cannedheat Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 Hi there! I was accepted in the Comm, Rhetoric and Digital Media program at NCSU. I got my official letter earlier this week, it didn't mention funding (as in *no* mention either funded or not). The director of the program emailed me that they're still working on a TA for me and presumably others--of course, this was with my unofficial notice of acceptance. I guess I'm worried about the strategy at this point because without any tuition assistance or waivers, I can't swing it. Should I tell them at this point so they can move on or do I wait until I get notice of funding/no funding...I already have a great deal of federal student loans from undergrad and my MA program, I don't want to get more debt going for a PhD program. Thoughts? Anyone else in the same boat?
grad_wannabe Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 (edited) I have a rule that I will not attend a program that doesn't support me. That includes financial support, with a tuition waiver at the very least, and ideally assistantships and/or fellowships to cover living expenses. Edited February 20, 2015 by grad_wannabe
CaitlinMarie Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) I would wait to give them a decision before you know whether or not they are going to fund you. I definitely think that you shouldn't do a PhD program without funding (tuition waiver and stipend). Crossing my fingers that the funding comes through! Edited February 21, 2015 by CaitlinMarie
heja0805 Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 I've never heard of a PhD program in rhetoric & technical communication that didn't provide a full funding package. You have until April 15th to review their funding offer and make your decision, so you'll just have to wait this one out.
cannedheat Posted February 26, 2015 Author Posted February 26, 2015 But April 15th is so faaaaar away. I wish I knew something!
cannedheat Posted February 27, 2015 Author Posted February 27, 2015 What is an acceptable amount of time to wait before inquiring about funding? It's been 14 days since I received the email to sit tight. I know that patience is virtuous and next to godliness, however, I would like to know if I should start applying to jobs so I can have gainful employment come graduation. I suppose I should mention the fire is that I'm a dog groomer and I've been bitten twice in 2 weeks (a problem I've never experienced before in the 10 years I've been grooming...) and I guess I'm in a hurry to know if I can quit and sit on my savings til May/June or should I plan to continue grooming until I move to NC.
CaitlinMarie Posted February 27, 2015 Posted February 27, 2015 What is an acceptable amount of time to wait before inquiring about funding? It's been 14 days since I received the email to sit tight. I know that patience is virtuous and next to godliness, however, I would like to know if I should start applying to jobs so I can have gainful employment come graduation. I suppose I should mention the fire is that I'm a dog groomer and I've been bitten twice in 2 weeks (a problem I've never experienced before in the 10 years I've been grooming...) and I guess I'm in a hurry to know if I can quit and sit on my savings til May/June or should I plan to continue grooming until I move to NC. I am still waiting to hear back from one of the programs I was accepted to about funding as well. It seems some programs deliberate on funding after admissions. My program told me I would hear back on funding just before the April 15th deadline. I hope this helps!
heja0805 Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 What is an acceptable amount of time to wait before inquiring about funding? It's been 14 days since I received the email to sit tight. I know that patience is virtuous and next to godliness, however, I would like to know if I should start applying to jobs so I can have gainful employment come graduation. I suppose I should mention the fire is that I'm a dog groomer and I've been bitten twice in 2 weeks (a problem I've never experienced before in the 10 years I've been grooming...) and I guess I'm in a hurry to know if I can quit and sit on my savings til May/June or should I plan to continue grooming until I move to NC. Eeek! I'm really sorry to hear that. I moved to Michigan last year from Minnesota to do my PhD, and it cost me substantially more than I expected. Of course, this depends on how much you save and your spending habits, but I truly should have worked all the way up to the point when I made the move.
cannedheat Posted March 6, 2015 Author Posted March 6, 2015 (edited) So, I did it. I emailed them. I heard back that there are no updates to the funding situation but I should know something by April 15, which makes me nervous. I asked for further clarification as I understood April 15th to be the date to declare matriculation. Apparently, they'll either extend funding or not by April 15th or 16th and then I'll have a week or so to decide. If no funding comes through, I'll have til "census date" in the fall to enroll, so I suppose the next step would be to try an find a staff position at NCSU that comes with a tuition waiver. An update to the job situation, I ended up quitting the location I was grooming at because the owners were doing some dubious things. So...I'm unemployed! Welp! I'm thinking that I'll just do something else, something a bit less exhausting. I was also thinking about a summer internship possibility or temp work for just over the summer until I move to NCSU (or get a big girl job). Edited March 6, 2015 by cannedheat
cannedheat Posted March 23, 2015 Author Posted March 23, 2015 Still waiting to hear anything, but I filled out the fafsa, so someone over there knows what's up. Haha! More seriously, though, I've resigned myself to not getting funding and probably not going. I may defer my enrollment for a year and do another round of applications. In the interim, I'm starting an internship that should go through the summer next week. At least there's that. Thanks for your support, guys! <3
Roflbot3000 Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Still waiting to hear anything, but I filled out the fafsa, so someone over there knows what's up. Haha! More seriously, though, I've resigned myself to not getting funding and probably not going. I may defer my enrollment for a year and do another round of applications. In the interim, I'm starting an internship that should go through the summer next week. At least there's that. Thanks for your support, guys! <3 Hope you hear soon. My partner is also awaiting funding at NCSU. We're hoping for the best because it is a good fit location wise for both of us to get our PhDs at the same time. Keep us updated!
cannedheat Posted April 1, 2015 Author Posted April 1, 2015 Hope you hear soon. My partner is also awaiting funding at NCSU. We're hoping for the best because it is a good fit location wise for both of us to get our PhDs at the same time. Keep us updated! Tomorrow is April 1st, has your SO heard anything? I'm still in the dark. Do you think they'll make us wait right up until April 15/16? With each passing day and no funding update, I'm a little more disheartened. I have waxing and waning feelings about the whole ordeal.
Roflbot3000 Posted April 2, 2015 Posted April 2, 2015 nope i know he's worried about it as well. super lame
cannedheat Posted April 13, 2015 Author Posted April 13, 2015 Nope, not a peep. I figure we'll know by Thursday...
cannedheat Posted April 16, 2015 Author Posted April 16, 2015 I sent an email to the program director yesterday afternoon after hearing nothing. This morning, the reply I received said there are no additional funds and they won't be able to extend a funding offer. So...now what? I think I may defer the offer and do another round of applications. My partner is supportive, but he can't leave his career for us to move across the country and take on more student debt.
-hermes- Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 I sent an email to the program director yesterday afternoon after hearing nothing. This morning, the reply I received said there are no additional funds and they won't be able to extend a funding offer. So...now what? I think I may defer the offer and do another round of applications. My partner is supportive, but he can't leave his career for us to move across the country and take on more student debt. I'm sorry to hear that. A friend of mine was in exactly the same position and deferred her offer by a year while also applying to other programs. The second time around, she got full funding from the same program. Applying a second time isn't pleasant, but extremely common -- and hopefully it'll be easier because you're already familiar with the process. Good luck!
cannedheat Posted April 16, 2015 Author Posted April 16, 2015 I have a plan, I inquired about part time positions at NCSU that would come with a tuition waiver. However, beyond that I’ll defer for a year and publish my thesis and rearticulate it to be an article and attempt to get that published. I'm also planning to retake my GREs, I had good scores, but I have test anxiety so now that I've taken it, I think I can do better. Especially if studying won't be competing with my thesis and coursework for attention. My mentor and thesis chair thinks that a year off between my MA and a PhD would actually be a good idea. The internship I started a month ago has been implying that they want to turn my position into something permanent (which if it came with a raise, that would be a good thing). I feel alright about it. smith1651 1
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now