<p>How likely is it that I will be able to find an RA or TA-ship after say a semester or year into the Aerospace PhD program at UM Ann Arbor?</p>
<p>thanks for any advice or input on this.</p>
<p>Ask the department how soon they would consider you for one of these if they didn't assign you one already. Have you chosen your advisor? If you need funding, be sure to pick someone who has money to support you with an RA, or teaches enough classes that need TAs so you will have first shot at those.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I'm in the EE:Systems PhD program and funding has been slim pickens but I managed to land a TA position directly from the College of Engineering (for a freshman course) after one semester. The TA positions for the department specific courses I would imagine go to the guaranteed financial aid students first, then the senior students, and then the new students. I'm not sure how things are in Aero, but I'd imagine there's a bit more funding available there. RAs vary based on individual faculty.</p>