UCLA

[Dragon]

Hi everyone,

To the admitted but funding wait-listed students:

Does anybody have any sense how long the waitlist is? I got the sense that UCLA admits many more students than usually accept their offer, but because of funding constraints they can only give $$ to exactly how many candidates they can fund. Under this scenario, it's pretty likely that funding waitlisted kids will get money eventually (when other funded students turn them down), but maybe I'm being overlly optimistic.

It's just kinda strange that they admitted a lot of people without a guarantee of funding - if they really wanted us they would offer funding up front, right?

Thanks!

[saltlakecity2012]

I don't have any details (should have asked my POI when I spoke to him), but I was told that there is a significant probability of getting funding later in the application cycle (potentially very close to April 15). I would say that if UCLA is your top choice, make that very clear to them - they will probably only offer funding later in the cycle to people they are 100% sure will come.

[RWBG]

From what I understand, they have ranked lists by subfield, so who gets funding will likely be determined by who declines offers (and, of course, position on your respective list).

Edited February 8, 2012 by RWBG

[Dragon]

Okay, thanks guys! I think what you guys are saying makes sense.

[bodywithoutorgans]

_{Does anyone have any info on the length of these sub-field waitlists?}

[puddle]

A UCLA grad once told me that the department tends to dump everyone in the deep end and see who fights their way to the top. This means that there is a lot of competition for funding, office space, grants, etc. Knowing this, they probably accept people without funding in the hopes that those people will accept and help offset the cost of the funded students. It seems savage but UCLA has become pretty "every woman for herself" since the California budget cuts. On the other hand... amazing department, amazing campus, amazing weather.

[bobababo]

This is really not the case. Waitlisted for funding happens in many other departments they just call it waitlist. This bad legend about the extreme competition has been around for a while. It may have been true once upon a time (?I am not even sure) but it is simply not true now.

[puddle]

Sorry! I am not picking a fight or anything... just passing on something I heard from a graduate student who finished their PhD in 2010. Of course, hearsay should always be taken with a grain of salt.

[adaptations]

It's just kinda strange that they admitted a lot of people without a guarantee of funding - if they really wanted us they would offer funding up front, right?

Thanks!

I don't think I would frame it this way if I were you. You should still feel very honored to be selected into a small and very talented pool of students who the department thinks has great potential! UCLA may not have the budget flexibility of some other schools, but that just means a little more uncertainty at this stage in the game. As someone pointed out, many schools fund all admitted students and then use a waitlist - assuming you can't afford the expense of graduate school on your own (nor would I ever advice paying for a PhD) essentially you are on a waitlist, but one with a relatively high probability of being promoted from waitlist to fully funded. UCLA is an excellent department, but one that is likely to admit a high number of students who also have offers at other top programs, which is likely to results in numerous funding slots being allocated to people originally waitlisted for funding.

The somewhat competitive nature of UCLA's funding system is something to be aware of, but I have not heard of it causing the problems of fierce competition and every person for themselves attitude. It might create a bit more pressure than a school with completely equitable funding for all students, but assuming the program fits well for you, I wouldn't let the design of their funding system be much of a deterrence (I'm being optimistic and am hoping you'll get funding).

Best of luck!

[balderdash]

I'll be declining my offer and the funding that came with it (I was briefly on the fellowship waitlist, but was offered 24k first year with 17k+ guaranteed for the remaining 4 years). Hopefully this will translate to an offer for one of you guys.

That said, please allow me a bit of time to do so. I have yet to speak with my POI at Madison, and my official offer there hasn't arrived, so I need to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot. In any case, I should have it sorted shortly.