Graduate Stipends

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CoffeeBean
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:42 pm

Graduate Stipends

Post by CoffeeBean » Sat Feb 19, 2022 7:16 pm

For the schools, you got into how livable do you think the stipends are? How much consideration are you giving this factor in your decision making?

For me personally, USC offered me $32,500 which includes no teaching in the first year, but this seems awfully low for LA. I don't feel like I would have a good quality of life there. UPenn will offer about the same amount (to be determined but it was at this level last year and will likely increase slightly) and Philly has a much lower cost of living.

username2140
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2022 4:41 am

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by username2140 » Sat Feb 19, 2022 7:57 pm

It depends. My first question is the following: does USC have graduate student housing options that would be cheaper than typical LA housing costs? If not then, I think that is a fair reason not to attend USC.

I have heard bad things about UPenn’s overall administration though. For instance, I have heard that graduate students at Penn are overworked/have worse loads than other graduate schools. But your mileage may vary.

ijustwanttodomath
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2022 4:15 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by ijustwanttodomath » Mon Feb 21, 2022 2:05 pm

I used to live in SoCal and still currently live in California. I'm naturally heavily considering the COL and whether its something I can afford with the stipends being offered to me. Definitely check to see if they have graduate student housing and if its livable on your stipend as username2140 mentioned.

To be blunt, the stipend otherwise is NOT easy to live on alone. Many people in the area end up having to room with 4+ people to help pay for rent. I would heavily encourage you to consider applying for any sort of fellowship or scholarship that you qualify for, or take up internships over the summers to help you earn better income than you would earn TAing. Everything in the area, with the exception of maybe groceries (if you down with the ethnic markets ... i got some recommendations if you are :mrgreen: ), will be comparatively more expensive than the rest of the U.S. but also California median prices.

If you can, I would recommend visiting the area and checking out local markets etc to get a feel for how much things will cost you every day. What amenities does the on-campus housing offer you vs. off-campus housing? Are there resources on campus for you to take advantage of, like student pantries or free coffee from the department? Are you comfortable with walking/biking/riding a scooter in the area? Is it worth driving around to get by and paying to park basically everywhere (KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS BTW, A LOT OF PAID PARKING LOTS REFUND YOUR FEES IF YOU SHOW YOUR RECEIPTS DATED THAT DAY!), or are you gonna be another basic LA transplant and order Postmates/Instacart/etc all the time because it's a "better deal" than driving yourself? Things like that.

defen
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:40 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by defen » Mon Feb 21, 2022 2:37 pm

You're either sticking yourself into a dangerous area or spending a good chunk of grad school sitting in traffic (and almost certainly paying >12k a year in rent for the privilege). LA public transportation was atrocious through 2018; I suspect that it has not improved since. Unless you have a very strong reason to attend (i.e. two-body problem or a dream advisor), save yourself the trouble and go elsewhere.

bigbang
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2022 5:12 am

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by bigbang » Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:13 pm

Hi. The University of Florida has offered me a stipend of $22k for 9 months (Aug 2022 to May 2023). Besides this, I have been told to only further pay "fees corresponding to registration of credits".
I am not sure if this amount (after due tax and credit registration fees, as applicable) would be less, just enough, or good enough to sustain life in New Gainesville, Florida, as a Teaching Assistant. Since I don't have much idea about the cost and/or standard of living in individual US states, in particular Florida, I would really appreciate it if someone could kindly talk about this.

fakeName
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2022 7:03 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by fakeName » Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:35 pm

bigbang wrote:
Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:13 pm
Hi. The University of Florida has offered me a stipend of $22k for 9 months (Aug 2022 to May 2023). Besides this, I have been told to only further pay "fees corresponding to registration of credits".
I am not sure if this amount (after due tax and credit registration fees, as applicable) would be less, just enough, or good enough to sustain life in New Gainesville, Florida, as a Teaching Assistant. Since I don't have much idea about the cost and/or standard of living in individual US states, in particular Florida, I would really appreciate it if someone could kindly talk about this.
I'm no expert on Florida (never even been there), but the general cost of living calculations probably work out the same anywhere. Here's how I've been doing my calculations. Figure out the tax rate with an online calculator (it depends on the state): you'll probably end up netting ~80% of that after taxes, leaving you with ~18k for 9 months, or right around 2k per month (ignoring summer months for now. You'll probably want/need to do something to earn money during the summer).

