Scholarships for Masters?

[DennisthePrincess]

I'm planning to go to grad school for a masters in Industrial Engineering in Fall 2017 and I'm wondering if there are any scholarships out there that would help me with the cost. The IE department at the school I'm applying to doesn't offer teaching assistantship and rarely offers research assistantship. Anyone with experience please help me out?

[Quickmick]

The first suggestion might be to expand your scope of possible schools to include those that do have funding. Beyond that, there are a bevy of scholarships out there, and sites that let you search for them by field/your heritage/etc. While those engines are not hard to find here is one: https://www.petersons.com/college-search/scholarship-search.aspx. I scrounged up a little money, though it was some work. I used an excel sheet with who/what/when information to help organize it.

[DennisthePrincess]

Thank you for the website, it's definitely very helpful for the search. In your experience, do you know of any scholarships that are not extremely competitive to obtain? I'm not lazy, but I would like to optimize my time to shoot for possibilities rather than big scholarships where my chance is nearly 0 (i.e. the Rhodes scholarship) 

[pterosaur]

I don't think it's a total waste to apply for things like Rhodes (and Marshall and Fulbright). It depends on your background, goals, and experience, but I didn't think I stood a chance and was pleasantly surprised. The application process is also very self-reflective and informative to go through.

There are generally a lot fewer scholarship/funding opportunities for masters programs than PhDs. The most obvious way to find some is to broaden your search to other schools, if finances are a major limitation. I also think the NSF GRFP *might* allow you to apply for doing a masters, but that's only useful if you're looking at taking a research route.

[qt_dnvr]

I would say its worth it to apply to big names that have lower $ payouts. Theres a continumum from like Duct Tape Prom Dresses Scholarship.com (This is an actual thing for Undergrads)<----> Rhodes.  If you're a fit and it doesnt give full rides and multi year fellowships, you should apply. Also while applying to schools, you may gain some additional insight for how to sell yourself/experience and apply it to additional scholarships/grad applications.

Best of luck

[chisquare]

Maybe you want to try Canadian schools? A lot of programs offer fundings to master students. Not a lot though, barely cover your rent and food. 

[bposadas]

If the schools you are applying to are part of GEM, master's students are eligible to apply.