Requesting RA!

[bloometal]

So I got an admit at NCSU for PHD in Mathematics finally. In fact, it was the only school I got an admit from. Unfortunately, (Yep you guessed it!) I did not land myself any sort of funding. They seemingly decide upon Teaching Assistantships once in a year, and that's that! Or would they have positions that are expendable during the year too?

So, my only option on getting my tuition paid is getting myself an RA. Do you think that is possible now that the decision for 'no funding' is already made?

How do I go about asking the Profs? Should I be straigh-forward at first go or do I tell them 'I'm just interested in learning more' before I get there and then once I get there, I ask them about RA?

And also, I heard they usually don't give funding for international students, so do my chances increase if I should fly to the US and meet profs a month earlier?

I really need at least the tuition waiver! Thanks a ton for any sorta advice!

[hubris]

RAs are more competitive than TAs to get, esp. in pure math.

Now, if you are interested in applied math heavy in computations and have programming experience, then I would assume that you at least have a decent shot of getting some interest.

Best of luck.

PS: No reason to fly to the US earlier. Email should suffice. Also, you might want to inquire as to what your chances for funding will be going forward.

Edited April 16, 2010 by hubris

[origin415]

If you haven't been offered funding, I personally would not go on the hope that such funding might appear. Unless you plan on paying your way through at least the first year or so, don't go. No point not at least emailing and seeing what possibilities there are though.

Edited April 17, 2010 by origin415