Funding increase

[diamedic17]

Is there anyway to get a school to up their funding offer? I Was awarded a scholarship for 22k plus tuition and insurance that supposedly only one person a year gets from the school. However, every other place I've been admitted has funding at least 5k more per year. I really like this school and they have exactly what I want to research. They are also in an excellent location that is somewhat pricy to live in. Normally 22k wouldn't be bad but I have a wife and two children to worry about as well (wife is primary breadwinner but my salary is definitely something we need).

Any advice?? This is for a science program if that makes a difference.

[agrizz]

I was kind of in the same position.  The typical stipend levels for my #1 choice were 7k less than a scholarship I was offered.  I leveraged this offer (being that it too was only one year) alongside my "indecisiveness" between that program and other offers and was able to get an offer for an additional 5k/year. I remember feeling that asking was a bit risky, but I think I asked delicately enough that it worked out.

 

Ironically, in my case, this still leaves the program in question lower in terms of stipend in my list of offers.  Like you, though, I feel this is the best fit and had to ask myself, "how important is the money, really."  

 

Good luck to you - I know this is a tough spot to be in.  

Edited March 11, 2015 by agrizz

[twentysix]

Is there anyway to get a school to up their funding offer? I Was awarded a scholarship for 22k plus tuition and insurance that supposedly only one person a year gets from the school. However, every other place I've been admitted has funding at least 5k more per year. I really like this school and they have exactly what I want to research. They are also in an excellent location that is somewhat pricy to live in. Normally 22k wouldn't be bad but I have a wife and two children to worry about as well (wife is primary breadwinner but my salary is definitely something we need).

Any advice?? This is for a science program if that makes a difference.

 

Use the other offers as a negotiating tool. The worst that will happen is they will tell you they cannot increase the funding. You are already admitted and the offer is made.

Just be cordial during negotiation. It is helpful if you would have your wife read your negotiation email after you have written it, but before you send it, to make sure it is coming off in an even tone.

I just had my fellowship offer from UCLA increased by $6,000, because of negotiation.

Edited March 12, 2015 by twentysix

[grad_wannabe]

I was kind of in the same position.  The typical stipend levels for my #1 choice were 7k less than a scholarship I was offered.  I leveraged this offer (being that it too was only one year) alongside my "indecisiveness" between that program and other offers and was able to get an offer for an additional 5k/year. I remember feeling that asking was a bit risky, but I think I asked delicately enough that it worked out.

 

Ironically, in my case, this still leaves the program in question lower in terms of stipend in my list of offers.  Like you, though, I feel this is the best fit and had to ask myself, "how important is the money, really."  

 

Good luck to you - I know this is a tough spot to be in.  

 

Use the other offers as a negotiating tool. The worst that will happen is they will tell you they cannot increase the funding. You are already admitted and the offer is made.

Just be cordial during negotiation. It is helpful if you would have your wife read your negotiation email after you have written it, but before you send it, to make sure it is coming off in an even tone.

I just had my fellowship offer from UCLA increased by $6,000, because of negotiation.

 

Can I ask you both how you worded your negotiations? I've had two offers that are almost precisely the same except for length (three years v. five) and I'd like to see if I can get the three-year offer extended. I'm reticent, however, to garner a reputation as money-grubbing. 

[agrizz]

 I'm reticent, however, to garner a reputation as money-grubbing. 

 

It's good that you are wary of your reputation, but if ever there's an appropriate time to be concerned about money, it's now.  

 

As far as my negotiation, I'd somewhat set the stage during my interview to delicately ask later, never really talking about it directly. In fact, the only time I did mention money was in response to a question my PI posed about how the interview process was going and where I thought I stood with other schools.  To that I said, "I will tell you this, Prof. X, of all of the programs I've applied to, I am confident that I would definitely fit best in your laboratory.  The other programs do offer certain things I'll need to consider, for instance in one case, the location is very close to my wife's extended family and in two cases the stipends are pretty high."  This was the only time during the interview that I ever talked about money and intentionally so.  

 

I said nothing else about money until the offer for admission was made but did, in two emails before the offer came, reiterate how excited I was about the PI's work and how I felt I would fit tremendously well in his lab.  When the offer was made, it included the notification for the faculty-nominated fellowship I'd mentioned above, which was 7k more than what I believed the base stipend to be.  In my response to that email, I thanked the PI for the offer and shared that I was honored to have been nominated for the award but told him "while the fellowship was flattering, my decision would be made independently from that as 'fit' was the most important factor for me".  I then discussed two completely unrelated topics before returning to the topic of money, though indirectly.  At that point, I asked, "what date can I get started working in the lab?" I then mentioned that I would be very happy to come in the summer "if it is at all possible financially". I then went on to talk about how excited I was about research and beginning our work. I then concluded the email with something to the effect of, "one final question I had for you: I was never really clear what the stipend would be without the fellowship I've been nominated for. I've heard that in some programs, the stipend typically starts with a number determined by the department or university as a whole, but it then can grow due to teaching assistantship or independent teaching opportunities, other intra- or extramural fellowships, and even the PI's grant funding.  As such, I assume it may not be easy to state outright what I should expect in terms of a stipend with or without the aforementioned nominated fellowship, but what might you project I could expect?"

 

 

 

Sorry for all of the detail there, but I included it to hopefully show that throughout the "negotiation", I focused much more on "fit" and "research", so as to paint the picture that I was more interested in the things that he would want me to be (which I genuinely am, but perhaps not as much as I let on).  If I do fit well and if I am motivated to work hard in his lab because of a shared interest in his research, I should be worth more to him.  Any and all talk about money was intentionally downplayed so as to avoid, as you say, garnering a reputation as a money grubber.

 

It worked out for me as he offered to pay me for getting started in the summer ($5,000 for two months of work) and then offered an additional 5k per year, as well as signing off on me teaching a summer course where I could make an additional 2k for just 1.5 months of work.  While at my interview, I did ask his graduate students how much their stipends were and now know that he's offering me more than either of them make.

 

 

In short, though - I'd say this.  Ask about money in the context of things that matter more to the PI or program.  I can't say that asking about money directly will or won't work, but I can say that showing your value in other ways probably goes a lot further than you'd think.

Edited March 12, 2015 by agrizz