Accepted but No Funding

[pastthesarcophagi]

What would you do if you were accepted to a program in a low cost area (think New Mexico, Iowa or Nevada) with no funding? If the program is incredible and the cost of living is low, do you go and try to get a part-time job? Do you try to tutor SATs or something along those lines that is not time consuming but can make a lot of money? Want perspective from others who also lack trust funds 

[jellyfish11]

Is it an ma program or a phd program? There's a big difference between funding yourself for a year or two and finding yourself for 6-10. Plenty of people in my ma program got work study jobs and took some loans. I got a scholarship for my ma tuition and then used the savings I had from working for a few years to help pay my cost of living. I also had an on campus job. If it's a phd, I know people who have done it, but I wouldn't. If I don't get a funded offer, I plan to work and improve my application until I get in with funding. 

[pastthesarcophagi]

PhD program. If you are accepted without funding though, isn't there a chance you could get a TA position? or be funded years down the line. I know I should discuss this with my POI.... but insight would be amazing!

[jellyfish11]

There is. I have friends who've done the phd with ta positions or promises of future funding. In one case, the future funding didn't come through, and my friend spent 10 years ta-info and working through grad school. She recently finished and is substitute teaching in high schools and job hunting. Another friend dropped out of a phd program after 1 year because ta-ing and working while in the program was too taxing and was making her miserable. You should definitely talk to your poi and to some current students, because maybe it's easier at that school. This is just anecdotal information, but I thought I should share it. Only you can choose what is right for you. 

[pastthesarcophagi]

thank you. I really appreciate your insight!!! It's hard when a school that is so well regarded in your field has such shitty funding. Archaeology <3

[rising_star]

I wouldn't do it personally. Paying out-of-state tuition alone is going to run you like $20K for a year unless you can get a tuition waiver. When you add that to living expenses, even in a low cost area you're looking at $30K for a year. That's a lot of debt to take on and it's unlikely even SAT tutoring can help you stay on top of that. 

[feministanth]

I second Jellyfish's thoughts and agree there is a difference between no funding for MA or PhD program. I would suggest talking to current students and see how they make ends meet, as well as trying to get a more clear idea about future TA positions from current students and your faculty advisor. This really varies by school and program. Without possibilities for a TA or campus position that will cover tuition, the debt could get overwhelming. I also know people who work jobs off campus and it can really detract from PhD studies. Tutoring should be considered supplemental, but not your primary source of income! I am currently in a grad program without full funding, but there are ample opportunities for TA positions in the department and around campus.

[FaultyPowers]

I was admitted to a PhD program last year, WITH funding, and I would never recommend doing it without. Even with my tuition paid and a fairly generous stipend, I'd have pretty much no money at all if I didn't have another job that essentially doubles my income. And I actually teach SAT as well, and I gotta tell you that although that's awesome backup money, it is not something you want to depend on for stable income. I make about $25 an hour as an SAT tutor, but sometimes there will be one or more months in which you don't work at all. And even if you have a student or a class that you're working, each one brings you about 6 hours a week max, plus a tiny amount of extra hours that may or may not end up happening. That's about $300 a month before tax.....maybe more than that, but in terms of budgeting, assume $300. 

Unfunded offers suck. I got two acceptances, one with funding and one without and that basically made the decision for me. The job market for PhDs is brutal, so unless you have a rock solid backup plan I don't think it's ultimately worth it. Sorry

[Ajtz'ihb]

Were you offered a tuition waiver? Because my advice will be somewhat variable depending on whether you're also having to pay tuition:

No tuition waiver: Do not go. You'll rake in a mountain of debt, and the fact that you're working full-time to cover yourself financially will drastically reduce the time you have to focus on your studies/research. That in turn will probably mean it takes you longer to finish your PhD, which could make you less competitive for jobs after you finish, which in turn will make it that much harder to pay off your debt. Bad idea all around.

