jblsmith

Let me ask you this: Have you done any independent research? Do you know what field you want to work in? Have you worked with any professors on their research?

My feeling is that they vary greatly from program to program. My offers were all between approximately $15k-$18K (and maybe $30k-$35k if you add the tuition waiver) but I wouldn't be surprised to see stipends well over $20k at Tier 1 universities.

I was on a waitlist for one program up until a week ago (May 21st or so). This may be due to the extremely small size of the program (Finance Ph. D. programs typically accept 1-3 students a year), but the lesson is don't lose hope! And as the Cubs' mantra goes: "There's always next year."

Hi Naser, I'm headed to UH this fall for Ph.D. Econ and got some funding. Part of my offer was a monthly stipend and another part was semesterly scholarships so it's hard to say difinitively what your "$1000 scholarship" means. Unfortunately, my guess is that becasue $1000 is a nice round number this is a semesterly scholarship. Although I could very well be wrong. As far as the in-state tuition waiver, let me explain. Public institutions in the US (such as the University of Houston) are supported primarily by state taxes (in this case, Texas state taxes). Therefore, the argument goes that if you are a Texas resident and have paid Texas taxes then part of your taxes have gone to support UH and public education in general thus you shouldn't have to pay as much in tuition as somebody who hasn't lived in Texas and hasn't paid Texas taxes. Therefore, Texas reidents pay a lower "in-state tuition" than non-Texas residents who have pay higher "out-of-state tuition." Often the difference between these two pay scales is not arbitrary so your "in-state tuition wiaver" is a big savings. As always, if you have any questions you can email your POI and I'm sure they'll be able to help you out. Good luck at UH, maybe I'll see ya there in the fall!

Thanks mom. You think I'm not aware of my debt burdon? What is one supposed to do when one goes to a private school and plays football so that he is barred from having a job and whose parents hadn't been able to saved anything for college? Maybe you should think twice before self-righteously casting judgment on fiscal (ir)responsibility in a public forum. Just my 2 cents.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville was the safety. Pro: Flagship state university, name recognition outside academia, fit well with the faculty Con: Teir 3 institution, poor recognition within academia University of Pittsburgh was the top choice Pro: Higher ranked program, fairly well known and respected within academic economics, large program, solid faculty, research interests fit well Con: Sans funding

Here are some quick links I found to some public university salary reports. Page 62: http://provost.uiowa.edu/docs/data/salary/salary0405.pdf http://www.jobs-salary.com/university-of-pittsburgh-assistant-professor-salary.htm http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/texas-state-university/titles/assistant-professor/5565/

I'm just going off what I see reported by public universities and what my profs tell me.

You dont't think I'd be burning some bridges with my safety school? What happens if I dont get funding at my top-choice and I show up to my safety like nothing happend?

I'm in a similar position, only with regards to funding. I've been admitted to my safet school with funding as well as one of my top choices where I'm waitlisted for funding. Of course the safety school wants to know of my decision by April 15th but I may not hear a funding decision from my top school until after the 15th. Kinda stressing me out, any advice?

5-Figure? At $10k/mo. that means it'll be paid off in 2 years. Most student loans are 10 or 20 yr loans so I'd pry be payin $1500-$2000/mo. which is a lot of money no doubt. But a starting assistant econ professor salary is right about $90k-$110k, and if I go to the private sector I could make much more than that, so even $24k a year wouldn't be unbearable. But you're right, $200k is entirely too much to pay for education.

Sucks to be you , nerd. Haha, jk.

A PhD in Econ is a pretty lucritive degree and I pry could pay it off if I had to. If It comes down to it I might have to ask for an extension.

I could fund myself but it'd all be with student loans and I'd rather not do that becasue I'm already $100k in debt. I've thought about accepting the offer then being asked to be released but that seems like it would burn a lot of bridges. If it comes down to it I may ask for a 2-week extension from the safety to hear back from my top school but they may not go for that. Any thoughts on asking for an extension?

I know the April 15th deadline is still a couple weeks away but I wanted to get some feedback as I'm sure a number of you are in the same or similar position. As the title suggests I've been accepted to my safety school with funding but also my top choice where I've been waitlisted for funding. My question is, which school should I go to in the event that I do not get a funding offer from my top choice by April 15th? Obviously, if I go to my safety I'll be set, however, if I decline this offer there's a chance I may get a funding offer after April 15th (from another student who declined). There's also a chance that I could get funding in my second year if I don't get it this year. But, of course, there's also the chance that I may not get funding at all. If April 15th rolls around and I don't get an offer do I roll the dice and decline the offer at my safety or do I go with the sure thing?

I'm going to bump this becasue I'm in a similar situation, except with respect to funding. I have a funded offer at one school but I'm waitlisted at one of my top choices and likely wont hear back until after the April 15th. What happens if I accept the offer at school A only to find out on April 16th that I have funding at School B. Can I reneg on my acceptance.

I wish people were so kind in my field.

Yeah, I'm in a similar situation. Ms. Dreamy accepted me without funding and Ms. Butterface accepted me with funding. Right now I'm having a tough time debating because there's a good chance that if I go with Ms. Dreamy this year I could get funding after our 1 yr anniversary. However, that's a huge risk because I cannot afford anymore studen loan debt, I'm alread $100k behind from my undergrad. I'm hoping that Ms. Dreamy will get dumped by her first choice and I'll get the sloppy seconds, i.e. someone admitted with funding will reject the offer and the school will pass it along to me. I'm also waiting to hear back from like 8 programs so right now it's all up in the air...

Yeah it sucks, but I think the schools hold all the cards in this situation. At least it's not as bad as this poor guy:

Yeah, that's a little messed up. Normally assigning an advisor, at least a tentative one, is a major part of the decision process.

Per the Resolution, offers/acceptances areonly tentative prior to April 15th. Offers/acceptances left in-force after April 15th are semi-legally binding. Therefore, anything is fair game prior to April 15th.

So I got my acceptance on Tuesday but the email said "Decisions are still being made regarding funding." I sent them an email asking if this meant I had been waitlisted or if they really hadn't made any decisions yet. I got an email back saying I had been waitlisted. This is one of my top schools so if any of you guys out there got accepted with funding but aren't planning on attending could you go ahead and decline the offer ASAP so that they can offer your package to me? Thanks bunches! jbl

This should pry be posted in the Professional Programs - Business forum where other like applicants will view it. This forum is more general and applys to all disciplines.

Check it out 28 seconds in. Epic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-x95Q0SJfY

The same way the universities phrase their rejection letters: be vague, impersonal, and feign gratitude and respect.