What is ideal funding? Stipends, tuition, fellowship, RA/TA?

[dirkwww]

I am looking for current or future students to tell me what ideal funding packages look like. I got accepted into a program that offers full tuition and TA all 4-5 years (year round) but has no departmental grants, or fellowships, or research assistant positions. Since this is the only offer I got, I'm not sure if I should settle. The other programs I applied to offered more funding options and seem to give their students more offers like that. Also it would be nice to see a resource saying "when looking for graduate school pick one that offers these" Any help?

[Anxiousapplicant01]

The "ideal" funding package looks different depending on what your priorities are. I mean, fellowships are usually best because they often don't have a requirement to work for your stipend (like you would for an assistantship). If you are not interested in pursuing a career in academia, then the package you are considering is definitely not settling. It's one of the better offers you could get! However, if you are interested in research as a career, I would worry about attending a program with no grant money and no RA positions just because I would be concerned about research opportunities. If you find out that that is not a concern, I would say your offer is very good and close to ideal for your situation. There is no one-size-fits-all ideals when it comes to picking a grad program. If you like the program, I wouldn't go through the entire application process again just because you want funding from a different source (especially if your package is sufficient to meet your needs). Good luck deciding! 

[dirkwww]

30 minutes ago, Anxiousapplicant01 said:

The "ideal" funding package looks different depending on what your priorities are. I mean, fellowships are usually best because they often don't have a requirement to work for your stipend (like you would for an assistantship). If you are not interested in pursuing a career in academia, then the package you are considering is definitely not settling. It's one of the better offers you could get! However, if you are interested in research as a career, I would worry about attending a program with no grant money and no RA positions just because I would be concerned about research opportunities. If you find out that that is not a concern, I would say your offer is very good and close to ideal for your situation. There is no one-size-fits-all ideals when it comes to picking a grad program. If you like the program, I wouldn't go through the entire application process again just because you want funding from a different source (especially if your package is sufficient to meet your needs). Good luck deciding! 

Thanks for the advice. I want to go into research and academia but research first (they go hand in hand). it just worries me that there are no RA fundings or fellowships or grants from the department.

[Applicant 1746]

It's hard to say. As the poster above me said, it depends on the kind of program it is, your interests, and your priorities/goals. 

TAing is pretty standard, and even if you'd prefer to spend that time doing research, getting teaching experience is a good idea if you plan to apply out for faculty jobs after grad school. I have friends in other programs who have research assistantships, and I've heard mixed things about those: some of my friends like spending more time in the lab; others are frustrated that this usually ends up looking like "grunt work" for the PI (entering data, coding, things like that), when they would prefer to be working on their own independent research instead. 

If the department doesn't offer fellowships/grants, you might want to look to external funding, like NSF (depending on your area/interests/research agenda).

[PinkFreud22]

Also, keep in mind that there are some national fellowships you can apply for outside of your institution. These are much more competitive and not a guarantee but are a great opportunity to not have to TA for a year so that you can focus on just doing your research.  

[icantseethespacebar]

A lot of programs only have TAships available because of funding constraints, but that doesn't mean you won't also be spending time in your professor's lab! It just means your lab time won't be paid if it's not an RA. But definitely look into outside funding sources like NSF, NIH and NIMH