<p>Who will be working while full-time in grad school?
I will be going for my master's full-time. I have applied to my school's graduate assistanship programs. The GA's are part-time, tuition remission and health insurance discounts. I won't know if I get one until the end of this month. I have also looked for part-time work for the university, but nothing really is available. I am hoping there will be openings come August.</p>
<p>Tutoring can be a good gig for a grad student. Some parents/students are willing to pay an awful lot more than you would think. Apparently desperation loosens the purse strings. If you did especially well on the SAT, ACT, or GRE, people will hire you just to tutor for that. Try to work as much as you can this summer, too - build up your bank account for when you're running low during the year.</p>
<p>It's tough, though, to really support yourself entirely off of work alone while in grad school. Don't ignore student loans - people try to avoid them so they don't have to pay them off, but when you're looking at ramen noodles for the 8th straight day, and you're wondering just how far you can turn down the heat in the winter to save money without literally freezing to death, you'll wish you had taken those loans. I always just stuck my loans in the bank - if I needed it, it was there, and if I didn't, I'll use it (and the interest!) to pay it off later.</p>
<p>Another good part-time gig in grad school is to babysit. Many parents in college town areas prefer college-aged students or graduate students to babysit their children before and/or after school (not to mention on the weekends). From what I've heard from friends who have babysat in graduate school, parents tend to pay a bit of a premium for graduate students as well (i.e. they won't pay you the $5/hr that you were used to getting for babysitting in high school or earlier).</p>
<p>does this apply to grad students in the science phd programs? can one receive enough fellowships to avoid work during his or her full-time enrollment? </p>
<p>i'm just a little concerned about my pending transition into complete self-sufficiency.</p>
<p>I didn't have to work outside school during my MS and I definately won't during my PhD. The stipend was enough with careful planning (I did take out a small loan, but am paying it off while in school).</p>
<p>Yeah, my stipend (which is completely standard for my program and for biology in general) is more than enough for me to live on.</p>
<p>How much are stipends for humanities/social science programs instead of science/engineering?</p>
<p>Most of the stipends in humanities i've seen have been $12,000-$14,000 for the year. But some places with higher cost of living give out larger stipends.</p>
<p>Can you live off of that? $12,000-14,000?</p>
<p>I've never tried. I've got a few years before I start applying, i've just been trying to get all my ducks in a row before I do have to try.</p>
<p>You figure if your school offers housing for grad students i've seen that for 1 bedroom run about $500 a month.</p>
<p>So, $6,000 a year goes to housing right off. I think the idea to take the loans and put them right into the bank was really smart, especially that first year when you're trying to figure out all the finances.</p>
<p>But i'm sure someone else up here can give you alittle more guidance than me.</p>
<p>Where you looking at applying? I've made a spreadsheet of alot on the east coast with things like the distance from my home and it's US News ranking in programs. But one thing I have for some of the schools is what there assistanceships are, so it may be helpful for you.</p>
<p>I'm looking at Midwestern and East Coast schools. Prefer urban/suburban area. I grew up in a large city (my parents don't live in the suburbs).</p>
<p>Lol, the stipend they are offeriing is for only $9000 for 300 hours each semester. I can live off of that: ramen soup for lunch and dinner, cereal for breakfast with powdered milk, and any free food from university functions (with ziploc bags to take-away). All you need are several pairs of heavy thermal underwear to get you through the winter. candles and hurricane lamps are really cheap and for bright lights, the library will do.
Tips: try to find an apartment complex that offers free utilities-heat and water are 2 of the most popular. My friend just survived his first year in grad school, at the same off-campus apartment. He's looking for a new place as we speak. He rented a house with undergrads and new professionals and he said it was way too distracting.
Tip 2: You get what you pay for, the cheapest rent may be that way for a reason, so shop around.
"Sellout, where on the east coast are you planning on going, I live in NJ right now?"</p>
<p>Is your $9,000 masters or Ph.D?</p>
<p>I've heard from alot of people to be careful whom you're around as far as housing. The cost of rent was well put, if it's super cheap, it's that way for a reason, just have to find the balance I imagine. </p>
<p>Still $9,000 plus $8,000 atleast in loans if you must, and you're free to work in the summer. Looking at the numbers, it doesn't seem impossible, not the standard of living some of us are use to. but totally doable (Obviously, everyone else has to do it)</p>
<p>I'm not trying to be picky. I'll have a 3.6 and midlevel GERs. I've FINALLY figured out a double major in History and Philosophy (Religious Studies) And i'd like to do alot of my work on Christianity (Catholicism) in American</p>
<p>I'm looking anywhere between UMass and UGA. I'm from Virginia so the closer to home, the more enjoyable.</p>
<p>My favorites have been Penn State because it's history and religious studies programs are in the same dept. Also, UNC and UVA. Of course, we want what we can not have, so I've been trying to find programs that match my stats and I've had problems really judging a school and how selective it is</p>
<p>Do these numbers seem crazy high to anyone else?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.payroll.uconn.edu/graduate.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.payroll.uconn.edu/graduate.html</a></p>
<p>I thought when I had looked early they listed it at $17,000 and I was going to post that link to show some of the higher stipends (Also expensive area though) but I couldn't that link and instead found this one.</p>
<p>the $9K stipend is for a master's program. I won't know until the end of this month if I got one of the 2 available. I am also hoping to get something else as a backup. THE GA also includes free tuition and free health payments. SO that initial $9K can stretch quite far. I prefer it that way rather than giving me a lump sum that I have to divide myself. I am not sure about summer jobs, since I will be going to school in the summer.</p>
<p>Thats my biggest worry (outside of getting accepted nowhere)-- getting into a MA program and get no funding for it.</p>
<p>Good luck getting the stipend though, and I would agree, getting it like a paycheck seems easier to manage than just one large lump sum.</p>