Playing UK Programs Off Each Other?

[deloozin it]

hey all!

 

quick question regarding UK MA programs: i understand that in the US, one can show schools (particularly desired ones) offers that they've received from other schools in the hopes of obtaining more funding or some other benefit...does anyone know if this process is normal/acceptable in the UK as well?  

 

thanks,

sarah

[dgswaim]

I wasn't aware that people did this in the US...?

[Differance]

I wasn't aware that people did this in the US...?

 

I sort of did it accidentally. When I visited one program, they asked me what other offers I had, and then offered me more funding to beat out the others..

 

No idea if it's common in the UK though, sorry.

[stressedout]

I wasn't aware that people did this in the US...?

 

Yes.  You should be doing this if you get multiple offers.

[kant_get_in]

Yes.  You could be doing this if you get multiple offers.

 

Edited.  

 

What are we? MBA applicants? 

[stressedout]

Edited.  

 

What are we? MBA applicants? 

 

Given how hard it is to financially make it through a PhD program, I can't see how it would be rational to not try and get the best offer you can.  So, yes, you should play programs off of each other if you get multiple offers.  Also, it's another indication of how bad a program wants you (or not).  That's useful information in its own right.

[MattDest]

I really had no idea that this was a possibility. I always assumed that the offers they gave were mandated by the graduate school and they had very little say in changing them. When I was visiting Arizona, I was able to get a semester fellowship with no teaching responsibilities. For those who have played schools off each other - is that what you were able to get? Or were you actually able to secure more funding?

[stressedout]

I really had no idea that this was a possibility. I always assumed that the offers they gave were mandated by the graduate school and they had very little say in changing them. When I was visiting Arizona, I was able to get a semester fellowship with no teaching responsibilities. For those who have played schools off each other - is that what you were able to get? Or were you actually able to secure more funding?

 

Many of my friends have secured more funding.  Some elite schools even have wiggle room of up to 5k a year to try and entice top students.  So, for example, if a school were to offer you a 25k a year fellowship, it's not unlikely that you could get it bumped to 28 or even 30 if you were sufficiently rock-starrin' it.

[Differance]

I really had no idea that this was a possibility. I always assumed that the offers they gave were mandated by the graduate school and they had very little say in changing them. When I was visiting Arizona, I was able to get a semester fellowship with no teaching responsibilities. For those who have played schools off each other - is that what you were able to get? Or were you actually able to secure more funding?

 

I was offered $4,000 more per year. No change in my teaching requirements, though. I also wasn't actually trying to get more funding, so maybe there was even more wiggle room that I didn't try for (I'm not the type to test a department!)

[philstudent1991]

I've heard of this kind of negotiating as well, and splintered mind actually recommends it as long as the other contenders are comparable schools. However, check out the post on Leiter's blog about the TT job applicant who had been given an offer (if I remember right) and then tried to negotiate (reasonable demands like maternity leave and higher salary) and rather than decline her requests or play ball, the university outright rescinded her offer. This is what we get when there's a reserve army of surplus labor and we just have to deal with it until the socialist revolution turns over the means of production to the masses and dissolves income inequality. But in the meantime, competition for funding is fierce so do your best to get extra if you can but be careful, because there are masses hungry and cold on the waitlist that would be happy to take your place.

[perpetuavix]

I've heard of this kind of negotiating as well, and splintered mind actually recommends it as long as the other contenders are comparable schools. However, check out the post on Leiter's blog about the TT job applicant who had been given an offer (if I remember right) and then tried to negotiate (reasonable demands like maternity leave and higher salary) and rather than decline her requests or play ball, the university outright rescinded her offer. This is what we get when there's a reserve army of surplus labor and we just have to deal with it until the socialist revolution turns over the means of production to the masses and dissolves income inequality. But in the meantime, competition for funding is fierce so do your best to get extra if you can but be careful, because there are masses hungry and cold on the waitlist that would be happy to take your place.

I'm not so sure philosophers will come out ahead in the revolution.....

[deloozin it]

anyone knowledgeable about if this is popular in the UK, though?

[sebgrebe]

I am doing a PhD in the UK and I've never heard about someone doing this. There are in general two sources of funding in the UK: AHRC funding (this is a governmental funding body) and funding from the departments or universities themselves. There is definitely no room for negotiating for more AHRC money since this is a fixed amount, set by the government. I am quite confident that there is also no room for this with departmental funding, since usually this kind of funding is also advertised with a specific amount (usually about £13k/year for three years). Universities/Departments have, in general, significantly less money for funding than schools in the US and giving more money to you will mean taking away money from someone else, which I am pretty sure no department will do.

[kant_get_in]

Given how hard it is to financially make it through a PhD program, I can't see how it would be rational to not try and get the best offer you can.  So, yes, you should play programs off of each other if you get multiple offers.  Also, it's another indication of how bad a program wants you (or not).  That's useful information in its own right.

 

What you've done here is assume that we should do what is rational (or in our best interest?). I don't take the position that this is what we should do. 

 

I understand that this is a very complicated issue. A foremost consideration would be where those extra funds are coming from. If department budgets are such that there is only X amount of money in a pot for fellowships and teacher-assistantships, then one can see their request (demand?) for more funds as taking away funds from someone else. This probably isn't wrong in every case (people with children, from poor backgrounds, etc.), and I can understand the animosity (I work hard and deserve some better standard of living, dammit!) but I can't help thinking that, for some of us, playing departments off of each other is really just taking funds away from somebody else for something we were going probably going to do anyway. 

Edited April 9, 2014 by kant_get_in