erdingerchamp66

HI All, These should be announced any day now, if they haven't already. The thread at academic jobs wikia doesn't have any new info, so I thought I'd post here to see if anyone knew anything. Thanks!

Just got accepted to Germany. Research, full grant. emailed 03/18, rec'd 13:23 EDT - I'm sort of on top of the world right now!

This depends greatly on where you are. 25k in New York City is nothing. 25k in Birmingham, AL is a completely different story.

based on last year's update, we appear to be overdue.

Germany, you?

I'm at USHMM working on my dissertation.

I'm in DC too!

"The final regulations provide that if an employee does not have the status of a full-time employee, then the employee’s normal work schedule and actual number of hours worked per week are relevant factors in determining whether the service aspect or educational aspect of the employee’s relationship with the employer is predominant. Thus, if an employee is normally scheduled to work 20 hours per week, but consistently works more than 40 hours per week, the amount of time actually worked is taken into account in determining whether or not the employee qualifies as a student." [emphasis mine] How it gets reported to the IRS is one thing, but the actual fact of the matter is another. If you (or the school) were to get audited, something like this could, conceivably, come out.

This gets into murky legal waters. Technically, yes, most students employed by their university are exempt from FICA taxes, but there are all sorts of qualifications. The most pertinent is that if the employment is determined (by the IRS) to be paramount, then taxes should be paid. One of the ways they make that determination is based upon time spent working. If you work full time as an employee (not what you're supposed to work, but what you actually work), then you owe the taxes. Most graduate students I know would fall under the full time ruling. Of course, that does not mean that the taxes are necessarily withheld, but that also doesn't mean they are not owed. It would probably never get to you, unless you got audited, at which point there would be all sort of penalties, not the least of which would be the interest owed. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-regs/td_9167.pdf

See the below. 18K on top of tuition and insurance is not a bad offer, but it's also not very much in the DC area. That's only $1500 a month (assuming you spread it over the year), assuming no taxes at taken out (and Virginia has a state income tax, on top of both federal income and FICA taxes, assuming they withhold). It's possible to live on this, but you'll have to get roommates, no other way. For example, the cheapest studio apartments in Northern Virginia go for upwards of $1000/month. Good luck. From here: http://provost.gmu.edu/support/presidentialscholar.html The Presidential Scholarship What is this scholarship? The Presidential Scholarship is a program of support for first- time Ph.D. students. It is intended to assist George Mason in recruiting doctoral students of the highest caliber, and is offered and administered by the Office of the Provost. Who can receive this scholarship? This scholarship is offered to students by the Office of the Provost. Students are nominated for this scholarship by the department they have applied to. Requirements for nomination include that the student: Be a first-time Ph.D. student, and Have a minimum GPA of 3.5 in the most recently earned degree, and Have a minimum combined math and verbal GRE score of 1,200 (score earned within the last five years). What is provided by this scholarship? The Presidential Scholarship includes: A Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) from August 25 through May 24, and A salary of $18,000 from August 25 through May 24, and A tuition grant covering nine credit hours in the fall and nine credit hours in the spring, and Subsidized health insurance (provided that eligibility is met). The maximum term of the scholarship is three years (six semesters). Students cannot receive more than one term of this scholarship. Scholarship renewal is dependent upon the scholar having a minimum cumulative 3.5 GPA at the end of their first and second years under this scholarship. They also must be making continuous progress towards their dissertation, as determined by their graduate program.

External funding could actually work in your favor, but I cannot see how it would work against you. Many programs only admit students they can fund fully. External funding eliminates the possibility that they won't admit you for lack of funding for you. It also guarantees that you'll be paying tuition as long as you keep your grades up, another thing that a "regular" student cannot offer. I would mention the external funding early and often.

Can you guys share the letter contents, especially the numbers?

Most likely. According to the spreadsheet, in previous years, all of the decisions have come on the same day, but one never really knows until one gets their own email.

So mine was application rejected a few days ago, but now it's changed back to application submitted. I wonder what this means!

I got selection made last year, but still did not get a grant. I got application rejected this year though ... Bummer.