What should we have in writing?

[hopefulPhD2017]

I am trying to make a decision, and soon. For school A, I have a letter describing my advisor and four years of funding. 

Whereas at school B, I was told verbally who my advisor would be. I got a one year graduate assistantship and a one year scholarship. 

I'm now wondering, should I ask for a letter detailing my advisor at school B? Or is that a moot point?

I guess what I'm wondering is: how much should I have in writing?

[TakeruK]

If having that particular advisor from School B is what you need to accept School B's offer, then write to your advisor at School B and ask them to confirm that they will be willing to serve as your advisor. You can phrase it as a question, like: How does advisor selection work at School B? and also ask them to confirm that they are also interested in you. Only do this if you decide with School B. Try to do this Monday morning so that your potential advisor has time to respond before April 15.

[rising_star]

10 hours ago, hopefulPhD2017 said:

I guess what I'm wondering is: how much should I have in writing?

As much as you need to feel secure in the offer and like the school isn't going to try to wiggle out of anything. Out of curiosity though, is the funding at School B renewable? Because four years of funding vs. two years is a big difference...

[hopefulPhD2017]

@rising_star great point. After reading this it occurred to me that I had no idea and all that I'd been guaranteed was one year of funding. So, I sent a few emails describing my reluctance to commit without a plan for years 2-5, effectively declining the offer without a full funding package. Thanks for your help! I feel like these comments from you and @TakeruK helped me towards a decision I feel really good about. 

[ThousandsHardships]

In my previous PhD program, PhD students were guaranteed two quarters (about six months) of funding and MS students were guaranteed one. But it was extremely rare to be left without funding. So rare, in fact, that I don't think I've actually ever met an unfunded student.

The department can't predict or guarantee faculty funding. They can for TA'ships, but my former department definitely didn't have enough positions to go by if students were to depend on teaching alone, so they cannot guarantee that either. However, in reality, students get funded precisely because half of them don't depend on TA'ships within the department, which frees up TA positions for those who do need them.

Part of the reason we didn't have funding in writing was because our advisers weren't assigned from the very beginning. We were not assigned advisers because our program wanted to give us the flexibility to explore before deciding our focus and fit. They didn't want to admit us committed to a certain professor with funding and then deny us the ability to change. Students were welcome to select an adviser from the very beginning, but we were generally expected to do rotations before committing to a specific mentor, after which we became funded either by a research assistantship or a teaching assistantship, depending on our preferences and on how much money our PI had. So until we choose a mentor, we don't know what type of funding we'd receive.

My future program did guarantee funding, but that's because teaching is the norm in a humanities program, and it was safe for them to say that we'd be teaching unless something unexpected popped up, and they plan it such that all students would be able to teach. Assigning TA's are also within the realm of duty of the department, so they're able to guarantee funding since it wasn't dependent on who we choose as a mentor.

Point being, just because they don't guarantee funding doesn't mean they plan to leave you unfunded. I do, however, think that you should ask. Tell them that you would like to know how likely it is to obtain funding after the two-year time period. Also ask about advisers, whether you're already committed, what the funding is like for this person's students, etc. Also, you should have something in writing. If you don't, you should definitely ask for it.

Edited April 11, 2017 by ThousandsHardships

[TakeruK]

2 hours ago, ThousandsHardships said:

Point being, just because they don't guarantee funding doesn't mean they plan to leave you unfunded. I do, however, think that you should ask. Tell them that you would like to know how likely it is to obtain funding after the two-year time period. Also ask about advisers, whether you're already committed, what the funding is like for this person's students, etc. Also, you should have something in writing. If you don't, you should definitely ask for it.

I want to second this point (and the rest of their post). I think some people feel like they need to have in writing that they are getting X amount from Y sources guaranteed for Z years, but this is not how offers work and you don't need this much in writing to commit to a program. In the STEM fields, we rarely get letters that promise 100% more than 1 year of funding because few departments can contractually agree to spending money in future fiscal years this way. Instead, the funding is generally conditional on satisfactory performance (i.e. if they fail you, they won't pay you) and availability of funds (if the unthinkable happens and the University closes the department, this prevents them from having to pay you, for example). As @ThousandsHardships points out, what you need to get instead, is assurance from current faculty and students that the norm is to fund students beyond the first year. There's a difference between "We will fund you for 2 years but that's it" and "We promise one year of funding with the intention to fund for 5 years total subject to performance and availability of funds."

Here's what I think you should get in writing (this is just my opinion and I only know the norms in my field). Also if any of the below isn't important to you then you 

1. A promise of funding for the entire first year.

2. The first year funding source should be specified (i.e. are you getting a fellowship that requires no additional work? is it a RAship? TAship? GAship? something else? How many hours?

3. How much money is the first year funding?

4. A statement of intention to fund you for the length of your degree, subject to funds and availability.

5. Some text that specifies the amount of funding for future years---i.e. can you expect the funding level to be at least the same as the first year, or is the first year funding special (many schools offer a "bonus" in the first year and pay you a little bit more at first).

6. If the type of work you do for funding in future years matters to you, some text that clarifies this. (i.e. if you do not want to TA, then you should have text that says your future funding will come from RA or fellowships). But usually this is not a promise you can get unless you have made some arrangement.

7. Any other special arrangements you might have made during the admissions process.

Then, from talking to students and faculty during your visit or through emails/Skype etc. it's helpful to find out a few more things, but these don't really need to be in writing:

a. How often are students funded for the entire length of the degree? Has there been any student that didn't get funded and had to leave or fund themselves?

b. How often do students get to work with the advisor they want?

c. How are TAships or other service work assigned? Do you mostly get to TA classes / do service work relevant to your interests?