How to tell whether a financial offer is competitive

[andrade831]

Dear all,

This week, I received an admission letter for one of my top three programs, in anthropology. Included in the admission letter was a TA fellowship offer, which entails waived tuition costs for three years, health care, and a yearly stipend of 16k. This is a competitive program at a public institution, in a small town known for a comparatively cheap cost of living.

I'm of course happy to receive the admission and funding as well, but I have trouble estimating the quality of this offer. The offer is only for three years, meaning that after I complete my coursework and comprehensive exams, I'm on my own. Also, judging by some of the responses in the results survey, I gather that 16k is decent but also not a whole lot (although many of these are in different fields). I understand that this is a public institution and I am grateful that I'm getting funding to begin with, but I would like to arrive at a better sense for how competitive of an offer this is. Any thoughts, observations, or tips?

Thanks in advance for your time!

Edited January 26, 2012 by andrade831

[R Deckard]

To compare offers from school to school, you can use a site like this.

Type the city for School A into the first box and the offer they gave you into the income box. Then type the city for School B in the second box and compare. The site will give you an idea of what a comparable offer at the second school would be.

Also consider using a nearby suburb if the cost of living in a city is exceptionally high and you are willing to commute from a nearby town.

[Rzilch]

I think the idea is that you will win external fellowships to complete your research. My sister is in an anthropology program and this seems to be standard. When comparing schools you should ask about success rate for grants among the senior grad students.... Does the department have any infrastructure to help you with grant writing ... Etc.

Also 16k... Is the right ballpark.

[rising_star]

In a nutshell, yes, that is a competitive offer, though I'm more accustomed to seeing offers for 4 or 5 years in the social sciences. A 3 year offer means not only will you need to find your own funding for dissertation research, but you'll also need to find funding to support you while you write your dissertation. These funds are out there, however.

I realize this is going to resurrect a very, very old thread but, it should be useful. There was a lengthy discussion about from 2006-2009. Actually, I sort of hope it does get resurrected because there's some good information in there.

See also:

If you're still not satisfied:

[far_to_go]

andrade831, your offer sounds EXACTLY like the standard offer at my school, which is also a competitive anthro program at a public university in a relatively small town; in fact, I'm wondering if you're talking about my school. PM me if you want more details.

Even if we aren't talking about the same school, I think the offer is pretty standard (although of course some of the very top schools offer more than 3 years of funding). At my school, most people get 3 years of guaranteed funding, apply outside for grants, and then get 1 year of teaching money and 1 year of write-up money when they come back from the field. But only the first 3 years are guaranteed.

Best of luck to you!

[anthropologygeek]

In anthropology 3-5 years is standard for your phd and 10-26k is standard. But remember where you live can make 26k in new York be less than 10k in say new iowa.

Edited January 30, 2012 by anthropologygeek

[andrade831]

Thanks for the incredibly helpful information everyone!