vooby Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 Hello everyone. I am going to apply to some PhD programs in the USA next semester. I am a foreigner and I obtained a full scholarship for tuition and other expenses for my PhD study from my government. The government wil give me a Sponsorship Letter about the scholarship. I need to ask one question to those who have an application experience to the PhD programs in the USA. When should I present this Sponsorship Letter to the universities that I am going to apply? Should I (and Can I) present it in the online application process together with transcript, statement of purpose etc.? Or should I present it after I am admitted by a university? This is a very critical issue for me because depending on when to present the Sponsorship Letter, I will have to deal with some bureaucracy right now to get it ready in time. I thank you all for any help in advance. Good luck everyone!
aberrant Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 I would think that having an external funding can help your admission. Therefore, I would let the universities that I applied know about my external funding ASAP.
vooby Posted March 10, 2015 Author Posted March 10, 2015 I would think that having an external funding can help your admission. Therefore, I would let the universities that I applied know about my external funding ASAP. Thanks a lot for the advice I also think exactly the same thing as you. But I don't know if it is possible to add my Sponsorship Letter in the online application process. And indeed I want to learn this. I just thought that maybe the university's application process will want me to upload the required materials only.
aberrant Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 External funding can be very important. If you learned that you received the funding during the application process (after submitting the application), I would recommend you to contact the graduate program coordinatior / director to let them know about your fellowship and go from there.
biisis Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 Seconding that, I think it's a good idea to email the graduate program director/coordinator directly, and early.
vooby Posted March 10, 2015 Author Posted March 10, 2015 Again, thank you all a lot for the help. My concern was that in the website of the PhD programs, it is written that all the application materials should be uploaded through the online application system, which is usually governed not by the department itself. And it is also written that no material should be sent to the department directly. I have not applied to any PhD yet. I will apply next semester, deadline of which is December 2015. So, if I should and I can upload my Sponsorship Letter during the online application period, I will try to get my Sponsorship Letter until december and to do that I will deal with some bureaucracy now. Therefore, what I need to understand is whether I should and I can include my Sponsorship Letter in my online application which ends in December. Do you know anything about this?
aberrant Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 I personally know nothing about this. However, there is always a section where you can upload "other documents" that the admission should be considered -- you can definitely address your funding there. Also, you are required to upload CV / resume for your application, so put that fellowship under your award, and specify the length of the award and status (i.e. active / will be active on XXXX, 2016). Any information will help. Your best bet, obviously, is to e-mail to the program that you wanted to apply and inquire about your situation. I think that most programs will be very helpful and happy to answer your questions, especially when you got $$.
vooby Posted March 10, 2015 Author Posted March 10, 2015 I personally know nothing about this. However, there is always a section where you can upload "other documents" that the admission should be considered -- you can definitely address your funding there. Also, you are required to upload CV / resume for your application, so put that fellowship under your award, and specify the length of the award and status (i.e. active / will be active on XXXX, 2016). Any information will help. Your best bet, obviously, is to e-mail to the program that you wanted to apply and inquire about your situation. I think that most programs will be very helpful and happy to answer your questions, especially when you got $$. That was very helpful, aberrant Thanks a lot again for all the help.
erdingerchamp66 Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 Hello everyone. I am going to apply to some PhD programs in the USA next semester. I am a foreigner and I obtained a full scholarship for tuition and other expenses for my PhD study from my government. The government wil give me a Sponsorship Letter about the scholarship. I need to ask one question to those who have an application experience to the PhD programs in the USA. When should I present this Sponsorship Letter to the universities that I am going to apply? Should I (and Can I) present it in the online application process together with transcript, statement of purpose etc.? Or should I present it after I am admitted by a university? This is a very critical issue for me because depending on when to present the Sponsorship Letter, I will have to deal with some bureaucracy right now to get it ready in time. I thank you all for any help in advance. Good luck everyone! External funding could actually work in your favor, but I cannot see how it would work against you. Many programs only admit students they can fund fully. External funding eliminates the possibility that they won't admit you for lack of funding for you. It also guarantees that you'll be paying tuition as long as you keep your grades up, another thing that a "regular" student cannot offer. I would mention the external funding early and often.
vooby Posted March 10, 2015 Author Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) External funding could actually work in your favor, but I cannot see how it would work against you. Many programs only admit students they can fund fully. External funding eliminates the possibility that they won't admit you for lack of funding for you. It also guarantees that you'll be paying tuition as long as you keep your grades up, another thing that a "regular" student cannot offer. I would mention the external funding early and often. Thanks for the advice. Edited March 10, 2015 by vooby
grad_wannabe Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 There's a space on the application that will ask directly what sort of funding you'll be bringing with you. That's the place to enter that information. I'd also email the grad chair/coordinator when you apply with a copy of your sponsorship letter.
Hani2015 Posted March 15, 2015 Posted March 15, 2015 it will not increase your admission chances in all universities. in some universities, they evaluate every application regardless their funding. I'm at the same situation as you are. after I submitted my application i emailed the department about my external funding. they said to me we do not need this information now. if u were admitted you can tell us about ur funding. in general, some top programs do not care about ur funding. I know more than one applicant who was rejected at USC last year despite the fact that all of them have full funding from their government.
bhr Posted March 15, 2015 Posted March 15, 2015 If it was a competitive funding award (one you had to apply for), it may be worth mentioning in your SOP as well. It shows an additional level of dedication, that people believe that you are capable of the work involved, and that you can focus 100% on your scholarship and not need to work.
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