FAQs about funding

[kuejai]

Originally Posted by asquare

kuejai, part time jobs vary from department to department. At U-Mich, we get e-mails through the department list from faculty looking for graders, exam proctors, and the like. It's hard to know for sure in advance that you could pick up some grading work, and the work often isn't steady enough to pay the rent. But at least in my department, there are frequent advertisements for jobs that pay around $16/hour.

Are you planning to visit Vanderbilt? You could ask current grad students if it's easy to get grading, proctoring, or tutoring jobs. Remember that you'll be really busy your first year, so you don't want anything with too inflexible a schedule. That's particularly something to look for with grading: often, faculty want exams graded at the exact time you are studying or finishing papers.

I think I might wait until I hear answer from somewhere else and probably visit the school sometime in March. By the way, what do you about the program? Any suggestion?
Thanks for the info and congrats to you also

[sonicskat]

Kuejai,
That's really interesting that you didn't get funding from Vanderbilt. When I visited last spring they told me that all students are funded. Their website backed this claim up. I remember when I got accepted that I don't remember them explicitly stating funding...you might want to double check just in case...I can't imagine Vandy expecting a student to pay for tuition on there own... their price tag is incredible.

[Andronicus]

Originally Posted by sonicskat

Kuejai,
That's really interesting that you didn't get funding from Vanderbilt. When I visited last spring they told me that all students are funded. Their website backed this claim up. I remember when I got accepted that I don't remember them explicitly stating funding...you might want to double check just in case...I can't imagine Vandy expecting a student to pay for tuition on there own... their price tag is incredible.

In the decision thread it says kuejai got into the MA program in economic development at Vanderbilt. Maybe they meant they fund all their PhD students.

[Thesus]

How often is housing part of the equation? I'm not necessarily talking them paying for your apartment, but even bumping someone else off the residence list for you.

[asquare]

I think housing varies from school to school. For example, there isn't excess demand for university-owned housing at U-Mich. Most students prefer to live off campus, and obviously the department doesn't have any leverage over that housing.

Many schools offer first year graduate students some sort of priority for university-owned housing, to make it easier to find somewhere to live when you are unfamiliar with the area. Similarly, some schools give students with children priority for some housing. I would guess, though I don't know for sure, that funded and unfunded students get the same access to housing.

[kuejai]

Originally Posted by sonicskat

Kuejai,
That's really interesting that you didn't get funding from Vanderbilt. When I visited last spring they told me that all students are funded. Their website backed this claim up. I remember when I got accepted that I don't remember them explicitly stating funding...you might want to double check just in case...I can't imagine Vandy expecting a student to pay for tuition on there own... their price tag is incredible.

Yeah, I got in the MA program right now. From what I heard from my prof who graduated from there, she said that most people in this program are from developing countries and usually already got funds from their government. Apparently, I'm not a stereotypical student in the program(I'm in the US right now, and will get BA from University in the US). Also, my verbal is really low, so they probably think that I can't speak English and afraid to give me TA position(But I swear I can speak English, I tutored before, and had internships at two fortune 500 companies). Anyway, I agree that the tuition is pretty outrageous without funding!!! Do you think that I might be able to get something if I talk to the university?

[kuejai]

Originally Posted by Thesus

How often is housing part of the equation? I'm not necessarily talking them paying for your apartment, but even bumping someone else off the residence list for you.

If Berkeley, it can be $800-1000 per month. If MN, you can get it within $400 per month. So really depends on where you will be at.

[israelecon]

does anyone know if the fact that you are an international student is taken into account in the amount they fund you, as international students generally have extra expenses?

[asquare]

As far as I know, domestic and international students get the same amounts of funding for the same positions (i.e. if a domestic and international student both get X Fellowship, they get the same amount of money, and if they are both TAs, they get the same amount of money.)

[eqtisadi]

I think international students can be more difficult to support in public universities. Some universities (MIT for example) rely on the NSF fellowship Americans get or other countries' supports. If your country does not have something like that, you're #$#@ed.