Range of funding for PoliSci Programs

[Thompson]

If the partial fee/tuition waiver is identical to my offer from UCD (the other numbers look identical), the difference between a "Full Fees & Tuition" and "Partial Fees & tuition" is $250 per quarter, but the increased stipend while working in the TA/RA/Course Reader positions almost exactly cover the difference. 

[ajaxp91]

Bump... 

 

Edit: Wanted to include cost of living calculator: http://www.bankrate....calculator.aspx

Edited February 20, 2014 by cautiously_optimistic

[astreaux]

I'm guessing this is unlikely since most of you who applied to Berkeley applied to their political science department, but does anyone know anything about previous years' offers for their Jurisprudence and Social Policy (JSP) program? I can't find anything. I know I have five years funding (edit: but no clue how much), including two fellowship years and some summer money, but Berkeley seems to vary dramatically from department to department.

Edited February 20, 2014 by mygrotianmoment

[Ella Simmons]

People with MIT offers, did anyone get information on funding (I know it's possible we might have different offers)?  I had a missed call from Massachusetts, returned it, MIT professor said I was accepted with full funding and that complete details were in the voicemail he left--but there was no voicemail to be found.  Frankly, I am not even sure which professor I talked to.

 

Also, does the official notice really come via postal mail?  How quaint.

[cjalpha]

People with MIT offers, did anyone get information on funding (I know it's possible we might have different offers)?  I had a missed call from Massachusetts, returned it, MIT professor said I was accepted with full funding and that complete details were in the voicemail he left--but there was no voicemail to be found.  Frankly, I am not even sure which professor I talked to.

 

Also, does the official notice really come via postal mail?  How quaint.

 

No, I just heard what you did.  I think full details are supposed to be in the snail mail letter.

[packrat]

 

Edit: Wanted to include cost of living calculator: http://www.bankrate....calculator.aspx

 

 

LOL it is ridiculous how much lower cost of living is in New Haven from where I am now. Sweet Jesus. Welcome to inequality in America. 

 

I am particularly glad the cost of T-Bone steak is going down. God forbid it doesn't. 

Edited February 26, 2014 by packrat

[resDQ]

bumping this thread. I imagine the stipend has increased at all programs discussed here (hopefully).

[jamesdilla]

bump. whats everyone getting this year?

[jamesdilla]

also a 2013 post above wrote that "UC folks generally take 6-9 years to finish." does anyone know what thats about?

[deactivatedaccount]

There seems to be a website that shows similar information (perhaps with poorer success): http://www.phdstipends.com/results

Northwestern is paying $31K--from what I understand this is equal among all of their incoming students.

[BigTenPoliSci]

I just looked up my school and program. A few people with some large external fellowships reported those. These survey results might not be a good guide for what the standard packages for most students look like.

[Bibica]

How should I go about declining an offer of admission? I just received my funding package for a school that I quite liked, and thought was a great fit. It wasn't exactly my top choice but it was competitive and I was going to at least visit campus before making my decision. Anyway, the funding is no way enough to survive on given the high cost of living in that area. I'm not sure whether I should still visit, voice my financial concerns to them, or just send an email to the department and decline the offer on the portal.

[resDQ]

3 hours ago, Bibica said:

How should I go about declining an offer of admission? I just received my funding package for a school that I quite liked, and thought was a great fit. It wasn't exactly my top choice but it was competitive and I was going to at least visit campus before making my decision. Anyway, the funding is no way enough to survive on given the high cost of living in that area. I'm not sure whether I should still visit, voice my financial concerns to them, or just send an email to the department and decline the offer on the portal.

 

I'm waiting to visit schools before asking for more money. I may end up not liking the place after I visit, so why waste the energy haggling now? I haven't been admitted to a school yet with a waitlist, so I don't feel guilty about taking my time. If there was a waitlist and the school was ranked lower and not the best fit, I would decline without visiting. 

No reason to voice financial concerns if you still would not consider them over your other options if they gave you more $$$. 

