awsaf174

Everything you said has been really really helpful! Actually, my family is not really fond of the idea of me going to Germany since my elder brother lives in U.S. and that is creating all the confusion for me. I cannot go to Germany and than regret that I didn't head for the states. I got accepted in the PhD program of 3 universities (Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and UT Dallas) but so far, no financial assistance at all! My mom's willing to provide me with the fund required for the first year (in U.S.) but I have to get an assistantship from the second year if I want to stay there. I just don't want to take her money and put her in a difficult place cause we have a bit of debt already and spending that much for me might not be the greatest idea. If I go to Germany I'll require less support plus If I can earn a bit I can split the living expense with mom. In addition, I'm not really sure about jumping onto the PhD train right now. Don't know if I have the patience. Sorry for rambling on like this. lol. But it's a lot easier to post here than to talk to someone face to face about all this! You've been extremely helpful! You've quite bolstered my confidence in Germany!

Your replies are really helpful. Thank you! I was confused but I think I have taken my decision at last. I'll be going to Germany if everything goes according to plan. Any idea how TU Darmstadt is? And how is living in Germany, in general? Once again, thanks a lot!

Thank you for your reply! I will browse the links you gave me. Hopefully it helps me decide my destination! And yes, I don't have much doubt about TUD's recognition!

Thank you for your reply. I still haven't decided. My mom will be my sponsor if I do go to Germany but that's only on paper I don't want to spend all her money for a masters degree. Are English tutoring opportunities mostly available? Really confused. Definitely set on leaving this year.

Well, there is no tuition fees in almost all the German universities but the living expense is really high (650-700 euros/month). So, If I go, I'll have to go knowing that If I can't earn that by working on or off campus than I'm really in trouble. The language will pose a problem in getting jobs, I reckon

Thank you for your reply! I emailed the Computer Science Department of both OSU and TTU. TTU CS grad adviser told me that TA decisions have not been taken yet and if I want I can join the International TA workshop before the semester begins but that it doesn't guarantee a TA position! On the other hand, OSU CS department didn't reply. I asked the grad college and they said I should contact the department about financial assistance. I emailed their grad coordinator and seemed like he had an auto response (within 3 to 5 minutes) ready for whoever asks about financial assistance: "We don't support every PhD student financially"! I have a relative in the same university though and he told me that TA decisions will be taken in the next two weeks. So, I am all confused right now. If I don't get any assistance from them I need to look at other options cause if I waste too much time waiting, I might end up getting my visa after the classes start. Btw, TTU already sent me my I-20!

Greetings fellow applicants! I applied to UT Arlington, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and UT dallas in their PhD in computer science program and so far heard back from two of them (OSU and TTU). Got accepted in both but nothing written about financial assistance whatsoever. People have told me to be patient and that soon the universities will make TA decisions and that I will get some funding but I'm worried that it won't happen! Since getting those replies I applied to a couple of German Universities - Saarland University (Masters in Computer Science) and Technical University of Darmstadt (Masters in Software distributed systems). I got accepted in both. Now I'm really confused as to what to do? Will doing my masters in Germany be a bad idea? They don't have tuition fees. The only thing I'm worried about is the living expense. If anyone here is thinking about going to Germany or knows about someone else's German experience, do share! Thank you!