TA at better school or Fellowship at another?

[jmbky1]

I've got a bit of a dilemma, but one that I guess I don't mind having.

I got into my first choice for chemistry which is at FSU. They offered a TA and a stipend of $19,000 along with a note saying that student fees can sometimes be upwards of $1,000 per semester (yikes!).

I also got into the University of Louisville's program. They offered me a fellowship for $30,000 per year (Yes, thirty thousand!) as part of a fellowship program that brings chemistry into middle school classrooms via grad students. Consumes maybe 15-20 hours a week of your time.

So here is my problem: FSU was my top choice, but there is such a huge difference in money. Also, is the prestige of a FSU diploma outweighed by the prestige of a fellowship over TA? I don't know. I live in Louisville now and would like a change of scenery, but the offer just seems so enticing. Plus, I could quickly pay off all undergrad debt.

What would you all recommend? Take the huge pay-cut and go to my first choice (and get out of town!) or accept the fellowship at a school I still wouldn't mind attending?

[ohheygradschool]

Have you visited the schools yet?

[jmbky1]

Have you visited the schools yet?

No, I have not. I figure that my visit will definitely aid in my decision.

[misterpat]

How large is the difference in rank?

I would also agree to visit. Also compare the placement info on the dept's website.

And is that type of thing common at Lousiville? If you're one of the only people to get that 30k fellowship, then you might even take that into consideration. Winning a prestigious award always looks good, and you might be the star of the department there. But I don't really know how the sciences work, so don't read into my advice too much.

But that really has to be tempting. 30k would be amazing to live on during graduate school. If only that were the size of the standard stipend. 8)

EDIT: Just looked it up, I saw FSU as 51 vs. L-ville 144. That is a HUGE difference. 19k is still a good stipend, however.

[pikatopia]

I don't really know the process, but is there any room for "bargaining"?

As in...can you tell FSU you love them/want to go there...BUT have a better funding opportunity elsewhere and see what they say?

[UnlikelyGrad]

One thing you should keep in mind is that, at good schools (read: those with a decent amount of funding), very few chemistry grad students TA past the first year. Usually they're supported by funding from their PI in subsequent years so they can do research without being bothered by undergrads.

I highly recommend contacting profs at FSU who are potential advisors and ask about their funding situation. Would they be able to pay your stipend as an RA and, if so, what are they currently paying students? Frequently RAs (whose stipends are funded by profs) make more than TAs (whose stipends are funded, and determined by, the university).

[UnlikelyGrad]

One more note. You might think that a fellowship looks better on your CV long term, but 15-20 hours per week? Yikes! That's the same commitment as a TA-ship. As I said earlier, chem students try not to TA past the first year because that sort of time commitment is a huge time sink that eats into your ability to do research and therefore finish your dissertation.

I think you would be much better off going to a place where your funding will eventually come from doing research, because the more time you spend on research, the more papers you can publish before graduation.

[rising_star]

Is that fellowship from the NSF K-12 thing? If so, I'd look into how many years you can receive the fellowship b/c usually there's a cap (and/or the fellowship period ends). Then, ask if you'll be done by grad school by then and, if not, look into what the department usually pays it's students.

Alternately, go where you can have the best advisor and/or work in the best labs or on the projects most interesting to you. Fit, which you won't know until you visit, has a lot to do with it. If you don't like the labmates in one lab or the other, that'll kinda make up your mind, right?

FWIW, you can live pretty damn well in Tallahassee on $15K (which is what you're looking at after taxes and fees). And remember, no state/local income tax in Florida.

[waitinginohio]

I know absolutely nothing about Chemistry programs, but for anyone wondering the same thing for a non-science program, I would go for the RA/TA option because of this:

Holding a research assistantship improves a student's chances of completion. Teaching assistantships help too, although to a lesser degree. Maryland's Ms. Lovitts, who studied attrition at two research universities, says money alone isn't enough. Students on fellowships, for instance, do not complete their degrees at a higher-than-average rate.

Assistantships really help, she says, because they increase the likelihood that graduate students will interact with other graduate students and with faculty members. "You have to come up on campus and engage in the professional task of the department," she says. "You have to interact with faculty. You get to interact with undergraduates. You're far more likely to get a desk with other graduate students, which puts you in contact with the graduate-student subculture."

Ms. Golde emphasizes that this is another way that the sciences are structured differently from the humanities. In a science department, students are in the lab from the start, working next to undergraduates, researchers, and professors. In English, on the other hand, the first couple of years of graduate school are taken up mostly with classes. "It's just like being a supercharged English undergraduate," she says. "It's not anything like being an English professor."

from https://webspace.utexas.edu/cherwitz/ww ... lwood.html

[csApplicant]

negotiate in a not-negotiating way. write to someone at the school and explain that you really wnat to come but yo've been offered so much more elsewhere.

be ready to lose your position with this type of negotiation, but if you are serious about going to the other school, you have nothing to lose.

if they wnat you bad enough, they'll give you more.