Give Me Your Monies!

[skeedy]

The wait for decisions is rough enough. My all-consuming stress-fest about funding is causing involuntary twitching.. And I'm sure I'm getting a perma-stink eye from glaring at my mailbox, willing it to spontaneously fill with letters about funding awards. This is irreversible damage going on right here! Even if I am accepted to my POI's, if I don't get any fellowships/awards then there's no chance of me going there. No funding = no hope.

I hate that "getting accepted" is just step one. Anyone else in the same boat?

[lydibird]

Yup.

I can't decide what I'm doing until I know about funding. If I don't receive funding I'll have to defer a year (I'm just grateful that most schools I applied to are willing to allow me to do this without losing my acceptance). If I do, I'm going straight there. Where I go depends nearly entirely on how expensive it will end up being.

The worst part is that I can't decide what I'm doing this summer until I have funding information. I want to stay in my college town this summer, but if I need money I'll have to move back in with my parents to save money and work full time. But my apartment wants to know if I plan on staying for the summer so they can find someone to fill my spot if I leave.

I'm going cray-cray here. Not having my life planned 2-3 years in advance bothers me me a lot. (Yes, I'm a control freak.)

[Cashmere]

Yep, I know the feeling. I'm in funding limbo for the moment now and "patiently" waiting to hear more specifics. I'm finding that I am constantly filled with mixed emotions and have to continually explain to exited family members and friends that an acceptance without funding doesn't /really/ feel like an acceptance. I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to get my hopes up without due cause, so I'm trying to hold back on scouring craigslist looking at apartment availabilities and just generally getting overly excited about what life could be like if I were to get a solid support package.

I often get the sense that I'm being a bit ridiculous. I am truly thankful that I've been on the receiving end of some good news so far this season, but even more good news would be better.

Oh, woe is me.

Edited February 17, 2011 by Cashmere

[Golden Monkey]

Yep. Getting accepted without funding is the same thing as being rejected for me.

[thelost]

I haven't even thought about funding yet. I'm trying to take it one step at a time. But now you have me wondering, if you don't receive funding immediately, could you try to get funding next semester or next year?

[DrPepper-olic]

Yep. Getting accepted without funding is the same thing as being rejected for me.

Same here.

I feel it would be all too ironic to take out student loans so that I could study about how student loans affect the economy.

[Brandi88]

I'm probably going to have little to no funding. I'm alright with that -- for my undergrad I have such little debt that I can afford it (I hope), plus I figure when I get out my salary will be alright. If I have to live with my rents for a year or two after I guess I'll suck it up.

[polarscribe]

Same boat here, too. Let's all paddle faster! In opposite directions! The failboat shall prevail!

In all seriousness, I won't be going without funding either, and I'm just hoping one of my eight schools can come up with something.

[wtncffts]

Same here. I can't do a PhD program without adequate funding, but I only applied to places where it was explicitly stated that all, or most, incoming students were 'fully funded'. As to what that means concretely, I don't know yet.

[anonthropology]

Yes, this is entirely possible, and even the norm in many large mid-range universities. I applied to one MA program at a mid-level large public university which is VERY tight on funds. They only fund incoming students when they are able to match them up with external funds (and this is rare). I accepted without funding, took on student loans my first semester, got a partial (painfully partial) tuition waiver and work-study job my second semester, and applied for a bunch of external funding for my second year and ended up with a full tuition waiver and a fairly generous living stipend on top of that. Many people I know were also admitted without funding but able to secure grad assistant or research jobs through the university that carry a full tuition waiver before actually beginning their program.

Of course we'd all love to get fully funded, but the reality is it's not going to happen for everyone. I think you're entirely right to focus on taking it one step at a time, just make sure you're keeping your eyes open for external funding/university jobs/scholarships and all that.

Of course, that said, I'm now applying to PhD programs and I've told myself I'll only do it if I'm fully funded for at least a few years to give me some leeway on the funding search. Fingers crossed!

Good luck everyone!

I haven't even thought about funding yet. I'm trying to take it one step at a time. But now you have me wondering, if you don't receive funding immediately, could you try to get funding next semester or next year?

[Golden Monkey]

Same here. I can't do a PhD program without adequate funding, but I only applied to places where it was explicitly stated that all, or most, incoming students were 'fully funded'. As to what that means concretely, I don't know yet.

Yeah, I applied to two that say up front that they're "fully funded" and two that didn't say much of anything. Obviously, the first two are a lot harder to get into.

[qbtacoma]

Yeah, I wasn't too savvy about the funding realities this time around. If I have to apply next year, I'll definitely seek out external scholarships and such beforehand.

[Golden Monkey]

Heh, I got my rejection letter today from Fully Funded Program #1 today, but I also received a beautiful box of business cards today that I had ordered from an online printer. The new cards were part of my very proactive Plan B, which was to take my non-academic career as far as possible if this PhD thing doesn't work out.

I think this is the universe's way of telling me to scrap this and go back to work. If it comes down to a choice of me having to find my own funding, or me just going back to work, I'll just go back to work.

[eklavya]

for me, funding will come, but the 'when' is driving me nuts. i don't care how much they want to give me... just give me some already!

[skeedy]

Same here.

I feel it would be all too ironic to take out student loans so that I could study about how student loans affect the economy.

I feel you. My focus is educational policy/studying the limitation of resources to accessing higher education... Do I get extra points for actually living it?