<p>Do graduate schools offer financial aid to grad students and, if so, do they expect the parent to pay? I ask this b/c I want to know if I will be able to get financial aid from a grad school w/o having my parents' incomes taken into consideration.</p>
<p>I'm fairly certain that grad school fin aid does not take parents into account. At least mine doesn't. </p>
<p>And yes, grad schools offer financial aid.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! So then, do you think it would be wise for me to attend my state university in the hopes of attending my really really expensive dream college for grad school?</p>
<p>What's your "state university?" What are your options here?</p>
<p>Bard-package of ~$28K incl. loans, scholarships, and work-study out of ~$46K
UCONN-package of ~6K scholarship only out of ~$17K plus Honors program
Barnard-some ridiculously large loan to cover $47K
Wellesley-probably same situation as Barnard
(costs include tuition, fees, books, etc.)</p>
<p>I really wanted to leave CT for NYC but both Bard and UCONN are rural...and I like small classes</p>
<p>I'd say go to the school that you think will offer you the most resources as a student, as long as it's reasonably affordable. Barnard sounds a bit expensive, but if you think you can swing it, go.</p>
<p>Grad school funding is usually quite different from undergrad funding.</p>
<p>How is it different?</p>
<p>Well, for one, I'm pretty sure that parental income is not factored in (I may be wrong, but when I filled out my FAFSA, it just skipped over the parents section.)</p>
<p>I'm a bit confused.
Barring the extremes, wouldn't most to-be grad students be pretty desperate financially? It would SEEM that most graduate students would receive a lot of money then? </p>
<p>but...school's... being... generous... with ...money??</p>
<p>Depends on the programs. PhD programs tend to be fairly generous compared to say MA programs. </p>
<p>A lot of grad students receive fair amounts of funding.</p>
<p>You reply ridiculously fast.</p>
<p>I see. I'll keep that in mind.
Possibly, does the same fair amount of funding also apply to MD students?</p>
<p>I'm under the impression that funding for MD students is usually loans with more loans. The schools can justify this because most practicing doctors will make decent enough salaries to afford the burden later on.</p>
<p>What's more important in the work force, where I went for undergrad or where I went for grad? Which will be the most exciting time, undergrad or grad?</p>
<p>Most of my friends have said that they had more fun in undergrad.</p>
<p>Your grad degree usually matters more for your employment</p>
<p>It really depends on the school and the program. Some schools (Stanford) do take the parents income into consideration for grad/professional school. </p>
<p>The majority of students in MA programs are not fully funded. Some schools will give you grants/scholarships to cover a class or 2 (if you are attending full time) but the majority of the FA package is loans.
However, you can get your grad school education paid for a number of different ways:</p>
<p>many students go to work after undergrad for employers who offer tuition remission (both of my masters and part of my Phd were funded by my employer)</p>
<p>In NYC if you work as a math or science teacher (because these are shortage areas) the Board of Ed will pay for your masters (since it is a requirement for permanent certification). If you work for the NYC board of Ed as a teaching fellow, they will pay for your graduate degree. If you want to become a bilingual school guidance counselor (another shortage area) the Board or Ed will fund your graduate degree.</p>
<p>Grad students also get work study where they work as research asstistants, etc. Some become resident advisors/dorm directors because at many they get free room and a stipend (at NYU is is about $5000).</p>
<p>At the PhD level many students are fully funded however you are required to work 20 to 30 hours a week as TA/ research assistant for which you are paid a stipend in addition to tuition remission (about $22,000/yr).</p>
<p>Med and law schools the FA is mostly loans unless you are doing joint MD/PhD (to become researchers which are really hard programs to get into. I would suggest talking to Optimizerdad as his D is in one) programs or going into law/med school programs where you will be working with the poor or underserved (which you will be given loan forgiveness after so many years of service usually 5 to 7). If you end up not working for one of these programs, you must reimburse the university.</p>
<p>went to class the other night and my Professor who sits on the admissions committee for the Psych PhD program used admission to the program as an example of multiple regression in predicting grad school performance.</p>
<p>She said for their department they look at:</p>
<p>GRE scores
Grades
Letters of recommendation (which are coded +/- )
Prior research experience (Yes =1/ No=0 )
Personal statement
Program you are looking to be admitted to as they like to match professors up with students for reseach.</p>
<p>So, I think that you need to look at the strength of each program (depth, breadth and range of the topics covered), the opportunity to do research and internships in the field.</p>
<p>What grad schools offer the best financial aid packages?</p>
<p>depends on the type of program (masters or docotrate ) and your major in addition to the stuff I mentioned in the may last posting</p>