Funding

[cappucino]

Was anyone else accepted to a PhD program but put on the wait list for a first-year fellowship? Indiana U Bloomington did this and I found it odd considering they did offer me five years of full funding plus a $15K+ stipend starting the second year.  I want to look into the program, but unless I get that first year fellowship, I'm not sure I'm prepared to take out another loan. I was accepted to an MA program with full funding and am still holding out hope for at least one more PhD program. Does anyone know of other schools that do it this way? Is it worth it to take out a loan or would it be better to go with the funded MA program and try and get into an even better funded school once I improve my research interests and such? 

 

 

[ComeBackZinc]

Absolutely do not go to a PhD program, regardless of discipline, if you aren't funded. If you have a funded MA offer, take that and attempt to get into a funded PhD program after. Or, email around at IU and see if there are any other funding opportunities. Check with their grad director or grad assistant and see if there are listserves or websites you can check. At big schools like that, there are often a lot of funding opportunities floating around in odd places. They may not be doing what you really want, but if it's just for the first year, you can probably deal with it. But if you can't get any funding for that first year, don't go. Don't do that to yourself.

[Gwendolyn]

Was anyone else accepted to a PhD program but put on the wait list for a first-year fellowship? Indiana U Bloomington did this and I found it odd considering they did offer me five years of full funding plus a $15K+ stipend starting the second year.  I want to look into the program, but unless I get that first year fellowship, I'm not sure I'm prepared to take out another loan. I was accepted to an MA program with full funding and am still holding out hope for at least one more PhD program. Does anyone know of other schools that do it this way? Is it worth it to take out a loan or would it be better to go with the funded MA program and try and get into an even better funded school once I improve my research interests and such? 

It's early in the game and I know IU has already made offers of funding (first year and otherwise) to students in many departments and it's only early March. Many students will decline those offers, so the waitlist might convert.

[Katzenmusik]

Was anyone else accepted to a PhD program but put on the wait list for a first-year fellowship? Indiana U Bloomington did this and I found it odd considering they did offer me five years of full funding plus a $15K+ stipend starting the second year.

 

That does sound odd.  Are you sure it doesn't mean you'll get a TA-ship if the fellowship doesn't come through?  In other words, you'll get first year funding, they're just not sure what variety yet, and they'd like to lure you in with a fellowship but will work something else out if needed?

[dazedandbemused]

From what I understand, it's pretty common for most first years at IU not to have funding, isn't it? I think it has something to do with training before being a TA. The likelyhood of an unfunded first year was one of the reasons I didn't apply there this year.