<p>* Also remember that any graduate tuition benefit over 5600 is taxable income to the employee. This means that the university will deduct the tax on the benefit from your paycheck.*</p>
<p>Wow…good to know. Makes sense.</p>
<p>So, at a private univ, if an employee were to get grad school tuition benefit of - say - $30k per year - there would be a LOT of fed and state taxes to pay on that. Wow. </p>
<p>Sybbie…that’s important info!!!</p>
<p>^All that is also complicated by the fact that, unless you are working as a Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant for your department (as would be the ideal case), you are most likely working a 9-5 type job, which would interfere with taking day classes. Sooner or later you need to be able to take classes during the day. </p>
<p>As a TA/RA, I got tuition waiver, which was, I guess, never to the level of being taxed. In fact they took virtually no taxes from my pay either, although that was always a problem when it came time to do our income taxes!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I believe rules for taxation changed - at least they changed since that time I was a grad student. My tuition (at public U) was well above stated limit - graduate school tuition is more expensive than undegraduate. It was never taxable.</p>
<p>In addition, certain type of assistanship jobs used to not generate taxable income. I had NSF trainee assistanship, and I could not even get W2. The first year, like an idiot I was paying income taxes - in fact withdrawing at higher level to compensate for higher income my husband had, but then I did not get a W2. It took quite some time to figure this out, but it turned out that income was not taxable. Good times! I know it is not true anymore.</p>
<p>By the way, you can always change how much is withdrawn from your checks - either by changing your status (for example: married but withdrawing at single rate), or by indicating the additional amount to be withdrawn.</p>
<p>The Op would not be a TA or RA. As an employee of the university, she her tuition would be more of a tuition waiver/reimbursement benefit and taxable as income where a TA/RA tuition is more if a scholarship and would be non taxable</p>
<p>the amount is $5250</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree with all of the above. Just “wanting” to do research at a Ph.D level, without any prior collegiate experience in the area of biology, and competing with those who have done it for their entire university careers does not sound like a rational plan. AND to top it all off, the OP wants someone to support her and her fiance! </p>
<p>My daughter’s freshman experience in biology for premed’s was in a classroom with 500 students! She had an excellent experience working in a diabetic study at UCSD, with live subjects, and this internship did not pay her a dime! But she loved it and we were financially supporting her. The competition for this non-paying internship was fierce, but she had several advantages. She was well-acquainted with the researchers, and she took on the added challenge of being able to translate for visiting professors’ grad students and showing them the “ropes” with research procedures. She eventually changed her major to engineering.</p>
<p>So although I’m glad that the OP is “motivated” and “determined”, I have to state that this OP has not thought out the consequences of being “broke” for a number of years. Moreover, having to take several years of undergraduate classes to “catch up” to the Ph.D candidates who are “light” years ahead of her in experience and contacts is a reality. What happens if she doesn’t fully recover from her illness? Add on a couple more years.</p>
<p>Additionally, since all of the universities have tightened up their purse strings, priority for ug lower division bio classes (which are a very popular and full major) will place her further back on the “totem” pole for seats. Because she already has a degree, the college needs to get their “regular” paying ug students through their bio programs in 4 years, so priority for a graduate student, in lower division classes, might not be available in a timely manner. I want, I want, I want, does not mean you’ll get what you want, you have to pay dues like everyone else; the problem is that Nano doesn’t realize that yet.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity and because my back hurts from an afternoon of ironing, I looked at the requirements of a couple of Universities for Biological Sciences PhD programs. Here are several things that were mentioned:</p>
<p>1) A BS in Biology or a science is required.</p>
<p>2) At least 14 undergraduate courses in Biology, physics, calculus, and chemistry are required.</p>
<p>Since Finance and Information Technology Management probably don’t qualify as a science major, OP would most likely need to get another BS, requiring on the order of 3 years minimum.</p>
