Help me decide: I got into McGill, but funding seems a bit awkward. what should I do?

[Heather2571]

Hello guys, I got into McGill's PhD program with funding, but the funding looks a bit strange. So I would like to talk about it a little bit and hopefully I can get some advice about it. 

There are two parts for each year's money; one is tuition+supplement, and the other is what called "expected employment salary," for TAships. For first two years, the expected employment salary is about 16% of the annual funding, but for year 3 and year 4, that number goes up to more than 30%, and for fifth year, it's almost 50%. Yet, in the letter, it says that eligibility for employment salary cannot be guaranteed. My understanding is that for this package, the first year's funding is nominally 35K, but actually the guaranteed part is supposed to be only 29K (In light of I cannot find a TA position). And this will apply to future years as well. please let me know if this interpretation is wrong. 

I felt it's strange b/c I looked up the living costs at Montreal and calculated a bit; the conclusion goes if I could not find a TA job, I would not be able to afford myself there. Also, the package didn't mention health insurance or summer research stipend, so I assume those two are not on the table. 

This is my first acceptance, so I don't have a way to compare to other funding packages. So I really appreciate any advice/opinions/comments. I have two questions: 

1) Is such a package normal? 

2) If the package is not that good, what should I do? 

Thanks a lot! And hope everyone get into your dream school

[polisci_gal]

Ok first thing is are you a Canadian citizen or an international student? This will dictate your health care costs - because as you know, if you're a Canadian, your healthcare is free so the school wouldn't offer you an insurance package or anything. If you're an international student, they might have something that you can buy into but I don't really know how that works. 

I'd also ask the department if the TA jobs are secured for PhD students or not and get a real sense of what that looks like in the department specifically. That part of the package does seem a bit weird to me, like I'm going to a Canadian school in the fall for my PhD and TA-ing is just apart of my package, like its just a responsibility that I will have in the coming years so I don't have to "look for TA jobs" while i'm at the school - they just assign them to us. So not sure what that is like at McGill tho. 

I would definitely just contact someone in the department and ask your questions because they're the ones that will know the ins and outs of the program and can give you more clarity. 

Hope that helps!

[icemanyeo]

10 hours ago, Heather2571 said:

Hello guys, I got into McGill's PhD program with funding, but the funding looks a bit strange. So I would like to talk about it a little bit and hopefully I can get some advice about it. 

There are two parts for each year's money; one is tuition+supplement, and the other is what called "expected employment salary," for TAships. For first two years, the expected employment salary is about 16% of the annual funding, but for year 3 and year 4, that number goes up to more than 30%, and for fifth year, it's almost 50%. Yet, in the letter, it says that eligibility for employment salary cannot be guaranteed. My understanding is that for this package, the first year's funding is nominally 35K, but actually the guaranteed part is supposed to be only 29K (In light of I cannot find a TA position). And this will apply to future years as well. please let me know if this interpretation is wrong. 

I felt it's strange b/c I looked up the living costs at Montreal and calculated a bit; the conclusion goes if I could not find a TA job, I would not be able to afford myself there. Also, the package didn't mention health insurance or summer research stipend, so I assume those two are not on the table. 

This is my first acceptance, so I don't have a way to compare to other funding packages. So I really appreciate any advice/opinions/comments. I have two questions: 

1) Is such a package normal? 

2) If the package is not that good, what should I do? 

Thanks a lot! And hope everyone get into your dream school

I would probably contact the department to see what you can do -- if you're an international student, you have the option to work off-campus to earn extra income as well (which is a + compared to the US), so depending on your skillset I would look into that to help cover living costs. Montreal is relatively cheap compared to other major student cities in North America, so you should be able to find something in your range, especially if you have a roommate or two.

[topochica]

On 3/21/2021 at 6:35 AM, Heather2571 said:

Hello guys, I got into McGill's PhD program with funding, but the funding looks a bit strange. So I would like to talk about it a little bit and hopefully I can get some advice about it. 

There are two parts for each year's money; one is tuition+supplement, and the other is what called "expected employment salary," for TAships. For first two years, the expected employment salary is about 16% of the annual funding, but for year 3 and year 4, that number goes up to more than 30%, and for fifth year, it's almost 50%. Yet, in the letter, it says that eligibility for employment salary cannot be guaranteed. My understanding is that for this package, the first year's funding is nominally 35K, but actually the guaranteed part is supposed to be only 29K (In light of I cannot find a TA position). And this will apply to future years as well. please let me know if this interpretation is wrong. 

I felt it's strange b/c I looked up the living costs at Montreal and calculated a bit; the conclusion goes if I could not find a TA job, I would not be able to afford myself there. Also, the package didn't mention health insurance or summer research stipend, so I assume those two are not on the table. 

This is my first acceptance, so I don't have a way to compare to other funding packages. So I really appreciate any advice/opinions/comments. I have two questions: 

1) Is such a package normal? 

2) If the package is not that good, what should I do? 

Thanks a lot! And hope everyone get into your dream school

Hey! I would contact the department about your questions regarding the availability of TA positions. I had a similar note in my funding package (in the US) and freaked out. Then I spoke with the department and they said while there is a note that it's not guaranteed.... it basically is and there's no way I wouldn't get it for the years outlined.