John Stamos

I don't plan on making any decisions on my PhD choice until exactly April 10th, however, I think the absolute killer is waiting from April to August. IMO it will be way worse than waiting out November-March from the acceptances. Even with taking a month earlier in July to quit my job, for those of us who currently have full-time jobs with bills and rents to pay, we kind of have to stay in our jobs for a bit to pay things. There is now ZERO reasons for me to give two craps about my current job knowing I will be leaving it for the PhD in August. Any work that I start I won't have time to even see take off so there's no motivation to do any new projects. The fact that i can't also just quit now and do something fun due to bills and rent is just going make April-June absolutely brutal and boring, this is even taking into consideration that I'm working the bare minimum to not get fired. /end rant

Option 1. Work and save more money Option 2. Work till say June, quit job and travel the world... Option 3. Quit now and travel the world.

I think you are taking what I am saying too literally. Obviously I expect to work full time on my research and POIs projects. But officially the universities I have been accepted to cap employment at 20 hours a week. This is, on paper, simply important to assess hourly and semester wage. All I wanted to know from my question, regardless of major field, was what the average full time PhD student rakes in a year. Based upon these responses it seems the answer is $18K-$28k, which is what I found to be acceptable. I didn't want to low ball myself making $25k a year when other were making $80K, which is why I asked.

Indeed every single RA I have been provided has a max of 20 hours per week. I get it, yes, there will be work that I will be doing outside of this but the limit is indeed 20hrs per week. This is helpful when calculating hourly rate.

If I choose NC State for the mentor being the leader in the field and a really good fit over an ivy league without the better fit (more general acceptance and find your adviser latter) am I screwing myself by going to NC State? People keep saying that Ivy leagues don't matter for PhD grad school but then why am I so concerned about it when everything at NC State is perfect for funding and mentor? I'm so glued on the ivy league thing and people keep telling me I shouldn't be....but I must be for a reason....Right!??

So either way i split it I'm going from making 6 figures to basic poverty as a phd student. I get it and it is my choice. The PhD is way more important to me than money and a boring 9 to 5. With that out of the way...what is generally considered the average salary for a full tuition and stipend for phd students? All of the offers I have gotten place me at making about $20K a year with 20 hours a week as a RA/TA and then about $5K in the summer. Is this reasonable? I'm trying to gauge what everyone else in a phd is getting.

Pro Tip: If it is driving you crazy that you have not yet heard back from your programs. Call Them! I just did and I remained anonymouss just in case it would somehow reflect negatively for me calling. Never mentioned my name once and got the info I needed. It's such a weight off my shoulder to know for instance that UWashington hasn't even met yet due to the snow! Call them saying you are a phd applicant for ____ program and want to know 1) when/if the committee has yet met 2) when decisions are expected to be made. It's nice to know timelines. Not one of the 8 programs I spoke to indicated that I was pestering them. Just make sure to call the appropriate admin person and NOT the dean or something.

Well I'm undecided on what to do from April till August. I'm pretty confident I will be accepted to at least 3 programs so I can just work for 5 months and bank some money or quit and do some travelling. Why can't phd programs just start in April!

PM me yourSOP. I've already been told by potential advisers that mine is really good. I can read it and give your actual feedback if you like.

I have an interview coming up but it is not formal and the adviser has already spoken with me about a project to work on. And my app has already been reviewed just no acceptance yet. For all I can tell the interview is really just a meet and greet and is being specifically set-up for me meaning it's not like there are 5 applicants or other people coming. Is it safe to think that I'm the prime candidate or should I just assume that others are being interviewed as well?

OHSP, another thought for you - which is better choosing an ivy league with no personal adviser mentorship ala big program and feeling like just a number, or choosing a state school with an adviser who is a leader in the field and has already contacted me? Basically name recognition vs adviser? Which one matters more for landing an academic gig?

OHSP, when it comes down to it if one school is offering full tuition and an 18k stipend while the other is offering the same plus additional money per the adviser's research project, I'm going to be taking the latter offer. It only makes sense.

I'm in a job I don't like and am basically waiting it out until I hear back from PHD programs for this fall. What should I do say March,when I accept hopefully, until August? Should I keep working in my job or quit and take some time for myself. This would probably consist of living back with the parents and travelling. I mean once I'm accepted and know there is about 5 months until the program start I won't possibly be able to take work seriously and just be doing it for a paycheck. I honestly think this is a worse time period for waiting it out than hearing back from schools!

I'm just super anxious sense I will probably have 4 or 5 phd programs to choose from that if I choose a program and quit my current job, basically hang it all on the line for a school with adviser offering funding, what happens if the adviser loses the funding or does't follow through? I mean at that point from April (when i've decided) till August I will be committed to a program, have turned all the other schools down, ready to quit my current job, moved out of my apartment and planned to move to a new location. What if that guaranteed 30K for a project with an adviser falls through? Does no one else have these irrational fears? What would happen to the applicant? If they still get admitted it would suck to have turned down other schools with the assumption that the school they have accepted was offering more money only for it to fall through but some rare chance.

If I get accepted into a PHD program and accept does that mean I am good to go? I'm super nervous, and irrationally so I suppose, that say I chose my top program and have funding lined up that my adviser might move and say suffer an accident or something rare. If something like this occurs are you still guaranteed a spot like in undergrad? Is a phd different?