For my case, I recevied a fellowship for my first year of study and it says in the offer that PhD students who complete their first year successfully are normally offered for assistanship positions in the subsequent years. I heard that the Department has some funding problems in the past years, but I hope that I won't have to face with such a problem. However, aside from funding, I also heard that some students do not enjoy studying there, I wonder what is the reason behind it.
In addition to Berkeley, I am thinking of Georgia Tech. As far as I see, Georgia Tech PhD students are more active in research, and the faculty seems more interested in students. I am open to any comments for these two programs.
