Funding vs Fit

[Anthrolover2008]

I could use some advice. As I'm looking at schools, I'm finding there are schools with funding and schools with fit, and they don't usually align. If push comes to shove, would you take A. a school with a flawless fit but limited funding or B. a school is a good/ok fit with full funding? 

 

[DigDeep(inactive)]

Clearly, there are lots of floating variables that are going to be unique to each individual (i.e., how much money you/parents have, if it's an M.A. or a PhD, etc.). Given your question, my answer is fit - always. No matter how much money they throw at you, your happiness is the most important. Even if they gave you full funding with "all the fixin's", if you're miserable and hate the research you will have a hell of a time finishing. That said, if it's only an M.A., perhaps you could suck it up and finish. If it's a PhD, you never want to get into any situation where it's not good fit - you will never finish. But, given the question, I'll assume you're not looking at PhD programs. Regardless, I still stand by that answer - fit = happiness = finishing = succeeding. Funding and opportunity come with success, which is grounded by passion. If you follow your passion there are no limits to what doors will be opened. People will feed off your energy and come out of the woodworks to help you succeed.

[widefellow]

Definitely go with B for me. It is exactly the situation/dilemma that I am going through. One of the professors at Santa Cruz and I almost share identical research interests, but I am provided no funding at all. It costs over 50K a year to attend UCSC, which is way beyond my capability to pay. I would say, I LOVE being in academics, but not to the point where everything else has to be forfeited. 

[daykid]

This is something I've been thinking about too. What I'm leaning toward though is that, the best fit in the world is not going to make the next 10 years livable if you are worried about making ends meet while trying to study and write. And having to take a second job is certainly going to take away from your studies. Personally, I'm married and have to think about how to best make ends meet for the both of us and a better funding offer will let me do that.

 

That said, I wouldn't choose a school with NO fit just because they offered me a lot of money. Though, I can't imagine they would if I didn't fit with the program.

[anthropologygeek]

Fit is most important since your always be able to find funding once you get there.

[daykid]

Fit is most important since your always be able to find funding once you get there.

I disagree. I think it is really risky to go in and try to find funding once your there. Especially year after year. But that's me.

[cotterw]

I'm sure this is an issue for many applicants, including myself, and as someone else has said there are a number of other variables that go into the equation. For me, I'm more concerned with my fit with the program and how well I see myself working in the department(s) that I'd be a part of. That being said money is an issue. My current dilemma is that my top choice has accepted me and plainly told me that they want me there, but that they can't put out any kind of funding offer for any of their prospective students until mid summer. This is obviously much later than most other programs and it's also well after the accept/decline deadline for me to make a decision. So I am faced with going into a program I know I fit well with, but unsure on funding. All that being said, I would personally take a program with less funding and a better fit. If there's no funding, that's a different story, but I'd take a smaller stipend for the chance to be happier in a department as long as I still thought I could live on it. 

[KingScilla]

This is the boat I'm in as well. Here's hoping FAFSA can help shoulder the load.

[DigDeep(inactive)]

I'll paste some advice I gave to a student facing this dilemma a few weeks back, she/he wanted to go to a school but did not have any funding. This was my advice and I think it applies to anyone having to make that hard decision. In brief, I think if you are going to your dream school with no funding  you should go for it - but be prepared to do what it takes to get funding! I know multiple people who have made this happen.

 

 

As for your decision: First, there are tons of opportunities for external funding. You should be applying to as many of these as possible anyways. Second, if you do go to Cornell without funding then I would have to say that it needs to be under the strict rule that you HAVE to be ready to do everything in your power to get funding. Talk to faculty, join research projects, apply for scholarships, fellowships, TA positions in other departments, OR even try to get a job at a local community college to offset costs. On that note, you need to KICK ASS that first semester and quarter and go WELL out of your way to do so. Turn heads. So, what I'm saying is you have to dominate your coursework (4.0, no ifs ands or buts), volunteer at a Center or Institute to get the "in" on a research group, or try to get job if you have previous experience, and try to get involved in independent research. Furthermore, you have to excel in all of these endeavors. If you do this, you WILL get funding. I guarantee it, but it's not easy....

 

You will be amazed at how many people come out of the woodworks to help genuine individuals who care about learning and share a passion for it. If you're willing to do those things, then I think you will do fine. You just have to work [bleeping] hard. I would seriously consider if you can make this happen, if not then I wouldn't do it. Time is a luxury, that not many have (especially when you have dependents) and everything I just said takes lots of it.

