Help decoding

[geekgirl87]

Here is my situation: I am deciding between two schools: one gave me funding, the other one is not being very clear about it. They have admitted me but avoided the funding issue by saying that they "didn't know and they'd get back to me." Way back when I first made contact with my prospective mentor, they had said they had funding to support me as a GA. Now, April 15th is fast approaching so I have been trying to get an answer out of them so I can make my decision. I have only heard that there "might be" a fellowship for me, but they aren't sure, and they might know before the 15th, but then again they might not. I also heard my advisor does not have funding to support a student right now (which contradicts my earlier understanding). I have tried contacting the advisor a couple of times and they have yet to get back to me. I get the feeling that I'm not getting funded, but they won't admit it...

I guess my question is, what is really going on here? In situations like this I usually try to think about things from the other party's point of view...but I don't have enough knowledge about grad school yet to be able to do that

Thanks!!

[Stephen33]

This sounds very risky to me; I would recommend you tell them - very politely, but firmly- that you need to know about the funding situation by a certain date, no later than April 15. Once the April 15 date has passed, you will have lost any leverage you might have. The school's vagueness is not a good sign, imo. If you choose this school without a guarantee of funding, you should be fully prepared to receive nothing, because that is a very real possibility.

[fuzzylogician]

Stephen33 is right. The school's vagueness is a bad sign - it doesn't know if it can offer you funding yet and in this economy it's a distinct possibility that you'll end up not being funded at all. Don't accept the offer without a guarantee of funding unless you're willing and able to pay for school yourself. Contact the school and ask again about funding, but if you don't get a definitive answer by April 15, accept the funded offer.

[flit]

How frustrating!

I think I'd be leaning towards the funded offer just because the other one doesn't seem to be willing to be straightforward. But then I have little patience for such BS sometimes

Okay ... all the time!

[teaganc]

This sounds very risky to me; I would recommend you tell them - very politely, but firmly- that you need to know about the funding situation by a certain date, no later than April 15. Once the April 15 date has passed, you will have lost any leverage you might have. The school's vagueness is not a good sign, imo. If you choose this school without a guarantee of funding, you should be fully prepared to receive nothing, because that is a very real possibility.

I would also mention the funded offer in your communications with the school. You could say something along the lines of, "I have received a funding offer of x at university y, and while I feel strongly that your program would be an excellent opportunity, I am not in a position to accept an unfunded offer."

And if they still jerk you around, go with the people who have given you funding and not been sneaky about the whole thing.