<p>A second BS might not be necessary, if the OP simply picks up the courses in non-degree status. Unfortunately there is no aid for that either.</p>
<p>
True, but it would depend on the university. The requirement I found came from the Temple University website and specified a bachelor’s in a science field. Other schools may be ok with just the coursework, which nonetheless appears to be fairly daunting and at least 14 courses.</p>
<p>it would be case by case. </p>
<p>In our experience with grad schools (H’s, mine, and older son’s), many will be flexible with req’d majors as long as the student has the completed the coursework and has the GPA, etc.</p>
<p>This student would likely have to take many Bio, chem, and math classes in order to be considered acceptable. I don’t know how an additional 50+ credits of A’s might impact her GPA, but…if her “science GPA” is high (BCMP), then maybe grad schools might overlook her cum GPA. …especially if she gets a high GRE.</p>
<p>However, getting the funding to take all those science classes will be hard. She could do the lower division classes at a local CC then take the upper division at a local state school.</p>
<p>Maybe a Post-Bac program might work.</p>
<p>M2ck–there aren’t formal post-bacc programs for people who want to go into biology as a research field. (Those are pretty much only for those aiming for medical schools since the scope of coursework included is limited.)</p>
<p>Grad Bio program tend to heavily consider only the grades from upper level major classes (plus OChem,depending on her intended field of specialization. For micro, for example, OChem will be important; for ecology–not so much.)</p>
<p>Some school will allow an individual who already has one bachelors to do a ‘fast-track’ second bachelors which doesn’t require retaking all the distribution courses and electives.</p>
<p>But the OP still needs around 14-18 classes (intro thru upper level bio, 4 semesters of chem, 2 semesters of calculus, statistics, plus 2 semesters of physics) plus a couple of years research experience in order to be competitive for bio grad programs.</p>
<p>(DIL of a close is friend is trying to switch from Russian Lit [she has a PhD] to ecology. She wants a bio MS so she can go into animal population studies/animal habitat remediation. She’s been roundly rejected from every grad program she’s applied because she doesn’t have the requisite bio coursework despite taking every CC biology class she can and spending 2 years working as a [unpaid] RA for an eco prof and having good LORs. Grad programs want chem, math and physics plus upper level bio before they will even consider an candidate. She hasn’t been able to find any funding sources for undergrad courses at all.)</p>
<p>Wayoutwest mom, your friend’s DIL needs to take The chem, math, physics courses at the CCs and the advanced bio, and often chenme courses at a good university, taking labs and getting some lab work and research experience with the professors at said university. And no, there isn’t likely to be any funding for any of this. More UG courses once you have your bachelor’s is on YOU. The only solution I see is getting a job at a university or some place with a tuition reimbursement plan.</p>
<p>The OP has to do the same. She has to get herself on a level field academcally as those who are applying for the positions she wants.</p>
<p>DIL is an recent immigrant to the US who is dependent upon my my friends (her in-laws} for everything from food, a roof over her head, medical insurance to transportation. (DIL doesn’t know how to drive.) DIL really doesn’t want to invest another 2-5 years in getting her undergrad done part-time and then go to grad school. She was very unhappy to discover that she’s unlikely to get any loan-free FA for undergrad or grad school. In her home country, her education would all have been paid for since she belongs to an elite group. She refuses under any conditions to take out a loan to pay for school. (She also said in her home country she would be able to switch fields anytime without taking basic coursework first. Not sure how much I believe her on that front.)</p>
<p>The further complication is she and her husband would like to start a family soon-ish since they’re both over 30.</p>
<p>She and her husband are both nice young people who have some very impractical ideas about how things should work and neither have an particularly strong career goals or directions. (Lots of “I wants”, but no real plans to achieve them.) The husband has a degree in creative writing and has been mostly unemployed since the couple returned from overseas 2.5 years ago.</p>
<p>Well, unless they find the legendary money tree or your friend antes up, it isn’t going to happen. Perhaps the young woman can find a job at a university. </p>
<p>I, unfortunately, know a number of families that had to have some serious and unpleasant discussions when it appeared that a multigenerational household was going to be imminent if some some intervention did not incur.</p>