Type of financial assistance preferred?

[anonacademic]

I'm sure this is not a big issue, but I've hit a snag in one of my applications. A question asks me to "indicate the type of financial assistance prefer: U of Awesome Research Fellowship, RA, Federally Financed Fellowship or Traineeship, TA, Teaching Fellowship, or No Preference."

Should I just check off "No Preference"? I'm not entirely clear on some things, like the difference between a TA and a Teaching Fellowship, or what a Federally Financed Fellowship is.

Thanks! I think you can tell it's t-minus 7 days and I'm having a hard time seeing the obvious

[Alyanumbers]

I'm sure this is not a big issue, but I've hit a snag in one of my applications. A question asks me to "indicate the type of financial assistance prefer: U of Awesome Research Fellowship, RA, Federally Financed Fellowship or Traineeship, TA, Teaching Fellowship, or No Preference."

Should I just check off "No Preference"? I'm not entirely clear on some things, like the difference between a TA and a Teaching Fellowship, or what a Federally Financed Fellowship is.

Thanks! I think you can tell it's t-minus 7 days and I'm having a hard time seeing the obvious

My understanding is that fellowship > assistantship, and I would be wary of federally-financed funding, since it can get cut pretty easily. University fellowships sound like the safest option.

[LJK]

I know at my current school in the physics department they have teaching fellowships where the PhD students teach in area elementary schools to give them a high quality basis in math and science. (I guess most elementary school teachers are humanities majors or something?) Or I could see a teaching fellowship as being the primary instructor of a class while the assistant position is being the primary instructor's help.

I would look around the department website to see if you can figure out what some of the funding options are. You can certainly check no preference but if you are most interested in research the university fellowship or RA position is probably preferable. If you are more interested in teaching (your aim is a small liberal arts college or some such mainly teaching job) then going for the teaching fellowship or TA position would probably be best. If you have a preference, let them know. (This can also come across in your SOP where you put future aims.)

[anonacademic]

Thank you both This is certainly the fussiest application (for more reasons than this issue). I think I'll check off everything except the federal funding (good call there!).

(I guess most elementary school teachers are humanities majors or something?)

This of course has nothing to do with anything, but I think that's state-dependent. I know in the state where I live now, I cannot teach secondary school (K-12) even with a master's; there are very strict certification loops you have to jump through and most teachers major in Education, not their subject. (This seems - and is - a recipe for disaster, but oh well.) Obviously you live in a more enlightened state

[eklavya]

Should I just check off "No Preference"? I'm not entirely clear on some things, like the difference between a TA and a Teaching Fellowship, or what a Federally Financed Fellowship is.

Yes, check off "No Preference" for all types of funding. Although fellowhips are better over TA/RA-ships, you don't know what types of funding your POI will have at the time of (thinking about) sending you an acceptance letter and making you a financial offer. While seeing (on your application) that you prefer one funding type over the other might not deter him/her from making a decision, you being cool with any funding type probably could make him/her more comfortable in making you an offer.

[Pamphilia]

Yes, check off "No Preference" for all types of funding. Although fellowhips are better over TA/RA-ships, you don't know what types of funding your POI will have at the time of (thinking about) sending you an acceptance letter and making you a financial offer. While seeing (on your application) that you prefer one funding type over the other might not deter him/her from making a decision, you being cool with any funding type probably could make him/her more comfortable in making you an offer.

This isn't really relevant to lit programs. English/comp lit/rhetoric students are not accepted or funded by individual professors, but by the program as a whole.

[eklavya]

This isn't really relevant to lit programs. English/comp lit/rhetoric students are not accepted or funded by individual professors, but by the program as a whole.

Interesting! Good to know!

[LJK]

Yes, check off "No Preference" for all types of funding. Although fellowhips are better over TA/RA-ships, you don't know what types of funding your POI will have at the time of (thinking about) sending you an acceptance letter and making you a financial offer. While seeing (on your application) that you prefer one funding type over the other might not deter him/her from making a decision, you being cool with any funding type probably could make him/her more comfortable in making you an offer.

It also depends in the sciences. TAs tend to be department funding while RAs tend to be grant funding, and fellowships tend to be University level funding. I don't think a professor would not offer a student a position because they prefer a fellowship but only have a TA line available. If the professor is accepting 2 students and has one RA line and one TA line the student who said that they had a preference for the RA over the TA might get it. All in all, I don't think its really that big of a question: funding is funding and professors know that. If you prefer RA and they are able to offer it to you while another school is only able to offer TA that might help them get you, and they want that information. I know I will weigh having the ability to work full-time in the lab and have the chance to be in on more publications pretty heavily in my decision making process if I am lucky enough to have a choice come spring.

[rising_star]

I guess I don't understand why people are saying to avoid "federally funded". That could mean money from NSF, NIH, NEH, etc, which comes in guaranteed amounts and for a guaranteed number of years. There's no chance that would be cut.

FWIW, the program LJK describes sounds a lot like the NSF GK-12 program that specifically sends PhD students into public school partners to share their knowledge and training. That program, regardless of the university, pays student participants a stipend of $30K/year, in addition to covering tuition and fees.