Fellowship Deserved?

[dajyahao]

Hi everyone,

I've just received a very kind offer from my future grad school in US to change my TA to fellowship, which guarantees more stipend and requires no service duties for my first year. I really appreciate the offer and am sure to accept it. However I can't help but to wonder why the school should think I deserve that money.

I will feel perfectly comfortable receiving a stipend if I am a TA/RA, after all I am getting paid for my services, but to receive a stipend by just taking courses? This really makes me think the university is being a little too kind to me lol.

Maybe for public schools, those fundings are provided by the government. My home country (I come from outside US) also spends huge money on her graduate stutents. But then I am an international student so I guess the fellows is not a welfare particularly for US citizens.

So does anyone know why schools/governments provide such a type of financial aids to students? What will they expect from a pre-doc fellow during his/her graduate studies?

[the_sheath]

What do they expect of us? To complete graduate studies. It's a bribe. TAKE IT.

[VioletAyame]

What do they expect of us? To complete graduate studies. It's a bribe. TAKE IT.

LOL. First time I took a bribe in my life!

 

To the OP: It's a bit strange that they're offering you a fellowship this late in the process, but I don't think it means anything other than they believe in your ability to succeed in graduate school The reason for the switch might be that someone turned down the fellowship and they picked you to replace - however that's just my theory, I actually am under the impression that most fellowships are non-transferable. Regardless of the reason, it's a good sign - they seem to have faith in you and you have more time and money to devote to your research. Don't think of it as welfare - I'm international too and I was offered two fellowships! I think the difference in stipend and lack of service are nothing compared to the extra tuition they have to pay on our behalf for all 5 years

[dajyahao]

What do they expect of us? To complete graduate studies. It's a bribe. TAKE IT.

Well they've certainly successfully bribe me!

[dajyahao]

LOL. First time I took a bribe in my life!

 

To the OP: It's a bit strange that they're offering you a fellowship this late in the process, but I don't think it means anything other than they believe in your ability to succeed in graduate school The reason for the switch might be that someone turned down the fellowship and they picked you to replace - however that's just my theory, I actually am under the impression that most fellowships are non-transferable. Regardless of the reason, it's a good sign - they seem to have faith in you and you have more time and money to devote to your research. Don't think of it as welfare - I'm international too and I was offered two fellowships! I think the difference in stipend and lack of service are nothing compared to the extra tuition they have to pay on our behalf for all 5 years

Cong on your 2 fellowhips! Yep I'm pretty certain I'm getting a fellowship 'cause someone else turned down the offer. I think it's a great sign, too. Just a bit curious about the difference in duty between a fellow and an assistant, hmmm...

[spellbanisher]

If you feel unworthy of the money, you can always donate it to charity. The spellbanisher relief fund is a very worthy cause.

[dajyahao]

If you feel unworthy of the money, you can always donate it to charity. The spellbanisher relief fund is a very worthy cause.

lol thank you for the advice spellbanisher. Sounds worthy indeed

[CageFree]

Hi everyone,

I've just received a very kind offer from my future grad school in US to change my TA to fellowship, which guarantees more stipend and requires no service duties for my first year. I really appreciate the offer and am sure to accept it. However I can't help but to wonder why the school should think I deserve that money.

I will feel perfectly comfortable receiving a stipend if I am a TA/RA, after all I am getting paid for my services, but to receive a stipend by just taking courses? This really makes me think the university is being a little too kind to me lol.

I felt the same when I unexpectedly got a generous fellowship for my first year that freed me from any work obligations. What I did was use the "extra" time to get more coursework done. I am in the last term of my second year and I am done with all coursework, while most of my friends (the ones who didn't get 1st year fellowships) are still taking classes... this term I am writing a research paper and it's so freeing not to have to be in class reading stuff that's only tangentially related to my research interests. I feel very fortunate to have had the money last year. So... enjoy it and take advantage of the free time!

