robot_hamster

Wow, you guys sure are quiet all of the sudden. Anyway, it is really difficult to tell where this is going right now. Does this sound like it is satisfactory progress? Or am I missing something?

Oh, I forgot to ask. What should I say to the professors if this person manages to set up meetings for me (read the post right above this one)? Should I just talk about what my research interests are? I will probably want to research the professor before hand to see how their interests might overlap mine. Hmm... Again, does it sound like I am heading in the right direction? Or is there something else I need to be doing?

**********UPDATE********** Well, I'm not really sure who to believe at this point. I was told today that the reason I did not get funding was because my application was not complete at the time of review. The piece that was missing? A faculty member agreeing to be my adviser. I went back through e-mail after e-mail, informing me of this piece and that piece and what I was still missing. Never was emphasis placed on getting an adviser. Only once was it mentioned that "if" I had found someone to let them know so they could make note of it. But they never said that if I didn't have an adviser that I would be completely excluded from consideration. In fact, once I had my adviser, the secretary told my adviser and myself that I would be considered for funding (this was a verbal conversation). So why is it now that I am unearthing all of this?! Why was it not made clear from the beginning? Ugh! I am so frustrated at this point! So, now what? Well, I am supposed to be on the top of the list for consideration when it comes to TA positions. That really is the best I can hope for. Meetings with faculty are being set up so that I can hopefully find someone that has similar interests to my own. With any luck, someone will have a position open for me in the future. Unfortunately there are no guarantees. I feel like I shouldn't be confused anymore and yet I am. Are these just more empty promises? I am cautious about getting my hopes up. I certainly want things to work out. Does it sound like I am doing the right thing here? I went higher up just like you all said.

Is that really what that means? I had no idea. Maybe I was a complete idiot for going at all then. It is really difficult to tell how many people actually have funding. I was told by them that they really did not have funding available and that only a select few (like 4 or 5) would be receiving anything. Of course this was coming from someone who acted annoyed that I would even ask (the program coordinator and secretary). It seems like the more students I talk to, the more I am hearing that they have some sort of funding. Perhaps not complete tuition, but they have something. I know it is not common in some other programs for people to have funding. Then again, these are people who have been in the workforce for quite some time and they are getting their advanced degree in their "spare time". They aren't like me, trying to go full time and work over 25 hours a week in some crap job and barely able to make ends meet.

Okay, thanks for the comments and advice. I think I'll try contacting someone higher up and see what happens. I'm just afraid that they will tell me I haven't been looking hard enough. But, seriously, I don't think it should be my job to hunt down every single professor and ask them if they can possibly help me out with mentoring or research ideas. It would really help if I had gotten an assitantship. I have to spend all of my "free" time working at a department store just to make ends meet. If I had gotten an assistantship, I would have been surrounded by people who could help me. Or... so I would like to think anyway.

I'm not in humanities. I'm in science (ecology, mostly). I don't know if that matters or not. I was starting with a masters and then perhaps progressing on to a PhD.

Medievalmaniac - Do you mean the school's director? There is a director of the umbrella school under which my program lies. Or do you mean the specialization (department) leader in the area I am interested in? I do not have a specialization declared and my adviser is in a department that is included under the massive umbrella, but is not one that I am interested in. My adviser happens to be the leader for his department. I hope that makes sense. I guess I am confused as to who I should go to first.

Were you addressing this to me?

Have you thought about doing something with historical geography? Just a thought.

I posted on here a long time ago. Okay, it hasn't been THAT long. I think maybe back in March? Anyway, I was pretty limited with my choices for graduate school. My husband is finishing up his degree and he really doesn't want to leave after being over halfway through his program. Understandable. So I applied for graduate school at the local university (as some of you may recall, I also did an undergraduate research program over one summer at this same school). I was accepted. But to my shock and disbelief, I was not offered any kind of funding. No fellowship, no assistantship (TA or RA). Nothing. I pursued it, I asked everyone. No luck. Well, no funding then no grad school. Right? Well, apparently that isn't how things played out. I accepted admission, but wasn't really planning on going. I figured I could find a job over the summer, get some work experience, and delay my admission to grad school. After a summer of job searching with not so much as an interview to show for it, I started to panic. After all, I have undergraduate loans that would be coming due if I was no longer enrolled in a program. So I decided to go ahead with grad school and (gasp) take out loans to cover the expense. So now you know what happened with that. Now I am about a month into my first semester. No one with similar interests to my own would agree to be my adviser. That is, if they responded to me at all. It was such a nightmare! Finally, a professor from another department agreed to be my temporary adviser. He has been helping me and he is very nice, but he doesn't know a whole lot about what I am interested in. With only 2 short years, there is a lot of pressure to figure out what my thesis will be about too. So far, this has been so stressful for me. How can I explore possible research interests if people (namely, faculty) do not have the time to talk to me? I am also worried about wasting a semester on "incorrect" class choices, since I wasn't allowed to register until many classes were already full (a lot of the grad level courses also have an undergraduate component) my choices were pretty limited. I feel so out of place, unwelcome, and lost. I just don't know what to do and I feel like I have made a horrible mistake. I don't mean to sound like I am complaining. I am just looking for some guidance. I try talking to my husband about these things and he simply doesn't want to hear it.