 

[Bibica]

On 2/4/2017 at 6:02 PM, resDQ said:

 

I'm waiting to visit schools before asking for more money. I may end up not liking the place after I visit, so why waste the energy haggling now? I haven't been admitted to a school yet with a waitlist, so I don't feel guilty about taking my time. If there was a waitlist and the school was ranked lower and not the best fit, I would decline without visiting. 

No reason to voice financial concerns if you still would not consider them over your other options if they gave you more $$$. 

 

I think you're right, and I've decided to decline two of my offers without visiting. I've been trying to draft a short letter that expresses (1) how grateful I am to have been accepted, (2) how difficult a decision this has been for me, (3) that unfortunately I have to decline their offer (4) some sort of reason???

Is there a polite way to say that I have received better offers? One school has given me a pretty unlivable stipend but the other was downright charitable. I'm turning them down before making my final decision, so it isn't like I can say "After careful consideration, I have decided to attend University X." And I don't feel comfortable saying "another school" in case they follow up with "which one?"

Also at one of these schools no professor has reached out to me, but at the other 2 have. Should I tell them about my decision as well?

Ultimately I know I'm not a huge loss to either of these schools but I still want to be as polite as possible about it without burning down any bridges. Academia is a small world...

[concrema]

On 2017. 2. 5. at 4:48 AM, Bibica said:

How should I go about declining an offer of admission? I just received my funding package for a school that I quite liked, and thought was a great fit. It wasn't exactly my top choice but it was competitive and I was going to at least visit campus before making my decision. Anyway, the funding is no way enough to survive on given the high cost of living in that area. I'm not sure whether I should still visit, voice my financial concerns to them, or just send an email to the department and decline the offer on the portal.

It's not quite an answer to your question but a question to you. Do you think speaking with the department on our financial concerns will help? I'm considering either keeping silent until 15th April or voicing my financial concerns by emailing and attending the visit. I appreciate your time. Thank you!

[Bibica]

11 minutes ago, concrema said:

It's not quite an answer to your question but a question to you. Do you think speaking with the department on our financial concerns will help? I'm considering either keeping silent until 15th April or voicing my financial concerns by emailing and attending the visit. I appreciate your time. Thank you!

If it is a school that you're excited about attending, it is absolutely okay to haggle for more funding. Especially if you have an offer at another university that gives you more funding. I spoke to someone in my university who handles this sort of stuff and she said that they'll almost always give an extra $1000-3000 to someone who says that funding is preventing them from accepting.

Keep in mind that before they accepted you, you were trying to convince them. Now THEY'RE trying to recruit YOU. They've already decided that they want you, and that gives you some bargaining power. That being said, it is important to be polite about it, and it would definitely help if you visit first.

[resDQ]

2 hours ago, Bibica said:

I think you're right, and I've decided to decline two of my offers without visiting. I've been trying to draft a short letter that expresses (1) how grateful I am to have been accepted, (2) how difficult a decision this has been for me, (3) that unfortunately I have to decline their offer (4) some sort of reason???

Is there a polite way to say that I have received better offers? One school has given me a pretty unlivable stipend but the other was downright charitable. I'm turning them down before making my final decision, so it isn't like I can say "After careful consideration, I have decided to attend University X." And I don't feel comfortable saying "another school" in case they follow up with "which one?"

Also at one of these schools no professor has reached out to me, but at the other 2 have. Should I tell them about my decision as well?

Ultimately I know I'm not a huge loss to either of these schools but I still want to be as polite as possible about it without burning down any bridges. Academia is a small world...

 

I would say something along the lines of "at this time, I have chosen to explore other options" or "I have chosen to go into a different direction with my academic career".

 

I don't think I would even bother with #4. It would be kind of rude to bring up rankings, fit, or personal life. Not sure quite what to do, but sometimes leaving things unsaid is better than digging yourself a hole. 

