Is my GRA funding for MSc of ECE in UBC below average ??

[CAguy]

Hi all, I'm an international student and I've been offered a GRA Funding of 18k CAD/year from my potential MSc supervisor in UBC (from which I'll pay around 5K CAD/year for tuition and leaving 13K CAD/year for living expenses). Is it below average compared to GRA fundings in the ECE department in UBC ? Is it enough for my living expenses in Vancouver ?

Thanks

 

[TakeruK]

You can look at the UBC ECE department funding page for a description of how students are funded: https://www.ece.ubc.ca/current-graduate-students/grad-society

For your case, your GRA funding offer seems below average compared to other types of funding (i.e. more prestigious fellowships and scholarships). But it seems like GRAs are paid directly by advisors through their grants so there are no reported averages and it can vary. Based on typical funding, I would say that 18k for a research assistantship sounds about right. But the total stipend is quite low, I don't think $13k/year is enough to live on in Vancouver. Usually UBC students (and most STEM students in Canada) are supported by both TA and RA work, not just one. Typically, I'd expect the before-tuition stipend to be around $22k-$24k, i.e. leaving $17k to $19k for living expenses.

[CAguy]

@TakeruK I will ask my potential supervisor for a TAship. This should give me around $5K/year. Thanks for your advice.

[TakeruK]

5 hours ago, Oawad said:

@TakeruK I will ask my potential supervisor for a TAship. This should give me around $5K/year. Thanks for your advice.

Note: Typically it is the **department** that awards TAships and the supervisor that awards RAships. If you are concerned about the stipend, I think the best thing is to mention this to your supervisor ask them if you can supplement the income with TAships. At UBC and many places in Canada, TA-ships are like currency and the department has a limited amount of that resource to award to admitted students. It's usually not up to the supervisor to decide if you can be a TA and hiring rules often prioritize those with a TA promised in their offer letter over those who do not (so if you want to TA, get the TA offer in your offer letter).

[orange turtle]

9 hours ago, TakeruK said:

Typically, I'd expect the before-tuition stipend to be around $22k-$24k, i.e. leaving $17k to $19k for living expenses.

@Oawad (and @TakeruK): UBC's policy for *doctoral students* from Fall 2018 is a minimum of $18,000. This will come from a combination of sources (e.g., RAship, TAship, etc). I'm not sure if there is a policy for those in the MSc or MA.

Generally, $13,000 after tuition is low, as @TakeruK said.

Vancouver is very expensive. Even if you paid ~$700/month for rent, you will essentially be left with ~$350-400 a month for everything else. Which means you have about $100 per week for food and everything else.

If you are not independently rich or have other sources of funds (e.g., loans), do NOT do it. You will be miserable. Graduate school is stressful enough.

This will help you calculate your costs: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/prospective-students/tuition-fees-cost-living/cost-living#calctable

[TakeruK]

54 minutes ago, orange turtle said:

@Oawad (and @TakeruK): UBC's policy for *doctoral students* from Fall 2018 is a minimum of $18,000. This will come from a combination of sources (e.g., RAship, TAship, etc). I'm not sure if there is a policy for those in the MSc or MA.

Just to clarify: my $22k-$24k number wasn't meant to reflect the minimum, but instead, what I would expect as a "decent" stipend for STEM grad students in Canada. I think most schools I'm familiar with in Canada has minimums around $18k for doctoral students and no minimum for Masters students. The reason I quote the number was because @Oawad asked if we thought the number is low, and while I don't know the distribution for his specific dept at UBC, I do think it is lower than typical STEM stipends in Canada.

[orange turtle]

5 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

Just to clarify: my $22k-$24k number wasn't meant to reflect the minimum, but instead, what I would expect as a "decent" stipend for STEM grad students in Canada. I think most schools I'm familiar with in Canada has minimums around $18k for doctoral students and no minimum for Masters students. The reason I quote the number was because @Oawad asked if we thought the number is low, and while I don't know the distribution for his specific dept at UBC, I do think it is lower than typical STEM stipends in Canada.

Oh dear, I wasn't disagreeing! Sorry that didn't come out as hoped.

I was merely trying to point out that even UBC has a threshold higher than what @Oawad is being offered.

TL:DR: @Oawad, I think the take home message is that both Takeruk and I agree what you are being offered is too low.

[TakeruK]

Oh, sorry I misunderstood. I believe the minimums are numbers before you pay tuition, unless UBC is a special case (haven't been there in 8 years!), so a 18,000 minimum is still consistent with the offer. At least, that's how the minimums worked at my MSc school and how it works for students at the University close to where I work now (there, tuition drops drastically after you finish coursework though, so it's like getting a raise partway through).

[raychan]

Hey, everyone, I also receive the offer from ECE at UBC, and the GRA is also 18k per year.

In my case, looks like I have only less than 10k per year (after tuition). And I'm wondering if other kind of fundings, e.g., fellowship is automatically considered by the dept committee, or should be nominated by the supervisor (I've other two offers where the fellowship was nominated by the supervisor).

BTW, @Oawad: shouldn't the internal intuition be 8k+? http://www.ece.ubc.ca/academic-programs/graduate/programs/masters-applied-science And I don't quite understand why the tution is 5k? 

 

[CAguy]

@raychan Most of admitted UBC international students get a student award of 3200 CAD to cover part of their extra tuition fees. https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/international-tuition-award  BTW, Are you applying for MSc or PhD ? and did you receive your formal offer ?