Funding

[ianfaircloud]

http://faircloudblog.wordpress.com/funding/

 

Let's see if this does what we need it to do. If it doesn't, please let me know. Maybe I can try something else. (Or maybe someone else can try something else, too.)

[AcademicX]

can we edit our entries after we have already submitted them?

[ianfaircloud]

can we edit our entries after we have already submitted them?

 

I'll look into this. In the meantime, feel free to enter comments on the bottom of the page or to submit another response to the form with the corrected information. Thanks for the note.

[Cottagecheeseman]

Man I hope I get to add something to this one day!

[ianfaircloud]

can we edit our entries after we have already submitted them?

 

After a little research, the answer (at least tentatively) is no. Theoretically it will present problems, because those who edit would need special permission to edit their posts and only their posts. (Otherwise we could have endless editing of the same post by different people, vandalism, etc.) The nature of this page is that we want to keep things fairly anonymous. In order for people to edit previous posts, those people would need at least a user name or something else to identify themselves with certain posts.  Then there are practical problems.  I'm using Google to power the site, and there's no straightforward way to introduce this function.

 

I could do this: I could add a feature that allows a person, immediately after a submission, to edit that submission only.  But I take it you're looking for a little more than this.

 

Let's sort of treat this page as we do the results survey on gradcafe.  If you need to fix a previous admission, it's OK to submit a second one with the correction.  Also, the comments feature on the page allows anonymous commenting.  (In fact, every page on my blog allows anonymous comments without logging in, etc.)  

 

There are other ways to do this.  People could send me results, and I could post those results manually.  Then I could update/modify/correct results as needed.

 

Let's see how this page works for now.

[ianfaircloud]

I didn't expect to see a lot of activity over the weekend. The funding survey on my site has about a dozen entries so far. This is a great start! I think we'll see more this week. People took the weekend off. My site's numbers were way up on Friday -- actually, I had a record page views. But Saturday and Sunday were way down, more than usual. I think people are getting burned out by the forum and admissions in general.

 

I hope we'll see more results on the funding page as the week gets going again. This should be an exciting week (though a difficult one for many of us, too).

[PhD applicant]

Don't forget though, some of the reason visits might be dropping is because people who have been accepted to what they think is their best offer have no more terror driving them to this sight for sympathies... If there are less people on this site (and yours) for that reason, then I think that's a good thing and I'm happy for them... I mean, once I get all my news, I won't have much reason to be here either. Unless I've ended up growing so fond of you dorks by that time that I have to come back and say 'hey, my fellow dorklings'.

Edited March 3, 2014 by PhD applicant

[MattDest]

Yeah, I'm just hanging around here for the cookies and dfindley jokes. 

[Cottagecheeseman]

Yeah, I'm just hanging around here for the cookies and dfindley jokes. 

Me too I'm hiding this NYU acceptance from you guys.

[philosophe]

I'm waiting to enter until I clarify info on my fellowships, but this looks great! Wonderful idea.

[Zukunftsmusik]

I don't know what can be done about the execution of the idea (e.g. editing entries, etc.), but I definitely like the idea and how everything looks so far. If anyone has info about funding at Columbia, please submit it to Ian or PM me!

[ianfaircloud]

Just a reminder about funding: http://faircloudblog.wordpress.com/funding/

 

A lot of people are receiving new offers. Please take a moment to let us know what those look like!

[TheVineyard]

This is a very helpful thread/info thingy, thank you.

I believe it is most helpful to those of us who are waitlisted, and may, without any funding information before the day of, be asked to make a decision on April 15th. If we know approximately how much money we can expect to be given, we can calculate cost of living and weigh our options in the meantime so that we can be ready to answer when the phone call (hopefully) comes on that fateful day.

Edited March 22, 2014 by TheVineyard

[ianfaircloud]

This is a very helpful thread/info thingy, thank you.

I believe it is most helpful to those of us who are waitlisted, and may, without any funding information before the day of, be asked to make a decision on April 15th. If we know approximately how much money we can expect to be given, we can calculate cost of living and weigh our options in the meantime so that we can be ready to answer when the phone call (hopefully) comes on that fateful day.

Thanks, Vineyard. I think you're right. It's much tougher to make a decision without all of the relevant facts.

[ianfaircloud]

Also bumping up this thread today.  Please submit your funding data to the funding page!

 

There's a very valuable resource available at http://faircloudblog...ss.com/funding/.  Already we have data on 30+ programs.  Not surprisingly, the best funding situations are generally at the top programs, particularly those programs associated with top-ranked institutions (like Harvard).

 

Some disappointing places for funding: UT Austin and UW Madison. Even when you figure the lower cost of living, these numbers are too low.

 

A better-than-I-expected place for funding: Vanderbilt! Who would have thought?

[TheVineyard]

Also bumping up this thread today.  Please submit your funding data to the funding page!

 

There's a very valuable resource available at http://faircloudblog...ss.com/funding/.  Already we have data on 30+ programs.  Not surprisingly, the best funding situations are generally at the top programs, particularly those programs associated with top-ranked institutions (like Harvard).