[concrema]

1 hour ago, Bibica said:

If it is a school that you're excited about attending, it is absolutely okay to haggle for more funding. Especially if you have an offer at another university that gives you more funding. I spoke to someone in my university who handles this sort of stuff and she said that they'll almost always give an extra $1000-3000 to someone who says that funding is preventing them from accepting.

Keep in mind that before they accepted you, you were trying to convince them. Now THEY'RE trying to recruit YOU. They've already decided that they want you, and that gives you some bargaining power. That being said, it is important to be polite about it, and it would definitely help if you visit first.

Very informative! Many thanks. I think I have to visit the school... 

[Bibica]

@resDQ on further reflection, I am inclined to agree with you. Finally have a draft I'm happy with, so I should be sending that out to one or two schools next week. I know it will be a relief after, but the thought of turning down programs so early in the cycle just feels wrong. But I know they're out of the running for me and it is only fair. Hopefully it frees up some space for others, though.

@concrema of course! I'm very lucky to know some people in admin + older grad students who have drilled into me the importance of negotiation. Apparently men do it a lot more than women, which is a shame.

[VMcJ]

The whole matter of rejecting offers is making me kind of sad. When I began this process I was expecting to get between 1 to 3 acceptances. And I only applied to programs I absolutely would attend regardless of financial issues, unless of course I felt their funding offers were utterly prohibitive. Now I'm about to have a hard time deciding and an even harder time rejecting schools that I was eager to attend. Of course it's a minor problem compared to get no acceptances (i.e. last cycle), but it's still sad.

That said, programs know the drill. And they at least roughly know how much other schools are offering and how they compare to that. They were all prospective students like us and had to decide as well, taking money as a variable as well.

[Bibica]

@VMcJ I did the same as you, and only applied to programs I could see myself at. Although I am no longer considering some of them, I spent so much time researching each school and imagining myself on their campuses that I almost feel nostalgic about it. Still, we have to make a decision at some point, and earlier is better in many cases.

Have you been able to narrow down your options at all? I can see you're still waiting for a lot of schools.

[VMcJ]

3 minutes ago, Bibica said:

@VMcJ I did the same as you, and only applied to programs I could see myself at. Although I am no longer considering some of them, I spent so much time researching each school and imagining myself on their campuses that I almost feel nostalgic about it. Still, we have to make a decision at some point, and earlier is better in many cases.

Have you been able to narrow down your options at all? I can see you're still waiting for a lot of schools.

Not quite. I do have a kind of mental ranking based on every metric I find important, but since I won't be able to visit any program I intend to give all of them the same amount of consideration. But it's hard when more than half didn't respond yet. I hope that by the end of the next week most or all of them communicate their decisions. And then I can proceed to eventual negotiations.

[concrema]

1 minute ago, Bibica said:

@VMcJ I did the same as you, and only applied to programs I could see myself at. Although I am no longer considering some of them, I spent so much time researching each school and imagining myself on their campuses that I almost feel nostalgic about it. Still, we have to make a decision at some point, and earlier is better in many cases.

Have you been able to narrow down your options at all? I can see you're still waiting for a lot of schools.

In my case, I have a few acceptances, some with firm funding others without. And, I am currently weighing among them although I'm waiting for many others including my top priorities. Pending applications put aside, it is still a tough decision to make, as you said. Of course, definitely, it is a lot better than having no offers in hand. I find myself desiring more and more when one desire is fulfilled. 

[guest56436]

Standard package at Cornell:

5 years stipend 25,780

4 years summer stipend 5,432

First year is fellowship; TA (15 hours a week) years 2, 3, 4; and 5th is fellowship.

[The0ry]

Johns Hopkins package:

- full tuition & medical insurance 

- "a base stipend of no less than $29,000"

- First year no TAing. From second year onward TAing for only 1 semester a year (with an average of 3-4 semesters altogether).

- quite a lot of internal department fellowship & awards opportunities

Pretty good for Baltimore. 

Edited February 23, 2017 by The0ry