Yale FES Master's Program F14

[adithedevil23]

Add me to the list of nervously waiting applicants

 

Program Applied To:  MESM, MEM 
Schools Applied To:  Michigan, UCSB, Yale, Duke
Schools Accepted To: Michigan ($3k ), UCSB ($15k)

Schools Rejected From: Duke 

Undergraduate Institution: Indian
Undergraduate Major: Mechanical Engineering

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 1
Years of Work Experience: 2

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 6 months of working in energy/transportation policy at a large Public Policy think tank (writing, research,  Before that, one year working at as an intern at a sustainable development non-profit and 6 months at a research centre abroad.

[Etownenviro]

@Kurenai325

I also received a Academic Leadership Fellowship from Michigan but for the environmental informatics concentration. However, I didn't find out till a professor reached out and congratulated me since I don't have access to my mail right now(long story) so I was wondering if this fellowship is for both years and if there is a work requirement attached to it. 

 

I don't know how I am going to get anything done at work today....

[kurenai325]

@Kurenai325

I also received a Academic Leadership Fellowship from Michigan but for the environmental informatics concentration. However, I didn't find out till a professor reached out and congratulated me since I don't have access to my mail right now(long story) so I was wondering if this fellowship is for both years and if there is a work requirement attached to it.

I don't know how I am going to get anything done at work today....

Ah, I see. I actually received the information about the fellowship in the mail, so you should keep checking that. Assuming yours is the same as mine, 10k of it is tuition going towards your first year, and 5k is the "fellowship" to be paid to you by your advisor for your work over the course of the 2 years.

[Etownenviro]

Thank you so much!! Its been really confusing getting these emails without the accompanying mail from different schools. 

[eraechoin]

Hi,I've been following this posts for several days. 

As some of the early posts said the results are about to come out today. 

Good luck to everybody! 

[kurenai325]

Thank you so much!! Its been really confusing getting these emails without the accompanying mail from different schools. 

 

Also, I just got the financial aid info posted to WolverineAccess today. It essentially just repeats what I was already offered in my letter, plus it tells me what Federal loans and Work-Study I was approved for. Unfortunately, I wasn't awarded any additional free money

[kurenai325]

Just got into FES! Financial info will be sent starting next Friday, the 14th.

[eraechoin]

Just got into FES! Financial info will be sent starting next Friday, the 14th.

 

Wow!! Congrats kurenai325!! 

 

 

I am still waiting for the results. Applying as an undergraduate senior, I guess I am not in their favored group of admission. But hopefully they could send out the results sooner just to stop my paranoid day of waiting......

[Etownenviro]

I just graduated in June so I'm not in their favored group either... I was assuming they would reject me a long time ago though instead of dragging it out like this. I'm still waiting too but congrats Kurenai325!!! that is so exciting!! 

[moneygram]

God damnit! somebody call them or something!

[eraechoin]

rejected as expected.

 

Duke here I am coming! Moving from Ohio to sunshine NC...

 

And congrats to everyone who got in! 

[Etownenviro]

rejected as expected as well. I really think they care about the work experience, which I didn't have since I just graduated in June, because literally the same minute I got the rejection I received additional funding from one school and my financial aid info for Indiana MPA/MSES which is a 16k fellowship and a 7k assistantship for both years, contingent on a low GPA requirement. 

[marsmat]

Just got into FES! Financial info will be sent starting next Friday, the 14th.

 

Big congrats! I got in too, super super happy.

[adithedevil23]

waitlisted.... that sucks.......

[marsmat]

Stupid question this, but what do I wear to an open day? The same things I would wear to work or in the weekend or what?

[Etownenviro]

Different schools seem to have different dress codes... Duke's said to wear something comfortable and SPEA's said business casual is appropriate and then SNRE didn't specify anything specific. I think business casual is probably always appropriate, like slacks and a top? I think if the school you are unsure about doesn't specify anything specific closer to the visit date you can always ask whoever is coordinating the visit since they probably get that question all the time. Hope that helps! and congrats on Yale!

[PandaPK]

Anyone hear anything about financial aid?

Edited March 16, 2014 by PandaPK

[marsmat]

Yes, they sent out financial aid info on Friday, if you were thinking about Yale. Duke sent it with the acceptance letters. Got 12 000 from both.

[PandaPK]

Oh wow. thats great! Congrats. Yeah I was talking about Yale. IIE is supposed to inform me about financial aid. I'm not sure how the system works but do they post rejections for financial aid?

