Phoenix Rising Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I was accepted into a school that has not made me an offer of any funding. Am I required to reply re: their offer by April 15 or is that irrelevant since no money is involved? Likewise, if I were to accept and consequently not find funding and cannot attend...is it okay for me to change my mind? :? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stigMPA Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 As I understand it, April 15th is the date - with or without funding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahlan_amnell Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I was accepted into a school that has not made me an offer of any funding. Am I required to reply re: their offer by April 15 or is that irrelevant since no money is involved? Likewise, if I were to accept and consequently not find funding and cannot attend...is it okay for me to change my mind? :? You need to ask the school what their reply date is. It may be April 15th, it may not be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix Rising Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 It only mentions on their site that the absolute deadline with funding offer is April 15. I will call and inquire I guess. Thanks for the replies. Also, kahlan_amnell, I see you got in to Washington State. Its really nice up there. Attended for my undergrad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highered_3 Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 It only mentions on their site that the absolute deadline with funding offer is April 15. I will call and inquire I guess. Thanks for the replies. Also, kahlan_amnell, I see you got in to Washington State. Its really nice up there. Attended for my undergrad. Go Cougs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicpolicy79 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I have an unfunded offer from one school that explicitly stated that if my attendance is contingent upon securing funding then my deadline is May 15 (so if they get some rejections and pass along the offer, I won't have already rejected them). That may be the case at your school, so it is worth asking. Whatever you do, don't just assume you don't have to respond. That's an excellent way to burn bridges with people you may interact with in the future. Academia is a small world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpileofashes Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I'm in the same boat as you of the 3 schools i was accepted to (all in NYS) only 1 told me they would get back to me with financial support info (scholarships, TA, goodies) the other 2 gave me the april 15th ultimatum- I seent them e-mails earlier this week and have yet to hear back regarding whether I am even in the running for financial support, but I am aware of the fact NY does not enact its budget until late march/early april so that could possibly be the biggest reason why i haven't received any support- who knows- it's killing me since my dream school has made no mention of those dollar signs (even in-state tuition is scandalously high!) Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetaguerrera Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 ugh..i feel you guys. i got funding from everyone except my top choice =/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulipOHare Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Yup -- one of my schools is snail mailing offers on April 15th; the other won't be able to say anything at all until June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ds975 Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I am in the same club!! Accepted by UT without funding and they want a decision by Apr. 15. I am supposed to contact profs myself but was also told that TA/RA appointments may well take a few months to be made. Confused whether to accept or not, since I would only like to attend if funded.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
advice Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Deciding what to do here is somewhat field contingent. If I were you, I would consider trying to speak to graduate students further along in the program about their funding situation. In some programs, funding comes down year to year in the forming of teaching assignments - but it is pretty regular and you can easily get teaching in other departments. Obviously, it also depends on whether or not your going for a Phd or an MA and if you hope to go into a high paying job in industry or a low paying gig in the academy. Don't take on any debt if you plan on becoming a college professor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tegan.deanna Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 So it's normal to be required to make a decision before you know about funding? I know funding offers depend largely on whether or not the people that were originally offered funding decide to go or not, but for people who were not originally offered funding and cannot afford to go without funding, choosing to accept without guaranteed funding is very risky. I have been accepted to two out of five schools, rejected from one and waiting to hear from two. One of the acceptances, call it Program A, officially stated: no funding (big state education budget cuts this year, read: cutting entire departments to make ends meet), and the other one, Program B, said nothing about funding. Should I pester Program B about the likelihood of funding if I were to accept their offer? These are Masters programs and I intend to continue on to a PhD and enter academia some day. It's looking like my best option may be to wait another year, skip the MA, and apply directly to PhD programs next year, where funding is more ample. Does that sound like the best course of action to you? Everyone says not to go into debt if you plan to become a professor and I already owe tons from my undergraduate days at a private university. I wish funding weren't a deciding factor, but my current debt and future prospects make it so. Any advice or commiseration is welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
advice Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I hate to say it, but I get the feeling that nothing is really normal about finances right now. Imagine that departments are waiting to hear back from universities regarding what their funding will be for the upcoming year and the universities are scrambling, trying to figure out where exactly their finances are. So this takes time. These programs typically understand that they risk losing top students if they wait until after the April 15th deadline to make funding decisions - but sometimes they have no choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix Rising Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Well, I contacted the department and the program assistant was useless and told me to contact the Grad Divison. And the grad division in turn, tells me to contact the Department. So needless to say I was not happy with the run around treatment. :roll: I ended up e-mailing my advisor telling her that I know she/school needs an answer prior to April 15 but that I didn't feel comfortable making such a decision before I knew more financially. She said she understood my concerns and suggested that I hold off until the end of April because they may funds available by then. So I guess its just a waiting game from here on out. I am so tired of this limbo though. I need to know how to proceed but I'm stuck in the same place I was 2 months ago. :? