Would you do a PhD without funding?

[IRToni]

I wouldn't pay for my PhD, but I would also say that the UK is different from the US. In the UK, them not funding you is not necessarily a sign that they don't have faith in you, it might just be that they actually don't have the money etc.

 

I would say it's not worth it going into debt for a PhD, especially if your goal is to stay in academia.

[TakeMyCoffeeBlack]

I'm fairly certain that, at least in the Humanities and Social Sciences, paying for your own PhD is a job application kiss of death. While the saying 'funding begets funding' is pithy and annoying, I think it's worth thinking about in the long run. If no one was willing to pay you to do your research as a PhD, why would anyone pay you as a post-doctoral researcher/prof/whatever?

 

For the record, I would never, ever pay for a PhD. I'd even be (and am) a bit nervous about programs that offer fewer years of guaranteed funding than they project their PhDs to take to finish (i.e. offer 4 years funding when the average finishing time is 5-6 years).

 

I think the assumption for the first statement is that all schools fund equally, which of course isn't true (and you say as much). There are plenty of very good schools that just don't offer that much funding for different reasons (Georgetown and George Washington come to mind in poli sci - but they get a large share of applicants because of their location and can afford not to offer everyone funding). However, in many cases students will get funding somewhere along the line (TAs, RAs, etc.), it just isn't guaranteed. For students who can gamble a year, this might be a jump worth taking. So in the long run, I guess you're right - assuming that you didn't get non-guaranteed funding during your Ph.D. because you just weren't good enough. But when maybe only 50% of the incoming class starts with guaranteed funding, it's hard to say whether that 50% is the one that will walk out with a job and a book deal.

[TakeMyCoffeeBlack]

I wouldn't pay for my PhD, but I would also say that the UK is different from the US. In the UK, them not funding you is not necessarily a sign that they don't have faith in you, it might just be that they actually don't have the money etc.

 

I would say it's not worth it going into debt for a PhD, especially if your goal is to stay in academia.

 

This. UK programs are just very different, and doing a non-funded Ph.D. in the UK is not the same thing as doing it in the US.

 

And yup...no money in academics.

[TakeruK]

This. UK programs are just very different, and doing a non-funded Ph.D. in the UK is not the same thing as doing it in the US.

 

And yup...no money in academics.

 

This might really depend on the field. PhDs in my field in the UK are always fully funded. In fact, many schools that I had looked into will not accept self-funded students at all. So the only way for an international student to enter that program was to win one of the university-wide graduate fellowships. Their reasoning was that it costs a lot more than just money to have a grad student (time to supervise, room in classes etc.) and basically the quota they are able to fund is equal to the number of students they have time to train.

[roguesenna]

never ever ever. aside from the lack of faith it shows in you as a student and investment of their time, can you imagine the difficulty of living that way for six years, the debt you'd have when you left and the resentment that would build up as you imagine how much funding your cohorts have? It's bad enough in the private sector ( I currently work in HR so I know how much everyone at my company is paid). the resentment I'd have doing that at school for six years is not worth it.

[victorydance]

As long as I got a tuition waiver, I would definitely consider it. I can pay for upwards of 3+ years of funding myself. Not to mention, once you are in you can pretty easily acquire funding because a lot of universities offer competitive fellowships year in and year out. Not to mention partial or external funding.

 

If a top 10 offers admission with a tuition waiver but no fellowship I am jumping on that offer if it's my only option. 

 

However this is coming from someone who is a highly budgeted student and has money in the bank to blow on a good opportunity. 

Edited May 29, 2014 by HopefulComparativist

[FreeRadical]

Yes, for the right program. If I were overly concerned about money, I wouldn't have chosen a career in public health!

[eveline]

On 12/16/2013 at 1:20 PM, katiegud said:

I'm still waiting to hear from 3 programs I applied to, I have an interview at another, and two have accepted me. Of the offers though, one is almost definitely unfunded and the other I won't find out until March (arg!). The ones I'm waiting to hear from have potential funding (I applied for scholarships), but in the UK funded PhDs are very competitive. My fear is that my only offers will be without funding. 

 

I can defer for a year to reapply for scholarships, so that is my first option, but what if I still don't get anything? Would you fund yourself? Or would you take that as a rejection? Just looking for some outside opinions. 

Hi! @katiegud, I'm kind of in the same boat you were in a few years ago. What did you end up deciding? If you decided to take the unfunded offer, how did that work out for you?