[MorlockHolmes]

Hey all! Congrats on your acceptances, and best of luck! 

 

I've been working doing GIS for 5 years out of school, three at a national lab (which I'd highly recommend -- they pay well and there's a lot of mentoring....be glad to talk about it if you're curious, as I'm a huge geek).

 

I was accepted to Duke Nicholas School (10k aid and 3k assistantship) and Yale FES (11k aid, no info till summer on work opportunities). That leaves $85-90k debt for me to walk out with.

 

I'm...extremely concerned about that. By which I mean frozen in cold fear.

 

How are you all planning to handle your debt? I would really appreciate any advice, recommendations, comments. I know there's scholarships, but the ones Yale sent out -- there's only a chance of getting any, and even then they're small.

[Etownenviro]

Hi MorlockHolmes, 

 

This might not be the most helpful answer because I'm not actually comparing Yale to Duke specifically but here goes..

We received similar funding packages from Duke Nicholas which would make the total be just over 70k(40k in tuition+38k in cost of living-6k assistantship) to attend if you consider that living near Duke is really cheap and you will be getting some of the money slowly over your time at Duke through the assistantship. So that is already a little better than your initial projection. Also at some schools it is possible to negotiate with the financial aid team so you could always try that if you have a better offer from somewhere else. Finally the estimated cost of living that schools give is just an estimate I managed to live decently for about 1/2-2/3 the cost my undergrad estimated one would need to live off campus.

 

I believe that some summer internships that Duke advertises are paid(in the 5k ballpark) so you have the potential to earn some money over the summer to help pay for things. I doubt it is enough to make a huge dent but it could be something that helps out a little.

 

It is a lot of debt and that is kind of freaking me out as well but I think there are ways to pull the number from crazy to slightly more manageable through being cheap, part time job potential, summer job etc...

 

Additionally if you are interested in working for the government you might be able to use one of the loan repayment programs where your debt is forgiven after X amount of years doing public service. I don't know the details of the program so I'm hoping it is something these schools will go over during the different visit days but that is another option for managing your debt.  

 

Reading over this answer its not the most comforting or specific answer but I hope you find it a little helpful! I am also pretty concerned about debt so I'm REALLY hoping at the different admitted students days this is something they cover. 

[marsmat]

Really good answer from Etownenviro. I would add that getting active and applying for all kinds of external funding can really help with the debt. Its a lot of time and paperwork, but if you DO get grants, scholarships etc. the benefit far outweighs the hassle. There are loads out there!

[MorlockHolmes]

Thank you both very much for your answers. I don't mind a disturbing but true answer -- thank you Etownenviro!

 

Marsmat - both Duke and Yale provided extensive scholarship and fellowship links, but to offers which have been closed since January. I have been hustling, but haven't found anything that's open to apply to. There's loads that are open in August for next year, but nothing for 2014-2015 year. Any ideas?

 

Etownenviro: That's http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-based, right? That seems like the best option. (Quick sum up for people reading over: your loan is forgiven after 25 years of payments, or 10 years of public employment and 120 payments -- and your payments are based on your income, not your debt or a repayment term. Very good deal. It also extends retroactively to loans from Oct 2007.)

 

I do want to get into the USFS, EPA, or another public goods research organization. However, all the people I work with got their PhDs at a public university using an assistantship that got their tuition waived. They walked away with zero or minimal debt. Tempting!! I'm considering deferring (which Yale doesn't allow, so I guess I'd just reapply), and next year be more on top of scholarships - and apply to more public university programs. I hate the idea of missing a year, but I feel like there must be a better option than "Be in debt till you're over fifty."

[Etownenviro]

@MorlockHolmes That is the program I was thinking of! It is something I'm interested in as well since I'm hoping to work for the government upon graduation. 

 

After visiting Duke I feel like the debt is a lot but its fairly manageable.

The $62 in tuition turns into $39(using your #s as an example and with the assistantship converting into a scholarship in the 2nd year which is standard at Duke) and students standard is living seems to very significantly! Some students seem to live fairly extravagantly (I think aka buying only food at Whole Foods, owning a car, living w/out roomies, going on many vacations etc...) while others are living very much on the cheap (in a house with multiple roomates, shopping at krogers, eating lots of cereal and yogurt, biking/walking everywhere etc...) and that difference can be $10-$15k! so if your willing to live on the cheap end of things for $10k a year it becomes 59K of debt. Which isn't insignificant!  But it a lot better than 90k... 

