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Accepted in PhD but not given aid :(


sreyb

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Hi All,

I received an acceptance letter for PhD degree in Computer Science from UDel but no financial aid. Upon asking, whether there is a possibility of aid, the university told me that they would not be providing any aid. I am at a loss. I am an internationa student and how does one study for PhD without any funding!!! Please help :(

Last time, this same thing happened with UNL and I had to defer my application to Fall 2015.

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At least it is recommended by me and many other people that you simply throw away Phd offers without funding especially you are an international student.

 

Main Reason:

1. You cannot work during your stay in the U.S.. This means your tuition and life expenses have to be fully paid by yourself. The only exception are on-campus jobs, and a 12-month OPT period, in which you are allowed to be hired. But to solely rely on these sources for your financial well-being is unthinkable. So again, be prepared to pay most of your tuition and expenses. I don't know about your economic condition, but this is too painful/impossible for most families.

2. A degree will not automatically boost your chance to get a well-paying job or stay in the U.S.. Balancing the cost and gains you would find that it is not worth it.

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I would really, really, really caution you not to do a PhD without funding (unless you have LOTS of spare cash laying around). It's a lot of debt to take on and, unlike with a masters, there's really no guarantee that you'll make that money back in terms of career experience. I would work and save for a year and then try again. During this time, maybe you can do a project or something to make next year's application even better, so that you can have a better shot at funding next time around. For myself, I waited on purpose to get some experience that would make me more competitive because I knew that without funding, a PhD wasn't an option. I really hope things work out for you.

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Even, I am thinking about that. I have  2 research papers (one IEEE and another journal), GPA 3.5+, 4 and half years of work experience. Only low point might be my GRE which is 308. Also, I thought most of the PhD programs are funded. I was really hopeful. But is it possible to be admitted without funding? How often does it happen? Udel and UNLdoes this for sure. Its better to be rejected right away than accepted this way :(

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I would never go to grad school without funding and wonder why anyone would go if they had to pay.

 

Because it's not a black and white situation.

 

For one, it's actually quite easy to qualify for fellowships once you are inside a program. You could actually end up getting funding right off the bat.

 

Secondly, it's not that difficult to find RA or TA positions.

 

Thirdly, there are a number of internal and external funding options for people who go to resource and research rich universities.

 

Fourthly, getting your tuition waived is fairly easy.

 

Fifthly, some people have other streams of income available to them and aren't poor students.

 

I had a prof who accepted to go to an unfunded program over other funded options because it was a better ranked program and a better fit. They ended up getting all their tuition waived anyways and fully funded. Sure they had to go through a bunch more hoops than someone who got a fellowship off the bat but the result was the same.

 

Personally, I have been accepted to my top choice program and its an unfunded offer. I put some emails out and already have a RA interview in line with the open house which would offer a stipend + half tuition waiver. I also have a bunch of savings to fall back on if it doesn't work out. Why wouldn't I strongly consider this offer?

 

People get so hung up on the entrance fellowship on this site its ridiculous. Obviously it's desirable to get that but there are countless ways to fund yourself through graduate studies.

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Because it's not a black and white situation.

 

For one, it's actually quite easy to qualify for fellowships once you are inside a program. You could actually end up getting funding right off the bat.

 

Secondly, it's not that difficult to find RA or TA positions.

 

Thirdly, there are a number of internal and external funding options for people who go to resource and research rich universities.

 

Fourthly, getting your tuition waived is fairly easy.

 

Fifthly, some people have other streams of income available to them and aren't poor students.

 

I had a prof who accepted to go to an unfunded program over other funded options because it was a better ranked program and a better fit. They ended up getting all their tuition waived anyways and fully funded. Sure they had to go through a bunch more hoops than someone who got a fellowship off the bat but the result was the same.

 

Personally, I have been accepted to my top choice program and its an unfunded offer. I put some emails out and already have a RA interview in line with the open house which would offer a stipend + half tuition waiver. I also have a bunch of savings to fall back on if it doesn't work out. Why wouldn't I strongly consider this offer?

 

People get so hung up on the entrance fellowship on this site its ridiculous. Obviously it's desirable to get that but there are countless ways to fund yourself through graduate studies.

It's great that you are enterprising and have a good chance of success. However, it's foolish for students to take on graduate debt without the likelihood of a job that will allow them to pay off their debt after their studies. That just isn't the case for very many PhD students outside of, I don't know, students studying things directly relevant to pharma or tech or finance.