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbeard Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Arg, me just be waiting on ye GRFP, aye, for me school no have given me buried treasure fer me tuition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illinoisellie Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 So it's normal to be required to make a decision before you know about funding? I know funding offers depend largely on whether or not the people that were originally offered funding decide to go or not, but for people who were not originally offered funding and cannot afford to go without funding, choosing to accept without guaranteed funding is very risky. I have been accepted to two out of five schools, rejected from one and waiting to hear from two. One of the acceptances, call it Program A, officially stated: no funding (big state education budget cuts this year, read: cutting entire departments to make ends meet), and the other one, Program B, said nothing about funding. Should I pester Program B about the likelihood of funding if I were to accept their offer? These are Masters programs and I intend to continue on to a PhD and enter academia some day. It's looking like my best option may be to wait another year, skip the MA, and apply directly to PhD programs next year, where funding is more ample. Does that sound like the best course of action to you? Everyone says not to go into debt if you plan to become a professor and I already owe tons from my undergraduate days at a private university. I wish funding weren't a deciding factor, but my current debt and future prospects make it so. Any advice or commiseration is welcome. So I'm not getting any funding at my MS school either - I'm also looking forward to getting a PhD. But I have heard that the only way to make your application better is to get more research experience, so try to get a research-y job, up your GRE scores, whatever, in the upcoming year if you do decide to take off for a year. I wasn't able to find anything research-wise- I really want to just do a research gig for a year - but can't find one in my area that isn't entirely unpaid... :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cath2024 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I am in the same club!! Accepted by UT without funding and they want a decision by Apr. 15. I am supposed to contact profs myself but was also told that TA/RA appointments may well take a few months to be made. Confused whether to accept or not, since I would only like to attend if funded.. Add me to the make-a-decision-and-THEN-we'll-tell-you-about-funding-(maybe) club. I've asked twice already, trying to wait another week before asking again. I want to be the just-greasy-enough-but-not-annoying wheel. I'm loving the dashes tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaganc Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Arg, me just be waiting on ye GRFP, aye, for me school no have given me buried treasure fer me tuition. I love how you have been posting in all sorts of threads and everyone just ignores it. It's like, freak out - freak out - freak out - pirate - freak out - freak out and no one notices the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
advice Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 I'd be weary of entering a PhD program without any promise of funding, ESPECIALLY if you plan on teaching. If you're going into industry, it may be a different story, but if you plan on teaching, when are you going to pay that mountain of growing debt off - when you're floating around from year to year as an adjunct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cath2024 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I love how you have been posting in all sorts of threads and everyone just ignores it. It's like, freak out - freak out - freak out - pirate - freak out - freak out and no one notices the difference. Pirates are welcome to join in the handwringing. We are equal opportunity neurotics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cath2024 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Pirates are welcome to join in the handwringing. We are equal opportunity neurotics. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy Whoa. Only grad school pirates. Not REAL pirates. To be clear. OK, now, back on track: where is my financial aiddddd??? I'm so tiiired of waiiiitingggg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkm256 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I sent emails to my schools asking if they would extend the deadlines in light of the fact they have told me diddly squat about what I'm going to have to pay them for the next two years. Three of four have yet to write back and the last replied to the email...with no reply. Just my text with the little greater-than marks next to each line, with a signature from someone at the bottom. I am seriously considering my father's recommendation: say yes to all of them and leave three hanging out to dry when funding finally comes through next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaganc Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 the last replied to the email...with no reply. Just my text with the little greater-than marks next to each line, with a signature from someone at the bottom. I'm sorry, but this is just so funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandelle Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 It's so stressful, this whole thing. Because I"m applying to MA programs and was admitted without aid to two of them, I don't think I'm as bound by the APril 15th deadline. One school I declined knowing that I couldn't afford to go there. One school I'm hanging onto because it's the best program I was admitted to, but the admittance was fairly clear about no funding now or in the future. The third school gave me a date in June to reply by. I didn't make the first cut for financial aid, but hvae had some indications that I could potentially receive aid, if someone declines (and since this school is not a top tier one, It's somewhat likely that at least some will decline). I'm going down to visit this week, and will hopefully get some sort of idea about exactly *how* likely receiving aid is: Am I totally on the bottom of the pile, or is it fairly likely but they can't say for sure. I never figured that I would get ZERO financial support, since back when I was deciding what programs to apply to, I was told by most of these schools that they fund practically all admitted students. That's the main reason I chose the programs I did!! And now to have 3 unfunded offers...what a cruel world. Or a cruel economy. Whatever. so if I don't get aid at the school I'm going down to visit, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I have a 4th cheaper option but it would involve not starting grad school until February, and I am so damn sick of this job and staying at home etc. Plus I will feel like such a failure if in stead of going to school in the fall like I told everyone I was, I have to wait for another semester. Sigh. Sorry about the rant. I'm just stressed out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robusto Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 One thing that may be useful to many of the thread posters is knowing that if you have funded offers elsewhere, informing the school will greatly expedite the rate in which they find and offer you funding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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