What to do if a school is asking for funding info before the admission decision?

[R_Abhinav]

I received an email from Virginia Tech and they sent me an immigration form to fill up. It has a funding info section and I'm not sure what to fill in it. This is how they responded when I mailed them about not confirmed about funding sources :

"
Good morning!  During the admissions process applicants who indicate that they wish to be considered for funding are considered for financial support from the AOE Department in the form of graduate teaching assistantships, graduate research assistantships, and fellowships if their application is submitted by the deadline for admission with funding (December 30th).  The individuals receiving graduate teaching assistantships are notified at the time the admissions offer is extended of the financial support.  Fellowships are used to supplement graduate teaching assistantship offers.  Faculty members have the opportunity to review all of the applications and determine whether they wish to offer a graduate research assistantship to an applicant.  The offer of admission with financial support from the faculty member is then extended to the applicant.  The department is unable to offer financial support to all applicants to the program, and thus, it is very competitive.  Applicants are encouraged to also seek external financial support in the form of graduate fellowships, loans, etc. external to the university.  Departments within the College of Engineering are required to have funding information from international applicants for the first year of the graduate program ($43,000.00 USD) in order to admit them into the program.  This has been established to ensure that international graduate students have the financial resources that are needed for them to be successful as a graduate student within the USA.  An admissions decision has not been made on your application.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.  I will be glad to help!
"

So what do I do here?

[GradSchoolTruther]

What is the issue? If the department is funding you, you need to state that. Tuition-waivers and stipends have a numeric value. If you don't have departmental funding, then you have to provide info on how you will pay for tuition and living expenses.

[johnnycomelately]

It looks like they want to know whether or not you have the available funds/access to loans from your home country to finance the first year ($43,000) of your program yourself. If you can/cannot tell them so on the form, but be honest in your responses.

A few scenarios may play out: 1) You are offered admission, and informed that you are not being given any funding by the program/university-likely to happen if you indicate that you can cover the cost of the program/1st year without aid. 2) You are admitted with some funding, and must come up with the rest. 3) You are admitted with full funding. 4) You are not offered admission, as the university/program can provide very little support/cannot fund any of the program and you have indicated that you are not in a position to contribute to cost of the program.

From the last part of the response you quoted, "Departments within the College of Engineering are required to have funding information from international applicants for the first year of the graduate program ($43,000.00 USD) in order to admit them into the program," it seems like scenario 1 (you get admitted if you can fund yourself) is the likeliest outcome. 

That said, however, no one here can tell you which way it will go, only the program administrators can do so, and even then, it is likely that they will only be able to make that call after you have submitted the requested forms.

 

Edited April 19, 2016 by johnnycomelately
Clarification

[R_Abhinav]

Thanks. My issue is that there's been no word of funding from the dept.

Anyway, then I mail them sending the initial part of the form + passport scan (as they have asked for in the form), and without filling up the funding info section? And in the mail tell them I'll send in financial documents after the admission decision, and that I cannot provide for education from my home country/sponsors?

[GradSchoolTruther]

When was the last time you contacted the DGS about funding?

[TakeruK]

The people that send the immigration form and the people that handle your funding don't really talk to each other and they work on different timescales. I second @GradSchoolTruther's suggestion. Talk to the department and find out what your funding situation is, and then forward that to the people asking for immigration documents. I had a fun/confusing scenario too. In February of my application year, one school sent me the request for financial information well before the April 15 decision deadline and well before I even made any decision. The international office just said that they always send the forms requesting this info ahead of time and I can choose to either fill it in now so it will be ready once I make my decision, or wait until I make a decision and then send the info. So I think what you've done so far is right and now you just need to finalize funding info so you can provide the correct numbers to the international office.