PhD/ScD Stipends?

[mmajum01]

For those who have heard back, what kind of stipend offers have you been getting?

 

I recently got an offer from Columbia and am trying to get a sense of what the ballpark averages are. I understand that it's likely to vary by location and discipline, but I'm just trying to get a little perspective.

 

Note: I applied to the Mailman School of Public Health and was accepted into the Environmental Health Sciences department.

[biotechie]

For those who have heard back, what kind of stipend offers have you been getting?

 

I recently got an offer from Columbia and am trying to get a sense of what the ballpark averages are. I understand that it's likely to vary by location and discipline, but I'm just trying to get a little perspective.

 

Note: I applied to the Mailman School of Public Health and was accepted into the Environmental Health Sciences department.

 

I think the only thing you really need to look for is if you can survive in that location on their offer. UCSD's offer makes it difficult to survive in that area unless you live in their housing, while schools like Baylor and UF have similar stipends that allow a much more comfortable apartment living with room to visit a restaurant or go to the movies on occasion. That would be what I looked for, rather than a general number.

Have a look around at other programs; many have their stipends posted online.

[Deadmeat]

I got an offer in Engineering from a Big Ten school. They are offering ~ 27,000 year (that includes summer research work) and paying 80% of the health insurance. This was as far as I can tell higher than the majority of the university  but normal for the department (I.E. not a fellowship). The cost of living in the area is about average, but housing is a bit pricier than some places. It's similar to my cost of living in NJ actually, minus the insane car insurance and property tax (a non issue).

Edited February 16, 2013 by Deadmeat

[juilletmercredi]

Hey!  I'm at Columbia Mailman in sociomedical sciences

I agree that you really only need to worry about whether you can survive on the funding in New York, and don't worry about what averages are.  I would say you can live comfortably (not lavishly, but comfortably) on about $30K here.

 

My offer at Columbia was about $31K in my first year (12 months), but I was on an NIH training grant my first two years.

[mmajum01]

Thank you so much for the wisdom everyone- I'm definitely thinking more practically now about being able to live off the stipend! I find myself sometimes forgetting just how much cost of living varies from one place to the next in the USA.