I am waitlisted for funding by my top choice program, now what

[youcandothis]

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestion. How should I reach out to the director / poi? Should I update them on the recent development in my research, or should I simply let them know that they are my top choice?

Thank you.

[letsgetit21]

First, I wonder what they mean by waitlisted for funding. Are all admitted students waiting while the department figures out exactly how much money they have? Or figure out which fund (teaching assistant, research assistant, university fellowship) each student will be funded through? If they're figuring out these logistic details, sending in your most updated information will be unlikely to speed up the process. 

On the other hand, does the department have a limited number of funded positions? As in the department has 5 funded spots and offered the top 5 candidates funding, while admitting 10, wait-listing aspirants 6-10 for funding. If this is the model, reaching out might help in this case, but it is likely each aspirant is already 'ranked' in some capacity for funding, should 1-5 decline their offer. 

Only tell a school they're your top choice if you're certain that, if admitted to a different institution, you would choose the school you said was your top choice. 

Those are my thoughts!

[youcandothis]

2 hours ago, letsgetit21 said:

First, I wonder what they mean by waitlisted for funding. Are all admitted students waiting while the department figures out exactly how much money they have? Or figure out which fund (teaching assistant, research assistant, university fellowship) each student will be funded through? If they're figuring out these logistic details, sending in your most updated information will be unlikely to speed up the process. 

On the other hand, does the department have a limited number of funded positions? As in the department has 5 funded spots and offered the top 5 candidates funding, while admitting 10, wait-listing aspirants 6-10 for funding. If this is the model, reaching out might help in this case, but it is likely each aspirant is already 'ranked' in some capacity for funding, should 1-5 decline their offer. 

Only tell a school they're your top choice if you're certain that, if admitted to a different institution, you would choose the school you said was your top choice. 

Those are my thoughts!

Thank you for the response!

Waitlisted for funding means that if other students who are admitted with funding decline their offers, then maybe they would have money for me. I saw on the results page that at least 4 students are waitlisted for funding. So yes, they have limited number of funded positions.

According to the internet, some schools don't rank the waitlisted students and prefer to give the declined offers to students who are most likely to actually accept the offers. 

Your response is so very helpful! Gonna reach out and find out if they rank their waitlist and some other details. And yes, I would absolutely accept their offer if they fund me