Graduate School Funding For Low-Income Students

Graduate School
1

<p>Any advice from those experienced in graduate school funding would be fully appreciated.</p>

<p>I will be attending Haverford College on a Questbridge scholarship (full tuition, room & board, etc.). If you are not familiar with the Questbridge program, it is focused on helping low-income, high achieving students get full scholarships to the nation's top liberal arts colleges and universities. Coming from a family headed by a single mother, I have known that only hard work, intelligence, and perseverance gets an individual ahead in life. You may think that the advice I seek is too premature; however, if you knew me, you would realize that I am foremost a planner and organizer. </p>

<p>With these details out of the way, I would like to ask how I should go about my undergraduate education at Haverford so that I may find funding for graduate school. I realize that graduate school financial aid is primarily merit-based as opposed to undergraduate need-based financial aid at top schools. Hence, how can I position myself at my top liberal arts college in a way that would maximize my chances at obtaining a financial aid package similar to my undergraduate one? I understand that if I were to major in math/science/etc., I could easily have a TA/RA that would fund my graduate education; however, I am not interested in these fields. My interests lie primarily in the social sciences and humanities where, I believe, obtaining funding is more difficult. In what ways can I make this process easier and how should I go about my undergraduate education to ensure that my graduate school dreams become a reality five years from now?</p>

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<p>That depends on which specific field you’re talking about. For example, I certainly consider business to be a social science (as it certainly ain’t a natural science), and the funding opportunities for those getting PhD’s in business can be lucrative almost to the point of ridiculousness, especially when you factor in the side-consulting/side-business opportunities. For example, I heard of a guy getting his PhD in business economics/finance at Harvard who not only gets a full fellowship stipend, but also gets paid to TA two courses, and, most lucrative of all, consults for several venture capital and technology strategy firms on the side. So not only does he not pay a single dime for grad school, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was making 6 figures. {Nevertheless, he’s still incurring a large financial opportunity loss for if he quit grad school, he could easily join a venture capital firm and easily make several times what he’s making now.} Similarly, I know of psychology grad students who make significant consulting fees in working for strategic marketing firms on the side to apply their research to helping companies generate demand for their products. {For example, it has been found that certain types of store background music induces customers to not only buy more, but to buy more of certain products, and I know some grad students who are paid to figure out what music induces what sort of buying behavior.} </p>

<p>I think if you’re really worried about money, you should be studying a research topic that can be marketed to business. And, you should attend a grad school in a major business location, i.e. NY, Boston, SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago etc. That way, you will always be able to find lucrative consulting opportunities.</p>

3

<p>I will assume that the OP’s interests in the humanities and/or social sciences will continue unabated, and that he will eventually be interested in doctoral programs other than business.</p>

<p>I must admit that providing advice is difficult without knowing the OP’s precise research interests within the humanities, but it is too early for the OP to know what his area of specialization might be. Given this, here are some general guidelines.</p>

<p>– Distinguish yourself in your undergraduate classes.</p>

<p>Letters of recommendation from the professors with whom you’ve taken classes (especially in your chosen discipline) will factor into doctoral admission. Cultivate good professional relationships with your undergraduate professors by being an attentive student who not only meets deadlines and advances class discussion, but who develops and demonstrates passion for a particular area of research. </p>

<p>– Study languages early.</p>

<p>Choose the ones that are pertinent to your area of intended research specialization. This will be critical for PhD admission. Most humanities PhDs require that one can read both French and German, but undergraduate acquisition of other languages can also be essential (e.g. Italian for some areas in Art History, or Greek and Latin for Classics).</p>

<p>– Seek out opportunities to do research.</p>

<p>In the humanities, research will mostly consist of writing research papers, so eventually, doing independent studies with professors and writing a senior thesis will be important. Use to learn the research tools appropriate to your chosen discipline, and deploy these tools in your senior thesis. (If in a historical discipline, learn to use archives. If in a sociological or psychological discipline, learn to do quantitative research, and learn about IRB guidelines. If in an anthropological discipline, get some kind of fieldwork experience.)</p>

<p>– Prepare for GRE exams.</p>

<p>Developing the appropriate test-taking skills to achieve very high GRE scores will help you not only in admissions, but in qualifying for fellowships offered by the universities to which you are applying. </p>

<p>– Learn about national fellowship programs applicable to your chosen discipline.</p>

<p>Your professors in your major will be the best sources of information for your field. In your junior year, you might wish to broach this topic with your advisor. (Woodrow Wilson Foundation fellowships can be applied within some humanities areas, for instance.)</p>

<p>– Let your interests guide you, but remember that your interests will change.</p>

<p>You will change and develop both as a human being and as a scholar during your undergraduate years. Don’t plan or schedule your entire four years of coursework right now. You never know what field might end up becoming your focus. For your first two years, take classes in many different disciplines. You cannot know yet what your eventual direction will be!</p>

<p>Best wishes to you.</p>

4

<p>sakky, this person didn’t even say that s/he was interested in business. </p>

<p>It is possible to get funding in social sciences and humanities if you look around hard enough. For PhD, it’s almost always possible but you will have to read the school’s offers carefully as some might only cover the first two or three years while most top programs will do five years of full support. For the MA, you might be best to look at lower-tier schools for better funding chances but it’s not always completely funded.</p>

<p>If financial support is very important to you, I would encourage spending a year or two saving up for your living expenses while taking out loans for your tuition only. You should NEVER EVER pay for your PhD. </p>

<p>Since at this point, you’re not clear about what you’d like to do in graduate school and WHY, I wouldn’t worry about anything until second semester sophomore year or junior year. Just do well in school (get a GPA of 3.3 or higher) and find a major you love that you will be happy doing research, and keep exploring career options. Most graduate schools will certainly ask what you plan to do with the degree (as opposed to undergraduate).</p>

