Help me decide

[hunter]

I have just one unfunded admit from one of the top 10 state schools. The prof with whom I am interested in working says that at present he cannot commit to advising/funding as he is not yet heard abt some of his grants which he has applied. He expects that 1-2 students would graduate by year end to next year and plans to take on new students for that position if he gets funding going for it and hence cant commit to me right now. He says typically unfunded admitted students get some stable funding early in their first year. The students there say quite a few of them join PhD w/o assured funding and are always able to secure funding.

I am doing my Masters at a low ranked state school(60-70) and I can continue here for my PhD. My advisor here is an assistant prof.

I am not sure whether to take the risk of joining a top ranked program w/o funding. I share a good relationship with my current advisor, but the opportunities at the top school seem good. Particularly, if i seek an academic job at the end of my PhD, i think I will face a tough time if I continue here.

[twocosmicfish]

Make the jump. It sounds like you have a reasonable expectation of funding after your first year, and the difference in income across your career will probably well exceed a semester or two worth of loans. This is all assuming that the top-10 school is also better at your specific subfield than your current school - otherwise I might swing the other way on this decision.

[liszt85]

I agree with the above. You should however maintain good contact with your current adviser and tell him/her that you would like to explore the possibility at this state school and would continue there only if are able to find some funding sooner than later (implying that you would try to come back to work with this professor if things don't work out). In any case, I think you should go for it because if the students there tell you that there is a good chance of finding funding, it is almost always true. So go for it!

[teaganc]

Make the jump. It sounds like you have a reasonable expectation of funding after your first year, and the difference in income across your career will probably well exceed a semester or two worth of loans. This is all assuming that the top-10 school is also better at your specific subfield than your current school - otherwise I might swing the other way on this decision.

This. Though I would try to talk to a few of the current students and see if they really all "always able to secure funding." If current students agree that securing funding after a year is essentially a formality, go for it.

[fuzzylogician]

Any other year, I'd say go for it and don't look back. But with the economy being what it is, I'm a little apprehensive. I'd need to know more about top-10's placement record and ranking in your specific subfield, and I'd talk to more grad students to make sure that it's never been a problem in the past to secure funding past the first year. Consider the worst-case scenario: if you don't get funded at all, will you be able to swing it somehow? My instinct still says, go for it!

[hunter]

@fuzzy...

thats the thing which is worrying me. The economy's bad right now and if things dont get right, students near the end of their PhD will delay their graduation and this will affect us... Moreover, there have been budget cuts for the university.

I have spoken to 3-4 students and all of them were of the opinion that all the admitted studetns have been to secure something in the first year itself in the past, but again cant predict this year.

The placement record is very good and the specific ranking too. They have 3 profs working in my specific subfield. The school which I am in currently has only my prof and another one who is in a slightly different subfield. I feel I will have a lot more courses to choose from and the interaction, contacts I would get to build would help in my career.

[Stories]

Since it's a state school, you can gain state residency in your 2nd year. So you're only looking at super expensive costs that 1st year, anyway. Go for the new program. It's always nice to get in with other people and gain perspective.

[rising_star]

Since it's a state school, you can gain state residency in your 2nd year.

This really depends on the state. Where I am now and where I used to live, you could only gain state residency for tuition purposes by having a non-student spouse or by working and not being in school for 12 months in the state. As such, no grad student is eligible for in-state tuition, even though they can be a state resident in other ways (by having a driver's license, voting, etc.).

[fuzzylogician]

@fuzzy...

thats the thing which is worrying me. The economy's bad right now and if things dont get right, students near the end of their PhD will delay their graduation and this will affect us... Moreover, there have been budget cuts for the university.

I have spoken to 3-4 students and all of them were of the opinion that all the admitted studetns have been to secure something in the first year itself in the past, but again cant predict this year.

The placement record is very good and the specific ranking too. They have 3 profs working in my specific subfield. The school which I am in currently has only my prof and another one who is in a slightly different subfield. I feel I will have a lot more courses to choose from and the interaction, contacts I would get to build would help in my career.

It's risky, that's for sure, but it sounds like top-10 would give you a big advantage compared to your current school. From what you write, it seems that your department does everything it can to find funding for its students and has had a good track record doing so in the past. It's not perfect, but past experience is all you have to go on. I think you should have a clear idea of what you intend to do in case you don't get funded. Do you plan to take out loans (for how much? would the amount be feasible to pay back considering expected future earnings)? Can you get state residency? Could you study part time and get a decent job with your qualifications? Would you consider applying to a different program next year and starting over if you don't get funded?

It's basic game theory. Are you a risk taker or do you like to play it safe? You have a lot to gain if it works out, but I think that you should know the consequences of not securing funding and decide whether you can live with them or not. If I were you I'd probably go for it, but not before being torn about it for a while. It's a hard decision.

[hunter]

I am an international, so no way of getting state-residency....

I dont mind paying upto 1 year, but I couldnt afford for more than that:(

[fuzzylogician]

Then the question becomes, are you willing to take the risk of having to drop out and reapply another year if you won't be able to secure funding in/after the first year? You'd stand to lose 1-2 years of your life, having to start a program over, losing a significant amount of money, and generally having a lot of heartache (am I missing something?); If it works out, you'd be in a top program with a great placement record and funding. If you decline, I suppose you'd reapply next year and hope for a better outcome. So I think you need to ask yourself if you could live with losing the money and an extra year to reapply? Is it worth it not to always have that what-if regret? Again, I'd probably say yes. I only have one major what-if regret in my life where I was too afraid to go for something that I wanted. It was more than 15 years ago, I was about 10, and I still find myself thinking about it a lot more often than I'd like to. Bad decisions I don't tend to regret, because I tried my best based on the information I had at the time, and who's to say that a different decision would have turned out better? If you have a similar character, then going for it is better than regretting not trying. If not, well then you need to do whatever it is that will allow you to sleep best at night.