Self funded MS in UT-Arlington vs Half funded MS in Grand valley state university

[Don Quixote]

Hello everyone. As the title suggests, i have got admit from both universities in masters program (Mechanical Engineering). Which university should i choose?

UT-Arlington is a better choice obviously regarding job prospects, but i am not sure because of the funding scenario.

Any suggestion will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.  

[.letmeinplz//]

You can try looking at the professors' pages at each program for the outcomes of their students. Usually they list their past graduate students and what they went on to do (like: Don Quixote (Masters) - Company X, Mr. Mister (PhD) - University Y) so you can see if your job prospects are really worse at the school funding you or not.

[Skyride Season]

When I started my MA program, I had no funding, but after one semester I was awarded a half-time GAship. The following year I had a full-time GAship and was awarded several (small) scholarships. The GAship included a tuition remission, which obviously cut way back on my student loans. All that to say, maybe ask about what could be offered down the line? I was pretty assertive about the GAships; I straight up asked them, What do I need to do to get one of these? And they were forthcoming with me, so perhaps these programs would be forthcoming with you.

[Don Quixote]

On 1/29/2017 at 9:19 PM, .letmeinplz// said:

You can try looking at the professors' pages at each program for the outcomes of their students. Usually they list their past graduate students and what they went on to do (like: Don Quixote (Masters) - Company X, Mr. Mister (PhD) - University Y) so you can see if your job prospects are really worse at the school funding you or not.

Thank you very much for your advice. I have checked the professors pages, unfortunately there's not much information available.

[Don Quixote]

23 hours ago, Skyride Season said:

When I started my MA program, I had no funding, but after one semester I was awarded a half-time GAship. The following year I had a full-time GAship and was awarded several (small) scholarships. The GAship included a tuition remission, which obviously cut way back on my student loans. All that to say, maybe ask about what could be offered down the line? I was pretty assertive about the GAships; I straight up asked them, What do I need to do to get one of these? And they were forthcoming with me, so perhaps these programs would be forthcoming with you.

Thank you for sharing your story. In UT-Arlington they do not usually offer masters students GAship in first semester. But they do offer GAship in following semester/year on a competitive basis. However being an international student, i do not have the clear picture nor the confidence of getting GAship. Hence the indecision ,whether to take the risk or not.