Question about PhD Funding for STEM

[12o'clock]

I got accepted to a STEM PhD program without having contacted any faculty prior. My admissions letter did not come with any type of funding information. The graduate coordinator advised me to reach out to the department faculty, as they are the ones that handle funding. So, I emailed several professors whose research interests align with my own and none of them have the funding to take new students. I inquired about teaching assistantships as a source of funding and one of the professors stated that they are typically given to PhD students who already have a long-term RA commitment from a professor. He also said that university fellowships are very competitive and difficult to win.

My question is if I am unable to obtain an RA, TA, or University Fellowship, is it pretty much guaranteed that my PhD will be unfunded? Is it a common occurrence where people get into a PhD program but can't find a professor to fund them? In this case, how do people proceed? I think it's odd that I got accepted to the PhD program (earlier than the actual application deadline) if none of the professors have any interest in me.

Thanks! 

[Formershocker1919]

I'm in a similar situation. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[AnxiousNerd]

Yeah, that sounds a little fishy. In my experience, it's been the director of graduate studies for the department that has given the funding. If you can't find anyone in your desired field that is willing to take you on their team, that might be a red flag. I would definitely suggest trying to go somewhere where they're explicitly looking for students that do what you do. It's very easy to accept students unfunded, so that's probably why you got the acceptance without actually having room for you. There are very few external scholarships, and they're very difficult to get AND the deadline has probably passed (look at The Bank subforum.) I recommend not accepting this institution.  

[eeIntern1]

Its odd to me that they are giving TA positions to those who already have RA positions, usually TA and RA positions are separate unless it is a 50% TA and 50% RA situation. This university does not seem like a good option, because usually Phd positions are funded and get priority over MS funding. If you are highly interested in this school, I recommend discussing with the graduate coordinator if your situation is common, and what usually is the outcome of students in your situation- are most able to secure funding after a couple semesters? This will give you an idea if this school is a viable option despite maybe having to self fund initially. If you can, you should still apply for a TA position regardless of what that professor told you.

If you are competitive, you should apply for external fellowships or if you have done internships at a company, ask if there may be any support available.

[TakeruK]

4 hours ago, eeIntern1 said:

Its odd to me that they are giving TA positions to those who already have RA positions, usually TA and RA positions are separate unless it is a 50% TA and 50% RA situation.

This is actually quite common in STEM fields, in my experience. The TA-ship just represents money from the department in exchange for TA work and the RAship is money paid for work in your advisor's group/lab towards the dissertation. In order to make the numbers work out for things like limits on working hours due to international student status or other fellowship rules, the numbers on paper might not actually match what you work in reality. For example, you will likely work as an RA (i.e. work on your thesis) all year but you might only TA in one or two semesters). So you might get paid as a TA for one or two semesters and as an RA in the summer, but you really do work the entire year.

Awarding a TAship is a deal made between the department and advisor. Since if the student doesn't TA, it means the advisor has to pay the entire cost if they want their student to stay. So, the department awards TAships so that it reduces the cost of the advisor. It makes sense that the department only wants to award TAships to students that already have an established relationship with an advisor and will have enough funding otherwise. It would be useless (to the department) to award a TAship that only covered 1/3 of the students' cost if that student was unable to find any other funding. The department would rather award it to a student who already had an advisor willing to commit the other 2/3 of the cost.

That said, completely agree with the rest of the post! It's not a good deal!

4 hours ago, eeIntern1 said:

This university does not seem like a good option, because usually Phd positions are funded and get priority over MS funding. If you are highly interested in this school, I recommend discussing with the graduate coordinator if your situation is common, and what usually is the outcome of students in your situation- are most able to secure funding after a couple semesters? This will give you an idea if this school is a viable option despite maybe having to self fund initially. If you can, you should still apply for a TA position regardless of what that professor told you.

If you are competitive, you should apply for external fellowships or if you have done internships at a company, ask if there may be any support available.

 

[eeIntern1]

Hi TakeruK,

This was very informative, and now I understand TA/RA assignment better.Thanks for the clarification/input!

[12o'clock]

I appreciate all of your responses. Thankfully, I obtained the University Fellowship Award at this program so my issue has been resolved. Thank you!

[ProfONE]

On 04/03/2018 at 12:29 AM, TakeruK said:

This is actually quite common in STEM fields, in my experience. The TA-ship just represents money from the department in exchange for TA work and the RAship is money paid for work in your advisor's group/lab towards the dissertation. In order to make the numbers work out for things like limits on working hours due to international student status or other fellowship rules, the numbers on paper might not actually match what you work in reality. For example, you will likely work as an RA (i.e. work on your thesis) all year but you might only TA in one or two semesters). So you might get paid as a TA for one or two semesters and as an RA in the summer, but you really do work the entire year.

Awarding a TAship is a deal made between the department and advisor. Since if the student doesn't TA, it means the advisor has to pay the entire cost if they want their student to stay. So, the department awards TAships so that it reduces the cost of the advisor. It makes sense that the department only wants to award TAships to students that already have an established relationship with an advisor and will have enough funding otherwise. It would be useless (to the department) to award a TAship that only covered 1/3 of the students' cost if that student was unable to find any other funding. The department would rather award it to a student who already had an advisor willing to commit the other 2/3 of the cost.

That said, completely agree with the rest of the post! It's not a good deal!

 

So insightful! Thank you.