Got into PhD program-without funding

[holomorphic]

Got into PhD program--without funding!

Hi all,

Well, I was accepted to an applied math PhD program that I really wanted to attend. Actually it was the only program I applied to that I had particularly strong feelings about. Anyway, as you read above, I wasn't offered funding and I'm told I should not expect funding to suddenly become available.

Assuming I start some other PhD program next fall, SHOULD I try to get into this other one for a different year? Either by transferring (which I'm given to understand is a bad idea) or by earning an MS (en route to PhD), and applying again in the second year?

Is the latter option dishonest (to the program I will have begun in)? If attempted that option, how would I ask for recommendations from professors in a program I am leaving because I think I would rather be in this other program?

All of this is speculation, of course. I will probably find myself satisfied with the program I begin in. But it would be nice to get some idea of the what ifs...


Another idea to consider: how much do part-time (20-30hr/wk) cab drivers make, after expenses & tax? >= $30,000? Philip Glass (music composer) apparently did this back in the day to support his studies, though I have doubts it would work as well for an applied mathematician, and in today's economy. I'm sure the logistics alone are a nightmare, anyway.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

Can't you grade some lousy HW assigments to pay the bills?

 

[holomorphic]

Can't you grade some lousy HW assigments to pay the bills?

Apparently not, according to the admitting department.

 

[story645]

What about teaching for Kaplan or a Kumon school or a private school or the like? Or getting a grant like NSF or NDSEG?

 

[physics girl phd]

I would worry about this a bit. I would think that, even in this economy, if you don't get funding, you aren't "top on their list"... which means it may be difficult for you (when the time comes) to find a position in a research group that attracted you to the school (when you are competing for such a position with a "top of the list" applicant for said position).

You want to go to a grad school that wants you. There you'd have a best shot at a successful match. It won't do any good to have to drop out after paying a year's plus tuition because you can't find that match.

 

[twofish-quant]

Assuming I start some other PhD program next fall, SHOULD I try to get into this other one for a different year?

I don't see why.

Even with funding, the life of a Ph.D. is tough. Without it, you are just making things worse a hundred times.

Another idea to consider: how much do part-time (20-30hr/wk) cab drivers make, after expenses & tax? >= $30,000?

I know of someone that moon lighted as a cab driver supporting his family while being a senior at MIT. He was able to do it for a year, but ended up a total mental wreck. He says that he doesn't remember the graduation ceremony because he was so out of it.

I don't think this is going to work.

 

[twofish-quant]

What about teaching for Kaplan or a Kumon school or a private school or the like? Or getting a grant like NSF or NDSEG?

1) Teaching is exteremely time intensive and it pays horrible
2) You aren't going to be able to self-apply for a grant as a Ph.D. student. Also writing a grant proposal is extremely painful that is also very time intensive.

If you aren't getting funding from school A, but getting funding from school B, go to school B and forget about school A.

 

[story645]

1) Teaching is exteremely time intensive and it pays horrible

The only real difference between it and RA work is that kaplan/kumon doesn't require grading HW or papers, and it pays about thesame. My friend taught at a private school while she was in a phd program 'cause her program was unfunded (linguistics, which is a different ballgame from the sciences.)

You aren't going to be able to self-apply for a grant as a Ph.D. student. Also writing a grant proposal is extremely painful that is also very time intensive.

I used the wrong word, they're fellowships (and meant to be applied to as a student).

*shrugs* I do agree with you that it's probably a better idea just to go to school B, but if he's got his heart set on school A it may be kinda/sorta doable. I also know someone who worked as a cabbie for a few years to pay her way through school and don't much rec it either.

 

[Vanadium 50]

NSF student fellowships are very competitive - historically, something like 2% of STEM grad students get them. (And they are likely to be even more competitive in the next 4 years because of the stimulus. )

Without knowing the school, it's hard to guess how many students are admitted without funding, but it's probably a good bet that if the school thought they were in the top 2%, they would have been funded. So, while it doesn't hurt to apply, it's a longshot.

 

[story645]

Without knowing the school, it's hard to guess how many students are admitted without funding, but it's probably a good bet that if the school thought they were in the top 2%, they would have been funded. So, while it doesn't hurt to apply, it's a longshot.

It's so totally random. I had a friend who won an NSF but got rejected (or accepted into the masters program) at just about every school he applied to except the one where his adviser had connections.

And they are likely to be even more competitive in the next 4 years because of the stimulus.

And cause funding is getting cut across the board, even in STEM fields. One of the biggest sources of grad funding at my school got its budget slashed so badly that they're holding off on awarding money 'til they're sure they have enough to pay everyone.

 

[Topher925]

Acceptance without funding is another name for a polite rejection. It is possible to work while getting your PhD, I know several people that are doing it, but they are already working full time professional jobs and the probability of them actually going through with their degree is very small. Unless your heart is totally set on going to that school I would just go somewhere else. Its the person that makes mathematician, not a degree or where it came from.

 

[ZapperZ]

Things are not very clear here. So let's make sure there are several issues that should be straightened out:

1. It is not uncommon for an acceptance without any kind of assistantships/funding. Smaller schools tend to do that especially when they are not in that great need of TAs.

2. It is unclear, at least to me, if this lack of funding is simply for new, incoming students (which is very common), or something that pervades all of the graduate students. I can see a common scenario where they don't have funding for you until you pass your qualifier, and then you'll be more desirable to be a TA or to receive an RA. I would think that for a graduate student in mathematics (or applied mathematics), the math dept. surely needs a lot of TAs for all those math classes.

3. Or maybe things have changed and the new budget constraints that have befallen many schools are affecting assistanships and financial supports.

Zz.