Canadian Uni Funding: any chance some money will come my way if I accept the offer?

[litzzie]

Hi, I got into UVic (BC, Canada), but my GPA isn't competitive enough for me to be qualified for the fellowship, so long story short, no funding at this point. The grad secretary gave me a bunch of info regarding bursaries and funding that are due in June and August. I have 2.5 weeks to accept the offer. Should I accept first and see if I could somehow secure some funding between now and September??? Or it's just way to risky? I have a 4yo child and will go with my child and my husband if I accept. Thank you in advance for your insights!

[lackingpatience]

Hey litzzie - first of all, congrats on your offer! 

Obviously, as I'm sure you know, none of us can tell you what to do one way or the other - but as a Canadian studying abroad in the UK I'm happy to offer up my two cents. I was admitted to my program with a partial scholarship that covered tuition and fees and had to decide whether I was willing to take the risk and try to pull in living costs from other grants, bursaries, and scholarships as I went along. 

I was in love with the program and it was a great opportunity so I took the risk, moved overseas and started applying for scholarships. Though I'm happy with the choice I made in all honesty it's extraordinarily stressful to be in this position. Constantly having to pinch pennies and stretch one funding source to meet the next takes away from energy that could be focused on your research if you have a full ride scholarship or fellowship. But I had half-funding guaranteed at least, and I can only imagine that having a husband and child in tow would multiply this stress. You also need to consider what you would do if you accepted the offer and then no funding sources came through. Would you have to drop out? To do this last minute might burn your bridges with the school if you wanted to try and reapply again next year for a fellowship. 

In the end you have to decide whether its a risk you want - and can afford - to take, and be prepared for many hours of money stress. I totally sympathize if you do want to take the plunge - we're all mad for research  but if this sounds daunting I'd urge you to consider reapplying again next year instead. Best of luck! 

[litzzie]

On 17 March 2016 at 11:54 PM, lackingpatience said:

Hey litzzie - first of all, congrats on your offer! 

Obviously, as I'm sure you know, none of us can tell you what to do one way or the other - but as a Canadian studying abroad in the UK I'm happy to offer up my two cents. I was admitted to my program with a partial scholarship that covered tuition and fees and had to decide whether I was willing to take the risk and try to pull in living costs from other grants, bursaries, and scholarships as I went along. 

I was in love with the program and it was a great opportunity so I took the risk, moved overseas and started applying for scholarships. Though I'm happy with the choice I made in all honesty it's extraordinarily stressful to be in this position. Constantly having to pinch pennies and stretch one funding source to meet the next takes away from energy that could be focused on your research if you have a full ride scholarship or fellowship. But I had half-funding guaranteed at least, and I can only imagine that having a husband and child in tow would multiply this stress. You also need to consider what you would do if you accepted the offer and then no funding sources came through. Would you have to drop out? To do this last minute might burn your bridges with the school if you wanted to try and reapply again next year for a fellowship. 

In the end you have to decide whether its a risk you want - and can afford - to take, and be prepared for many hours of money stress. I totally sympathize if you do want to take the plunge - we're all mad for research  but if this sounds daunting I'd urge you to consider reapplying again next year instead. Best of luck! 

Hi lackingpatience, thanks for your comment. I really appreciate it. My husband thinks I should reapply next year and if I got an offer again, apply for deferment for a year, and in the meantime he would try to look for jobs and see if we could go with at least some financial support. It's not ideal but I guess that's just what we have to do now...thanks for sharing your experience, once again!