Tuition waiver but no stipend: My advice here is a little more wishy-washy, but it comes down to the fact that at least you're not taking on any debt in order to pursue your degree. I would still advise against it personally just because time is already a very hot commodity in grad school and you'll be losing a whole bunch of it working, but you gotta do what you gotta do. If the program has good job placement OR you're not necessarily that worried about landing an academic job after you graduate, it might be worth it. In this case, it comes down to how much you want to have a PhD irrespective of the particular jobs/career you hope it lands you (because let's face it, most people in these programs today will not get academic jobs).

[farflung]

I posted this reply on a similar thread, but it is important enough to me to spread the gospel around. Do NOT go to an unfunded PhD program. Everyone I've talked to agrees it is not wise to take on debt to go get a PhD in anthropology, which typically takes 6-9 years to degree, and will not guarantee you an academic job. (also by the way most currently-available academic jobs are non-tenure-track, low-paying instructorships. so it may be impossible to pay off student debt even if you land an adjunct position after graduation). See Karen Kelsky's timeless, helpful writings on the circumstances under which getting a PhD is an OK idea (you'll notice many of these circumstances are related to money, which is important. It may not be important to your 22 year old self, but it will be to your 30 year old newly-doctorate self). Hope this helps!

[anthrostudentcyn]

Question: what if you wouldn't be going into debt/taking out loans? Perhaps due to prior savings or where you are financially? This is what I'm struggling with. 

[farflung]

2 minutes ago, anthrostudentcyn said:

Question: what if you wouldn't be going into debt/taking out loans? Perhaps due to prior savings or where you are financially? This is what I'm struggling with. 

Good question. I would follow the "no new debt" rule religiously. Perhaps you can swing the degree without debt because of savings, or because of a parent or spouse's income. If that is the case, you just need to really consider your future priorities. What did you envision using those savings for when you put that money away? Was it to purchase a house, or have an emergency fund, or to retire one day? Was it just to live a middle-class lifestyle? If so, consider that you will STILL want those things even if you're in / complete a PhD program, especially the deep dark depths of years 4-8, and it may really hurt your future self that you've taken those funds away.

Another relevant question -- how willing and able are you to work tirelessly to earn outside grant funding? How successful have you been in grant proposals in the past? This will be a full-time job if you accept an unfunded admission offer - you'll need to apply for literally every grant and fellowship, big and small, and conform your research plans to where that money is (yes... people change their research to get $. no shame). 

Remember that you can always apply again next application cycle. You could apply ONLY to fully-funded programs, which is what I did. Grad students are happier in fully-funded programs, because we all make a living wage and aren't competing for scraps. We like each other more. We are more productive, and we are more likely to land tenure-track academic jobs because we weren't teaching 80 million students and/or starving during grad school. 

[rising_star]

4 hours ago, anthrostudentcyn said:

Question: what if you wouldn't be going into debt/taking out loans? Perhaps due to prior savings or where you are financially? This is what I'm struggling with. 

If you have enough money to pay for 6-8 years of a PhD, then by all means do it. But realize that unless you are really successful at getting outside funding, you're going to be facing an uphill battle on the market because you'll be competing against people who had funding the entire time. As @farflung has said, you should also think about why you originally saved that money and what other goals you have in your life, like having a family, buying a house, being able to travel and go on vacations, etc. A bunch of strangers on the internet can't really tell you what should be most important to you. Personally, even if I did have the $200K+ needed to fund my own PhD, I wouldn't do it because I'd take the lack of funding as a sign that the program doesn't want to invest in me financially.

[farflung]

26 minutes ago, rising_star said:

Personally, even if I did have the $200K+ needed to fund my own PhD, I wouldn't do it because I'd take the lack of funding as a sign that the program doesn't want to invest in me financially.

Yes! Very important. I would interpret an unfunded offer in the same way -- the program is not prepared to advise me properly, because I am clearly low on their priority list. In fact, I would go further and say that PhD programs that can't find funding for their graduate students should not take on those graduate students under any circumstances-- it's deeply unethical to ask anyone to rely on savings and debt to get a PhD in the non-clinical social sciences or humanities in 2016.