Accepted PhD, no funding--contact professors?

[Eisenmann]

I have been admitted into a PhD program, but with no funding. I am supposedly on a "financial aid wait list" though. I have already emailed one of the committee professors about my financial aid concerns and difficulty in attending if I do not receive aid and he has responded neutrally. Should I contact professors expressing my interest and asking if they have money to support me (would be about $70k/year)?

[wtncffts]

Sure, I don't see why not, as long as you do it professionally and without sounding like you're begging. I guess it also depends on your field and whether or not funding is primarily through professors or through the department/faculty.

$70k, though? Really? I don't know your personal circumstances so I assume you have reason, but that's an awful lot to ask for funding. I don't think I've ever seen anyone offered that much.

[Langoustine]

I agree...that does sounds pretty high. I mean, just looking around here student stipends are usually $10,000-30,000. EPA and NSF fellowship are themselves only $30,000 and that is considered pretty good for a grad student stipend...

[Eigen]

Are you maybe combining the funding needed for your tuition and stipend? $70k sounds about the value of my tuition + stipend for a year.

I agree that it's really high to ask, however. What field are you in?

SMART and DoE grants are the only ones I know of that are north of 30k for the stipend alone (40k and 35k respectively), but 30k is a really good fellowship. Most TAships are going to be less. And this is assuming Science/Engineering... It's going to be less in most other fields.

Edited March 6, 2011 by Eigen

[Eisenmann]

yeah, sorry. $70k is tuition + stipend that students who got funding are receiving (amount I would get if I get out of the wait list). This is in engineering. According to the financial letter they gave me, it seems like you either get tuition+stipend or nothing at all.

Edited March 6, 2011 by Eisenmann

[Eigen]

Were I you, I'd push for a tuition waiver as a starting place- will save you a lot of money. Then you can look at loans/internships/outside jobs for your living expenses.

Then start looking for external funding for next year- NSF, NIH, DoE, DoD, SMART... Any of them should be options depending on your area of specialty.

[Eisenmann]

someone gave a thumbs down on the last guy?

good idea, I'll call them next week and see what they can do. Will a big name school actually let a student go unfunded? Seems like an extra student or 2 is nothing for them considering the huge endowment and research money they have.

[platypus:)]

Hi All

I'm new here but I've read some threads in this forum. I'm so sorry for bypassing. I got accepted into MMEF program in Pantheon-Sorbonne, as well as Master of Finance in the Australian National University.

Just wondering if any of them is a better option if my goal in the long run is to do a phd in LSE or top 20 US (I'm thinking Berkeley, Carnegie-Mellon, or even MIT )

My profile:

Undergrad: IIA (2nd Upper Class) Honours in Mathematics

Undergrad GPA: 3.3.

Teaching experience: Tutor for calculus I and II, and Stats I

Research experience: Undergrad Honours Thesis monte carlo/parameterisation of Stochastic Differential Equations, summer research scholarship under school of maths (pseudo-random number generator)

Advanced (PhD/Hons) Courses taken in Undergrad: Advanced Analysis and PDE, Financial Calculus, Algebraic Methods in Mathematical Physics, Advanced Probability and Stochastic Processes, Complex and Functional analysis, Coding and Cryptography, Advanced Experimental Design

GRE is yet to come

[juilletmercredi]

Eisenman, big name schools can and do let students go unfunded especially in this economy. My program has a history of funding all students but last year we admitted a student without funding (everyone told her not to come - even professors - because it's not worth it in my field, and she didn't).

[Eisenmann]

Eisenman, big name schools can and do let students go unfunded especially in this economy. My program has a history of funding all students but last year we admitted a student without funding (everyone told her not to come - even professors - because it's not worth it in my field, and she didn't).

I see. I believe we are talking about the same school too. Columbia?