I'm unfunded my first year of grad school, any advice...

[Da Hawk]

I was accepted into a graduate program that generally awards assistantships to their first year grad students. I happen to be in the group that received no form of funding at all, except for students loans. I am told if first year grads perform well and pass their comps at the end of the first year, they are 'historically' funded their second year. I know this goes toward my goal of becoming a professor someday however, I feel pretty dumb for accepting their offer. I wouldn't take issue with this if the program offered no financial support to any of their graduate/professional students but that is not the case here. I feel I've been slighted by the department even though, in reality, this is definitely not the case. If you've been in this position before, how did you resolve this issue (mentally)? Did you just bite the bullet and deal with it until you receive funding your second year? Did you decide to reapply to other graduate schools to see if you could get a better deal while in your first year as a grad? I would like only serious responses please.

[Bison_PhD]

First, I feel obligated to say that your last sentence requesting 'only serious responses' is probably why you are not getting many responses. The majority of the responses on this forum are intended to help and not to make light of any situation, but asking for serious responses may make people second guess responding to your post. In the future, that section probably doesn't need to be included.

Anyway, I can only offer advice from my experience. I am in a completely field from you but I have been around this app. process twice now, and I've run over several options in my head before being offered my current situation.

I think that it depends on a few factors that you have not included. A) How much money will it put you in debt? Do you like the program to which you have been accepted? C) Is the program well respected?

If the cost is not too much of a burden and you like the program and it is well respected, then I (me, myself) would be happy to accept and matriculate. But if one or more of these situations is negative, then you have more to think about.

In the end, only you can decide what is best for you. If it is only the feeling of being slighted that is hindering you, then you might need to be reminded that there were many more applicants that would KILL to be in your situation. And, you might want to be grateful for where you are.

But that's just my two cents.

[rising_star]

I would only go if I could secure an assistantship in another department. The reality is that the department you're joining doesn't want you quite as much as they want some of the other students, which is why they have assistantships and you don't. If you can't get funding besides loans, defer for a year.

[Just me]

I feel a bit slighted myself with my school. They have a gargantuan list of scholarships and grants they have for the graduate students, and I managed to qualify for a small one. Apparently being dirt poor and having good grades is not enough to get more money. Cheapskates - then again, it's a Catholic-based college, so it makes sense to me that they'd be such tight wads. Not only that, but despite the fact I do qualify for $20K in direct loans, the school will not authorize the loan (which is a federal loan). I did not apply anywhere else because this is the only school in the state with the desired major in a master's program. The fun part is I'm beginning my second year and while I'm glad to get that whole $2000, a loan would help since I just do not have $4700 three times a year when I have no job. Time to start learning to make fake money now, I think.

[StrangeLight]

don't go without funding. not only is it a bad decision financially, profs will treat you differently knowing that you're one of the unfunded students. it'll also be harder to get fellowships down the line, since those tend to go to students with other fellowships first and with TAships second. so the unfunded crowd is third on that list.

if it were me, i'd just apply again next cycle and hope for a fully funded offer. since that's too late... i don't know. but good luck.

[kaykaykay]

I feel that some schools let in some applicants who have some lack of proof of excellence but they are promising. I do not think that you should be upset or anything, imagine if they have discredited you in the first place for the very thing why they were insecure about you. You got in so they have hopes for you. You should just show them that you belong to the best no matter what. I have gone through a masters before getting to PhD for what I had to pay for. I knew I was good enough and that I can make it so I never felt insulted for not being funded. I think if you prove yourself to the professors they will be happy to fund you and to have you there. (I have seen people discussing how they could help good but unfunded students)

That in mind:

1. if you are unfunded you might have to work in an unrelated job which may hurt your academics

2. as someone said before the school should be good enough to worth your investment, you can only evaluate that.