Edited April 18, 2014 by CageFree

[dajyahao]

I felt the same when I unexpectedly got a generous fellowship for my first year that freed me from any work obligations. What I did was use the "extra" time to get more coursework done. I am in the last term of my second year and I am done with all coursework, while most of my friends (the ones who didn't get 1st year fellowships) are still taking classes... this term I am writing a research paper and it's so freeing not to have to be in class reading stuff that's only tangentially related to my research interests. I feel very fortunate to have had the money last year. So... enjoy it and take advantage of the free time!

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! I'll certainly put the time saved into my coursework so that I can be more prepared for future researches!

[mandarin.orange]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! I'll certainly put the time saved into my coursework so that I can be more prepared for future researches!

 

Such fellowships are used to recruit students. I received one for 1st year of my MS that relieved me of TA duties, and it was definitely a major reason why I decided to go to that school! For my PhD (different university), they offer fellowships to all first-years with no TA duties. Idea is to get settled into the program, think of your research question(s), and get as much of your coursework done as possible. I won a competitive univ-wide fellowship for my 2nd year that again relieved me of teaching duties...the extra time was invaluable to me for mentoring more students in our lab, making progress on lab analysis, going to conferences to network with people I now email/collaborate with, and moving along on my quals. All stuff we're expected to do anyway, but I could focus more time on it.

 

Only difference I can think of -- other than the sweet sweet extra time -- is pay structure, and whether or not taxes will be withheld. Usually they are not withheld if it's a fellowship; TAships generally mean being on university payroll and taxes are withheld.

 

My philosophy is: if ever you are offered a release from TA duties, TAKE IT. This is coming from someone who's an experienced educator, who enjoys teaching, and is really into pedagogy.

Edited April 19, 2014 by mandarin.orange

[wildviolet]

This is not unusual. Schools do it to recruit candidates that they think are highly qualified, will complete the program successfully, and go on to do great things. So you should feel proud and worthy!

 

While I did not receive a fellowship that freed me from RA/TA assignments, I did receive a scholarship from the graduate school that paid FOR my RA/TA assignments my first year so that the funds did not have to come out of my department or my professor's grants. While that meant that things for me did not change (i.e., it didn't matter to me where my funding was coming from), I found that my professor and department chair seemed impressed by this scholarship because they were rare, especially for students in our department.

 

Congrats, again!

[dajyahao]

Such fellowships are used to recruit students. I received one for 1st year of my MS that relieved me of TA duties, and it was definitely a major reason why I decided to go to that school! For my PhD (different university), they offer fellowships to all first-years with no TA duties. Idea is to get settled into the program, think of your research question(s), and get as much of your coursework done as possible. I won a competitive univ-wide fellowship for my 2nd year that again relieved me of teaching duties...the extra time was invaluable to me for mentoring more students in our lab, making progress on lab analysis, going to conferences to network with people I now email/collaborate with, and moving along on my quals. All stuff we're expected to do anyway, but I could focus more time on it.

 

Only difference I can think of -- other than the sweet sweet extra time -- is pay structure, and whether or not taxes will be withheld. Usually they are not withheld if it's a fellowship; TAships generally mean being on university payroll and taxes are withheld.

 

My philosophy is: if ever you are offered a release from TA duties, TAKE IT. This is coming from someone who's an experienced educator, who enjoys teaching, and is really into pedagogy.

 

 

This is not unusual. Schools do it to recruit candidates that they think are highly qualified, will complete the program successfully, and go on to do great things. So you should feel proud and worthy!

 

While I did not receive a fellowship that freed me from RA/TA assignments, I did receive a scholarship from the graduate school that paid FOR my RA/TA assignments my first year so that the funds did not have to come out of my department or my professor's grants. While that meant that things for me did not change (i.e., it didn't matter to me where my funding was coming from), I found that my professor and department chair seemed impressed by this scholarship because they were rare, especially for students in our department.

 

Congrats, again!

Thank you Orange and WildViolet  It's been nice to hear about these experiences and suggestions of yours!

[PhDerp]

Considering that fellowships are used to "recruit" students, as mentioned above, now I'm wondering if I got one because I mentioned that I was applying to absurdly prestigious schools (MIT, Stanford, etc.)? Maybe they wouldn't have if they knew I only applied to reach schools, and didn't actually expect to get into MIT! ;P