PhD not funded for the first year. What do I do?

[istanbulnotconstantinople]

I know there are threads about the amount of funding people have been offered etc. but I have a quandary. I have currently been rejected from 3/6 PhD programmes and accepted to 1. I am trying to wait patiently on the final two (which both guarantee funding) but all the rejections have knocked me a bit and I am not feeling super optimistic. I would be happy to attend the university I have an offer for, but they haven't offered me funding for the first year and the admissions officer told me that they don't normally offer TA/RAships to first years and only 50% of people get one in the 2nd year. I am not sure whether this is because a lot of people are part-time in my field and therefore don't want one or if there are just very few available - I fear the latter is more likely.

At present I have spoken to admissions and explained that I am unable to attend without funding and the officer has said he will speak to the department. My questions really are:

1) Have any of you had to negotiate funding and what did you find was the best way to do so? I don't really feel like I have a strong bargaining hand since I don't have funded offers elsewhere and I really can't go without funding. I am an international student and couldn't possibly afford the fees (even if I wanted to) and I surely won't get a visa without proof I can afford the first year (including living costs as well as fees).

2) I now feel that it would be rude to speak directly to my proposed supervisor in the department about this, since the admissions officer said he will speak to the department and this may come across as overstepping him. However, was I wrong to speak to admissions rather than my supervisor first? Do you think I should still contact my supervisor and explain that I am excited about attending but concerned about funding?

To be honest any advice you can give would be helpful.

[TakeruK]

No it will be okay to also speak to your supervisor at the same time as the admissions people speaking to the department. Ultimately, someone in the department will have to make a final decision on whether or not to fund you, and having the admissions person relay your message is not as efficient as also having your proposed supervisor advocate for you. You should also write to the department directly too. The more lines of communication, the better, in my opinion.

However, I am a little confused about how you can have a supervisor if you don't have funding. If you have a supervisor, it means you are working for someone (or will work for someone). Are they asking you to work without pay?? 

Finally, in addition to the visa issues you'll face if you don't have funding from the school, I don't think it's a good idea to pursue this PhD as an international student without funding unless you are also independently wealthy. I would treat an offer of admission without funding equal to a rejection since your field does normally fund PhDs (according to your post).

[istanbulnotconstantinople]

5 hours ago, TakeruK said:

No it will be okay to also speak to your supervisor at the same time as the admissions people speaking to the department. Ultimately, someone in the department will have to make a final decision on whether or not to fund you, and having the admissions person relay your message is not as efficient as also having your proposed supervisor advocate for you. You should also write to the department directly too. The more lines of communication, the better, in my opinion.

However, I am a little confused about how you can have a supervisor if you don't have funding. If you have a supervisor, it means you are working for someone (or will work for someone). Are they asking you to work without pay?? 

Finally, in addition to the visa issues you'll face if you don't have funding from the school, I don't think it's a good idea to pursue this PhD as an international student without funding unless you are also independently wealthy. I would treat an offer of admission without funding equal to a rejection since your field does normally fund PhDs (according to your post).

Thanks for your advice, I have kind of realised that an offer without funding is equivalent to a rejection since it certainly means I can't accept it. I will follow your advice and contact the department directly too.

For clarification, the offer letter I received included details about who my supervisor would be should I accept the PhD offer, this is how I know who to contact.