Mention Funding in Statement of Purpose?

[IsThisNameAlreadyTaken]

Hello community,

I am a student from Germany and I plan on applying for graduate programs in the US. I am part of an academic organization and I will have guaranteed funding of a fixed 10,000 Euros per year plus 650 Euros each month (for a total period of up to two years).

My question now is if it is worthwhile mentioning this in the Statement of Purpose (I do not know where else I could mention it, if it all) - will this in anyway increase my chances of getting admitted?

I am also in the process of applying for another scholarship which would grant me another 20,000 Euros per year and an additional 400 Euros per month on top. But here I am still in the interviewing process, and a definite answer will not come in before next year (which would be after the application deadline for all programs). Is this even worth mentioning?

 

Thank you very much and all the best

[avflinsch]

Interesting question.

A bit of background as it applies to me - your sitiation is similar, but different.

I am a fulltime employee of the university that I am applying to for a PhD. I am currently in a master's program (as a prerequsite for the PhD) right now, and finished my undergrad at the same school. I am currently getting 50% of the tuition as a employee benefit, (it was 100% for my undergrad, and the first 3 terms in the masters, but I tipped over the salary cap for 100%, and now only get half). I have been chasing the dragon's tail with respect to the salary cap for a while, unfortunately I finally caught it. When the cap gets raised again, I will probably qualify for the 100% tuition again.

Two of my LOR writers mentioned that the amount of personal funding does somewhat affect the admissions decision, but more so in deciding how many applicants to admit during the admissions cycle. The implication given was that applicants with outside funding would have a bit of an edge in the final determination, and that they would get some funding, but not a free ride. Nothing was mentioned about adding this info the the personal statement, but there is a general question about funding requirements on the application. I will be referencing my professional affiliation with the school in my statement, but not mentioning the levels of required funding.

So to answer your question - mentioning that you have some level of external funding may not only help you get admitted, but may also help someone else get admitted.

[TakeruK]

I agree with @avflinsch. For many programs, they are not going to admit someone just because they cost less. Even if part of your stipend is covered by your funding source, it will cost just as much time and energy to train you as a grad student with no external funds.

I don't think the Statement of Purpose is the right place to put this information. I don't know if you have started the online application forms yet, but almost all of them will ask if you have applied for any awards and if you know any of the results. Many students in the US will be applying for things like the NSF GRFP (national level graduate student fellowship) and many other external awards from the US government. In this area, you should put your awarded that has already been confirmed and also mention the awards you are applying to. If this is not one of the questions in the online form, then usually the last question is "Do you have anything else you want to tell us?" or "Special considerations" etc. This would be another good place to put the information.