Edited February 28, 2014 by DigDeep

[anthropologygeek]

Day kid- you must not think very highly of yourself or your research. You should only be funded by your department for a year or two max. By then your have to leave and do your research thus give up the funding and should be funded by outside sources. Maybe I just have more faith in myself than other have in themselves since funding was never a factor in my decission making and ill be graduating in may with my phd with a total of 20k student loans for undergrad, masters, and phd. Not to shabby and that 20k was while I was in undergrad

[daykid]

Anthrogeek, you are a bully. I don't know why you feel the need to take cheap shots at people you don't know anything about to try and make a point. You know nothing about me, my research or my self confidence. None of which is relevant to this conversation.

 

I wouldn't got to grad school without some type of funding offer. That is my decision and my opinion.

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

To the OP, I am also in a situation where I was offered various levels of funding and that is factoring into my decision. If the school that is the better fit is not offering you enough to live on (rent, car insurance if you have a car, food) it may be very difficult to go there and take full advantage of what they have to offer, since you would most likely need to be supporting yourself though an external job. Which means you might not be getting all the benefits of it being a great fit. Many schools have projected cost-of-living information, you should consult that and see if what they offer is anywhere close to the cost of living. If not, give the school that is offering you more comprehensive funding some serious thought. Contact them and see if there are ways that your interests might fit in with their work or work going on in a closely aligned department in ways you might not have discussed yet.

 

In my situation, one of the schools funding is uncertain, and even if awarded would not be a livable amount. I'm fortunate to have better-funded offers, so I've ruled that first school out. The other schools have offered different amounts, but in each case its enough live on, so between those I will be deciding based on fit.

 

Also, are you making this decision now or are you applying next application cycle? If you are applying next application cycle, look into external funding sources, like the NSF GRFP, Ford Foundation Fellowship, Hertz Foundation Fellowship. Getting external funding could make one of those great-fit schools financially feasible.

 

Good luck to you

Edited February 28, 2014 by NoSleepTilBreuckelen

[DigDeep(inactive)]

I wouldn't got to grad school without some type of funding offer. That is my decision and my opinion.

 

Completely understandable! My roommate feels the same. Suffice it to say, I have loans and he doesn't!

[CulturalAnth]

Hmm.. I only applied to schools that I thought would be a good fit, and am weighing in funding offers as they accept (or reject) me. I wouldn't apply to a school based solely on funding (that would be a waste of money, because they'd reject me if I didn't fit with the program). 

[daykid]

Yea, I don't think anyone is saying throw fit out the window.  Notice that the original post says Great fit w/ no-funding vs good fit with full funding. That is the key. No fit and all the money in the world isn't gonna make a whole lot of sense.

[CulturalAnth]

Yea, I don't think anyone is saying throw fit out the window.  Notice that the original post says Great fit w/ no-funding vs good fit with full funding. That is the key. No fit and all the money in the world isn't gonna make a whole lot of sense.

 

You're right. I should have read more closely  

[anthropologygeek]

Day kid- no cheap shot just the truth. I never worried about funding because I knew by the time I started any program I would have funding somehow. It's all about your skill at grant writing and being creative. If your not just giving funding but its the best school for you why not put in the extra effort and find funding thru a different department, or get a fellowship? Why not apply to all the JC and teach a couple of classes? All this takes more effort and from experience most people won't put in the extra effort.

[anthropologygeek]

And I'm just being honest. If you are confident in your ability to find money for your phd funding wouldn't be a priority

[AKJen]

There are plenty of places where finding funding isn't a matter of being confident in your research or your ability to find money.  Some schools require students to do multiple years of coursework during which they aren't eligible for many grants to cover the cost of tuition, living, etc, even when students enter the program with a masters.  Some schools don't allow students to take outside jobs while they're full-time students. Some schools don't have many RA or TA positions available for people in outside departments.  Of course, in a lot of schools that require multiple years of coursework, no outside jobs, etc., they realize this and offer multi-year funding packages.  And there are fellowships like NSF GRFP or the Ford Fellowship that might be able to cover those costs (but you have to get them first).

 

I agree, getting grants and fellowships is very important to your future employability as an academic.  Many times it takes several attempts to be successful at getting the grants; if you're a student that's underfunded or unfunded that can mean you have periods with no income.  Not a great place to be when you're already dealing with the stressful nature of graduate school.

