Typical Fellowship $ at Universities.

[neo_dude]

Can anyone list the amount ($) of cash these Universities offer when they award fellowships? (avg-to- above avg) Also, are they the same regardless of your subject (i,e. will it be the same if i applied for Economics and Mechanical engineering)?

Berkely
UT Austin
GaTech.
Stanford
Harvard
MIT
Purdue
UMich
Northwestern
Columbia
UW-Madison
Cornell
PennSt.
ArizonaSt.
UFlorida

p.s : this might sound silly but, What GPA will i have to list in my application for graduate schools if i transfer after 2 yrs and graduate from another Univ--The final GPA from the Univ i graduate frm, or do i have to average the GPA from the old Univ too? As far as i know, my previous GPA at the old univ. wont matter once i take a transfer, but going thru one of the posts here has raised some doubts about it.

[asquare]

Fellowship amounts depend on the source of funding as well as many other factors. Some students receive funding from the University, rather than from their department. These University fellowships are typically the same amount regardless of dicipline, and are often higher than the amounts provided by individual departments. And, of course, external fellowships like the NSF or Javits are a fixed amount regardless of dicipline.

Also, fellowships (which don't require any work for the department) and stipend paid in return for TA- or RA-ships may be different amounts. At schools where graduate students are unionized, stipends for TAs are usually the same regardless of department. I don't know if those payments vary when grad students are not unionized.

I would say that $22,000-23,000 a year would be the upper end of a fellowship amount for any school on your list, though I could be off. And $12,000 would be about the lower end. Bear in mind that some schools -- typically those with the higher payments -- distribute fellowship support year round, while other schools only pay out the fellowship during the academic year.

As for GPA, I believe that most schools request your GPA for your entire undergraduate coursework, not just for the coursework at the school where you receive your degree. (They don't give you the opportunity to erase poor early grades by transfering.) You should follow the directions on each individual application, as schools have different methods of computing GPA. Some want you to weight by semester-hour, some want only your last 60 credit-hours, according to their own method of calculating credit-hour, and some want the all inclusive figure. You will have to submit transcripts from both schools.

[neo_dude]

thanks for the info. buddy! : )

So, if me and my friend apply to the same Univ, same program and both are awarded fellowships, the amounts will be the same right?

p.s: If the dept's fellowship amt is too low for me can i choose the Univs fellowship? Can you be awarded 2 fellowships like that and be allowed to choose from?

[asquare]

Originally Posted by neo_dude

thanks for the info. buddy! : )

So, if me and my friend apply to the same Univ, same program and both are awarded fellowships, the amounts will be the same right?

Likely, but not necessarily. If one of you gets a "named fellowship" (which is sponsored by a donor, and may have specific eligibility rules or preferences) or a University-wide fellowship, and the other gets funding from the department, the amounts could be different. Also, it's unusual but not unheard of for a department to match a funding offer from another school if it particularly wants to attract a specific student. There are some special cases where funding can be different, but most students who have funding have the same deal.

[OneMoreEcon]

neo_dude,

asquare is giving some general advice which I think is fairly accurate. However, nobody can guarantee that you'll receive the same award, but if all of your conditions hold... it's probably likely that you'll get similar (or the same) awards. (The real key here is the *both are awarded fellowships* condition.) (I wasn't implying asquare was making any such guarantee, so please don't mis-interpret the comment.)

I suspect that you may see more differences in engineering than in economics. Part of why I say this is because I think there's a higher likelihood that you'll receive a research assistantship in engineering - even at the master's level - and those awards depend in part on funding from grants. Also, I think there's a different kind of competition for students in engineering (since somebody wants you in their research group), and that you may see more bidding for top students than in economics. (Also, in econ, most students at the top schools all receive very generous awards and do not participate in research the first year since they receive a fellowship, not an assistantship.)

I would worry a little bit less about the funding you expect to receive and focus more on programs that do research you're interested in. You'll increase the chances for admission and funding if the program thinks you're a good match and fit well with the current research projects.

But, hey... if you've got the time/money/interest, apply to all of them and see what happens.

