? If they are not going to offer me tuition then I will accept my second choice. I do not know how to politely email and ask about it either, I do not want to sound like I have got my sights on the funding alone and not the actual research. This is my top choice PhD program. any help will be much appreciated. 

 

[fuzzylogician]

There is no way anyone here can know what your two professors are discussing. You have to ask them. It's completely reasonable to worry about funding, you should not feel ashamed or embarrassed by it. You might ask two questions, maybe in two consecutive email. First, ask for a timeline to decision; if they tell you it'll be soon (whatever soon means for you given your other constraints, e.g. if you need to know by a certain date because of your other offer), you just wait. If the timeline is long or unclear, then ask if the offer would likely include tuition remission in addition to the stipend, and if you can get a ballpark estimate, acknowledging that you understand that they're not making any promises by giving you this information. You might also instead just ask both questions at the same time, if you feel comfortable doing so. If you do have outside pressure because of the other offer, you should also state that in your email, so they know and can take that into account in their planning.