Funding or no funding?

[nathdep]

Hello again everyone!

I recently posted a thread on here about getting an early acceptance to the MA in Linguistics program at the University of Iowa before all of materials were received. I ended up calling the school to check in on my application and to ask about how they would be awarding funding. I knew already from the emails I've been getting that they do not make funding decisions until mid March. I talked to the assistant director in graduate admissions for the linguistics department and explained to her that I was concerned about funding considering the funding was awarded mainly in the form of teaching assistantships. I'm a French and Spanish major with no training in linguistics whatsoever so I wasn't even sure if there was any opportunity for me. She told me she was unsure because she didn't deal firsthand with the assistantships and referred me to someone else. She did say though that they only give away aid to the most qualified students but they try their best to get as many students as much aid as possible. She also referred me to the general financial aid department.

I then called the financial aid department and spoke to a representative. He told me that there was nothing they could give me in terms of aid outside of the department. He then advised me that I would have to take out subsidized student loans to cover the tuition. I then learned the final amount I would have to borrow is about $50,000 a year. There is no way I could ever afford taking out enough money to cover this especially considering I have a sizable amount of debt from undergrad

I then tried to call the director of graduate admissions for the linguistics department and she did not answer. I decided to send her an email explaining my concerns. Here's what I said:

Quote

Hello!

I'm [my name] and I received an acceptance letter recently for the MA in Linguistics program. I just spoke with Abby Rush about some questions I have about funding and she referred me to you. 

 

First off, I'm very excited to be accepted into the program! I do have a few concerns about funding, however, because I come from a very low income family. I'm putting myself through undergrad and I already have quite a bit of debt so I cannot afford to add too much more to it.

 

I know that decisions on financial aid will be made in late February to mid March but I have a few questions that are quite important to consider now. 

 

First, I know Abby Rush explained to me that most of the departmental funding is offered through teaching assistantships. I'm coming from a Spanish and French background so I was wondering if there would still be an opportunity for me to receive a teaching assistantship through the department. If not, would I still be eligible for some other kind of funding?

 

I also know that funding is competitive so I'm trying to figure out how likely it is for me to receive funding considering my background in foreign language as opposed to linguistics. 

 

This is urgent for me as funding would directly affect whether or not I would be able to make my final decision to join the program. 

 

Thank you so much!

 

I have two different concerns. The first being if the message I sent above was acceptable in tone or if I sounded a little too demanding. The second, more important issue is what to do if funding is not an option. Like I said, there is no way that I will be able to join the program if I don't have funding. Is there any more I can do?

Thanks so much!

Edited February 4, 2017 by nathdep

[TakeruK]

I think you worded the email very well and you did everything right. 

If you want some nitpicky comments then I would say that I am not sure why you refer to the situation as "urgent", because from the email at least, you do not describe anything that suggests you are under pressure to make a decision quickly. That is, as long as the school is not making you decide prior to hearing about financial aid and you don't have a deadline at another school before this school's financial aid, then there is no reason to rush things. 

But I do think you did the right balance of stressing how important this funding is to you. If it's not possible for you to attend without funding, it is important to say that outright. You can only hope you get funding. If it makes you feel better, many people (including me) basically treat an offer without funding as a rejection. Then it's not like you are losing an opportunity (since it's not a viable choice to go into that much debt).

Good luck! I hope it works out!!