Graduate School Question (Advice Needed)

[FunkMastaFlex]

Hello,

I'm going for my Ph.D in Instructional Technology, and I have been offered a Research Assistantship at the University of Virginia school of Education. The Assistantship essentially involves developing multimedia training modules for teachers in the Pre-K field. It is grant funded and renewable throughout the 3 year term.

The problem, as is almost always the case, is the money. The Assistantship only covers about 2/3 of the out of state tuition cost (12k/19k) and pays a salary of about $12k per year for 39 weeks of work. So I'd have to take out loans to cover the cost of tuition, and would in the process rack up significant extra debt on top of my current student loans.

I'm not so much concerned about the long term debt, however, as I am that I might get a better offer if I were to work for a couple years and then reapply elsewhere.

Am I being greedy? Should I expect full tuition reimbursement for an assistantship? Or hell, is it unrealistic to expect I may get a fellowship in a few years? (My basic qual: 3.7gpa, 700v, 660m GRE, good experience, some research)

Or, is the fact that the program and the faculty are top-notch worthy of paying the extra $?

Confused as all hell,

-Funk

 

[AgentEL]

I've never heard of Instructional Technology, but it sounds really interesting.

If you're going for a PhD, I would expect full reimbursement (even for out-of-state). There are always ways to negotiate though. Contact the department or admissions.

 

[Gravity]

AGree, shop around a bit too. Don't fall for slave wages unless you can absorb the debt and not lose sleep over it. Chances are, you are very marketable and could get a better deal elsewhere.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Or, is the fact that the program and the faculty are top-notch worthy of paying the extra $?

That's the most important question. Partial funding at a great school is better than full funding at a lesser school without good research opportunities.

Are you sure they don't also have tuition waivers as well as the funding? When I came to Seattle for grad school at UW (computer science) we got the RA salary plus tuition waivers. This was a decade ago though.

 

[bonkers325]

if you work for a few years and then go back to school, you won't have too much time for school (assuming u get a gf, get married, have kids)

it happened to a friend of mine. he worked for a few years, met someone, got married had kids, then got tethered down to the job he had because he needed to support his family. now he does 3 creds/semester working towards his masters...

 

[FunkMastaFlex]

Are you sure they don't also have tuition waivers as well as the funding? When I came to Seattle for grad school at UW (computer science) we got the RA salary plus tuition waivers. This was a decade ago though.

There is a tuition waiver and funding, but the tuition waver only takes care of about 2/3 of the tuition, so I'd be paying $7k to go to school, and making around $12k in salary. So I'd need about $10k in loans to make ends meet.

-Funk

 

[DaveSimmons]

You might be able to keep the debt a bit lower by sharing a house/apt, watching expenses carefully, and trying for summer TA spots. Selling your blood helps too

For what you're studying, are there better schools than Virginia where you have a good chance of being accepted? And where you'd find good RA work?

It's hard to beat a RA in an ongoing project like that. Employers (or schools if you plan to stay an academia nut) would treat it much more like real work experience that they would little 1-2 quarter RA projects.

 

[ryzmah]

When I was looking at grad schools last year, almost all offered a full out-of-state offer for the first year and an expectation of established residency after that for non-foreign students.

If it's a big issue, you could take a year or two to work and establish residency.

 

[FunkMastaFlex]

Originally posted by: ryzmah
When I was looking at grad schools last year, almost all offered a full out-of-state offer for the first year and an expectation of established residency after that for non-foreign students.

If it's a big issue, you could take a year or two to work and establish residency.

What were you going to grad school in?

Thanks,

Funk

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

have you talked to other people in the program. Find out for an experienced grad student whether or not they think you are getting a pretty good deal.

You mentioned your RA will run 39 weeks/year. what about the other 13 weeks? will you be able to pick up extra appt.s during that time? Furthermore, is your RA rated at 20 hours / week?

As far as whether or not you should take it, i dunno. If you like the program, and the faculty, then you will probably do okay in the long run.

another option would be to move there now, establish residency, then accept the admission deal.