Do I still stand a chance to get funding?

[adela_heartless]

Yeah, I know this is almost the end of this year's cycle...but I'm still in limbo (or sort of).

So I have been admitted to a PhD program I really like. Everything is such a great fit. Except that I don't have funding (Ouch.)

The department keeps saying that I will get full consideration once the funding has become available and that they are still waiting to hear back from those have been offered funding. But the school has sent me a cold letter telling me that I am not offered funding.

And I know that there are people whose admission letters don't mention funding at all (which probably mean that they still stand a chance).

I know I need to wait till the 15th or later and I know I need to get prepared for the worst...

BUT I just cannot help indulging in such mini-fantasies as "I may still get funding".

So what do you think? Does the school's letter mean that I have been excluded from even the "waitlist" for funding already or do I still stand a chance??

PS: I won't ask the department explicitly because I don't have the courage

Thanks.

Edited April 6, 2011 by adela_heartless

[azure]

what university?

[slacktivist]

Ask them. Despite what you might infer from the lack of funding, they want you there.

I have an offer that was originally unfunded, but I asked to see where I was on the waitlist. That opened up a line of communication with the DGS, and they have been in contact with me pretty regularly as the situation has changed. Today, the DGS said they could give me partial funding, and from talking to them and my professors of interest, it sounds like they are working to give me full funding.

Edited April 7, 2011 by slacktivist

[spirito]

It seems like this is an ongoing puzzle until it is clear what the cohort exactly looks like, and possibly even beyond that. Getting and staying in touch with them is probably your best shot.

[adela_heartless]

thanks for your replies, slacktivist and spirito!! that really helps. Yeah, actually i have been so distressed in the past two weeks that I essentially stopped emailing them and just wait for the deadline, a.k.a the ultimate verdict, to come.

[mandarin.orange]

thanks for your replies, slacktivist and spirito!! that really helps. Yeah, actually i have been so distressed in the past two weeks that I essentially stopped emailing them and just wait for the deadline, a.k.a the ultimate verdict, to come.

Advocate for yourself. Fortune favors the bold.

[slacktivist]

thanks for your replies, slacktivist and spirito!! that really helps. Yeah, actually i have been so distressed in the past two weeks that I essentially stopped emailing them and just wait for the deadline, a.k.a the ultimate verdict, to come.

Believe me, I totally understand that feeling.

BTW, the unfunded offer became a 3/4 funded offer today, with assurances from multiple professors that they are working for that last 1/4.

[adela_heartless]

Believe me, I totally understand that feeling.

BTW, the unfunded offer became a 3/4 funded offer today, with assurances from multiple professors that they are working for that last 1/4.

Congrats!

I just received a checking in email from the department today and they asked how my decision making process went. they also said that final decisions would be made by early next week. I told them I was still waiting.

I wonder what this means. But this is really excruciating. This will end soon, though. After next week I will know whether to spend five years to study PoliSci or just go find a job.

[slacktivist]

Congrats!

I just received a checking in email from the department today and they asked how my decision making process went. they also said that final decisions would be made by early next week. I told them I was still waiting.

I wonder what this means. But this is really excruciating. This will end soon, though. After next week I will know whether to spend five years to study PoliSci or just go find a job.

Adela, at this point, I'd say to contact the DGS and really impress upon them that you would seriously consider a funded offer. What they meant by asking you about your decision-making process is that they wanted to see if you were leaning toward another school.

Edited April 8, 2011 by slacktivist

[adela_heartless]

Adela, at this point, I'd say to contact the DGS and really impress upon them that you would seriously consider a funded offer. What they meant by asking you about your decision-making process is that they wanted to see if you were leaning toward another school.

Yeah, I think you are right. Thanks!!

[Zoon Politikon]

I'm in exactly the same spot right now. A professor in the department told me that if one person ahead of me turns down the offer, I'll receive funding. What happens if someone pulls out just after I turn down the unfunded offer? Will I lose my place? Is there a way of making my response contingent upon the possibility of aid?

[spirito]

I'm in exactly the same spot right now. A professor in the department told me that if one person ahead of me turns down the offer, I'll receive funding. What happens if someone pulls out just after I turn down the unfunded offer? Will I lose my place? Is there a way of making my response contingent upon the possibility of aid?

I'd say the key here is also to get (and stay) in touch with the profs in question. At this point all departments are trying to figure out what the different options are (not just who they want, but also who they are likely to get), and the best way to assist them with that is to have them understand where you are at, and what you'd need to accept. Doesn't mean you're going to get that, but it seems to me by doing so you are making their life easier, and thereby increasing your chances.

[adela_heartless]

Believe me, I totally understand that feeling.

BTW, the unfunded offer became a 3/4 funded offer today, with assurances from multiple professors that they are working for that last 1/4.

I was puzzled about whether I should contact my professors of interest for funding anymore. I met with them and have kept regular email contact with them but they said that it was not their decision. I was wondering how could professors "work for" the funding a potential student gets.

[spirito]

I was puzzled about whether I should contact my professors of interest for funding anymore. I met with them and have kept regular email contact with them but they said that it was not their decision. I was wondering how could professors "work for" the funding a potential student gets.

the faculty as a whole is responsible for a lot of the division of money, but it is the selection committee that usually makes the big decisions. So, get in touch with the faculty member that serves as graduate director.