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Because it's not a black and white situation.

 

For one, it's actually quite easy to qualify for fellowships once you are inside a program. You could actually end up getting funding right off the bat.

 

Secondly, it's not that difficult to find RA or TA positions.

 

Thirdly, there are a number of internal and external funding options for people who go to resource and research rich universities.

 

Fourthly, getting your tuition waived is fairly easy.

 

Fifthly, some people have other streams of income available to them and aren't poor students.

 

I had a prof who accepted to go to an unfunded program over other funded options because it was a better ranked program and a better fit. They ended up getting all their tuition waived anyways and fully funded. Sure they had to go through a bunch more hoops than someone who got a fellowship off the bat but the result was the same.

 

Personally, I have been accepted to my top choice program and its an unfunded offer. I put some emails out and already have a RA interview in line with the open house which would offer a stipend + half tuition waiver. I also have a bunch of savings to fall back on if it doesn't work out. Why wouldn't I strongly consider this offer?

 

People get so hung up on the entrance fellowship on this site its ridiculous. Obviously it's desirable to get that but there are countless ways to fund yourself through graduate studies.

 

I think the difference is you were able to negotiate your unfunded offer into a potentially funded one. I think if someone was in your shoes, tried to get some funding or a TA/RA position from the department, and they were denied, it's improbable the department would turn around in a month and give them a full tuition waiver and stipend.

 

I don't want to sound mean or make assumptions, but if a program is not willing to fund you at all (even after trying to negotiate and/or trying to get a TA/RA position), you're probably not a strong enough applicant (either in general or in comparison to the other students in that department) to get funding in the future. Yes, you can wing it and hope you get some money later, but I feel like a department refusing to fund someone is a pretty clear message, even if they accept you.

 

I personally would much rather take a year off and spend some time improving my application, then re-apply to different schools that tend to have better funding packages for students, rather than jump into an offer, immediately go into debt, and spend my free time frantically applying to fellowships. In the long run, one extra year off school is not as big of a deal as being tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

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I think the difference is you were able to negotiate your unfunded offer into a potentially funded one. I think if someone was in your shoes, tried to get some funding or a TA/RA position from the department, and they were denied, it's improbable the department would turn around in a month and give them a full tuition waiver and stipend.

 

I don't want to sound mean or make assumptions, but if a program is not willing to fund you at all (even after trying to negotiate and/or trying to get a TA/RA position), you're probably not a strong enough applicant (either in general or in comparison to the other students in that department) to get funding in the future. Yes, you can wing it and hope you get some money later, but I feel like a department refusing to fund someone is a pretty clear message, even if they accept you.

 

I personally would much rather take a year off and spend some time improving my application, then re-apply to different schools that tend to have better funding packages for students, rather than jump into an offer, immediately go into debt, and spend my free time frantically applying to fellowships. In the long run, one extra year off school is not as big of a deal as being tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Unfortunately, schools aren't going to fight that hard for you because they have tons of other people who would agree to be in your place, for less.

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It's great that you are enterprising and have a good chance of success. However, it's foolish for students to take on graduate debt without the likelihood of a job that will allow them to pay off their debt after their studies. That just isn't the case for very many PhD students outside of, I don't know, students studying things directly relevant to pharma or tech or finance.

 

But this doesn't really have anything to do with my post. 

 

I don't want to sound mean or make assumptions, but if a program is not willing to fund you at all (even after trying to negotiate and/or trying to get a TA/RA position), you're probably not a strong enough applicant (either in general or in comparison to the other students in that department) to get funding in the future. Yes, you can wing it and hope you get some money later, but I feel like a department refusing to fund someone is a pretty clear message, even if they accept you.

 

This isn't true, especially for international students. Many programs offer pretty scant funding packages for international students. However, the likelihood of finding funding once you're in the program becomes exponentially greater. 

 

For example, one of the programs I applied to has a scholarship that gives you full tuition waiver if you are an international student and the requirements are pretty lax. However the catch is you have to apply for it separately once you are admitted. If one was to get accepted for that scholarship + find a RA or TA position, they would be in precisely the same situation as someone who received an entrance fellowship. 

 

Another example is that similar packages like the entrance fellowships are opened every year for graduate students. So if you get a 4.0 the first year in your program you could theoretically be awarded a fellowship for the rest of your studies. 

 

I personally would much rather take a year off and spend some time improving my application, then re-apply to different schools that tend to have better funding packages for students, rather than jump into an offer, immediately go into debt, and spend my free time frantically applying to fellowships. In the long run, one extra year off school is not as big of a deal as being tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

 

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with that approach either, but the OP already did this.

