Weighing funding amount vs. Cost of living

[jujubea]

My funding packages are three completely different ballparks .... I'm waiting on the exact amount for one, but assuming it's similar to others' in the past, it will be clearly the highest amount.

 

BUT .. the funding amounts track with what I presume to be cost of living in the areas they're for.

 

Albuqerque with the lowest

Boulder, CO with the mid

and Santa Barbara, CA with the highest

 

How do you weigh the cost of living req's vs. what you'll get in stipend? Do you use city data? Some kind of published statistics about cost of living?

 

How do you measure how far $1 will go in one city versus another?

 

There will presumably be a difference in the type of funding, too. UCSB may be a fellowship with no teaching requirements, whereas the other two are TA-ships with responsibilities. How do you measure the value of not having to teach the first year or two?

 

What is "more" money?

[geographyrocks]

I used Craigslist to find housing and then compared the housing cost.  I will warn you that Boulder's housing market is outrageous!  Living with 5 roommates will still run around $600/month if not more.  I made a spreadsheet of each place i was thinking of living.  I found the median rent for a 1 bedroom on Craigslist (places you would actually live), cost of transportation (because in Boulder it's really expensive to live close to school), and then used those cost of living calculators to estimate the other stuff.  Then you factor in what your stipend is and see if you can make it work.  It's definitely possible to live on UNM's stipend, but I don't know what the teaching load is in other departments. 

 

As for not teaching the first year, I hear it's awesome and the desired way of doing things. 

 

By the way, congratulations on getting in everywhere!

[jujubea]

It's tricky because we have a family of four (and a half) .. and were hoping to buy a home. But IDK about buying in SB. Doesn't seem possible.

[geographyrocks]

Oh, yeah.  Buying a house is completely different.  You could try zillow.com to try and compare what you could buy in each city. 

[GeoDUDE!]

I talk to the graduate students. They will tell you straight up. 

[fuzzylogician]

There are online calculators that can help you get some idea of the cost of living in different places. I think it's also very helpful to talk to the graduate students. They will usually be very honest about how far the money goes. It's tricky with a family because you have other considerations like school districts and work for your spouse to consider. I'd ask to talk to current students who are married and/or have a family to get their opinions in particular. There should be some, though perhaps not many such students in each program. In fact, I'd be somewhat concerned if *no one* in a particular program had a family and would want to know if it's just a fluke or if this is a program that is not family-friendly. 

 

Re: not teaching in the first two years, I think what it means really depends on the person. Any way you look at it, it helps not to have to worry about teaching and be able to concentrate on just your research. But if you teach, it matters what your teaching load is like. E.g., would you TA or be instructor of record? How much grading would be involve? Are there materials already prepared that you could use, or would you have to develop your own materials for each class? How many students would you have? These considerations could entail very different amounts of work. It furthermore matters what your post-graduation plans are. If you might want to have teaching-centered jobs (at community colleges, liberal arts colleges, etc) then having the extra experience is more important than if you want to go into industry or a research-heavy academic job. I personally went for the offer with the least amount of teaching (not for that reason, really, but still) and I think it was very beneficial for me. The main downside was that I had to actually go out of my way to gain some teaching experience, but on the other hand it was paid, and I had a lot of influence on how and when it was scheduled. 

[rising_star]

CNN and other sites have cost of living comparison calculators you can use, where you put in the salary in one place along with the other location and then it tells you what the salary equivalent in the second place would be. I did that to get a basic sense, but then also asked grad students what they pay in rent and if they can live comfortably on their salary. Obviously, part of this will depend on how far you're willing to commute since prices tend to be cheaper in rural areas. If you have a family to move, you'll also probably want to consider the school systems and how much it would cost to rent/buy in a good school district.

[mngrue]

Regarding Santa Barbara - I grew up in SB county and now live in the neighboring Ventura county. A house down the street from me is selling at the very normal price of $480,000 and while we live in a very nice neighborhood, we are hardly in the prime realm of SB, where that would hardly buy you a shack... Buying on the income of a stipend just wouldn't happen, unless your spouse has a job that is very lucrative or you have deep pockets. If you have questions about the area from someone who has lived here a while, let me know.

[poweredbycoldfusion]

The students were super honest about it, and also, you can tell from people's life styles how far the money is going.

[jujubea]

Regarding Santa Barbara - I grew up in SB county and now live in the neighboring Ventura county. A house down the street from me is selling at the very normal price of $480,000 and while we live in a very nice neighborhood, we are hardly in the prime realm of SB, where that would hardly buy you a shack... Buying on the income of a stipend just wouldn't happen, unless your spouse has a job that is very lucrative or you have deep pockets. If you have questions about the area from someone who has lived here a while, let me know.

What's a commute like between UCSB and Ventura?

Are there any less pricey places in Ventura that still have good schools? (I can check out Zillow for that too - but curious what your thoughts are).

[WhatAmIDoingNow]

It's tricky because we have a family of four (and a half) .. and were hoping to buy a home. But IDK about buying in SB. Doesn't seem possible.

You can't easily buy in Boulder, but if you live 20-30 min out of Boulder it might be possible.  The housing market exploded since pot was legalized.  I went to school there and have family living there. I can't afford to move back now... unless I live with family. 

[jujubea]

You can't easily buy in Boulder, but if you live 20-30 min out of Boulder it might be possible.  The housing market exploded since pot was legalized.  I went to school there and have family living there. I can't afford to move back now... unless I live with family. 

Oh yeah, we'd be commuting for sure.

[zephyri]

I'd like to add to this- talk to several graduate students at your potential future department.  Graduate students come from all walks of life- some have a lot of support from their families or spouses, so they find the stipend affordable, even if you living alone on your own dime, would not.  

 

I think that the bigger the stipend to begin with, the more promising it is- you can always find ways to scrimp- getting a roommate, cooking more at home, traveling less- but you can't make $$ appear if it wasn't there to begin with.  Also, most schools have graduate student fees, so make sure you check that out before you calculate the size of your stipend.  A .75 stipend in my department is around $16,000 a year (which is what most students get), but university fees are nearly $2400 a year.  That takes more than two grand off your income from the get-go.  Schools also pay PhD candidates slightly more than MA students for the same work.  My pay "bump" after advancing to candidacy was something like $80 more per pay period ($160 extra per month).  Small potatoes, but it makes a difference when you are living on low pay!

[mngrue]

What's a commute like between UCSB and Ventura?

Are there any less pricey places in Ventura that still have good schools? (I can check out Zillow for that too - but curious what your thoughts are).

The commute between UCSB and Ventura all depends on time of day, but on average is 30 mins. I'd have to ask around regarding schools, since there are so many. I know Buena High School is a decent school and the feeder areas are nice. What ages are your children?