What do you spend money on? Rent is the biggest, utilities, then food, healthcare, transportation. Looking it up, maybe 1100 for a solo apartment would be reasonable, leaving you with 900/month for the rest. If you have a lot of other expenses, you may need to find a really cheap apartment, or live with roommates to pay less in rent. If rent doesn't include utilities and you need a car, this budget is TIGHT, since you're probably gonna end up with literally zero money left over at the end of the month. Food is like, 130/month and upwards, and that 130 is living off CHEAP food with no eating out. If you need to pay for healthcare, you'll have to figure out how much that costs. Repeat this for basically everything you need to pay for and see how much you need at a minimum to live in the area vs how much they're paying you. It'll probably be tightish, but doable with luck and careful planning.

coolar
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2021 8:59 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by coolar » Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:11 pm

fakeName wrote:
Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:35 pm
bigbang wrote:
Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:13 pm
Hi. The University of Florida has offered me a stipend of $22k for 9 months (Aug 2022 to May 2023). Besides this, I have been told to only further pay "fees corresponding to registration of credits".
I am not sure if this amount (after due tax and credit registration fees, as applicable) would be less, just enough, or good enough to sustain life in New Gainesville, Florida, as a Teaching Assistant. Since I don't have much idea about the cost and/or standard of living in individual US states, in particular Florida, I would really appreciate it if someone could kindly talk about this.
I'm no expert on Florida (never even been there), but the general cost of living calculations probably work out the same anywhere. Here's how I've been doing my calculations. Figure out the tax rate with an online calculator (it depends on the state): you'll probably end up netting ~80% of that after taxes, leaving you with ~18k for 9 months, or right around 2k per month (ignoring summer months for now. You'll probably want/need to do something to earn money during the summer).

What do you spend money on? Rent is the biggest, utilities, then food, healthcare, transportation. Looking it up, maybe 1100 for a solo apartment would be reasonable, leaving you with 900/month for the rest. If you have a lot of other expenses, you may need to find a really cheap apartment, or live with roommates to pay less in rent. If rent doesn't include utilities and you need a car, this budget is TIGHT, since you're probably gonna end up with literally zero money left over at the end of the month. Food is like, 130/month and upwards, and that 130 is living off CHEAP food with no eating out. If you need to pay for healthcare, you'll have to figure out how much that costs. Repeat this for basically everything you need to pay for and see how much you need at a minimum to live in the area vs how much they're paying you. It'll probably be tightish, but doable with luck and careful planning.
I don’t think $130/month on food is realistic at all. You could maybe get away with spending $200/month if you don’t eat very much meat and buy all of your produce in frozen bags. Unless food is drastically cheaper elsewhere in the country, I would expect to spend $250-300 minimum on food to be decently happy with what you eat. For rent, I have talked to 30-40 grad students from different schools about where they live and only 1 of them had a single apartment. Living with roommate(s) will save you $200-400 a month, which makes a huuuuuuge difference.

ijustwanttodomath
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2022 4:15 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by ijustwanttodomath » Wed Feb 23, 2022 11:12 pm

coolar wrote:
Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:11 pm
fakeName wrote:
Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:35 pm
bigbang wrote:
Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:13 pm
Hi. The University of Florida has offered me a stipend of $22k for 9 months (Aug 2022 to May 2023). Besides this, I have been told to only further pay "fees corresponding to registration of credits".
I am not sure if this amount (after due tax and credit registration fees, as applicable) would be less, just enough, or good enough to sustain life in New Gainesville, Florida, as a Teaching Assistant. Since I don't have much idea about the cost and/or standard of living in individual US states, in particular Florida, I would really appreciate it if someone could kindly talk about this.
I'm no expert on Florida (never even been there), but the general cost of living calculations probably work out the same anywhere. Here's how I've been doing my calculations. Figure out the tax rate with an online calculator (it depends on the state): you'll probably end up netting ~80% of that after taxes, leaving you with ~18k for 9 months, or right around 2k per month (ignoring summer months for now. You'll probably want/need to do something to earn money during the summer).