3. I got some nasty comments from funded PhD students and I had to live with it.

even with this I did not envy the funded students, who knows what they had in their application files. you have to know you are good enough, and this was not a personal decision...

so far.... but after this:

4. you have to relate positively to your profs. they probably have no idea what is going on but they are the ones that will bring you money once they think you worth it.

good luck and cheer up.

p.s. if professors treated me differently it was always positive. I was the surprise of the day. Nobody expected me to be good and I got some awkward but amazing comments and endorsements. That's said they knew I was a masters student. but with PhDs I wonder if they even know who is funded and who is not at all. there are only a few profs at the admissions committee each year.

Edited June 16, 2011 by kalapocska

[latte thunder]

Don't let anyone on here worry you, you'll be fine.

Yes, this does mean that they wanted you less then some of the other students. So what? That doesn't mean you aren't capable of the work, and it doesn't mean that they don't like you or want you there. Remember, plenty of people didn't get in at all! I'm assuming there were non financial reasons for your decision, like maybe this school is decently ranking or has decent job placement. If so, then worry about that! Worry about what YOU'LL get out of the school. Yes, you might be paying a little more for it than some other students, but that's not going to stop you from getting what you want!

Of course, student loans are not to be ignored, but there are probably other ways you can alieviate some of the financial pressue. I would suggest you try to get funding in another department for the first year. I have no idea what school you're attending, but some of the larger schools will probably need GAs in departments you may not have thought of, like finanical aid, undergraduate advising, university development, ETC. Since you want to become a professor, you might be able to find some of this experience useful. Yes, TAing would be extremely valuable experience, but so would undergraduate advising. Perhaps there is even a part time position with the school that would give you a tuition reduction?

Doing extra work might put a strain on your academics (depending of course on your time management skills) but it's only one year. You'll be fine.

[Mal83]

It really comes down to what graduate school means to you and what it means to study at this particular school. Did you get in anywhere else? Do you feel like graduate school is something you need to do right now? I mean it seems awfully easy to say...eh, just wait a whole extra and go through the entire application process all over again so you don't have to take out loans. Who knows what will happen the next time around, the next outcome could be worse, as in no offer at all. You can't assume that because you got in this time around that you will next time, obviously I have no idea what your stats are, but very qualified applicants don't get in and it seems like every year more and more people apply and they are more competitive than ever before. If you have a chance to prove yourself at this school in order to end up with funding at some point, I'd say go for it. Lots of us don't ever see a penny of funding other than loans and still go and get the same degree as those who had it, our diplomas aren't worth any less. I didn't get any funding and didn't expect to, but I got into my dream school in my dream city and I'm going with student loans. Honestly, I'm grateful for them, they're allowing me to go to grad school which means everything to me. So this is going back to my first point, for someone who feels that way about it, giving up an offer of admission in hopes of getting money next year is just not an option. I was admitted off of the waitlist, who knows how many people had to decline in order to finally get down to me...but if they admitted me it means they know just as much as I do that I belong there, this school had no shortage of applicants. You shouldn't feel slighted, like others have said, be proud of yourself, figure out if you're willing to deal with student loans and a job or if you can really improve your application enough to get funding next time around. It's just a matter of what's worth more to you now.

[StrangeLight]

lots of people do unfunded MAs. again, i wouldn't advise it, i wouldn't do it myself, but lots of people do. they (usually) manage to find funded offers at PhD programs afterward, so they're only paying out for two years, not six to seven. that seems like a reasonable plan financially. if your MA program offers you a spot in their PhD program, but doesn't guarantee funding for it, then i'd highly suggest moving onto another program. and i mean guaranteed funding, as in they offer you 3-4 years of fellowships or TAships when you enter the PhD. if they say, "it'll be on a year to year basis based on how much funding and how many TA spots we have left over," then don't do it. even though it may work out every year, their unwillingness to fund you for the PhD is a reflection on how much they value you as a student.