 

Also you might find out that you are eligible for work study! At Duke there is a pretty wide range of the work study pay scale but basically you could find yourself making an additional 3-10K a year which could cover a large portion of your living expenses. Also there are some scholarships at Duke that open up in your second year that you can apply for once you submit your deposit I believe. Also students said that over the summer they made between 5-10k which would be enough to not go into more debt over the summer and maybe even pay some of the 2nd year with. 

 

Additionally you can always ask for more financial aid. If they say no they say no its not like they are going to take away you admission and who knows they might be able to up your financial aid by a little bit? 

 

Also is getting a phd something you really want? It can end up placing you out of some jobs and depending on your field within environmental science/management it might not be super valuable in the private sector. Duke seems to market their MEM like an MBA where you do take some management training courses, networking opportunities, professional development skills, summer internships etc... Those are things you really wont get through a phd program. Also while phds are generally funded they are funded at both public and private universities so if a phd is that you want you don't need to restrict yourself to only large public universities.

 

When it comes to masters at public universities you will likely pay more or the same at Duke and Yale because public universities generally have less generous financial aid than private universities. While there are assistantships available you wont know till your in and that can be a pretty big gamble(for an MS at Michigan that is the difference between free tuition plus a stipend and 40k in tuition and another 15K in living expenses...)

 

Finally Duke graduates at least in my chosen concentration make about high 50s-low60sk at graduation so there is a financial opportunity cost to think about when getting a phd as although you may have little to minimal debt upon graduation your missing out on 3-4 years so 150-200k and as one school I applied to showed phds don't end up making substantially more than ms/mem students so its unlikely that you will have a super high paying job after a phd at least initially. 

 

Also check out the financial aid calculator, I put in my numbers and played around with it a little. 

You can also think about it in terms of if you make the average salary you will get about 3,600 a mo after taxes(roughly) with 10 years it assumes you pay 600 a mo for your loans but if your willing to up that amount you can pay them off much faster and greatly reduce what you pay in interest.For example I personally with living pretty decently in my ideal city would be able to pay it back in about 5-6 years and reduce my interest payments by a little less than half. 

http://www.finaid.org/calculators/scripts/loanpayments.cgi

 

If you have some savings or can save some money in the next few months that can be really helpful too! I'm lucky in that I always knew I would go to grad school so I've been saving for a while so I will have fewer loans to take out because of that.  

 

Sorry this post is another big one! You can tell financial aid has also been on my mind a lot and it doesn't help that most of my family works in the financial industry in some way or another so they constantly want me to go over these calculations. I think its not easy but absolutely not impossible to pay back that amount of debt and you certainly wont be in debt forever esp with some forethought and careful planning. I hope this helps you and any lurkers out there thinking about this and making these decisions because this is something I wished people has discussed more in past years when I was lurking on this board from time to time. 

 

EDIT: It sounds in this that I'm super advocating for you to go to Duke but that is because its the only school we have both been accepted to. I'm sure the financial stuff is roughly the same for Yale? I hear New Haven is slightly more expensive but I've never lived there so I have no first hand experience with Yales cost of living. Also Duke is middle expensive school I was I got into(I have one that is significantly more and another that is significantly cheaper)  so I'm not sure I'm going to be attending there anyways. 

Edited March 26, 2014 by Etownenviro

[glm]

 

When it comes to masters at public universities you will likely pay more or the same at Duke and Yale because public universities generally have less generous financial aid than private universities. While there are assistantships available you wont know till your in and that can be a pretty big gamble(for an MS at Michigan that is the difference between free tuition plus a stipend and 40k in tuition and another 15K in living expenses...)

 

 

First, my apologies for crashing the Yale FES thread. I just wanted to give you the views of somebody who did not apply to this group of schools because of the financial uncertainties.

 

I think saying that attending a public university will lead to an equal or greater amount of debt than a private, elite school is very misleading. It varies program to program, but overall I think contacting professors with funding is the best way to go about securing your finances and having a debt free experience regardless of public vs private. Morlock, I don't know your research interests or goals but: If you decide to put off school, I would suggest you network in addition to applying for scholarships. I applied to a masters program in a public institution that doesn't accept students without a secured source of funding. I networked with 6 different faculty members and got an idea of who had money to spend. Before I was officially accepted, I was offered a graduate research assistantship on a great project that covers tuition and pays a comfortable stipend. 

 

So there are a lot of options to weigh. I think if you are uncomfortable with the financial outlook, it is a great idea to take a year to set things straight!