Timeline for Will I be treated differently from funded students if I attend graduate school without full funding?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
17 events
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| Nov 20, 2014 at 1:28 | comment | added | Oswald Veblen | Also, being a TA can help some people realize that teaching is not for them - at a time when it is still easier to change their career path. | |
| Nov 14, 2014 at 0:20 | comment | added | Doug Lipinski | I think it's important to note that being a TA serves as essential preparation for future teaching responsibilities. If you plan to go into academia you will be at a distinct disadvantage if you pass up the opportunity to TA. | |
| Nov 14, 2014 at 0:10 | comment | added | Brian Borchers | My comments were about what happens in the sciences and engineering. Many areas of applied mathematics aren't much different in that graduate students need access to computational resources. It's certainly true that many graduate students in mathematics are self funded or supported by TA's and that their graduate advisors have no money to pay for them to travel to conferences, buy computers and software, etc. That's a tough situation for a student and will make it harder for the student to develop professionally and prepare for the job market. | |
| Nov 13, 2014 at 23:30 | comment | added | Anonymous | Yes, definitely. I agree that if I'm going to get paid to do research, I want to get paid, because I'm going to be researching anyway. But if I have to teach Multivariable Calculus, I'd rather spend money and then spend my time doing research. | |
| Nov 13, 2014 at 23:28 | comment | added | Paul | @Anonymous: That may only be true while you are taking the required courses... Once you get into the research phase of your degree, you might as well work as a Research Assistant: basically, you get paid to do your thesis work. | |
| Nov 13, 2014 at 23:23 | comment | added | Anonymous | You have answered everything I want to know perfectly, as well as offered related insight into the reasoning behind the no-funding situation. I didn't imagine I would receive such an excellent answer :). In my specific situation: I come from a wealthy family, so it's worth it for me to shoulder $50k a year if I can get out of a 10-hour-per-week TA obligation. I left this out because I think the general question is more interesting. But your answer clearly solves my situation because of its completeness. | |
| Nov 13, 2014 at 22:47 | vote | accept | Anonymous | ||
| Nov 13, 2014 at 22:30 | comment | added | Ben Webster | I agree that I'm not so sure what it means that a grad student costs more than a stipend in math. Of course, sometimes the department or a grant has to pay tuition to someone else in the university, but I count that as part of the stipend. Of course, it is good for grad students to also have some travel money, etc. but it's not strictly necessary (especially since often conferences, etc. have money set aside for graduate students). | |
| Nov 13, 2014 at 22:30 | history | edited | Paul | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 13, 2014 at 22:03 | comment | added | Paul | Erdos once famously quipped "a mathematician is a machine that turns coffee into theorems". Would your argument that "supporting a graduate student costs much more than just a TA/RA stipend" hold true for a mathematics graduate student? I only ask because the OP tagged the question as mathematics, so I assume he's particularly interested in a mathematics graduate school. | |
| Nov 13, 2014 at 21:42 | comment | added | Brian Borchers | A key point is that in the sciences and engineering you will typically need laboratory facilities to conduct your research. Even if a faculty member were willing to take on the work of advising a student and there were existing lab facilities that the student could use they would need to find a source of funding for supplies, travel, etc. Properly supporting a graduate student costs much more than just a TA/RA stipend. | |
| Nov 13, 2014 at 21:26 | history | edited | Paul | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 13, 2014 at 21:08 | history | edited | Paul | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 13, 2014 at 20:41 | history | edited | Paul | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 13, 2014 at 20:36 | history | edited | Paul | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 13, 2014 at 20:29 | history | edited | Paul | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Nov 13, 2014 at 20:24 | history | answered | Paul | CC BY-SA 3.0 |