Funding situation

[maru58]

Hello,

 

So I have spent the last month freaking out, weighing my PhD offers. And now it's getting close to the time to make that decision. I have decided to accept an offer from a pretty good ranking PhD program (Top 10 - none of my other offers come close). In my acceptance letter, it is said that I will be funded for the first year and then funding will be renewed for future years based on my good performance and funds availability. Worried about the "funds availability" part, I had emailed the department head about the change to get funded until finishing my degree and he said that in my situation, I'll quote, after TA-ing for the first year, "your advisor will appoint you to an RA position and if this is not available, TA funding for future years is dependent on your performance."

 

Does it mean that if I'm doing well, there's a good chance that I will be funded throughout my degree (around 3-4 years)? Are there any more questions you think I should ask him at this point before making my commitment? Any advice would be deeply appreciated. Thanks a lot.

 

 

 

[rising_star]

Yes, it means that if you're doing well and if the department has the money, they'll keep funding you. I would talk to current students about whether they have funding for all the years of their degree or only their first one. 

[maru58]

Yes, it means that if you're doing well and if the department has the money, they'll keep funding you. I would talk to current students about whether they have funding for all the years of their degree or only their first one. 

Thanks. I did talk to some current students and they pretty much said that it depends largely on my advisor, who is pretty new. That's why I asked the department head to see how often students get enough funding to finish their program. And I got the answer above. It looks like if my advisor cannot secure a grant for me next year, then TA funding is available as long as I do a good job?

[rising_star]

That's what it sounds like though you do want to confirm this. I'd also be concerned about being stuck with TAing if RAs are the norm in your field. 

[TakeruK]

This sounds like the typical/standard type of offers (i.e. not guaranteed but non-competitive future funding). My main concern would have been whether or not this department knows it can only fund 10 students but will admit 15-20 students!! It does not sound like this is the case.

 

As rising_star points out, the next concern becomes whether or not you would be stuck TAing a much larger load than normal because your advisor does not have money to pay you as an RA. This was a concern for me for one of the schools I was considering. However, by itself, I don't think it's necessarily a dealbreaker. This also depends on your field -- in mine, it's the norm to have a RAship to do work on your thesis, so I'd be concerned that TAing for 20 hrs/week for many years will mean that you will have less time to make progress on your thesis, which might extend your total time to degree. It might also be a concern that if your advisor does not have the funds to pay their students as RAs, they might not have enough funds to spend on other things that will benefit you (send you to conferences etc.)

 

Have you talked to your potential advisor about this topic? I think at this point, when you are seriously considering offers, it is a fair question to ask whether or not your new advisor can pay you as an RA beyond first year. Maybe they have a grant already for the work you're going to do so funding is no problem. Or perhaps they are planning to write a grant--it's a bit riskier but being involved in grant writing can be a good experience. Or, perhaps they will tell you outright that there is no funding so that you will have to do TAships to pay for your stipend. Either way, you will be able to know what you are getting into, instead of guessing

[maru58]

Thank you very much, rising_star and TakeruK!

 

I had talked to my advisor and he is writing a grant. He told me he expected to fund me with his grant next year and beyond. But if it can't happen next year then I will continue TA-ting. He's a new professor so he needs PhD students to work on his research to have as many published papers as possible in the near future. That's why he told me he'll make sure my TA work won't be heavy and that I can start working on guided research with him after the first semester. So I'm hopeful.

 

It seems like they're trying to get me RA funding. But if for some reason it is still not available next year then I have a back up option of TA-ing. For me, it's nice to know that since it's better than nothing

 

I have other offers with guaranteed funding for 4 years. But they are nowhere in the same rank with this program. I just wonder if this one is low risk enough to take on and forego all the guaranteed funding offers

[bobbydd21]

One of the programs I got accepted to said about the same thing as yours did. I emailed the graduate director and he told me that even though funding is only guaranteed for the first year, as long as you are doing well they will usually find you a way to get you funding. Similar to your situation, after the first year, most students move onto an RAship funded by their advisor rather than getting continued funding through the university as a TA. I was told this was the main reason they only say it is for one year in the email.

[maru58]

One of the programs I got accepted to said about the same thing as yours did. I emailed the graduate director and he told me that even though funding is only guaranteed for the first year, as long as you are doing well they will usually find you a way to get you funding. Similar to your situation, after the first year, most students move onto an RAship funded by their advisor rather than getting continued funding through the university as a TA. I was told this was the main reason they only say it is for one year in the email.

That is good to know that I'm not alone in this. Did you decide to jon the program?

[Argon]

I had something similar in one of my letters, and it said in parentheses that they aren't legally (for whatever reason) allowed to guarantee funding for every year but those in good standing end up getting it and there's no real concern. Maybe it's something similar where they want to play it safe with regards to legalities. Definitely follow-up with the department though!

[bobbydd21]

That is good to know that I'm not alone in this. Did you decide to jon the program?

I am pretty positive I will be attending that program. It is good to know that others are in the same situation. Seems very common actually.