this is just my opinion. others obviously feel differently. but even one of the above posters, who paid for their own MA and claimed that the only different reaction they got from professors was positive basically backed up what i said: the professors expected that student to be a lost cause. they were pleasantly surprised that s/he turned out to be a good student. it would suggest, then, that they expect most unfunded students to be bad students, and the only profs that manage to lose that impression are the ones you have direct contact with, through advising or taking classes. unfortunately, those won't be the only professors that determine which students get funding in the upcoming years.

if it were me, i'd see if i could defer their unfunded offer for one year and apply to other programs this fall. they're not dedicating a line of funding to you, so it's not like you're taking money away from another student, and they'd therefore likely grant your request for a deferral. if you apply again (with a reworked application) and get a funded offer, go there. if not, attend this school and hope that funding comes through in the second year.

[vitaminquartet]

Your goal is to become a professor. To become a professor you, in effect, need support from your department to place you - you need letters of reference to write how excellent you are. For a very top program that can place every single one of their job market candidates, it matters less how well you compare (in the minds of your department) to others in your program...but for a program like yours (I would guess) that cannot place all of its candidates, well, if you can't get the faculty to even give you an assistantship in their own department, how do you expect that they will convince others to give you a tenure track job at the expense of your classmates competing for the same job. You want to have reference writers say you are their top student in your area on the market. You could turn things around and get them to say just that - but its a huge gamble when you're starting off behind.

[Da Hawk]

I was accepted into one of my top schools and I am actually happy to be going. I would attend regardless of funding and since this happened to be my only acceptance, I made the decision to attend no matter what. The thing that bugs me was there wasn't a 100% guarantee funding the second year given you pass the comps in the first year. If I'm going to put a big dent in my pocket book, I want to hear a guarantee that I will receive funding my second year for living up to their expectations. This relationship, just like any other, is a two way street and if I'm to show them I am capable of hanging with the big dogs, it's only natural to expect some love in return. Those who are funded and fail their first year assume little to no risk. They can pick up the pieces and either move on to a different university or just look for a job. Since I am going to have this 'albatross' around my neck, I just want assurance that they will have my back and not we'll have your back most likely. This may be naive to think or ask but no one really likes to be left on the outside looking in. To clarify one of my statements earlier, the reason I feel dumb for accepting their offer is that I am accepting their offer w/out this assurance. I guess what I'm trying to do is attach a positive thought or idea to this albatross so that it doesn't feel quite like an albatross. A huge debt is a huge debt regardless of the outcome, but how do you spin this into something positive or is there no way to really spin this? Maybe one just has to wear it with pride.

I would like to thank those of you who've responded to this post thus far.

[StrangeLight]

say you pass comps, they say they want to keep you for the next year, but can't come up with funding for the fall semester. maybe some will come through in the spring, but they can't guarantee it. would you stay? or would you leave one year into the program, having paid out of pocket without receiving a degree for your effort or your money?

i'm sure this isn't what you want to hear and it's advice you won't take, but i'll give it anyway: withdraw your acceptance. since you're paying for the degree, it's not like they've promised you money that they could be giving to someone else. when an unfunded student rescinds their acceptance, there are rarely any hard feelings from the department. an unfunded offer is the same thing as a really, really nice rejection letter in programs where the other incoming students are receiving funding. if grad school is something you really want, you can wait a year and apply again, more widely and with an improved application. many, many people have much better luck (and it really is luck) the second time around.

[vitaminquartet]

I think with income based repayment, if you can survive on US federal loans alone, ae already in enough debt that you anticipate being eligible for income based repayment - for academics, the belief that one should never under any circumstances accept an unfunded position they will have to pay their way through may simply be anachronistic since IBR makes repayments reasonable and offers forgiveness to people working for public universities or 501©(3)s (private non-profit universities) after 10 years. If you know you want to be an academic and you don't mind living with massive debt so long as your repayments are reasonable, this might be an option for you (assuming you don't want to buy a house etc - it will also mean filing taxes separately if you are married to someone with a higher income and don't want to lose eligibility).

