<p>"Congratulations! You have been accepted to the School of Civil and Construction Engineering at <an american="" university="">. We are excited to have you join our School. This letter is to inform you that you are being considered for financial support from the School of CCE. </an></p>
<p>We would like to invite you to attend our Graduate Open House arriving in <a town="" in="" oregon=""> on Thursday, March 1 through Saturday, March 3. This is will provide you with an opportunity to meet with the faculty, to identify potential research, and compete for a research or teaching assistantship. In addition, you will interact with current graduate students.</a></p><a town="" in="" oregon="">
</a><p><a town="" in="" oregon="">The School will provide airfare, and arrangements for hotel lodging (up to two nights) at the Holiday Inn in </a><a town="" in="" oregon=""> and transportation by a Shuttle Service to and from the airport. Several meals will also be provided, as there will be both a luncheon and a special dinner reception on Friday, March 2. The Holiday Inn provides a continental breakfast. "</a></p><a town="" in="" oregon="">
<p>OK, so does it mean I'm gonna be fully funded? I'm actually still waiting for the good news....I'm just too tired of waiting with so much doubt and anxiety :(</p>
<p>Yes, I DID attend it, I know this is not a 100% guarantee of funding. But you said that the funding decisions should have been made by now…But do they actually notify the recruits IF they dont get any funding?</p>
<p>I’ve also heard that announcement for the funding through asisstantship (TA/RA) can be made REALLY LATE (somewhere between 2-3 weeks before school starts)</p>
<p>That letter is explicit - attendence at the open house gives you the opportunity to “compete for a research or teaching assistantship”. Ergo, you do NOT have guaranteed funding, you have to compete for it.</p>
<p>I am concerned that you are asking these questions much to late to be successful in obtaining funding. It appears from that letter that they expected that during the open house you would talk to professors and ask them for funding, and if you did not do so it is highly likely that all assistantships have been handed out!</p>
<p>Did you talk to any professors while you were there? Specifically, did you talk to any about working with them as a TA or RA? If so, what was the result of those conversations?</p>
<p>Well, I DID talk to some professors about research, teaching, etc. Apparently they dont have any research decided yet for next term. As for TA position, they also HAVE NO CLUE about the possible opening for next term, the only thing I remember is “We will notify you within two weeks about the availability of teaching assisstantship”</p>
<p>WAY AFTER two weeks later…I didn’t get any announcement, until I asked them via email, the answer I got, “we dont have any opening now, but there will be some openings in the future in fall term”</p>
<p>I’m just afraid they will leave me hanging with no information/notification</p>
<p>It appears that you have received your answer - all the assistantships have been awarded, but you will be free to compete for assistantships in the future. From the wording you quoted from the the email, I would say that the possible openings they are referring to are hypothetical based on last-minute changes in funding and enrolling students - getting one of these possible last-minute positions will depend not only on your competitiveness but also on your match for the position.</p>
<p>It does not appear that you will have ANY funding at the start of the semester, and it is unlikely that you will have funding before the end either. If you enroll, I think you will be paying your way through at least your first year, and afterwards will depend on your performance and the dynamics of the department.</p>
<p>I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have funding established BEFORE accepting admission to the school. I do not know if you passed up funded offers to take this one, but you have placed yourself in a bad position by taking this offer without funding when you apparently require funding to attend.</p>
<p>“I would say that the possible openings they are referring to are hypothetical based on last-minute changes in funding and enrolling students - getting one of these possible last-minute positions will depend not only on your competitiveness but also on your match for the position.”</p>
<p>yeah I’ve heard someone got announcement even as late as two weeks before school starts! I guess my best bet is to wait for that miraculous announcement <em>finger crossed</em></p>
<p>Lots of engineering graduate programs offer admission, but do not offer funding for the first year, especially master’s degree programs. It sounds like they have admitted you, but that they do not have funding for you at this time. Can you afford to move to Oregon and attend this program without a TA or an RA? Do you have alternative opportunities that are funded?</p>
<p>If I were you I would call and speak with the Director of Graduate Studies or one of the professors you met. Be persistent! Ask how likely it is that you will land a TA or an RA. Sometimes TA’s come up just before the school year begins, but you need to know if that is a likely scenario or if you will have to pay your own way for a semester or two. In any event it is important to know what you are getting into financially.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am currently waiting for EXACT and STRAIGHT FORWARD answer from the department…I’ve sent multiple emails to them but none were answered. I just need to clear things up before I can move on…</p>