D is looking at a couple options for her UG college, one considerably less expensive than others, but not her first choice. I have often read on these forums that it can be wise to spend less on the UG degree to save for a Masters or higher degree, but I have also read that those costs are often covered.
D is not interested in med school or law school (current plan is Anthropology).
So, I’d like to hear from those of you who have been through the process.
A PhD in Anthropology should be fully funded. If she doesn’t get full funding for that, they are telling her she isn’t really good enough.
A master’s degree in Anthropology might have some funding and it might not. If that is likely to be the case, then she should plan on paying for it herself.
It would depends on the funding and the school. If the professor has grant money to support student or the school offer TA or GSI position, then the student would have some income to cover the cost. I did my PhD with full financial support many years ago. At the first school, I got a scholarship to cover tuition cost and a stipend for living expenses. Then I transferred to another school with my supervisor that I need to pay tuition (very small amount) but with a larger stipend. Neither school has undergraduate so there is no TA/GSI position available. I was just paid from research grant money.
My daughter applied directly to PhD programs and was accepted with funding to some but another peer school accepted without funding and I don’t think it had to do with ‘good enough’ but with lack of funds available. If you aren’t good enough they aren’t going to accept you at all and waste everyone’s time. Sure some others got funding there so she wasn’t the number one pick, one from her college who already had an MS likely was. She asked what was up and they said budget. The idea was that she would start the MS as a payer and move into funding in the Phd phase or earlier but she accepted elsewhere with funding.
Funding consisted of a 2 year or 4 year guarantee of tuition waiver, and a TA or RA position with pay in this case as it is negotiated by the teacher’s union, and university health insurance. After that at her institution you either continue under a professors funding or your continue to TA or RA and it isn’t a problem to continue to do that with a waiver. This is a STEM field and those are typical funding. I am sure it is more difficult in non STEM. And in both areas funding a MA/MS is not easy.
I would suggest that she can’t really tell if she will want or need grad school at this point or in what. So having money available is a bonus if it comes up that she needs it.
DS had an assistantship and scholarships that covered about 1/3 of his grad school costs in music performance.