<p>Should I contact POIs that I've been accepted, but without funding and ask if they can support me?</p>
<p>Yes, just ask to see what they say.</p>
<p>Generally in science and engineering if you are accepted without funding it means that the departmental admissions committee has serious reservations about the possibility of your being a successful student there. (IOW, you were a marginal admit.) If could be because your major GPA/test scores are lower than most other admitted students, because your UG research experience is weak/nonexistent or does not mesh well with the dept’s focus, or because your LORs were…how to put it?..less than positive and enthusiastic.</p>
<p>You can contact PIs who are working in an area you’re interested in and inquire about support; however, they likely won’t offer you any.</p>
<p>You’ll have better luck if one of LOR writers knows someone at your future grad dept (or who knows someone who knows someone…) and will contact him/her on your behalf. The “old boy” network is alive and well and works just fine in that way.</p>
<p>Your other option is to borrow for your first year, go and excel in your coursework, make nice with your instructors and hope someone will take you on during the summer. I really don’t recommend this option unless you are 100% positive you can be a successful (think top half of class or higher) student at your grad program.</p>
<p>I was in a similar position a few years ago. I got into one of my top choices for a PhD program in engineering which was a true stretch. My GPA was significantly below average. I got no immediate funding offer.</p>
<p>My strong advice is to investigate other Phd programs, but ACCEPT the PhD program that gave you no funding offer if you really want to go. Accepting and withdrawing acceptances without funding is a non-issue. Nobody cares. Accepting and withdrawing acceptances with funding is a big deal, you need a written release from the school you have withdrawn funding at past a certain date in March I think…check the national graduate school council guidelines(or something like this)</p>
<p>The thing is nobody tells you that funding offers come late…really late…I got mine the Wednesday before school started…a full fellowship. If you accept, you’ll often be considered for funding up until the day school starts and even once school has started. The problem is of course if you’ve accepted at two places at the same time and one of them gave you a funding offer.</p>
<p>Also, a lack of an immediate funding offer is not as damning as some are led to believe. Often it isn’t that the school has reservations, it is that there is a limited amount of money and thier are better students than you. You’ll get an offer when the school gets more money or other students turn down thier offers.</p>
<p>With all this being said, phd acceptances without funding are a terrible and boderline unethical way for universities to play the game. My program at Umich did change this the year after me so there are no longer Phd acceptances without funding in the engineering programs. It can work out though. I got funded, passed quals, and got thru my course work.</p>
<p>Thank you for the responses. I know for a fact that I was “second tier” since my gpa was much lower than the average admitted gpa of last year’s students and I received my acceptance later than the first group. I called the school what exactly does “financial aid wait list” mean and they said that they will begin calling students this month and ask them for a decision. When someone declines, another person will be funding. IOW, there is limited funding.</p>
<p>Eisenmann, it sounds like whichever University gave you the right info. Are you in contact with Professors? Have you received any word from professors? Often the professors will have a lot of say over which students are chosen for funding.</p>
<p>Just as an aside, Phd acceptance without funding usually is a pretty poor way for a University to do business. The problem is that that sometimes the professors would rather take Masters students who have already paid for part of their tuition rather than get the best possible PhD student. There is the financial temptation for the professors to not take the best fit(i.e. a funded PhD student) and instead choose a Masters student who will be cheaper since they’ve already paid part of the tuition even the the Masters students may not have the same potential as an unfunded PhD student…I’m glad my present university change their policy.</p>
<p>Jack- that is interesting. I do not have a MS and my acceptance letter kind of rubbed it in that I need to finish my masters requirements first. I am not in contact with any professors yet, but I plan to contact some soon after I read through their research. I have emailed the professor in charge with all the funding though, but he is not one of my POIs.</p>