Defer with no guaranteed funding.

[tea42971]

Hi All, 

I have an offer to a funded doctoral program that I am very keen to enroll in, but have had to defer for a year due to personal circumstances. The program was very understanding and accepted my request, but let me know that funding is not guaranteed next year as it is handled by a different department. I am a bit worried about pressing the matter as it was incredibly generous of them to allow me to defer. What is everyone's experience with this situation? How likely am I to get any funding after my deferral?

(as a note--I don't know how competitive the program is, but it is a bit niche so it's not like I will be competing with a Harvard or Columbia grad pool next year)

 

 

[somethingtothinkabout]

Congrats on being accepting to your program and securing funding. I was accepted to a program last year that provided funding, but also had to defer because of health reasons. Since funding wasn't guaranteed this year, I applied to a few more programs just in case the original school couldn't provide funding, because there was no way I could afford it on my own. It helped me to rest easier knowing that no matter what, I'd have a backup plan. Not sure if it's necessarily the best way to go, but it worked out for me. Best of luck to you!