Just a question from a recently admitted student. I'm currently choosing between two programs; one of which is clearly better than the other in my subfield, but whose financial package/duties aren't nearly as attractive as the other programs. The better program is a large, public school in CA. The program that's offering me more money/less RA/TA duties is private. Both are top 15 programs overall; even though one is better than the other in my subfield, it's not like comparing apples and bananas. To what extent can stipends and/or TA/RA duties be negotiated with public schools? What else tends to be negotiable for incoming graduate students (if anything). Thanks!
negotiating stipend/duties?
(22 posts) (2 voices)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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That handful of thousands of dollars more you'll get from the not-as-good program in the short run is trivial compared to the long-term benefits of attending a better program.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Op, you need to ask someone who knows and cares about you, people on this site don't
Posted 2 years ago # -
Top 15 programs can negotiate. Just tell them what the other program is offering and that this difference is preventing you from accepting.
Posted 2 years ago # -
^^ best, most honest post ever on PSJR. Repeat as necessary.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yes, please start your grad career as the new prima donna. Grad directors love that.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I'd say all programs can negotiate. You don't want to come across as a dick, but you can ask. Ignore these dumbasses and ask your letter-writers or other people you trust.
As someone wise told me several years ago: more money frequently becomes available and they'll distribute it. To those who asked. Nicely.
Posted 2 years ago # -
As a former grad director, I can say that my department at least did not have much in the way of additional funds to distribute. We pretty much put our best offer on the table to start. But both I and my colleagues wondered about incoming students who were letting (or pretending to let) their decisions turn on a a few hundred or a couple of thousand bucks.
Posted 2 years ago # -
So, let me get this straight. In exchange for training you for free, educating you for free, and giving you money to live, you want more money?
Posted 2 years ago # -
ucsd ucla and berkely don't have more money for you. They don't have more money for the students and faculty that they have now.
Posted 2 years ago # -
just be nice about it, do not burn bridges. It can work even in cali. At least you can make a more informed decision if you ask. Anyway as people accept or decline, financial possibilities will come clearer.
Posted 2 years ago # -
This isn't intended to be snarky, but what is your unique (as opposed to other admits) negotiating strength? I can't really offer any useful insight until you provide some detail as to why the DGS would't just respond with a polite "no", hope you go to the other program, and reach for the next (nearly indistinguishable) application in the pile.
Also, like the former DGS above, I too couldn't help but wonder about an admit who would trade modest differences in grad packages for an inferior program in ones area of interest. If you are seriously considering this, you have already failed the first disciplinary intelligence test.
Posted 2 years ago # -
^ Totally agree. You've got to be pretty delusional to think at as a first-year grad student you're that important to any department. Sure, they took you out to dinner during your campus visit and were super-nice to you, but you're pretty much at the bottom of the food chain. Think more long-term, a better degree will get you more in the end when you'll actually have market value, a few more bucks today means virtually nothing.
In my department, a lot of the students who came in with funding dropped out of the program. Some of the students who came in unfunded not only finished but ended up being market-stars with multiple interviews and landed TT positions. Getting funding in your first year means you were a good student in undergrad, but good students don't necessarily make good scholars and departments know that.
Posted 2 years ago # -
A couple of the most highly recruited people in my cohort were able to negotiate some extra money--a few $$ a year, and my department definitely not in the top 15--depending on who you ask, their rank was between 25-35. No one thought any less of them for negotiating; they were still seen as start students. My guess is most admits won't stand out quite so much, and probably won't get anything more, but the practice is not that uncommon, and if you're not a dick about it there's no harm in asking.
Posted 2 years ago # -
You should, quite politely, inquire about the financial support, note that Dept X has offered you Y. Say that, for obvious reasons the finance is an important (not THE important issue) and inquire about the possibility. All programs will reshuffle money as offers are declined. The richest offers tend to go to the people with multiple top-level admission offers; they can't go to every school that admitted them. When they decline, those funds are in play. NONE of that money can go to current students -- it will either be allocated to another incoming student, or returned to the pot for future years, or go back to the admin.
They may well say no -- one reason is that they may have over-admitted, and when the funds do become free from someone who declines, the Dept will breathe sigh of relief cause had all the top candidates said yes, they would be in a deficit finance situation. Also, they may use the money to go to additional person from the wait list rather than to fatten your offer.
BUT there is no harm in asking NICELY ... no threats, no entitlement, no problem.
Posted 2 years ago # -
"All programs will reshuffle money as offers are declined. The richest offers tend to go to the people with multiple top-level admission offers;"
Not true. In my school the money was set by the college, not the department and they offer anyone more or less money. Not all departments have the flexibility to give students more money.
Posted 2 years ago # -
No kidding. My program does not work as the UC describes either. So maybe the lesson here is to try to negotiate with the California schools, in a year in which they have some money.
Posted 2 years ago # -
In my department, funding (TA/RA positions) can be re-allocated between new admits and current students.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I was accepted to four top ten programs in the early 2000s and they all were prepared to negotiate. Seemed like standard procedure and none of them batted an eye about offering more money.
Posted 2 years ago # -
The statement that grad programs don't care if you go to their school or not is inconsistent with them offering multiple years of funding. If a substantial number of the applications were indistinguishable from each other in both the reject and admit file, then they would just admit people with zero funding and if that person rejects, go to the next person in the list. This isn't true - they offer you funding because they want you to go there. They do recruitment weekends because they want you do go there.
Don't overstate the point - grad students aren't blue chip quarterbacks so it's not like you can play hardball, but to say grad students have zero bargaining leverage is also not true. Like other have said, it can't hurt to ask politely (and again, the emphasis is on the word "politely"). Don't expect much, but it can't hurt to ask.
Posted 2 years ago # -
My n of 1 is that my school shifted money around in April, long after the initial funding offers. It wasn't a major increase, but it was enough to make my decision to attend the school a little easier.
I would hesitate to use the term "negotiate" here. Read what these people are suggesting..... "ask nicely." It's not a negotiation, at least not really.
Posted 2 years ago #