 

Some disappointing places for funding: UT Austin and UW Madison. Even when you figure the lower cost of living, these numbers are too low.

 

A better-than-I-expected place for funding: Vanderbilt! Who would have thought?

 

Madison ALSO requires students to pay the student fees, and this means 600+ dollars of that already pitiful stipend is thrown out the window.

[ianfaircloud]

On the master's program side of things, funding situations are more difficult to compare. Brandeis offers at least (about) 50% tuition to every person admitted. (Some get more.) And then Brandeis offers TA positions with reasonable salaries. Tufts is similar to Brandeis. You pay some tuition, so you'll be out money. And Tufts and Brandeis will require you to spend more on living. But the placement records are better at these two schools. Brandeis is doing particularly well in placing M&E candidates.

 

Compare these with schools like NIU and Georgia State. The funding situations at these two schools are really nice, and the cost of living is quite low. However, you do get stuck with quite a bit of teaching/assisting. I happen to know that the load is quite heavy for some people at Georgia State, though some would say that the weight of the load is exaggerated by a few. Still, if one weights the financial considerations pretty heavily in choosing a master's program, one would be right to choose NIU or Georgia State over Brandeis or Tufts. If one weights the placement record and quality of the faculty, Brandeis and Tufts win. (Consider your areas of interest. Tufts is better for people with interests in philosophy of mind, while Brandeis is better for people with interests in metaphysics.)

 

A small complaint about Virginia Tech and NIU: Both of these institutions (at least in recent years) have admitted some students without funding. I would spend money at Tufts over getting no funding at NIU. But I know others probably attach different values to these factors that I do. 

 

All of the above institutions are fine places to receive an MA in philosophy.

 

NB: UW Milwaukee, in my view, is the third-ranked program. Milwaukee is a great place to live, too. Cost of living is low, but you're well-connected.

Edited March 26, 2014 by ianfaircloud

[ianfaircloud]

Madison ALSO requires students to pay the student fees, and this means 600+ dollars of that already pitiful stipend is thrown out the window.

 

Good point!!

[Gnothi_Seauton]

Madison ALSO requires students to pay the student fees, and this means 600+ dollars of that already pitiful stipend is thrown out the window.

I wouldn't worry too much about having to pay for fees.  It creates a kind of "cash flow" problem for you initially, but there's a tax credit available on the federal level called the Lifetime Learning Credit.  With it, you can credit up to $2000 worth of tuition or fees.  The credit is non-refundable, so depending on how your taxes work out, it might be more beneficial to deduct the fees (a credit is usually more valuable than a deduction, but maybe not in this case).  It is probably worth it to claim it as a credit when you have no withholding (whenever you are on fellowship) but as a deduction when you do have withholding (when you are TAing or teaching), unless you want to set your withholding really low.  Unless you just have really high taxes (for some reason), you will most likely suffer a slight loss from paying fees, but I wouldn't look at it as an irretrievable hole in your wallet.  

[Cottagecheeseman]

I wouldn't worry too much about having to pay for fees.  It creates a kind of "cash flow" problem for you initially, but there's a tax credit available on the federal level called the Lifetime Learning Credit.  With it, you can credit up to $2000 worth of tuition or fees.  The credit is non-refundable, so depending on how your taxes work out, it might be more beneficial to deduct the fees (a credit is usually more valuable than a deduction, but maybe not in this case).  It is probably worth it to claim it as a credit when you have no withholding (whenever you are on fellowship) but as a deduction when you do have withholding (when you are TAing or teaching), unless you want to set your withholding really low.  Unless you just have really high taxes (for some reason), you will most likely suffer a slight loss from paying fees, but I wouldn't look at it as an irretrievable hole in your wallet.  

[philadam]

An additional exhortation: know thy tax options.

[Gnothi_Seauton]

Hahaha, sorry, I work for a state revenue agency.  Taxes occupy entirely too much of my time.

[Establishment]

NB: UW Milwaukee, in my view, is the third-ranked program. Milwaukee is a great place to live, too. Cost of living is low, but you're well-connected.

 

<rolls up sleeves>

[Establishment]

See also:

 

"In order of the average weighted English world faculty rank of a PhD program since 2002 that the MA programs place their students into:"

 

http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2013/10/20/Graduate-School-in-Philosophy-Terminal-MA-Programs-In-Philosophy.aspx

Edited March 26, 2014 by Establishment

[TheVineyard]

See also:

 

"In order of the average weighted English world faculty rank of a PhD program since 2002 that the MA programs place their students into:"

 

http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2013/10/20/Graduate-School-in-Philosophy-Terminal-MA-Programs-In-Philosophy.aspx

 

Yes. Tufts is far and away without question the best philosophy MA-only program. Nobody else comes close. Tufts is probably good enough to consider going to over quite a few top-50 PhD programs, whereas I don't think any other MA programs are worth turning down a top-50 PhD.

Edited March 26, 2014 by TheVineyard