How are Assistantships decided?

[pikatopia]

...Basically I'm just wondering how accepted students are "ranked"?

[rising_star]

Depends on the school. Often it's by how badly they want you.

[IvyHope]

Many schools won't accept students they know they can't fund. In my department, the school tries to divide funding equally among all the full time students. Fellowships are usually dependent on GPA, etc, but assistantships are usually decided along with acceptances.

[Joel418]

Is it true that, when it comes to assistantships, each department will usually have a certain number of awards to hand out at their discretion? Or is it like fellowships, for which departments nominate candidates for university-wide competition?

[IvyHope]

I can't speak for all departments, but in my department assistantships are funded through the department- meaning that they are distributed at our (department's) discretion. I'm not sure of any university-wide assistantships...most are funded through each college or department.

[miratrix]

I have a friend who was given an assistantship working in the Dean's office, and funded by the university, rather than her department specifically. No idea whether this is usual or unusual, but I guess it can go either way.

[rising_star]

I have a friend who was given an assistantship working in the Dean's office, and funded by the university, rather than her department specifically. No idea whether this is usual or unusual, but I guess it can go either way.

Those usually emerge from a university-wide competition that your department nominates you for. While some students are funded that way, it's definitely competitive and not as common. I was funded that way in my MA program.

[girlseekingphd]

I have been accepted to my top choice school but am waiting to hear about funding. I went to visit the campus at the beginning of the week and the faculty explained the following to me about assistantships.

On the MA/PhD track of their department, they have 9 or 10 assistantships to offer (these positions require 20 hours a week, some teaching, some office work, etc.). Currently, all those assistantships are full. When someone graduates, a position opens up. Once all students have accepted or declined their admittance to the university, they will rank students. If they have two openings, the top two will get those positions. The professor I spoke with (my potential advisor) told me they accept more applicants than they have funding for because for some, this school will be a second or third choice, etc. However, she said it is impossible for them to fund everyone. I'm so nervous because they sounded so discouraged about the money issue. I hope I get the funding but if I don't, I really can't afford grad school.

Does anyone know what, in particular, they base your ranking on? Scores, GPA, qualifications, resume, personality? I'm very curious. I knew before I flew out to visit that I had been accepted so I made the trip, hoping to impress.

[miratrix]

I think faculty fit, as well - I applied to a program that funds 2 students a year, but accepts around 10, and part of what decides who gets funded is whether the faculty they'd be working with is available to take on more students that year. A professor explained to me that if you're a great candidate, but there are already several students partway through the program in your subfield or the key faculty member is going on sabbatical the next year, you're not likely to get an assistantship. I've heard rumors that the person who works in my subfield at this program is probably going on sabbatical next spring, so I am guessing my chances for funding (and therefore the chances that I will go at all) are pretty much nil. I hope your luck is better!

[twocosmicfish]

At Penn State and UT Austin (engineering) it appeared that individual professors who had secured funding for an RA were able to basically name their own provided they met a minimum department set of requirements. All of the TA's and the spare handful of department-issued RA's and fellowships were awarded by the department based on a holistic ranking system. Additionally, some were submitted to for university-level funding, with the possibility that their department or professor-awarded positions would be used to admit someone else.

You can sometimes use this to your advantage. I was accepted without funding to UT in 06, so I went down there as soon as I heard and talked to some professors. I left with two seperate RA offers as well as a TA offer. Personal contact will generally win over a somewhat better application.