<p>S1 is a math/planetary science major at a top ten that is going to start applying to grad schools this fall (in planetary science). He is looking at;
Arizona, Berkley, Harvard, Stanford, and Maybe Cornell, perhaps others. My question is about money. The little I found online indicates most PHD students get full tuition and fees and a stipend. Do fees include insurance and how much is the stipend (I saw 1500-2200). Anyone with experience I would like to have an idea how he will do.</p>
<p>(S2 will start school (undergrad) when S1 starts grad school, so we need to plan.). Thanks</p>
<p>If he’s going for a PhD at a well known school he’ll be paid enough to live on. When I was applying to schools a number of years back this ranged from about $22k-$30k depending on the cost of living in the school’s area (the school with the lowest stipend offered probably had the highest quality of life due to it’s location being extremely inexpensive).</p>
<p>Insurance may or may not be included for free, though I do believe every school will offer some sort of health care program to its students. I know in my case it used to be free, then it went to $50 a term, and now it’s something like $150 a term. Still pretty heavily subsidized by the university.</p>
<p>Good info, insurance is always a concern, he is covered on ours but obviously by the end of grad school will be on his own. A little more than I thought for the stipend. Thanks!!</p>
<p>Depends on the school, department, and geography. Based on what I heard from others, engineers tend to get more than science majors. Most of the schools that I was accepted to offered a stipend of ~30K a year. Some schools also let you combine or keep part of external fellowships, so I l get around 40K.</p>
<p>I am a PhD student in math. I got funding offers ranging from $14K per school year (Indiana Bloomington, UT Austin) to $30K per calendar year (Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Berkeley). All of my offers came with some sort of health insurance, but coverage varied significantly. My current insurance covers almost 100% of the services provided by in-network providers (including the university hospital and the university health center), with minimal copays for medications and seeing a specialist without a referral. At another university the standard health insurance had a $1,000 yearly deductible plus 20% copays for in-network providers…</p>
<p>It also depends on location. I go to Columbia and although I’m not in your field, the standard stipend here for the sciences (I’m in a natural science department here, although it’s considered a social science in most other places) is a little more than $30K. I think it’s about $33K right now. After taxes it comes out to about $2,000 a month, maybe a bit more, which a single student with no dependents can live on comfortably but not lavishly.</p>
<p>My package also included health insurance, which is quite good. I was covered on my parents’ plan until today, which is my 26th birthday, lol. I didn’t consider the health insurance when I compared packages, but I should’ve! I just got lucky that this insurance is good and NYS law mandates that insurance covers birth control, which is important as I’m a woman!</p>
<p>happy birthday! $2,000 a month is good for most cities but not in NY, unless housing is also provided. I don’t see how that could work haha</p>
<p>Follow up question; to earn the stipend or fellowship do you TA, research, or a combination of the 2? I know you all do research but just curious.</p>
<p>All of the programs that admitted me for engineering required their graduate students to TA and the research is a given. Some programs, however, say you don’t have to TA if you have a major fellowship like the NSF because you have your own funding.</p>
<p>TA all depends on the program and your research group. I know many programs require TAing at least one class as a graduation requirement (even if you’re on a fellowship). In my case, I’ve had to TA seven or eight times now due to funding issues in my group. While I’m TAing I’m still expected to pull close to my normal load of research because that’s what’s eventually going to get me to graduate.</p>
<p>Thanks 
You have to find a really cheap apartment; the university subsidizes apartments nearby the campus but housing’s not provided. You make do - I had a roommate, and then I got a job that pays for my housing.</p>
<p>To answer the second question, in most programs it’s a combination of both. You’ll always have to do research, but then some programs require TAing as well. In other programs, you can TA for extra money but it’s not required. I’m personally on NSF funding, so I TA for the experience and the extra money, and I get to work with whoever I want as much as I want. Fellowships rock :D</p>