[neo_dude]

hey thanks for responses!
I was checking the details on the Industrial engineering . depts website of Berkely, Stanford and Northwestern and none of them seem to have adequate funding. Two of them said they award fellowships only in the first year.
Came across this strange MMM program at Northwestern which says u can earn a dual masters degree(engineering&MBA)-2 yrs overall. Seems like a pretty new dept. as they say recruiters are still coming to know of it. (nothing good abt funding tho)
Fellowships for masters engineering guys at these big Univs dont look so bright.
I'm confused by this MS only AND Ms/PhD program. Some say you get funding only if you apply for a Ms/PhD program and not if you apply just for MS.
Could you apply for the Ms/PhD program initially and then get the funding and graduate and leave after you get your masters? uhm..or r u bound to stay still you get thy PhD ?
Seriously, Funding (especially fellowships) for Masters only students in Engineering fields suck!
And i was more worried about funding than research in a good dept. 'because ill be severely short of money when i enter a master program as mentioned in this post : http://www.urch.com/forums/graduate-...ease-help.html (Undergrad asking for ideas-Please Help)

[europeean]

check the gradcafe.com - some people wrote down their scholarships amounts there. In economics Stanford is best - the standard aid is $30k (at least that's what everybody wrote) - though they did not offer one to me... well, I did not apply there either

[moo]

in the states, master of engineering is essentially a professional degree, so no wonder few schools are interested in financing those. if you start as a PhD student, you will not be able to graduate as an MEng---if you drop out after a few years you may get a consolatory MA (yes, arts) or at best an MS. however, I'm fairly certain that those employers who're looking for graduate degree holders have a pretty good idea of what exactly such MAs or MSs represent.

now, some departments in some schools (eg, aerospace at purdue and mit) require one to obtain an MS before their PhD can begin. in such cases, if you are accepted into a doctorate stream, you will be able to get a valid fully-funded masters degree out of it, even if you drop out after getting one. you are by no means bound to stay for a PhD. obviously, there are ethical issues with misleading the school into funding you for a program they would not normally fund, but it's not my place to preach ethics to you .

as for your original question, scholarship amounts differ from school to school and from program to program. from what I gathered, the stipends offered to, say, english literature majors tend to be a lot lower than the stipends given to engineers. if you want the numbers, I have been offered $22.3k from princeton (first nine months only, +$7k in the summer if I decide to become an RA), $24.9k from cornell, and $25.8k (4-year) from caltech. just so we're clear, that's engineering, not eng-lit.

first year only fellowships are still better than assistantships, because they give you a whole year to explore the school before committing to a particular advisor. also, you get to focus on your classes without having to work for the money.

multiyear fellowships are fairly rare.

[asquare]

Originally Posted by neo_dude

hey thanks for responses!
I was checking the details on the Industrial engineering . depts website of Berkely, Stanford and Northwestern and none of them seem to have adequate funding. Two of them said they award fellowships only in the first year.

It's fairly typical for departments to grant fellowships for the first year, and provide funding in subsequent years through RA or TA positions. The idea is to support first year students without requiring any work to make it easier to handle the first year course load and the adjustment to graduate school.

Originally Posted by neo_dude

I'm confused by this MS only AND Ms/PhD program. Some say you get funding only if you apply for a Ms/PhD program and not if you apply just for MS.
Could you apply for the Ms/PhD program initially and then get the funding and graduate and leave after you get your masters? uhm..or r u bound to stay still you get thy PhD ? Seriously, Funding (especially fellowships) for Masters only students in Engineering fields suck!

Yes, you can leave after your masters degree, but a masters degree that isn't intended to be terminal is less prestegious and may be a mixed signal (future employers don't know if you left by choice or flunked out). The department might not be too happy with you, but they can't keep you there. Whether or not this is ethical is something you'll have to face up to yourself; I do know that some students apply to PhD programs when they intend to leave after a masters for this very reason.

Fellowships that require no time committment to the department (teaching or research) are scarce for all diciplines and for PhD and masters students. Funding for masters students is harder to come by for several reasons. First, many masters students are heading for industry, rather than academia. That means that they will be able to pay off loans in relatively short order. Second, when funding is tied to research or teaching, departments often prefer to hire PhD students, who are in the department for more years, may be more qualified or perceived as such, and for whom teaching and research experience are crucial professional development experiences.

[moo]

GPA: put down the last school's GPA, unless the school asks otherwise (duke does). that's what I did.

as far as I can tell, this field is essentially ignored in the admission process---the schools use all your transcripts to figure out your standing anyway.