I'm not looking to do a PhD at this point. One of my current professors said that I probably wouldn't need more than a masters. The graduate tuition at this university is about twice what their undergraduate tuition is. The funny thing is that it is still cheaper than my current school (I go to a private university). But my school also gives out grants and scholarships like they are candy. The university where my graduate program would be doesn't seem to be nearly as generous. Odd too, especially since they just got a few million dollars donated to them (it was on the local news).

Have I asked about TA/RA positions? You bet I have! I've been grilling the heck out of them and I'm not getting anywhere. But no, there are no such position available at this time. They were all already given to other people when the acceptance letters went out. As far as outside funding goes, I was completely unaware that there was such a thing until I stumbled across this forum. The career center at my current school isn't worth much, they haven't helped me hardly at all with this whole process. Sadly, I believe that application deadlines have passed for most of those opportunities anyway. And in regard to my ability to find a job after I get a masters, I really don't know at this point. I know that I could get A job with a bachelors, but it probably wouldn't be the kind of job that I would really want to have. I hope that makes sense.

I asked about TA positions and apparently they are awarded to people along with all the other offers for funding. Things aren't looking good for me.

As some of you may recall, I was admitted to my program with no offer for assistance. My spouse still thinks I need to go. But is it worth it to take out a loan for a masters? It seems stupid to take out even more loans, but I honestly don't know what else to do at this point. I was so hoping to receive a stipend and whatnot so I wouldn't be strained so much financially (believe it or not, a stipend would be more than what I make now at my crap job). What is everyone else's experience with this?

Unfortunately, I don't have any admissions at other schools to use as leverage. I guess I could have applied at other schools, but I would not have been able to attend them. My spouse is still finishing up college, so I'm sorta stuck at the moment. Not that this isn't a great school though, they have a pretty good program there for what I would like to get my masters in. I just don't understand what I did wrong. Was my application really that unattractive? My GRE scores weren't the greatest, but they weren't bad by any means. I thought for sure that my participation in their research program would have worked in my favor. I just don't get it, I thought they were practically desperate for grad students. Anyway, I have been talking to the secretary as well with not much luck. I have tried talking to the department head, but they just keep trying to refer me back to the secretary. Hopefully I can figure something out. If I do, then I'll let you know.

Okay, I just got my answer. I am accepted, but they will not be offering me any kind of assistance. I guess I was right in assuming that I am screwed. Where do I go from here? I guess I don't really know what my options are. Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm going to call them tomorrow. What would be the best way to ask? I don't want to sound too abrupt about it.

Last summer, I participated in a research program for undergraduates. Getting in to the program was quite competitive, but I was one of the few students chosen. The program was meant to give undergraduate students a taste of what graduate school is like. We had to go to various sessions regarding graduate school (the application process, taking the GRE, etc) that were in addition the the research projects we were working on. The people there kept stressing how the school desired more graduate school applicants and that funding was available. Now let's fast forward to the present. I am about to graduate with my bachelors degree. I applied for graduate school at the same school in which I participated in the research program. I thought surely my participation in their program would help me get my foot in the door. Well, I received my letter of acceptance for the upcoming fall in the mail and... there is absolutely no mention of an offer for funding. When I was applying, I was told that all applicants are automatically considered for funding and if an applicant was selected to receive funding, that information would be included with their acceptance letter. So does this mean I'm screwed? If I can't get assistance, then I can't go. It's as simple as that. What would be my best option at this point?