California, financial support?

[superhero]

I've recently been admitted to UCSD for a PhD in an engineering major, Fall 2016. International, but US citizen. No mention of financial support in the congrats e-mail. When asked, they said funding decisions are made at the end of March. Rumors are, schools in CA are sparing in funding? Anyone have any information on what chances I have of actually getting funded? Definitely can't afford school & life in La Jolla on my own.

[svent]

You'll have to wait and see. It's well known that the UCs are pretty broke. Don't do an unfunded PhD, especially not in California.

[TakeruK]

You will likely get funded but the amount can vary a lot. I've seen offers at UC schools that range from not livable to pretty decent. As svent says, you will have to wait and see! For your field, almost everyone is always funding, so I think the wait is because the source (and thus amount) of funding is not yet determined, instead of whether or not you will actually be funded. Don't accept any offers yet, just wait and see!

[blacknighterrant]

3 hours ago, superhero said:

I've recently been admitted to UCSD for a PhD in an engineering major, Fall 2016. International, but US citizen. No mention of financial support in the congrats e-mail. When asked, they said funding decisions are made at the end of March. Rumors are, schools in CA are sparing in funding? Anyone have any information on what chances I have of actually getting funded? Definitely can't afford school & life in La Jolla on my own.

I think most STEM PhD programs normally provide funding, you'll probably get something just wait and find out what. You might want to not reject the offer of admission until the April 15th deadline if you don't get anything and UCSD is your top choice, sometimes schools will offer late funding to unfunded acceptances when those originally offered funding decline their admission. Wait till the end of March, if you still don't hear anything email whoever your contact is (often the person whose name is on the acceptance letter) and ask about the possibility of securing additional funding. Many schools will encourage students to contact professors directly and ask about the possibility of a gra, find out how much a UCSD gra would cover and email professors to see if it is possible for you to secure one before making your decision. If you have other good acceptances with funding you may be able to use them as leverage to secure funding (tell the program you are there number 1 choice, but have better funded options elsewhere and that your financial situation is making it difficult for you to choose them). (On a random note, I applied to UCSD for the ece masters program and they gave me a fellowship on top of my already low in-state tuition, so they do give money even at the masters level. Don't let the fact that I've already heard bother you, masters and PhD funding offers are different and you probably applied to a different program (I think UCSD released masters decisions in ece before PhD decisions so it isn't surprising that masters students heard back about funding first even if you did apply to the ece department).)

Edited March 5, 2016 by blacknighterrant

[mbfox125]

UCSD's engineering department has money. It's the pet of the Jacobs (Irivn Jacobs confounded Qualcomm) and they give tons and tons and tons of money to the department. If they want you they can fund you. Just wait until end of March and apply to graduate housing, now. You usually don't have to accept to apply and the grad housing at UCSD is very affordable for the area. 

[KappaRoss]

Only thing you can do is wait, and I'd advise that you wait until you make a final decision.

[superhero]

Thanks everyone! It really makes me feel better being told that I probably would get funded in some way. I guess I'll have to wait patiently (again) for a decision.