GeoDUDE!

This isn't true. You can ask the school to release you. It's a bit bad taste, but no school wants a student who would rather (and can) go somewhere else. They will likely release you, however, it will probably burn some bridges. Sometimes its worth it: say your dream school/advisor randomly gets funding late into season and offers you a spot, you should try and go. While these are "legal" documents, they'd be hard pressed to claim any damages if you decided not to go. However, the other department would likely not accept you without you being released.

Ask about funding from your POI ?

If you want to go into a phd program you should apply to those? I would not go into any program without funding.

~10% but I tend to get it all back in the form of a return.

At my masters institution, i had a friend who did this. But this was for a masters, and his advisor and he worked very hard to find funding on campus, and he ended up doing waste management. He worked very hard to find a job, and worked very hard to stay on top. I think he is the exception to the rule. His job was also much harder than being a RA/TA. At happy hours you will hear students complain about their jobs ect, and it will be harder to relate. Most people will be fine with this though, its just extra difficulties that don't make things ideal. To keep it straight, if you weren't able to procure funding twice in a row, what chances when your there? This is something I would ask your POI. My bet is not much changes, other than the fact that you can write NSF grants with your POI directly. That could help, but acceptance rates for NSF grants are pretty low... not something I'd want to gamble thousands of dollars on. I suppose, though, if you are getting instate tuition, and you and your family can make do without you having an income (this is a personal matter), It could work out. People spend 5k on jewelry and other things, so spending 25k for a PhD isn't such a bad thing I guess. The thing is, I wouldn't take a part time job. TAing helps you learn how to teach, so its important if you want to be an academic. RAing, well you do research. An assistantship is part of the training to become a scholar. Doing a partime job as something else seems like it would be too distracting for me.

Really??? I had always thought it was private.... the more you learn! Yeah, there is a reason pretty much all top schools don't accept students without funding, even for masters.

UH is a private school. Self funding for a year is a nice way to waste tens of thousands of dollars, be alienated from your graduate peers, and not get enough done.

My tax guy has always taken my stipend + tuition waiver and combined that for taxable income. Then he took the tuition and put it against my income. So it is essentially untaxable but it still required to be part of your income.

it is part of your income and is taxable.

I wouldn't go to a place that wasn't paying me.... but everyone has their own decisions to make. No idea of the quality of the department.

That's also my experience. I didn't even get an HM with a E/E E/VG VG/F. Reviewer #3 is always the menace

Yeah... it's rough. Grant acceptance rates for NSF programs tend to be around 15% or less too, if I remember correctly. Better to apply to people who have already secured funding,if thats possible.

What would you like to accomplish legally ? Say the court forces acceptance, then your friend has to go to a program in which no one wanted her to be in. What damages can you likely prove beyond an application fee and a few hours of time ? Could she not get refunds on her plane tickets ect ? If she can't I suppose those could cost some money. A lawyer would laugh at this case, imo. Small claims might work. I think going through the university is really the only way to resolve this.

It could... you should ask that department if there MSc students can matriculate into their phd programs. Especially if your research advisor (if this is a research based masters) likes you and you want to conintue in his/her lab.

It all depends on when they apply for it... usually 6-9 months from submission for NSF grants.

not stupid, its not the most obvious question. I would ask the director of the grad program (usually this is some sort of professor). Or, asking a department secretary, if there isn't a director, will help you get in the right place.

You guys should never hesitate to ask about funding at your department/prospective department. It's not a touchy subject at all. You are going to have to get used to it at some point.

UH sure does have info about UH's funding. Perhaps ask them ?

There is good bbq there. I did my masters a few hours away from there, and was also very interested in there dept (I was going to work with slava). I don't think "Cornell" should have any weight, imo, as both departments are pretty comparable. I'm friends with one of the grad students working with them, hes a super cool guy too. Hopefully you can visit both before making your decisions.

Really hard pressed to find a better seismology program than wiens or wysession. Hate the city of STL, but department is great, loved it when i visted.

One of my colleagues, who recently got a TT at a top 30ish school, got her PhD from Perdue, if that's any indicator.

the world is out to get you.

If you want to stay in academia, without knowing exactly who your POIs are, WHOI or Chicago is the obvious choice.

If your interests have chanced in the time you apply... how do you know your interests wont change while in graduate school? Mine sure have. If your research interests don't change, you probably aren't doing graduate school right. Pick a department that you really like, and work around that. Don't go to a school thinking you will transfer: Those are much less successful than you think.

I guess you have it all figured out then .