That said...I think the idea that you can be in this program for a year and then get funding from the second year onward is totally unrealistic. They will have already established two things: 1. they can secure your enrollment without giving you any money 2. they'd rather spend money on other students who aren't you. Why would they ever consider throwing money at a student they already have, who they clearly and they value less than the others in the class, when they need to use that money to secure students who wont attend their program without funding, and who they would prefer to have anyways? That just makes no sense from the departments perspective - they don't have to give any enticements to continuing students because they figure you've already made an investment.

[Da Hawk]

StrangeLight: To simply answer your question in that scenario, I would bite the bullet and continue my second year hoping they come through on their conditional promise.

My plan is to apply to some graduate programs while reapplying to others. If I receive an offer I really like from another school, I would accept that offer in a heartbeat. If I don't receive any offers, then I guess I'll just have to hope for the best at the program I'll be attending. The third option I've considered is dependent upon living up to their expectations and please tell me if this is a good idea or a bad idea; if i receive an offer from another university, I considered going to the graduate committee to see if their willing to extend an offer. If they do, I'll stick around and if they don't, then I'll be headed somewhere else. The downside is I will ruffle some feathers but the upside is that I could receive a competitive offer to go somewhere else or to stay. However, no one in the department should feel insulted since I am not being funded by them; the key word is should but that might not matter. Going to your point about withdrawing my acceptance and waiting an extra year, you're right in saying this is advice I wouldn't take. I don't know how well this applies to other programs or how often this occurs in other programs but, economics tends to have a high turn over rate since there is a substantial leap to go from undergrad to grad level economics; one reason is the significant increase in the level of math needed to succeed. If I were to reapply to programs with a year or so of graduate study under my belt, I figure I would look like a much better candidate compared to a pool that is primarily made of undergrads.

vitaminquartet: To build off of what I talked about above, I don't see why the program I'm headed for would not offer me funding in the second year for the reason you described. Several of my professors have backed up what the department told me, that it is generally expected to see half of the grad students either leave and/ or fail out in their first year. They should see me as a candidate worth funding to keep around given that I pass my comps. However, I can see them not offering me a financial package my second year because either my graduate class is exceptionally brainy, meaning a low turnover rate, they could decide to accept more undergrads into their program than usual leaving those w/out funding to dry their second year, or they decide to pinch the extra packages for whatever reason, be it economic or other. That's why I decided to apply to other programs my first year. If a better offer pops up somewhere else, I'll either leave or see if my current program will sweeten the deal for me to stay. At worst, I don't get accepted anywhere else my second time around and I could possibly ruffle some feathers along the way.

[Bison_PhD]

DaHawk, since you are going for a graduate level economics degree (and I am not), I will let you decide if the cost is worth the payoff financially. I don't know what your tuition/living costs will be and I don't know what kind of income you can expect with your degree, but I assume that you've taken those into account and decided that it is worth the cost. While there are many graduate degrees where the income payoff does not justify the expense, it doesn't mean that all programs are this way. I do not agree with vitaminquartet that you cannot change your standing in the class within a year. The ranking of an incoming class is largely based on irrelevant stats like GPA and GRE score, which do not necessarily indicate success in graduate school. It is my belief that if you work your a$$ off to get near the top of your class then you should have a good shot of getting funded. Hopefully you do not buy into the fact that the other funded students are better than you. You will just have to prove that you belong there, and make them want you to be there.

[Eigen]

I would not encourage you to go to this school and simultaneously apply to others. You will *need* recommendations from the professors at your current school (where you are a grad student) to be successful in those applications, and getting them is hard when you've already committed to doing your PhD there... You can burn bridges by applying elsewhere.

The logic I've heard repeated over and over is "if you aren't funded for a PhD, go elsewhere". This is mostly true in the sciences, but it also holds true for the econ students I know.

