stich09

Hey everyone. The numbers floating around for UCLA are slightly incorrect. Last year's offers were largely 24 k for ONE YEAR of fellowship, not two! This has been misinformation that even some graduate students within the program have. I have attached a screen shot of the acceptance letter below.

The breakdown was $24,000 first year for a fellowship (no teaching responsibilities). This money IS subject to taxation.
Then guaranteed TAship for years 2-5 starting at 17.7k+ and rising
 
The first three summers you are also given a 6k stipend. You have to apply for the a summer research mentorship but even if you don't get it the department will support you.
 
Health insurance IS included.

Also, word around the department is they are not offering that summer deal again or it might be changed. That part is total hearsay though.

http://i.imgur.com/EFYakv0.jpg

Hey everyone. The numbers floating around for UCLA are slightly incorrect. Last year's offers were largely 24 k for ONE YEAR of fellowship, not two! This has been misinformation that even some graduate students within the program have. I have attached a screen shot of the acceptance letter below.

The breakdown was $24,000 first year for a fellowship (no teaching responsibilities). This money IS subject to taxation.
Then guaranteed TAship for years 2-5 starting at 17.7k+ and rising
 
The first three summers you are also given a 6k stipend. You have to apply for the a summer research mentorship but even if you don't get it the department will support you.
 
Health insurance IS included.

Also, word around the department is they are not offering that summer deal again or it might be changed. That part is total hearsay though.

http://i.imgur.com/EFYakv0.jpg

Most students at admit weekends feel exactly how you are all feeling now. Having gone through the process with no idea with what was going on, here is what I think would be useful to ask now that I am in a grad program:
 
1. What classes will be offered next year?
 
2. What classes will you be teaching next year?
 
3. How have students you advised faired on the job market in recent years (this is very important)?
 
4. What is your philosophy for the types of courses grad students should be taking in their first couple years (i.e. methods classes vs. seminars, etc.)? There is a surprisingly large amount of variation on this and it will be useful to know where your potential advisers stand.
 
5. What do you think I should know about your program? What are your strengths and weaknesses compared to other programs?
 
I would also recommend talking to grad students about all of these things. They will often provide a different picture of the department than profs will. I think the best information I received about programs was talking to current grad students.

There may be a thread about this somewhere else, but I wanted to get one going specifically for political science. Questions! They offer to answer them in the phone calls, in the emails, in the letters, but what kind of questions should we ask?
 
Seriously, this is becoming a personal problem for me. I don't want to look like I'm not interested in the offers I have or that I don't know the first thing about graduate studies (which I guess I don't), and I really do want to find out more about what my opportunities are here. So, any advice? What do you guys ask about?

I know I'm supposed to relax over the weekend but it's not happening.

Take a look at the discussion here: http://www.poliscijobrumors.com/topic.php?id=86569.