External Funding: For or Against?

[edost]

The other day I was chatting here on GradCafe and mentioned I was looking for external funding in case I'm accepted with no funding. I was told that other than Fulbright (which I'm not eligible for when applying in the States), I shouldn't bother, and that programs that won't fund me aren't worth it, anyway, with or without external funding.

Any thoughts?

[Fell4Ever]

If you want to go to Program A, but they wont give you money, BUT you can secure external funding, go for it. Graduate School is SUPER optional. You go if you want to go - to better your life opportunities AND to better your life. If you really want to go to a school that didn't give you any or enough funding, but you can get external scholarships, please, by all means, go for it. The important thing is to consider:

Is the scholarship for only 1-year? How long will I be in school for. What happens if I do not get the scholarship again for the next year - will I be forced to drop out?

Does the external funding cover EVERYTHING? Will I need to take out the Graduate Stafford Loan? Am I comfortable with that.

I will tell you the only situation that I would not go to a school even if I could secure external funding. I am applying for the Masters in Asian Pacific Policy Studies at the University of British Columbia, and they say clearly on their website that all admitted candidates are RANKED by their perceived value, and given funding based on their ranking. They only accept 20 students (but luckily only get about 80 applicants!) so if I do not get funding, then I know that I must have ranked in the bottom of my incoming class. I would/will(god I hope its will XD So want to go to this school) be very discourages to try to go at it.

[StrangeLight]

of course you should apply for external funding. always. programs love it when a student gets external funding. there are plenty of options other than the fulbright, and any place that will cover your living expenses and your tuition is worth it. while many of the most prestigious fellowships are for the dissertation research or writing phases (the SSRC, the ACLS/mellon, the NSF, etc.), students that have the ability to secure external funding at any point in their graduate career (beginning, middle, or end) are considered rather highly.

if you win a fellowship (ANY fellowship) in your first year and gain admission with full funding, you can see if that school will defer your funding for one year, in effect extending your funding package for a year. this is very good. they will almost surely do this. and they'll like that you had the initiative to seek out external funding sources.

if you win a fellowship and gain admission to a school without funding, you may still consider going there on that fellowship, but i would prepare yourself psychologically to walk away from grad school after that first year if your department doesn't come up with funds for the rest of your time there.

if you win a fellowship and aren't admitted to any school (which does actually happen), you're actually in a pretty good bargaining position. contact your dream school and tell them you can pay your own way through external funding and ask to be admitted. if they're not giving you money, they'll consider it. really. if they say no, work your way down your list. don't be afraid to do this for the entire summer leading up to the fall semester. at some point (probably sooner rather than later) one of those schools will jump at the chance to bring in a student they don't need to pay for. but again, be prepared to walk away if there's no money after the first year (either through the school or through more external funding).

bottom line: departments love it when you can get external funding, no matter how small or how obscure. it shows you have initiative. it shows that you can convince a funding agency that your research is worth supporting. it shows that you can work with money. and it shows that you'll be able to secure more fellowships down the line. people are more likely to receive fellowships and grants as professors if they won them as graduate students because these agencies (especially the prestigious ones) don't want to take a risk with their investment. someone with a slew of external fellowships has proven that their work is worth funding.

short version: whoever told you not to apply for external fellowships other than fulbright is an idiot. you should always apply for whatever you can because it will only benefit you if you win something.

[trebuchet]

Agree with @StrangeLight - apply to everything, if you have the time. How is that bad?

I'm in Canada, so I don't know about US Schools and funding, but I find that many schools here with come up with *some* funding for you, even if you don't have an official University scholarship. Friend of mine got in to his program last year, but wasn't funded. The department found him a TAship as well as giving him basically a 4000 bursary because he couldn't afford to be there otherwise. This year, he received scholarship funding, has 3 different TAships and another on campus job.

While working is often not an option for foreign students, there are always "international student" grants. In Quebec, the province has multi-year funding specifically for this purpose, as well as departmental scholarships for foreign students.

[Eigen]

I'm going to echo the previous two points, and say apply for everything. If nothing else, you have applications you can refine next year if you're still eligible. Especially down the road when it comes time to look for jobs, the ability to secure external funding, even if it's not one of the "big" fellowships is often seen positively. Being able to bring in money is something that everyone wants to see.

You really were asking two questions in your post- the first about applying for funding, and the second about whether or not to go somewhere that isn't going to fund you. The general rule I've heard is that if a school isn't going to fund you, you should not go there- however, this can be highly discipline specific. It's a very good rule to follow in the sciences, but from what I gather, less helpful in the humanities. In the humanities, you have to balance the name of the school and job prospects with how much it will cost, imo.

[edost]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I will look for external funding. I hope my research area (entertainment and politics) will be deemed important enough by some foundation.