Vanderbilt - Peabody - Who is going to Master's Visitation Day?

[ASzofer]

I recently received notice that I am admitted to the Education Policy program at Peabody and will be driving down to Nashville for Master's Visitation Day.  I'm going to arrive Thursday night and stay through the whole weekend.  (I figure, why not make a vacation out of it if I'm taking two days off of work?)

 

Does anyone know when you're likely to hear about funding or assistantships?  Should I contact professors directly if I am interested in an assistantship?  Vanderbilt is certainly not a cheap school, and although I am dying to go... well, I have a mortgage and stuff.  

 

On a related note, I don't know anything about getting enough loans to cover the tuition if I don't get enough funding.  When I filled out my FAFSA, I was told I'd be eligible for up to $20,500, which is not enough.  Where do people get the rest?  

 

Also, I haven't seen anything about the acceptance deadline?  Looking forward to meeting some potential new peers!  

 

 

 

[nm16]

Hey! Peabody has some decent assistantship opportunities available, but I believe you have to actively pursue & apply to get them. For example there are assistantships with the Dean of Office for student affairs... not sure of the precise name, but it's something like that. This includes the community service partnership house, career center, admissions, registrar, etc., and pay off either 2/3 tuition + stipend, or all of tuition. I believe that's the best one that is available out there. There's also other stuff available, like teaching assistantships, working as an RA (deadline passed for this), and the likes.

[ASzofer]

Thank you for the response!!

[iloveegg]

Did anyone attend Master's Visitation Day that would like to share what the experience was like? I wish I had gone! Also, I just realized I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing with regards to assistantships. Have I missed emails and postings somewhere?

[nm16]

Did anyone attend Master's Visitation Day that would like to share what the experience was like? I wish I had gone! Also, I just realized I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing with regards to assistantships. Have I missed emails and postings somewhere?

 

The more important pieces of info were:

• HDC & Child Studies programs still have not released admissions results
• Fellowship/scholarship info will go out in March, and financial aid info in late April/Mayish
• Assistantships come along (at least for my program) largely via emails re:job postings, networks with professors and current cohort, etc. Most everyone gets their assistantship figured out by the start of the school year... and yes, this means some of us won't know whether we will have an assistantship until after we commit.

 

I think that's about it haha. Everyone (both staff and student) was quite friendly.

[ASzofer]

I agree with Nicolemae that those were the most pertinent pieces of information.  It seemed as though almost everyone had some form of assistantship where they were working and getting at least part of their tuition paid, which is comforting.  You didn't miss anything because a lot of people said they actually got their positions after the school year started - so it's not hopeless!  It seems like if you are willing to be persistent, you will find something that suits you and that helps you pay for school.  

 

I was overall very impressed with Peabody and my program (Education Policy).  Everyone seemed friendly and helpful and the school as a whole seems to do a lot as far as connecting students to their futures, whether that be careers right away, PhD programs, or whatever they are pursuing.  The school is really well-connected in terms of practicum opportunities as well.  Again, I was really impressed and can definitely see myself attending Vanderbilt in the fall! 

[iloveegg]

Thank you both for your responses! I'm glad to hear you got positive impressions of your respective programs. I've never been to Nashville, but maybe that will change soon!