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<p>The person said he was interested in the social sciences, of which I consider business to be one. {Like I said, business certainly isn’t a natural science.} </p>

<p>I also talked about psychology, which is also a social science. My discussion is also equally relevant to regular economics (also a social science). I basically consider business to be an applied social science. </p>

<p>My point is, if you are really worried about funding, then the best thing to do is choose a research topic that is highly marketable. That way, even if you don’t get funded, you can always find side consulting. For example, I know one girl who studied the social psychology of the venture capital and private equity industries. Believe me, she never has to worry about finding consulting work. Heck, she has to beat them off with a stick.</p>

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<p>I did not say that I was interested in business, although I did not preclude either. I appreciate everyone’s opinion and perspective on my situation. Anymore advice would be more than welcome as well :)</p>

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<p>“only hard work, intelligence, and perseverance gets an individual ahead in life”</p>

<p>This is totally unrelated the purpose of your post, but if you truly believe this, I cannot recommend a book to you too highly. Check out Malcolm Campbell’s “Outliers”. This would be an appropriate time for you to find out the information as it relates directly to your feelings about being able to make it in life on simply hard work, intelligence and perseverance. Not to spoil the book for you, but you may find that there are factors that account for success well beyond these three things. Think about all the hard working, bright and dedicated individuals in the ranks of middle management or worse, in this country. This book also discusses a 10000 hour rule where Campbell observes that people who seem to be statistical outliers in their success, really just had ten thousand hours of practice in the right things before their peerset.</p>

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<p>Strangely enough, you don’t even have to really care about business to get your PhD in business. I know plenty of business PhD students and even plenty of business professors who don’t know much about business and don’t care to know. They would have fit in perfectly fine in a regular social science department such as economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. </p>

<p>Let’s take Harvard and psychology as an example. Obviously, you can get get your PhD in the psychology department at Harvard. On the other hand, you can also do it through the Organizational Behavior program at Harvard Business School. Depending on the advisors you choose, the two options can be practically indistinguishable from each other from a research standpoint. You can spend all your time in William James Hall, where the psychology department is. Your main advisors, including your Committee Chair, can be from the psychology department (you do need one advisor from the business school, but that person can effectively be just a ‘reader’). You can choose to research a purely theoretical psychology question. You can choose to target purely psychology journals for publication. Your qualifying exam and qualifying paper will be administered by the psychology department. Almost all of your courses can be taken within the psychology department (only a small minority have to be in the business school). And yes, there are graduates who place in tenure-track positions in psychology departments, not in business schools. Tal Ben-Shahar graduated with a PhD from the Harvard OB program and immediately placed in a faculty position in the psychology department (back at Harvard). Now he’s a famous freelance speaker and author about the power of positive thinking and who has been a guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His committee chair was Ellen Langer, of the Harvard Department of Psychology.</p>

<p>[Home</a> - talbenshahar.com](<a href=“http://www.talbenshahar.com/]Home”>http://www.talbenshahar.com/)
[Tal</a> Ben-Shahar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tal_Ben-Shahar]Tal”>Tal Ben-Shahar - Wikipedia)
[Ellen</a> Langer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Langer]Ellen”>Ellen Langer - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>The major difference between doing your PhD in the Harvard psychology department and in the OB department at HBS is the sheer lavishness of the resources of the latter. Not only will the OB program give you a guaranteed stipend, but the stipend is much larger (I think by about $11k a year) than the psych stipend, and, most importantly of all, requires no teaching. If you do decide to teach anyway, then you just pocket that extra money. Once you pass your quals, you get your own office at the business school. Not just a desk in some shared room, but your own office. You get access to the HBS gym (Shad), a fitness center that is so plush that it should be part of the US Olympic Federation’s elite training facility. Nobody outside of HBS - not even the rest of Harvard - has access to Shad.</p>

<p>And then of course, the most generous perk of all - so generous that to this day I still find it ridiculous - is that you can also get a Harvard MBA for free. That’s right, completely free, as the school will pay for everything. Now, granted, it will take an extra 2 years, and you will still be required to finish your PhD (and if you don’t finish, you will be expected to pay the MBA tuition back). And, yes, it is quite challenging to fit in a full MBA program around an active research project. But, still, with a Harvard MBA, I think you no longer have to worry about money. You will always be able to find a decent-paying job somewhere.</p>

<p>The point is, if you are considering a social science, and if you’re worried about funding, you should carefully consider looking to do your program through a business school. That is, after all, where the money is. All of the problems with student funding that pure social science departments often times experience; they just aren’t a problem at business schools. </p>

<p>Nor is Harvard the only example. Stanford offers a PhD in Organizational Behavior through the Graduate School of Business. So does Berkeley through the Haas School. So does the University of Chicago through the GSB. So does UCLA through the Anderson School. Now, granted, the student funding at those schools isn’t as lavish as it is at Harvard Business School (I don’t think anywhere else is), it’s still almost certainly going to be better than at a pure social science departments. This is one of the most fantastic deals available in graduate education. </p>

<p>Now, if you’re interested in the humanities, then admittedly, this doesn’t help you. But if you’re interested in the social sciences, I think it behooves you to keep what I’ve said in mind.</p>

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<p>Sakky, thanks for elucidating your suggestion. It’s very persuasive! I have not taken any psychology courses in high school, although I plan to take Foundations in Social Theory and Foundations of Psychology next year at Haverford. This seems like a very tantalizing option for funding. Thank you again.</p>

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<p>Woww, where can I get photos or videos of this Shad gym?</p>