madcalicojack

How often do English MA's get funding? I'm in engineering and masters students are rarely funded. I'd say that if the probability of getting funding next year is low, you should decide this year to poop or get off the pot in terms of grad school. If getting a graduate education is what you want to do, do it now. Take the financial hit while you're young. You have the rest of your life to work. The longer you stay out of school, the more difficult it gets to go back. As your "real world" income increases, so does the opportunity cost associated with going back to school. Also, by starting now, you may be able to get a TAship or something next year. As an alternative, if you just want a masters and you don't care that much about about doing any meaningful research, there are many accredited online programs that offer practical masters degrees. (i.e. no thesis - intended for working professionals, not academics) Most employers have some sort of tuition reimbursement that you may be able to take advantage of. Of course if you are considering an academic career, this will not suffice.

I also plan on reapplying since I think I will be able to put together a stronger application once I've had a bit more research experience. I also re-took the GRE in order to get some extra fellowship money at Texas and my scores are stronger now. It'd be great if they offered 1600 awards next year! Of course there is the outside chance that we won't need to reapply next year right?

I guess I should have mentioned the soul-stifling summer heat. 85 in February is abnormal, but 113 in July is par for the course. The summer heat is truly miserable, but so is the winter cold just about anywhere else that isn't California or Florida. We have 8-9 months of truly gorgeous winter, and if you need to scratch an itch for snow, Flagstaff is 2.5 hrs. up the road.

I'm married with an 8 month old son and 3 dogs. I'm fortunate in that my wife teaches for an online university. It's a part-time income, but she can do it from home, even if where "home" is changes. My financial awards and her teaching ought to just make ends meet, but it won't be that comfortable. I saw in another forum someone wondering how they could ever spend $30,000 as a grad student. How life changes once you've been in the "real world" for a couple of years. An obvious idea for making ends meet: Public transportation in most cities is really good if you're travelling to or from a university, and in many places students ride free. Become a 1-car family. Losing the second car can save hundreds per month. Another: If you have any financial awards that are paid in large chunks, put the chunks in relatively high-yield accounts. i.e. if you get a fellowship as one big yearly chunk, put half in a 6-month CD, or talk to a financial professional about how to get the best yield. Don't just toss it in your checking account.

I've done two undgrad degrees at ASU (polisci and mechE) It's a good school. The weather is great, the campus is fairly nice, and Tempe has a pretty cool vibe. The president is kind of crazy with the whole "New American University" thing, but he has brought a lot of research money to the campus. (If you want any of that money, make sure to attach "bio-" to the front of any proposal titles.) I'd say the only real drawbacks are the "party school" stigma (which is starting to fade) and the ridiculously large student body which the university is aggressively trying to increase. Overall, If they have a good program in your research focus, I'd recommend ASU if you don't mind studying on a large campus.

I believe this is incorrect. When you pay your own tuition and fees, you can deduct them on your taxes, so I doubt your tuition and fee waivers are taxable. You may have to report them as income, but they should show up in your deductions so you won't end up paying taxes on them. If you must report it as income, it is probably worth your time to itemize your deductions to make sure you aren't paying taxes on that "income". Isn't it telling that a bunch of grad students are confused about the d@#$ tax code? http://www.fairtax.org !!!

I applied, but I do not have my hopes hung on receiving it. From what I gather, the awards are dependent on so many subtleties that they seem arbitrary. That is, it is almost impossible to predict what the indicators are for success. By federal mandate, they must be proportioned geographically, and the type of research they fund varies year to year depending upon what types of research NSF is interested in and on who happens to be on the review commitees. I guess the take-away is that nobody should feel hurt or diappointed if they don't get it. I also applied for NDSEG. I'd be thrilled to recieve either, but I won't let myself be too disappointed if I receive neither. Besides, there's always next year.

Accepted to UT Austin Waiting on CMU and UPenn Research: Controls/Robotics Good luck!

The fact that you are so incredulous may be telling. It is okay to feel disappointed, but your anger is misplaced. Your stats got you into that group of 4. After that, they are looking for someone they want to spend several years in close contact with. They may have simply liked being around the other guy better and there is nothing unfair about that. If your original post is an indication of your attitude in general, I can't say I blame them. It's a tough break. I'm sure you'll be as successful anywhere else you choose to go. But keep in mind that as a grad student you'll be around others as brilliant and qualified as you are. You'd best get over thinking yours doesn't stink.