I am new to the site! I have applied to 6 graduate programs in Biomedical Engineering and will get my undergrad in May in that same emphasis area. Two of the six have mailed me acceptance letters, one saves graduate assistantships for PhDs and the other said they could not offer me an assistantship position “at this time”. The latter was a school I really liked, and on the plus side, is an accelerated 12 month program. Starting to feel anxious. In addition, this latter school was one of my favorites, but I will be more than happy with any of them. I am wondering, if in the case that you are not offered a graduate assistantship by any of the schools, what the best route to take is in terms of funding your education. Any of your thoughts or ideas are appreciated.
At that point you are pretty much relegated to either convincing a professor to offer you a research assistantship directly (which is something many are hesitant to do for MS students who have no intention of pursuing a PhD) or else taking out loans. Alternatively, you could go into industry for a couple years and then have them pay for your MS.
I was thinking I might pursue an external source of funding, like through NSF or something to conduct research with a professor. A few of the schools I looked at had special internship programs or similar which would be useful.
Most of those programs (though not all) prefer or even require PhD students.
You could contact the graduate director at the school you prefer and ask for advice on where to apply on campus for jobs. For example, there might be a tutoring office where you could work. But you really want an assistantship that will cover part of your tuition.
You might also become familiar with the employment section of your preferred university’s website. You can see what kinds of jobs for students that are being advertised there.
You can also ask your undergrad advisor in engineering for advice.
The NSF has a strong preference for PhD students and the deadline has passed. It’s around October ever year.
If you wanted to write a full grant - you couldn’t be a PI on it because you don’t have a PhD, and the funding cycle for that is so long that you will likely be finished or close to it before you get any funding.
Honestly, most people who don’t get an assistantship take out loans.
Another option (slim chances, but worth telling) is a graduate assistantship. This is neither research nor teaching, but many schools have administrative or student life positions that may cover some portion of tuition and fees or some living expenses or both. One of those, for example, is being a residential hall director. You supervise some resident assistants and respond to crises on campus. In exchange, you usually get free room and a small meal plan, and some universities also cover part of your tuition. Generally you have to have some RA experience. Most universities don’t have many of these, though, and often they prefer students in specific programs like higher ed administration or education.