Negotiating Offers?

[draco.malfoy]

Now that I've received my first offer and funding package (with hopes more will roll in), I'm wondering - is it standard to negotiate offers? Stipend amounts? Teaching loads? How does this work, and what is the standard protocol? I know that a friend of mine last year was accepted to UCLA's PhD program in Sociology, and then Yale afterwards, so he told UCLA he was accepted to Yale and was considering going there over UCLA - and they (UCLA) offered him more money. But that's my only knowledge with "negotiating" these types of things. Any solid info or opinions would be appreciated. Also, if you know of any resources, that'd help, too. Thanks.

[johnallen]

Hello, 

Interesting question, I never thought about negotiating a graduate funding package so I googled "can you negotiate graduate funding" and actually found older posts from gradcafe, I doubt I can place links here, so how about you google it and see what comes up.

[socapp2017]

2 hours ago, johnallen said:

Hello, 

Interesting question, I never thought about negotiating a graduate funding package so I googled "can you negotiate graduate funding" and actually found older posts from gradcafe, I doubt I can place links here, so how about you google it and see what comes up.

Lol, don't be ridiculous. You sound like a hater who got rejected to all PhD programs you applied to so far.

To answer the question, it's definitely within the norm negotiate offers if you have multiple good offers. Schools are generally willing to increase their offer to persuade you to come to their program. Just email the other programs, be upfront about your other offer(s), and do what your friend did - i.e., say that you are definitely interested in coming to their program, but you are considering going to other programs because of their offer. There's no guarantee the school will increase your offer, but there's no real harm in asking. 

That said, you should consider a few other things before asking:

-Cost of living varies a lot so you should keep that in mind. $15k a year at Wisconsin may sound dramatically lower than $30k from NYU, but it's not as big a difference as it sounds when you consider the living costs of NYC.

-The "other offer(s)" you're using as leverage shouldn't be clearly several tiers below in terms of program prestige and quality. For example, if you got accepted to Princeton and CUNY, and you tried to get Princeton to increase their offer because you threaten to attend CUNY, that won't go over well. (The reverse would probably work, but you should not attend CUNY over Princeton.)

-Remember that you can also talk to current PhD students at the program and ask if they have any input on this question. Or talk to your advisee at the school, if they emailed you. There may be summer funding, conference money, or research money at their program that you can try and obtain via negotiating.

-Ultimately, remember that while some offers are more tempting than others, a difference of a several thousand dollars isn't worth choosing a program of lesser quality, fit, and placement record.

[draco.malfoy]

I'm not really sure why there is so much hate for the second poster's tone - I read it as an honest inquiry. I'm going to chalk it up to a lot of super anxious folks with emotions running high as we wait on the future of our careers.

Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't though about cost of living, that's a good point.

[socapp2017]

52 minutes ago, draco.malfoy said:

I'm not really sure why there is so much hate for the second poster's tone - I read it as an honest inquiry. I'm going to chalk it up to a lot of super anxious folks with emotions running high as we wait on the future of our careers.

Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't though about cost of living, that's a good point.

Generally, when someone on the internet responds to a question by telling you to google the answer, it's intended to be a snarky comment implying that you're an idiot who haven't covered your basics. Since that apparently is not offensive to you, here you go:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=negotiating+offers+graduate+school

[BlueNahlchee]

Sorry about the accidental downvotes socapp2017 - I upvoted your posts again. I didn't realize you were talking about johnallen in your post, not the OP. And I agree with your recommendations if multiple admissions are offered.

And draco malfoy, congrats on your admission offer! From socapp's recommendations, I'd say talking to current PhD students will be extremely valuable - they can provide some great feedback from students' perspective (life as a student with the current stipends they receive, etc.).

Edited February 11, 2017 by BlueNahlchee

[johnallen]

On 2/11/2017 at 2:39 PM, draco.malfoy said:

I'm not really sure why there is so much hate for the second poster's tone - I read it as an honest inquiry. I'm going to chalk it up to a lot of super anxious folks with emotions running high as we wait on the future of our careers.

Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't though about cost of living, that's a good point.

