jj0505

Hello, I would like to talk about some funding situations. I got an offer from UC Berkeley as below. A stipend of $28,000 for living expenses in the first year. In the second through fifth years, the stipend, tuition and fees become the responsibility of the mentor, and may be paid through a variety of sources, including appointments as Graduate Student Researcher and/or Graduate Student Instructor. It's for a Ph.D. program related to bio. I want to ask what other people's funding offers are like. (especially bio-related ones) They told me during the interview, I could still get the money from TA if my mentor didn't have enough funding. I'm just afraid 1. The amount of the stipend will decrease over time/ by choice of my mentor 2. I wouldn't get to work with the professor I would like to work with because of funding. Is it common to get this kind of funding offer? 1st year guaranteed and from second year you get funding from your mentor?

I know nutrition is a small department and not a lot of people apply to nutrition programs. But I would like to share information if there is anyone out there! I have applied to UNC, Cornell, UC Berkeley, UW-Madison, Columbia and did some interviews until now! But one thing that I cannot understand is I did a phone interview with UNC about a month ago, and they want to do another phone interview. Does anyone know what kind of a situation this is?