Anyone ever negotiate grad school funding offers?

In My Humble Opinion
1

If so, how did it turn out? And what kind of program was it for?

I applied to master of public health programs for spring 2007. I heard from school A early this month and didn’t have much of time period to think about it. They didn’t mention anything about receiving a scholarship or grant in the acceptance letter so I assumed I didn’t get anything, so I did not say I was going or send a deposit. Today I checked my email and found that the department awarded me a partial scholarship. I don’t know if there was a mix-up between the department and admissions and the department thinks I’m coming, or if they know I declined and are hoping I reconsider. Now I really want to go to school B and I’ve been accepted. Like school A, the acceptance letter didn’t mention anything about scholarships or grants awarded (nothing about money at all, actually). I know I should give school B a call and ask about funding that isn’t student loans, but I want to know if I should mention school A’s scholarship. Or how I should mention it so it seems like I’m not just being greedy. God, I hate asking for things, especially money. I have no idea how to do it gracefully. I am looking for advice and/or encouraging (or discouraging) stories from anyone who has tried to get more funding.

2

I didn’t ask about money, and, boy, do I wish I had.

You should definitely ask about the expected expenses, no question. You don’t want to look as though finances are going to be the biggest factor in which school you choose (even if, in fact, they are.) I’m not sure that what School A offered you is relevant in the discussion, though.

It’s perfectly acceptable to say something like, “As you know, participating in the Masters in Public Health program is a major investment of time and effort. I would very much like to dedicate as much of my time as possible to my academic and professional development in this field, without having to worry too much about living expenses. What forms of financial support are available to incoming students?”

Even if the Public Health guys at School A say they’re not giving you diddly-squat, there may be other options for getting money while going to that school. I don’t know if you’ve considered this yet or not, but you could apply directly for grants and/or fellowships from sources outside the department. (Check Fast Web for possible scholarships. IME, a FastWeb search brings back lots of stuff that you’re not qualified for, but among the useless info, there are usually at least a couple of gems. Something like the NIH or the NSF or the Dept of HHS might have grants available, too.)

If School A has a general biology or chemistry program separate from the research departments, you might be able to get hired by one of those programs as a TA. If, as an undergrad, you studied languages, English, or other subjects that aren’t all that popular to do PhDs in but that are undergrad requirements, there may be TA jobs available from those departments. Your advisor will have to give his or her consent, but, IME, no-one objects. In general, TAs get a stipend and a tuition and fee waiver. The library, graduate school central office, or other administrative part of the university might have GAs available for you. Those also usually pay you something to live on and cover your tuition and fees.

I know that’s much more info than you asked for, but I really wish someone had told me all this stuff before I started grad school.

Best of luck, and tell us how it goes!

3

I meant, “Even if the Public Health guys at School B say they’re not giving you diddly-squat…”

Of course, you want to call and ask School B what they can offer. You already know about School A, and you know that you don’t really want to go there.

Sometimes, I can be an idiot.

4

No, your post was very helpful. I get pretty discouraged looking at sites like FastWeb since like you said most don’t apply to me but I know I need to go through it and look anyway.

5

I had a somewhat similar situation when I was applying to law school. I had already received a small scholarship to Indiana Univ. when they accepted me but I was waiting for an answer from Iowa (where I really wanted to go). Iowa dragged their feet and the deadline for IU was approaching. I talked with the admissions director about this, asking a few more questions about IU and whatnot, and about two hours after we talked, he called me and offered twice as much in scholarship. I said I was still unsure and would respond in a couple of days. Before twenty-four hours had passed, they doubled the scholarship again. I accepted at that point.
The thing was, I wasn’t playing for money. I was playing for time and asked for an extension for the acceptance deadline. I guess I came off as not being greedy and it worked for me. My advice would be to just sort of beat around the money question by explaining your situation and how your conflicted with your choices, never mentioning the scholarship. See what they’ll offer you to entice you go to their school.

6

Thanks for the response, M. Meursault. It’s nice to know that talking about financial matters worked for some people. I am afraid that whatever I’ll end up saying will sound like “Um, I’d really like to go to your expensive school so…canIhavesomemoneyplease?” I need to suck it up and call them tomorrow. I’ll write myself a script if I have to.

7

Ain’t no thing.

Just play it cool and nonchalant. Get them to play off of each other.

Good luck. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to studying nonrevocable trusts. shudder

8

My school A admitted me without a scholarship, so I wrote them saying that I needed some sort of teaching fellowship to accept their offer of admission, otherwise I’d have to go to school B. I didn’t hear from them, and went to school B. The next year, as I was finishing up my master’s degree, I reapplied to school A, got in, got a fellowship, and took a second master’s degree at school A.

School A, btw, though very prestigious (and very helpful on my resume) basically sucked. I learned more and had a much better time at school B.