No Funding Does Not Equal Death

[KreacherKeeper]

So, it happened to me. I got the dream invite. The thing was, it is a really expensive school and well, I can't afford it. Sure, I could take out massive loans, but in actuality that doesn't make a lot of sense for me. So now, I am re-thinking my plans. (This is for a Masters,).

In a moment of panic, I applied to a closer school before their Mar 1 deadline, and as it turns out, I can afford to go there without a lot of debt. It is a good private school, but not Mr. Dreamy. I was accepted the same day Mr. Dreamy went dutch with my tuition bill.

I have spent my last few months convinced it was dream school or bust. Only at the last minute did I think about finances, moving and the cost of having Mr. Dreamy in my life.

So, I think I am going to work hard at Mr. Tier 2 and try again. But, I am not giving up. So in the midst of all the folk thrilled to get Mr. Dreamy, and those devastated by the break-up, there are some of us learning to be happy with the school next door.

Anyone else, deciding to go with Mr/Mrs. Tier 2 this go around?

[jedi76]

I did this 2 years ago with my MA apps. My Mr. Dreamy accepted me without funding and damn near gave me a heart attack every time I thought of the loans I would need. Then came Mr. Good offering me 2/3 of my tuition and a modest research assistant stipend. I choose Mr. Good and had a great 2 years with a wonderful cohort and profs. Now I'm applying to PhD programs. Thrilled not to have the debt that I would have but now terrified I blew my chances at getting in anywhere good with funding. I think if you work hard though, you'll be fine and happier in the end without the debt. A friend of mine in my same program with Mr. Good got into 2 notable PhD programs last year with full funding...she worked HARD (conferences, retaking GREs, excellent GPA) for it but it paid off for her. Good luck to you!

[Eigen]

The general adage I've heard repeated over and over is "if you don't have funding, you should go somewhere else". It varies some from discipline to discipline, but really- grad school without funding is very difficult, and depending on the discipline can give you a debt load that you will essentially carry the rest of your career.

[fibonacci]

Completely not worth it if you don't have the funding. Don't kill yourself with student loans. You'd be surprised how hard they are to pay back once you are in the real world.

[jblsmith]

Yeah, I'm in a similar situation. Ms. Dreamy accepted me without funding and Ms. Butterface accepted me with funding. Right now I'm having a tough time debating because there's a good chance that if I go with Ms. Dreamy this year I could get funding after our 1 yr anniversary. However, that's a huge risk because I cannot afford anymore studen loan debt, I'm alread $100k behind from my undergrad. I'm hoping that Ms. Dreamy will get dumped by her first choice and I'll get the sloppy seconds, i.e. someone admitted with funding will reject the offer and the school will pass it along to me. I'm also waiting to hear back from like 8 programs so right now it's all up in the air...

[m.giugno]

I've been accepted to 3 schools. No one with funding. I'm already enrolled in a Master's program here in Italy.. I think I will obtain my MS and then reapply for PhD in two years, hoping economy won't suck as now. Really no way to let my parents pay 25k$ a year while the actual cost of my MS is only 2k per year. Yes, of course it is not a top ranked program, but it costs me nothing.

[Eisenmann]

same situation, except this is for a science and engineering PhD. I'm will be going as a PhD student and they are not even funding me. They have got to be out of their mind if they think I would readily go.

[GNC]

Personally, unless I was rolling in cash, I'd never pay for a PhD. I'd go find a job that would strengthen my CV and give me some experience to help me out next year in applying.

[anthropologygeek]

I think it depends on the department. In my field it is not uncommon for you to be accepted without funding.

[pinot noir]

I am in a similar but different situation. I applied to Mr. Dreamy telling myself I would only go with funding (my prof said for sure I would get it). Turns out I got accepted with absolutely no funding. Now I'm actually considering the debt, whereas before I wasn't. I have absolutely no debt from undergrad (go CSU!!) and aside from a car loan, I am fairly debt-free. Should I do it???

[lydibird]

I am in a similar but different situation. I applied to Mr. Dreamy telling myself I would only go with funding (my prof said for sure I would get it). Turns out I got accepted with absolutely no funding. Now I'm actually considering the debt, whereas before I wasn't. I have absolutely no debt from undergrad (go CSU!!) and aside from a car loan, I am fairly debt-free. Should I do it???

I'm interested in this as well. It's nearly impossible for people in my field to get funding. Yea professional programs!

I'm looking at $65,000 to $80,000 (including living expenses) in order to get my MLIS (I have to go out of state for my degree). I've made it through undergrad with absolutely no debt, but I'm still hesitant to take out loans for that amount. I doubt it would actually end up as those numbers; I'm sure I could find a job and pay at least for living expenses on my own.

Making this decision is driving me NUTS! I still have a couple of chances at nearly full funding that I'm waiting on, but I'm a pessimist/realist and am trying to decide what to do if nothing works out.

Edited March 16, 2011 by lydibird

[pinot noir]

I'm interested in this as well. It's nearly impossible for people in my field to get funding. Yea professional programs!

I'm looking at $65,000 to $80,000 (including living expenses) in order to get my MLIS (I have to go out of state for my degree). I've made it through undergrad with absolutely no debt, but I'm still hesitant to take out loans for that amount. I doubt it would actually end up as those numbers; I'm sure I could find a job and pay at least for living expenses on my own.

Making this decision is driving me NUTS! I still have a couple of chances at nearly full funding that I'm waiting on, but I'm a pessimist/realist and am trying to decide what to do if nothing works out.

Just got rejected from my only other option to live in New York so it's either take Mr. Dreamy with debt or stay in California. This is driving me nuts!

[pinot noir]

I'm interested in this as well. It's nearly impossible for people in my field to get funding. Yea professional programs!

I'm looking at $65,000 to $80,000 (including living expenses) in order to get my MLIS (I have to go out of state for my degree). I've made it through undergrad with absolutely no debt, but I'm still hesitant to take out loans for that amount. I doubt it would actually end up as those numbers; I'm sure I could find a job and pay at least for living expenses on my own.

Making this decision is driving me NUTS! I still have a couple of chances at nearly full funding that I'm waiting on, but I'm a pessimist/realist and am trying to decide what to do if nothing works out.

Just got rejected from my only other option to live in New York so it's either take Mr. Dreamy with debt or stay in California. This is driving me nuts!

[polarscribe]

Same situation for me - "dream" schools accepted but with no funding (yet) while another school has offered me a renewable full-tuition + stipend teaching assistantship that would pretty much leave me debt-free. It's really a no-brainer - as dreamy as some of those other schools are, the nightmare of $50k in loans looms large.

[natsteel]

I'm one of those who believe an unfunded admission is the equivalent of a rejection. The problem is some people really think it's their dream school or nothing else. For example, there's a post in another part of the forum where someone is considering taking out $100,000 in loans for a Master's in Education (of all things) because it's their "dream school." I'm sorry, but that's just ludicrous...