 

--------------

 

The point I am trying to make here is it isn't as black and white as "no funding, don't go." It's just not that simple. You have to look at what is available internally and externally and judge whether you can find funding yourself. I would imagine there aren't many options at a school like University of Delware so maybe this isn't the case with the OP.

 

Another thing to look at for international students are external awards. Especially coming from developing countries, if you are competitive you can get full funding from government agencies or international organizations that are even better than typical internal fellowships at universities. 

 

There are also a significant amount of cases out there where students haven't received funding with the initial offer but ended up receiving a fellowship anyways. People that received the fellowship offer may or may not end up attending the program and therefore are awarded to others on the list.

Edited by victorydance
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But this doesn't really have anything to do with my post. 

 

Not true--for people who are not independently wealthy, student debt is usually the only way they can finance an unfunded PhD.

 

Your perspective about finding funding is useful and appreciated here.

 

Any conversation about going to grad school unfunded that ignores student debt is unrealistically optimistic. If we are talking about doing an unfunded PhD--we have to talk about student debt. Maybe you're willing to split the difference and say, "Don't do a PhD if you have to finance it with student debt."

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Victorydance, with all due respect, unfunded offers are those where (like in the case of TO) the university indicates they are not going to fund a student. That is, there are no fellowships, tuition waivers, RAs or TAs available whatsoever that may contribute to the student's financial situation. I do not disagree with what you are saying, I only disagree with your notion of unfunded offers, because you are describing likely sources of funding that are not available for actual unfunded offers. Not getting funded is more than simply not having money thrown at you in your acceptance letter.

Edited by Kleene
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Victorydance, with all due respect, unfunded offers are those where (like in the case of TO) the university indicates they are not going to fund a student. That is, there are no fellowships, tuition waivers, RAs or TAs available whatsoever that may contribute to the student's financial situation. I do not disagree with what you are saying, I only disagree with your notion of unfunded offers, because you are describing likely sources of funding that are not available for actual unfunded offers. Not getting funded is more than simply not having money thrown at you in your acceptance letter.

 

With all due respect, this is completely incorrect.

 

An "unfunded" offer of admission is an admission without a tuition waiver + stipend for X years.

 

That does not mean you cannot get funding, nor does it mean you cannot find TA or RA positions, nor find ways to cut down tuition.

 

A university department only has X amount of funding packages available. Some higher end departments have enough to fund all their admits, some only have enough to fund a certain percentage. 

 

Regardless, if you don't get a fellowship package that does not mean you cannot secure funding in other ways, whether by independently finding an RA position, or qualifying for a fellowship in year 2, ect. 

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Hi,

 

In my three letters of acceptance I didn't receive any fellowship package. I'm relying in a fellowship of my country that will cover if not 100%, 90% of my expenses during my PhD. I read in the Don Asher's book that Schools try to get first-round aid offers formalized by April 1, at the latest, but some will run late. You can also ask when will you be notified for financial support. Furthermore, some universities will tell you for financial support until you accept your admission. Here is an example that I have of one of the universities I have been accepted:

 

"Accepting your admissions notifies the appropriate offices (Admissions, Financial Aid and Scholarships, Housing, and your academic department) that you are still interested in attending the university. You must accept your admission in order to register for courses, receive financial aid and scholarships or a housing assignment. You may decline your admission after accepting by contacting the appropriate Admissions office."

 

Hope that helps.

 

Best,

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I also got a PhD admit without funding. When I contacted the department, this is what they replied:

"Unfortunately we do not offer any financial aid or scholarships automatically. Students can apply for research and teaching assistantships only by signing up on the physical sheets posted in our department building at the beginning of each semester. We must inform all students that it is extremely rare for a first-time student to receive a research or teaching assistantship, and students should plan to support themselves completely for the first year. The more semester hours completed at ABC Univ. and the higher your ABC Univ. GPA is, the better chance you have of receiving a TA position. Faculty members choose RAs based on individual interaction with the students and similar research interests. After the first year of classes, your chances for financial assistance are greatly improved."

I found it very weird that they dont seem to offer TA/RA positions for the 1st year.

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Well, at some point it's hard to consider PhD acceptance without funding. But I believe that you can get funding after first year. I'm considering this option as well - to get a loan for first year. Specially, if it's a good school and a good program. It's better to have loan for first year than studying in bad school who just gave money.

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