Applying for scholarships in addition to funding

[deadbeatstudent]

I received a funding package (stipend and tuition waiver), with a travel allowance each year for a phd program. If I continue to pay the interest on my student loans I will be struggling to make it with my current expenses. Has anyone applied for scholarships while in their funded phd program? Do you have to report your funding package? I think it will look selfish to say my tuition is paid for, but I still want more. Working outside of being an RA isn't an option while I'm in this program, and I refuse to take out more student loans. Finding small scholarships that would pay something toward the university fees would allow me to continue paying interest on my undergrad student loans. Has anyone else attempted this? 

[qt_dnvr]

I have pretty significant funding for my graduate program and am applying for outside scholarships. Though my case is not as extreme, I try to leverage this so-called "Cost of attendance" in my favor for the "unmet need". I also am trimming the heck-all out of my budget and may not pay interest on my student loans. You will likely need to report your package and a budget for any significant funding opportunity. I wouldn't think of it as selfish so much as you do have "unmet need", even if the amount is smaller and includes those expenses beyond tuition. 

 

[TakeruK]

It depends on the nature of the scholarship/fellowship/award. If there is a metric for need, then you should still apply but know that you will be considered a lower priority than someone without any funding at all. 

There are also many scholarships/fellowships/awards that do not consider "need". They will still want to know about your tuition wavier and stuff but it won't play a role in whether you win an award. It may play a role in how much money you get though. Also, take into account your school's policies on stacking awards. At many schools, there is an upper limit on how much you can get paid. Your tuition award and other internal awards might be reduced if you win outside awards.

For example, my department pays everyone a stipend of X amount plus a tuition waiver. We are encouraged to apply for external fellowships, but if we don't get one that is larger than our X amount stipend, there is usually no difference. I'm going to make up some numbers to keep it simple. A bunch of us got a fellowship valued at $20,000 per year for stipend and $5,000 per year for tuition and research expenses. Our standard stipend is $30,000 per year. Winning this award made no difference to the money I earned: I now receive $20,000 per year from the fellowship and $10,000 per year from my school. However, it does mean my advisor pays less for me, freeing up more funds for other useful things (like research expenses). I also got to use the $5,000 per year research expenses to do more work travel and open up more opportunities for me. 

Just something to watch out for. In most cases, when you apply to other awards, you will need to disclose your current funding scheme. And in almost all cases, your internal school-provided funding requires you to disclose any additional funding sources. This is to prevent a conflict of commitment (usually your stipend comes with the stipulation that you work full time as a student) as well as to prevent "double dipping" (i.e. if you have a tuition waiver, you can't apply for and win an award for tuition without reducing how much the school gives you for tuition!)