With all sincerity I meant no harm and was just sharing information. I didn't know you could post links as I'm fairly new at posting on this particular board. Some boards have prohibited the posting of links in the comments section. There is some truth to to socapp2017 post, out of the 9 PhD programs I applied to, I did get rejected from 5, but interviewed at 2 and received an offer ($20,000 fellowship/GA) from one so far. Good luck to you all. 

[oldacct]

Anybody have advice on negotiating offers from very different schools? I've been offered 10k more from an Ivy ranked in top 30s than a state school ranked in top 10. 

I know I probably don't have barging power, but if anybody has any advice on this that would be helpful. 

[shur42]

2 hours ago, sociologicals said:

Anybody have advice on negotiating offers from very different schools? I've been offered 10k more from an Ivy ranked in top 30s than a state school ranked in top 10. 

I know I probably don't have barging power, but if anybody has any advice on this that would be helpful. 

One of the state schools I applied to explicitly told applicants to share their other offers, because they have multiple ways to match funding you were offered elsewhere (additional fellowships and such). So I'd suggest emailing the program at the state school, telling that you are very interested in attending, but you got this other offer and are currently struggling to decide because of the funding. 

[c11m07]

1 hour ago, shur42 said:

One of the state schools I applied to explicitly told applicants to share their other offers, because they have multiple ways to match funding you were offered elsewhere (additional fellowships and such). So I'd suggest emailing the program at the state school, telling that you are very interested in attending, but you got this other offer and are currently struggling to decide because of the funding. 

Thanks for this insight. I'm currently wrestling with a similar situation, and my knee jerk reaction is to say that it's inappropriate to ask for more, but I think that says more about my own socialization... really it's not inappropriate to advocate for yourself if you make sure the way that you ask is carefully considered/intentional.

Edited February 13, 2017 by c11m07

[shur42]

3 hours ago, c11m07 said:

Thanks for this insight. I'm currently wrestling with a similar situation, and my knee jerk reaction is to say that it's inappropriate to ask for more, but I think that says more about my own socialization... really it's not inappropriate to advocate for yourself if you make sure the way that you ask is carefully considered/intentional.

I know, I almost had a heart attack when I was negotiating my salary for the first time! I probably sweated through three layers of clothing.

I think the worst that can happen is that they say they're unable to match the funding at the other school. It doesn't make you look bad, everyone knows that on a grad student level, a 10k funding difference can be a big deal. It's not like you're deciding between a 100k and 110k offers, it's more like 20k and 30k, so these additional money will make a very bid difference in your quality of life. 

[draco.malfoy]

17 hours ago, johnallen said:

With all sincerity I meant no harm and was just sharing information. I didn't know you could post links as I'm fairly new at posting on this particular board. Some boards have prohibited the posting of links in the comments section. There is some truth to to socapp2017 post, out of the 9 PhD programs I applied to, I did get rejected from 5, but interviewed at 2 and received an offer ($20,000 fellowship/GA) from one so far. Good luck to you all. 

I read your original post with no harm, so no worries. Good luck to you.

[socio-log-ist]

Do people know how the funding package can be negotiated when I tell the departments that I have a two-year funding from an external organization? The funding would cover almost half the tuition and provide me with monthly stipend of 1.8k for two years. I already have several five-year full funded offers, but haven't told them about this particular external funding yet (since I am in the last phase of officially securing this funding). I am not sure if the organization is going to allow myself to be funded both by the school and the organization. In this case, do you think there is any chance of negotiating special arrangements so that I am guaranteed funding for the 6th year in my PhD? Or increased amount of stipend in my 3rd-5th years? I am guessing that all schools provide incentives for students to get external funding.

Edited February 14, 2017 by nanashinogonbei

[Akostin]

How much do you think cost of living affects your bargaining power? I have a stellar package from Columbia and I want to use that as leverage at Penn but NYC is way more expensive than Philly.

[baozi]

Outside of just the funding, I know Columbia has several programs for grad students that help subsidize NYC housing costs. I would recommend looking those up. That should help you make an arguement that the difference between the two packages is not just the cost of living. I would personally go through and calculate what the actual cost of living is for both cities and ask them to cover the difference that is not explained by that alone.