robot_hamster

Is it undergrad-only? Is it because you're not familiar/uncomfortable with the subject?

That's how a lot of people have to take classes at my school. Masters and PhD both, they don't differentiate. I'm taking a class right now that is a 400/800 level class. I'm a masters student, but there are some PhD students in the class.

Depends on the school. My school has a lot of classes that are undergrad (400 level) and then cross-referenced at graduate (800 level). There will be both undergrad and graduate students in the class, sometimes the professor will have the graduate students do extra work. For example, they need to write a longer paper and give a presentation while the undergrads do not. My school puts a limit on how many credits you can take in classes like these.

Thanks for your response! I am on the research assistantships "list", so they will contact me if something becomes available. My school is low on funding right now, so something like that would require a professor having a grant to work on a specific project. There are currently two open positions for non-departmental assistantships. I am not qualified for either of them because they require you know how to program computers and design websites.

That's a good idea. I do know some people at some of the MS/HS's, so that is definitely worth exploring. I can talk to them and ask if that is something that would be appropriate (they have gotten pretty strict about certain things since they've had problems with "weirdos" hanging around schools). Otherwise, I can just do a Craigslist ad, as suggested. Thanks!

I'm not sure how to interpret this post. I feel like it was a bit condescending. I'm getting impression that you think I feel entitled in some way. I had/have a job outside of school. I gave up my employment status in order to be a TA. Being a TA paid better and got my tuition waived. It was a better deal, so I took it. I knew I was taking a risk by letting my employment status go, but I had to in order to take the TA position (would have been impossible to TA and work the required hours at the other job). Now I'm sort of stuck because I can't regain my employment status at this other job (was told so, they hired someone else). I am now looking for another job that pays enough to pay the bills and allow me to continue through this semester as planned. I don't want to be set back even further, my graduation has already been pushed back twice because of other circumstances (problems with thesis, etc). ** Edited for clarity reasons.

Have you tried your local department of labor office? Mine has a website with job listings.

I heard good things about the Nook Tablet. They need to work on their PDF reader though. It's okay, but about the same (a little wonky) as the one on the Kindle.

Wow, I just assumed most grad students had a lounge. I mean, even when I was an undergrad working in a lab, there was a lounge located outside the labs. Plus a ton of grad students had microwaves and fridges in their offices. I thought that was the norm. I guess as long as people are griping, I do wish that my department was more helpful about things. It is sometimes very difficult to find someone who has knowledge about particular things when you're looking for assistance (say, on a project or something). You often get handed off to professor after professor and may not ever land on the "right" one.

Strangelight - I will ask. I am just being cautious with the optimism since I don't want to get my hopes up too high. I will look around at the other suggestions you made as well. Most of those types of jobs are minimum wage, so probably not what I'm looking for. If it comes to that, I will probably look outside the university. I wouldn't get tuition waived with those positions, so I might as well look for something that pays better on the outside. If that makes sense. Like I said a few posts back, I found something I might be interested in that pays well. I have to wait to apply though because it requires references at the time you fill out the application and I need to wait until Tuesday to ask people (tomorrow is a holiday, so no one will be around). Thank you for your suggestions. Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

We don't have microwaves or mini-fridges in our offices, but there is a lounge sits in the middle of a ring of offices. One doesn't have to go very far to mircrowave something. I used to do it all the time. Walk to to lounge, microwave, walk back to my office. Wasn't a big deal I guess. I could stay in the lounge if I wanted, but I usually had things I was doing. As for a place to take a catnap, we do have couches scattered about. But I'm not sure how quiet it would be.

Strangelight - I will ask the coordinator if we can do that. Like I said before, it is likely the areas where I would actually be of use already have their TA positions filled. The semester has already started here. But it doesn't hurt to ask them to ask around. I don't know about the bar/restaurant thing. I can't carry a lot of heavy things, so I think that would be hard. I am open to finding a job outside of school. I have to find something that pays well and doesn't require over a certain number of hours. I have to make enough to pay the bills, but I don't want to have to compromise on my classes. I don't want to be set back even more. If that makes sense.

You don't have a grad student lounge?

I just did a search on the department of labor's website. There is a position to work with high school students that sounds good. Problem is, the job was posted 12/28. That's 2 weeks ago.

mechnger - I could do biology (zoo, genetics, cell, etc), organic chem (I hate regular chem), and similar areas. I'm sure that these areas already have TAs. As for tutoring, I don't see these pop up very often either. ktel - That is true. I would probably be fine with high school level in a lot of things. I would just have to see what it was they were learning and then go from there.

What I meant was $4000 would be left over if I took out the maximum amount since tuition would have to be paid with the loan. I have considered tutoring, but I've been having a hard time finding someone that needs tutoring in areas I actually know something about. My GRE score was so-so, most likely why I was not initially offered funding. I could have done better, but I didn't have time to study for it.

I can try that (submitting my CV and a cover letter to other departments).

To answer your other questions, I can take out a loan. Unfortunately, I am left with about $4,000 after tuition is taken out since without my TA position tuition will no longer be waived. Savings? You're joking right? I don't have anything in savings since my stipend was barely covering the bills.

No, I haven't tried that yet. I'm not sure how I would go about doing that since most TA positions are not advertised.

I'm a masters student, priority is given to PhD students. My last paycheck was at the end of December. There was no warning, but there has never been any guarantee either. I wasn't initially offered funding, I had to work really hard to get my first TA position. The rest just sort of followed. I guess there just wasn't much to be had this semester. I was informed last week.

As the title says, I have lost my funding. It wasn't anything I did, it's just that there was a shortage of TA positions this semester. I have 2 semesters left to go, if I continue going full-time. Unfortunately, I had been relying on my stipend to pay the bills. I'm not sure how I will make it through the semester without it. I really don't know what to do. Has anyone ever had this happen?

Are you able to use it at school? That was a huge complaint that the Kindle Fire isn't compatible with proxy servers. Unless your school doesn't use one, then I guess it wouldn't matter. I'm just curious because this was the reason I didn't buy one.

I ended up with an iPad 2, which is much more than $200. The reason was because some of the good ereaders out there are not compatible with proxy servers and therefore are useless at school. I did hear that the Nook Tablet has proxy server compatibility. I tried it out at the store. It was so-so for reading PDF files. You could highlight (although a little wonky) and make notes.

Oh gosh yes, I'm scared to walk on campus by myself at night. You know, new year's eve has never been that much fun for me. There just isn't much to do around here. I don't care too much for loud drunk people, so we don't go out to bars or anything like that. Besides, those places are uncomfortably cramped. No one I know throws parties. My house isn't great for parties since it's the size of a shoebox. ***sigh*** I don't think you have to grow up though. If you want to go out, then go out. It isn't uncool to be 27 and hanging out at a bar. Maybe you just need to look around a little harder to find a crowd or atmosphere that is a better fit for you.

Were things pretty much the same in 2010. Could you estimate it based on what you reported to the IRS then?