I was accepted to multiple top 20 engineering graduate schools in chemical engineering, BUT I have absolutely no funding from any of them and I am only doing a non-thesis (MENG) degree.
Is there any chance I could convince a company/future employer to pay for my graduate school even without having ever worked for them simply because I could tell them “I was accepted to university _ which is top 5 in the country”?
I know companies do pay for masters degrees for employees, but I’m not sure if they do it for students who haven’t even been hired yet or anything. Basically I only think this is a viable option because it is such a great program for chem. engineering.
Please let me know because I feel like time is winding down and I need to make a decision! Thank you!!!
Employers typically will pay for part or all of one’s tuition for graduate school for their employees. But the companies do expect to get a return on their investment. Typically, one must commit to continuing working for that company for a period of years. Otherwise, the employee must return the money that the company spent on their education.
Companies are in business to make money. More highly educated employees enable companies to do higher caliber work and, in principle, make more money. Never heard of a company paying for someone’s tuition just because they were accepted to a top university.
There are company sponsored research positions but you are doing a non-thesis degree.
Because the top schools do not offer funding for M.S. (thesis) degrees either! I know for a fact that University of Michigan, Virginia Tech, CMU, etc definitely do not! I would need to stay an extra year to PAY to write my thesis! That’s why I did a non-thesis.
For example, CMU says it only offer teaching assistantships or research assistantships to “qualified PhD candidates”. I feel like this is a new policy for only the most elite schools because as far as I know, mid-tier schools still offer assistantships even to some M.S. students.
I also did a non-thesis because I want to go into industry. However, I was WILLING to do a thesis if I would get some funding or assistantship, but none of the T20 schools seem to offer this anymore and so therefore I did MENG instead.
@xraymancs I can afford it, but I would need to take out a loan of around 110k dollars. This school has a very elite program and I am sure it will pay off in the long run, but it really seems unfair and stressful for me to have to pay so much when M.S. students in say, psychology, find it so easy to obtain funding by teaching introductory classes.
Forgive me if I’m a little upset that pretty much all of the humanities M.S. students at my undergrad can find easy funding while engineering students cannot get anything. And how does your comment help me whatsoever? Obviously I know not to act the whole “life is unfair” facade when out in public, but venting on anonymous forums is certainly not out of bounds…
So what do you think though? Is 110k worth it to go to a top notch engineering school like University of Michigan or CMU? I’d be pursuing a graduate degree outside my undergrad specialty and it would open up enormous opportunities outside my undergrad specialty (but also within it as well)
@123Mom456 I’ve heard some employers will retroactively pay for graduate school as a sort of “signing bonus” if you agree to work from them. Is this a “reasonable” thing to expect if I graduate from here?
Some will give signing bonuses and you could use that to pay down any loans you take out. That is a possibility but I it is probably the exception rather than the norm. Also once you are done you will be in a competitive job market. No one can guarantee you a job or a salary now. I wish you the best of luck.
Non-thesis MS programs are usually cash cows for schools. Where you stand right now, you’d be best to assume that you will be 100% self funding with no further assistance. That’s the only safe option. If you can’t make that work, I’d highly recommend you enter the job market now or seek a funded program.
@123Mom456 thank you! @eyemgh Is this a rather recent occurrence? And is this only for the T20 schools or what? Because I received full funding (assistantship) from a mid-tier school for a thesis program, but none of the T20 schools even have assistantships for M.S. degrees (even thesis ones) as an option!!! I would have applied for thesis at T20 schools, but I realized there was near zero chance I would receive funding so it would be a waste to stay for an extra year writing a thesis I don’t need for full tuition.
Also, @eyemgh, “cash cow” has a rather negative connotation of course. They may in fact be cash cows, but I do hope they provide a mutual benefit to both the participant and the university receiving their tuition. I feel like this is why T20 schools don’t offer funding for even thesis. They have the attitude “If you want to go here, then you need to pay up”, whereas mid-tier schools will use their resources to attract top students I assume.
@bodangles: My “source” was myself, since I specifically said “students at MY undergrad”. And you won’t be hard pressed to find that many humanities majors are funded because schools don’t mind having them teach introductory courses. Asking me for sources seems rather in bad taste. I’m unsure why you are being rude.
Oh please. You make a ridiculous claim that you can’t back up, of course people are going to be suspicious.
For what it’s worth, the only class I’ve ever had taught by a grad student was differential equations. But that means about as much as your unfounded statement.
If it’s really a problem worth whining about, then there will be data showing that is the case.