Acceptance without funding in UK = polite rejection

[logaritym]

Today I received an e-mail from Oxford, that department X is willing to offer me a place, but the admissions and funding committee are unable to offer me funding, so I have either to withdraw my application or ask to be considered for an unfunded place.

I talked with a student from UK and he explained me that if I haven't received at least EPSRC tuition waiver (which is not mentioned in the e-mail), this is practically not an offer.

Oxford is my top choice and I'd be happy to do research there. But on the other hand, probably it wouldn't be so great to try to find scholarships/loans/sponsors in order to get into a school, where I won't be treated as a regular student.

Is there someone, who can give me an advice? I'm not acquainted with the admission processes in UK and don't know what should I do now.

Thank you in advance!

[Mal83]

Hmm, that's strangely worded, I mean if they're "willing to offer you a place" just without funding why would you have to ask to be "considered for an unfunded place?" Doesn't that mean you've already been considered and offered a place? I don't know much about it but I looked into studying in the UK very briefly a while ago and when I discovered that you have to prove your ability to pay tuition in it's entirety without the need for employment I just stopped thinking about it. I would email them for clarification and just put it plainly..."Is this an acceptance or not?"

[wreckofthehope]

Today I received an e-mail from Oxford, that department X is willing to offer me a place, but the admissions and funding committee are unable to offer me funding, so I have either to withdraw my application or ask to be considered for an unfunded place.

I talked with a student from UK and he explained me that if I haven't received at least EPSRC tuition waiver (which is not mentioned in the e-mail), this is practically not an offer.

Oxford is my top choice and I'd be happy to do research there. But on the other hand, probably it wouldn't be so great to try to find scholarships/loans/sponsors in order to get into a school, where I won't be treated as a regular student.

Is there someone, who can give me an advice? I'm not acquainted with the admission processes in UK and don't know what should I do now.

Thank you in advance!

I imagine, the issue is that you have specifically applied for the funded option, so in order to accept you on the unfunded option (which in most subjects in the U.K. is the usual kind of acceptance) you need to specify that you'd like to be considered for it - seems like a simple administrative requirement... or at least that is how I would be inclined to interpret it.

[arthad]

Disclaimer: I'm not very familiar with UK higher ed, so take the following for what it's worth.

It sounds like you're not resident in the UK. Is that correct? A quick glance at the EPSRC website seems to indicate that EPSRC studentships are available only to people who have been living in the UK for at least three years with "settled status" (http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/students/Pages/eligibility.aspx). If that's the case, and you were applying for a studentship, that explains why you weren't granted one. That would also mean that an unfunded offer from Oxford is not the equivalent of a rejection, as it might be for a UK resident; it just means that they offered you what they usually offer international students whom they wish to accept. If you were applying for something other than a studentship, I would still imagine that EPSRC funding is still available only to UK/EU citizens, as is the case with AHRC. Your friend from the UK was probably speaking from the perspective of a UK resident, for whom no EPSRC funding would be more like a rejection than anything else.

[Lymrance]

Today I received an e-mail from Oxford, that department X is willing to offer me a place, but the admissions and funding committee are unable to offer me funding, so I have either to withdraw my application or ask to be considered for an unfunded place.

I talked with a student from UK and he explained me that if I haven't received at least EPSRC tuition waiver (which is not mentioned in the e-mail), this is practically not an offer.

Oxford is my top choice and I'd be happy to do research there. But on the other hand, probably it wouldn't be so great to try to find scholarships/loans/sponsors in order to get into a school, where I won't be treated as a regular student.

Is there someone, who can give me an advice? I'm not acquainted with the admission processes in UK and don't know what should I do now.

Thank you in advance!

Logaritym,

You've been unsuccessful in receiving funding from the department, but what about from your college? Have you even been assigned to a college yet? In the UK, you can be funded by the school, the department, and/or your college. Just because you haven't received a funding offer from the department, doesn't mean -- from what I understand -- that you won't be successful in getting funding from the college that selects you.

My advisor told me before I applied that it is not at all uncommon to not receive funding or to not receive it the first year but to receive it in subsequent years. I certainly wouldn't consider this a "rejection."

[robot_hamster]

I don't know how it works in the UK, so I don't know how helpful this will be. I was accepted into my program without funding. Everyone told me that I shouldn't have to pay for grad school, but my choices were very limited. So I went anyway, taking out a loan for the first semester. After the first semester, I was able to secure a TA position. So my tuition was waived for my second semester. Now I am currently looking for a TA position for semester #3 so I can continue to have my tuition waived. Perhaps you could ask them what your chances are of receiving some sort of position after your first semester that would qualify you for benefits.

[logaritym]

Thank you for your answers, guys!

The problem is that I'm an EU citizen and didn't receive any funding from the department - not even an EPSRC tuituion fee waiver. When I applied for Oxford I didn't choose a college preference and didn't receive any news from the colleges. I know that there are some scholarships (such as Weidenfeld), but I'll know the results in May. The graduate studies assistant told me that Oxford can wait for my decision until then, but I have some other offers and can't wait for so long, because they will expire.

Greetings!

[wendychina]

I have received offer without funding as an international student. Yet this is so far my only choice, so I may just take it by arranging some loans in my home country. I believe UK seldom give fundings to students. I wrote to the department head who interviewd me, who told me that my supervisor is going to write a letter of support on top of my application for studentship, however, it is competitive and there is no guarantee that I can get it.