What do you spend money on? Rent is the biggest, utilities, then food, healthcare, transportation. Looking it up, maybe 1100 for a solo apartment would be reasonable, leaving you with 900/month for the rest. If you have a lot of other expenses, you may need to find a really cheap apartment, or live with roommates to pay less in rent. If rent doesn't include utilities and you need a car, this budget is TIGHT, since you're probably gonna end up with literally zero money left over at the end of the month. Food is like, 130/month and upwards, and that 130 is living off CHEAP food with no eating out. If you need to pay for healthcare, you'll have to figure out how much that costs. Repeat this for basically everything you need to pay for and see how much you need at a minimum to live in the area vs how much they're paying you. It'll probably be tightish, but doable with luck and careful planning.
I don’t think $130/month on food is realistic at all. You could maybe get away with spending $200/month if you don’t eat very much meat and buy all of your produce in frozen bags. Unless food is drastically cheaper elsewhere in the country, I would expect to spend $250-300 minimum on food to be decently happy with what you eat. For rent, I have talked to 30-40 grad students from different schools about where they live and only 1 of them had a single apartment. Living with roommate(s) will save you $200-400 a month, which makes a huuuuuuge difference.
I live in an area where good quality food is still fairly cheap and $130/mo sounds super ridiculous lol and I'm vegan. I know a lot of people, myself included, who helped support themselves by doing private tutoring. One of my faculty mentors even did it! You can make good money for your time which helps with paying for food. If you don't have any dietary restrictions, take advantage of free meals offered at organization meetings on-campus. Also check to see if the university has a food pantry for students to get free basic food items.

deviant_lime
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2020 3:39 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by deviant_lime » Thu Feb 24, 2022 7:03 pm

Texas A&M offered me 30k for year 1 and then 28k for the other years.

josenelson13
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2022 11:17 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by josenelson13 » Fri Feb 25, 2022 2:08 am

deviant_lime wrote:
Thu Feb 24, 2022 7:03 pm
Texas A&M offered me 30k for year 1 and then 28k for the other years.
I’ve seen someone on gradcafe also being admitted. It hurts cuz I didn’t get any email from them, which means I was probably rejected. :/

ijustwanttodomath
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2022 4:15 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by ijustwanttodomath » Fri Feb 25, 2022 3:57 pm

josenelson13 wrote:
Fri Feb 25, 2022 2:08 am
deviant_lime wrote:
Thu Feb 24, 2022 7:03 pm
Texas A&M offered me 30k for year 1 and then 28k for the other years.
I’ve seen someone on gradcafe also being admitted. It hurts cuz I didn’t get any email from them, which means I was probably rejected. :/
I'm still waiting for an update from Texas A&M, too. Hopefully you have the comfort of other acceptances already or coming your way soon!

josenelson13
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2022 11:17 pm

Re: Graduate Stipends

Post by josenelson13 » Fri Feb 25, 2022 6:57 pm

ijustwanttodomath wrote:
Fri Feb 25, 2022 3:57 pm
josenelson13 wrote:
Fri Feb 25, 2022 2:08 am
deviant_lime wrote:
Thu Feb 24, 2022 7:03 pm
Texas A&M offered me 30k for year 1 and then 28k for the other years.
I’ve seen someone on gradcafe also being admitted. It hurts cuz I didn’t get any email from them, which means I was probably rejected. :/
I'm still waiting for an update from Texas A&M, too. Hopefully you have the comfort of other acceptances already or coming your way soon!
Unfortunately, I don’t have…



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