Accepted in January, still no funding?

[PHASMATIS]

I was offered admissions for PhD in EE back in January. Decision deadline is coming up soon, but haven't heard any word on funding. Is this normal? Why would a program accept a student for PhD so early on if they weren't planning to fund even a little? I've emailed 4-5 professors and talked to the admissions office...Any idea what to do?

 

 

[BeatrizBear]

What did the professors and admissions office say?

[PHASMATIS]

The following is what I keep hearing from them:

 

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Unfortunately, we are not able to offer funding to all the students to whom we offer admission.  Some students are able to get outside funding (such as government funding or agency funding) and are able to attend without funding from the department.  It is possible to get some support in the form of a TAship starting in your second quarter, but this is not guaranteed.

 

I'm sorry I don't have better news for you but I hope this information is helpful.

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I'm literally desperate here.

[BeatrizBear]

I think that's your reply then. It doesn't seem like they're going to offer you funding.

[brown_eyed_girl]

Yes, it sounds like they did give you an answer - you are not getting university funding, but it's possible to get outside funding and maybe university work opportunities down the line. Not all PhDs are funded, unfortunately, and I don't think how early they admit you correlates to funding. In fact, it's probably easier to make a quick admission decision when they're not offering you a hefty multiyear fellowship, so the early reply isn't surprising. 

Edited April 6, 2015 by brown_eyed_girl