lieutenantdan

Hah. I'm about to enter one that does, but I didn't know about all these funding structures at other schools existed until very recently. I'm debating now whether to go or not. I chose the school because it was a really good fit. They've offered a fellowship for my first year and a one semester fellowship after year 2. If I hold off on using that one semester fellowship until year 5, it becomes a year long fellowship. So, I won't have to TA or RA for at least 3 semesters, but I'm a bit worried about the others. I took the fit criteria to heart when applying to programs, opting to not apply to more financially robust programs that did not fit as well. I also figured I might have needed more study (read: a master's, which I don't have) to stand a chance at some of the higher up schools. But it seems now that going the master's route or applying to a school that is not as good a fit (but has more money) might have been a better option..

I encountered a program where the stipend every year comes from TAing/RAing (no more than 20hrs a week), unless you are on a fellowship. If you are on a fellowship, then the stipend/teaching money rolls over to the next semester or year. So, it seems that with that program it'd be in your best interest to be continually applying to fellowships, which I guess could be a good or bad thing. On the one hand it is slightly more work, on the other it's evidence of an ability to find money within the university and outside of the university. To be fair, the department does actively give you fellowships as well. They are just not guaranteed every year. So if a semester comes and they have not given you a fellowship or you have not secured one on your own, then you will be TAing or RAing. As for my last question, I meant does the money for that year or semester just disappear? But it's been answered. I think the general result is that money rolls over.

Hello, I've been doing some research on history PhD programs that require service to receive a stipend and those that don't. By service I mean some type of RA or TA position. Do programs that give a stipend without service, generally, differ from those that give a stipend with service when one receives some type of external fellowship to be used abroad? For example, program A gives $25,000 without service and you are in year 2. You would like to do 8 months abroad in your 3rd year for research on a fellowship you earned. The fellowship gives you a living stipend, insurance, etc. Do you still get the stipend money from you university, along with the fellowship stipend? What if you are at university that requires you to be an TA or RA? How can you accomplish the required task for the stipend money when you are abroad? Or do neither get the stipend money from their university? Thank you.