Michigan State Funding

[sting54911]

This message is going to all the 60 of us who got the email about being admitted to MSU without funding. I was wondering if any of you have been offered any money or funding now that probably some funding money has opened up by people deciding to go elsewhere.

 

Sting.

[Larami]

None here. Although I did get that tease of an email about being a "grad assistant" in a dorm or something of that sort.

[sting54911]

Larami, I got the same email. I have a feeling that email went to all grad students who were admitted into MSU.

[smwb6f]

I was contacted by the graduate director and made an offer of a teaching assistantship. So I'm guessing, as people are rejecting admissions offers the funding is trickling down to the rest of us. They are very organized at MSU. It seems other schools haven't even made admissions decisions, but MSU is already getting their class together.

[mosfro]

hi all, i am a first year at MSU, and i currently have a TAship, which isnt too bad i might add--i still have plenty of time to study and such

 

howver, i wanted to inform you that funding in the first year might be tough because last years incoming class was over 30 students, which is EXTREMELY HIGH---so they might be tryin to cut funding, etc

 

i am not sure how the 2nd year funding works, i been asking people to see if its just the 1st year studnets must get through on their own, and all further years are somehow takin care of if you are doing well in the classes, but no response yet

 

also sicne MSU is a public institution, funding greatly depends on funds available from teh state, etc...

 

but good luck to all

[Larami]

mosfro,

about how many 1st years at MSU have funding?

[mosfro]

you know because the incomding class is so large, i really cannot tell

i can say about 15 give or take a few

 

sorry i cant be of any more help

do any of you 60 know what the status is on 2nd year funding if you dont get any assistance your first year?

[Larami]

It said MSU tries to support all 2nd years and on. Not really sure what that means though. A friend of mine who was accepted at MSU a couple years ago didn't get first year funding. When he asked about funding later years, the grad director said that many students get RA's in other departments. My friend wasn't impressed with that idea. Needless to say, he went elsewhere (with 1st year funding).

[mosfro]

funding is very important i think

it helps releive the stress factor of graduate school

if i did not get funding first year, i would not have gone to MSU, because after a certain point, rankings just dont matter too much, and i think MSU teeters along that point,

unless of course, your goal is to concentrate in econometrics, which we are pretty strong in

 

good luck again

[NJIT]

Following is the excerpt of the application guide complied by a PhD student at UoUTAH named ar Mr.Mukil Keswan.

 

MSU CS department does good research in security, AI and networks. Admission to the CS dept has been progressively tough over the years and nobody knows what yardstick they use to select applicants. They have strict GPA and GRE cut-offs and use it as a convenient measure to scrape applicants not meeting these minimums. MSU is located in East Lansing which is a really cold place. The MS course is also very tough at the CS dept but it does promise its fair share of goodies once you graduate. Major recruiters of CS graduates include Microsoft, NASA, Intel, IBM, Bloomberg and more. I have heard from people that MSU CS dept is financially constrained and this is reflected in their research activities. I couldn’t collect much info on the on-campus jobs and other opportunities here as seniors say most admits are accompanied by some financial assistance. Every year around 20 students from India make it to the CS dept and I would be justified to assume that most might be IITians. The school isn’t of that immense quality compared to its raving mad over-selectivity and toughness to get into. You will have to fill two online-only application forms while applying: one for the grad school and another for the engineering school. MSU is also very slow in processing their applications; I applied in early December to get my decision in mid April. After 2001, not many of our college seniors are making it into MSU. I advise juniors to be very prudent while applying to this place and keep regular prof contact to be successful; else you can always choose another school.

 

[sting54911]

From my research, it seems that if you go to MSU without first year funding, then if you pass your prelims in the beginning of summer, you are pretty much guaranteed funding from the second year onwards. If, however, you need your second try to pass the prelims, then you might not be funded even for your first semester second year, but start being funded in spring of second year.

[serenalin]

mosfro,

 

Would you mind sharing some course information with us?

For example, what contents are covered in the 1st year?

Then we can begin to prepare for prelim.

 

Thank you for your kind help!

 

Serena