I know the departments I'm familiar with use acceptance without funding as a gentle nudge to "go elsewhere". They'll take you in if you want to pay your way, but in their minds you didn't really make the cut they were looking for.

It's a personal decision, but if it were me, I'd wait, work for a year, and apply to a broader spectrum of schools next time around... And go somewhere that wanted me enough to fund me. Going to a "top school" where the department isn't confident in your ability to finish won't necessarily put you ahead when it comes to applying for faculty positions. You might in fact be better off at a lower ranked school where you have the full support of the department and faculty there.

Just my thoughts on your situation.

[StrangeLight]

i think it's an incorrect assumption to think that you will look more appealing to other grad schools with one year of grad school rather than just a bachelors degree. those other schools will want to know 1) why you want to leave your current school, and 2) why you weren't funded at your current school or anywhere else. if you get all As, it may show them that you're capable of graduate level work, but they'll still have questions about why you want to leave a program mid-stream if you're performing successfully in it.

since you said you'd be willing to pay for your second year if it came to that, i can almost guarantee that you will pay for your second year.

[juilletmercredi]

i think it's an incorrect assumption to think that you will look more appealing to other grad schools with one year of grad school rather than just a bachelors degree. those other schools will want to know 1) why you want to leave your current school, and 2) why you weren't funded at your current school or anywhere else. if you get all As, it may show them that you're capable of graduate level work, but they'll still have questions about why you want to leave a program mid-stream if you're performing successfully in it.

since you said you'd be willing to pay for your second year if it came to that, i can almost guarantee that you will pay for your second year.

I 100% agree with this.

ISince I am going to have this 'albatross' around my neck, I just want assurance that they will have my back and not we'll have your back most likely.

I don't think this is the way it works at all. In all honesty, it's probably closer to the opposite - if they funded others but not you, that means they feel they are taking a gamble on you and basically aren't willing to take the financial risk on you. If you leave after the first or second year, the department has lost very little money on you - just overhead costs, but not the cost of paying your tuition and a living stipend. Even if you do well, you've already proven to them that you are willing to attend the school on your own dime, so like someone else said new fellowships are (counterintuitively) given to students who had fellowships first.

And the thing is, right now they aren't guaranteeing anything. If they were guaranteeing you at the moment that you'll be funded next year it'd be understandable, but I would definitely NOT fund myself for the first year with no guarantee for the second year. What happens if you get through year one - at a school that costs $30K in tuition and fees and you have to borrow living expenses, so let's say $50K total and that's lowballing - and then they're like sorry, we can't fund you for year two? Either you leave $50K in debt for basically nothing, or you have to go ahead and incur six-figure debt for a degree that won't pay you that much until you're about 15 years into the career (assuming that you even GET a t-t position - and it doesn't bode well. The market's already bad, and your own program didn't want you enough to fund you).

I don't think relying on IBR is a good idea, either - I've heard people say this kind of thing multiple times since the program started. IBR was NOT intended for students to go borrowing money they can't really afford. The point was to provide some relief to people who are already deep in debt.

If you are already planning to apply to other programs that will fund you, what is the point of wasting $50K+ at a PhD program with the likelihood that you will have to start over if you get funded at a better program? I think it would be far better to take a year off, work some more, beef up your math if that's what's lacking by taking some math classes at a local U and try applying again. I just don't think that the career is worth going to *any* place. If you want to be a professor, you want to maximize your chances by going to the *best* place for you.

[nimo6211]

don't go without funding. not only is it a bad decision financially, profs will treat you differently knowing that you're one of the unfunded students. it'll also be harder to get fellowships down the line, since those tend to go to students with other fellowships first and with TAships second. so the unfunded crowd is third on that list.

if it were me, i'd just apply again next cycle and hope for a fully funded offer. since that's too late... i don't know. but good luck.

Ouch! Now that really hurts