 

So to the question of perfect fit, no funding vs. good fit and great funding, I'd be really tempted to go for the funding.  But I'd spend some time bugging grad students in the great fit department to see how funding actually works.  In some schools it is pretty easy to hit the ground running and round up funding.  In others, not so much.  Circumstances vary a lot, so it's not as easy a question to answer as it seems.

[sarab]

One thing I've learned in this whole process is that in grad school you can never be sure of anything. People with great applications (M.A., publications, conferences, excellent letters of recommendation, etc) have gotten rejections, so I don't think it's prudent to rely on our self-confidence when deciding to choose a school with lesser funding because ultimately we might me wonderful and we might still not get funding.

 

When I found out about my acceptances, I sent emails with many questions that I think can help me decide. I had two specific funding-related questions that I think are useful to determine my best option funding-wise.

1. How many opportunities for funding are there after the official package runs out?

2. Do students get outside funding often?

 

Funding is just one of the many factors that need to be taken into account when choosing a specific program, and everyone's priorities are different. I think we should be respectful of that.

[Khannnn]

The schools I've been accepted to:

1. Great fit- eh funding

2. Good fit- decent funding

3. Good fit- good funding

4. Eh fit- GREAT funding

A mixed bag, to say the least. Most people are telling me to go with option 3 but it is the only one in a location I know I would be relatively unhappy in.

I'm leaning towards option 4 because I think a good quality of life (I mean happiness, not just money!) will contribute just as much towards my success as a great fit (that's a personal opinion). Anyways, we'll see!

[Anthrolover2008]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I'm applying in September 2014 to start September 2015 so I'm definitely still in the beginning stages of all this. As of now, I think I'm going to aim for the good fit-great funding combo because I want to spend more time learning and less time hunting down money. (Or hunting down money for a field season rather than hunting down money for groceries.) Every minute spent on a grant application is one minute I can't spend on my studies.

Also, as I munched on this question for a bit I realized that Perfect Fit University would be a school I want to teach at eventually in part because it's in a city I always have wanted to end up/put down roots in. I don't want to cut off any chance for appointment there (down the road in another life) because I have noticed academia isn't very incestuous with its professorial appointments. However, I'll leave where to study vs where to teach for another thread.

Edited March 1, 2014 by Anthrolover2008

[CulturalAnth]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I'm applying in September 2014 to start September 2015 so I'm definitely still in the beginning stages of all this. As of now, I think I'm going to aim for the good fit-great funding combo because I want to spend more time learning and less time hunting down money. (Or hunting down money for a field season rather than hunting down money for groceries.) Every minute spent on a grant application is one minute I can't spend on my studies.

Also, as I munched on this question for a bit I realized that Perfect Fit University would be a school I want to teach at eventually in part because it's in a city I always have wanted to end up/put down roots in. I don't want to cut off any chance for appointment there (down the road in another life) because I have noticed academia isn't very incestuous with its professorial appointments. However, I'll leave where to study vs where to teach for another thread.

 

What I was advised to do, and what I did, is find schools that are great or good fits AND likely to offer funding. I was told to apply for a couple really prestigious schools where I had a good or great fit (in my case those were Notre Dame and WashU), some middle ground choices (for me UNLV and WSU), and a couple safety choices (OSU for me). Applying to 5-10 with a few in each category.. but making sure that all of them would have a good or great fit. As your acceptances role in, then take into account the funding packages, knowing that you've applied to schools where you would fit in well in any case  

[bellabean]

For my friend-

 

8 - schools applied (3 in the UK)

 

Great Fit (5)- Full Funding / Fellowships

Little bit of a Stretch Fit (3)- Rejected from all

 

(the UK schools haven't released funding yet but he was told he was ranked high in the recommendations and should expect to receive funding)

 

Fit and finding a topic that intrigues several members of the faculty.  He played it safe with research proposals (1-4) last year- went all out this year.

[DigDeep(inactive)]

The schools I've been accepted to:

1. Great fit- eh funding

2. Good fit- decent funding

3. Good fit- good funding

4. Eh fit- GREAT funding

A mixed bag, to say the least. Most people are telling me to go with option 3 but it is the only one in a location I know I would be relatively unhappy in.

I'm leaning towards option 4 because I think a good quality of life (I mean happiness, not just money!) will contribute just as much towards my success as a great fit (that's a personal opinion). Anyways, we'll see!

 

Sounds like a great position to be in, Khan! Congrats on your achievement - best of luck to you whatever you decide!