brief update
I've been very busy this spring. I'm taking differential geometry, working on SpaceNet, and planning a wedding. I should also be doing thesis work, but I really haven't had any time for it.
Last year, congress did not pass a budget. This means that the federal government is operating on continuing resolutions. This means that NASA is not signing contracts, which means the Aero/Astro department has no funding. The SpaceNet project, which NASA likes a lot and wanted to continue for another year, will be ending in about 3 weeks. It may or may not be restarted this fall, when next year's budget comes into effect. What all of this means is that I have no funding past Apr 28 and may not be able to get any for the fall (spring is more likely, as NASA will be back on a budget and signing contracts again).
Fortunately, MIT fully subsidizes tuition for grad students only registered for thesis during the summer. This means that I can continue being a regular student all summer without paying anything. Non-resident tuition was just reduced to $865/semester for the first 3 semesters, which probably means that it will be cheaper for me to pay tuition in the fall then to get health care from anywhere else. It also means that when I graduate, I can pay regular tuition instead of 1.5 semesters tuition (which is the fee for graduating when you were not enrolled the previous semester). I'm not sure how hard it is to get non-resident status. The reasons listed on why it can be granted do not include wanting to pay less tuition. I do have to complete my general exams and write my thesis proposal, but that should be fairly easy to finish by the end of July. I also don't know if non-resident status counts as enough of a student to continue deferring my student loans or not.
At least Mira got funding, so we will have some income. I applied for summer internships at Draper and Lincoln Labs. I should probably apply to more places, but I don't have much time for it.
Last year, congress did not pass a budget. This means that the federal government is operating on continuing resolutions. This means that NASA is not signing contracts, which means the Aero/Astro department has no funding. The SpaceNet project, which NASA likes a lot and wanted to continue for another year, will be ending in about 3 weeks. It may or may not be restarted this fall, when next year's budget comes into effect. What all of this means is that I have no funding past Apr 28 and may not be able to get any for the fall (spring is more likely, as NASA will be back on a budget and signing contracts again).
Fortunately, MIT fully subsidizes tuition for grad students only registered for thesis during the summer. This means that I can continue being a regular student all summer without paying anything. Non-resident tuition was just reduced to $865/semester for the first 3 semesters, which probably means that it will be cheaper for me to pay tuition in the fall then to get health care from anywhere else. It also means that when I graduate, I can pay regular tuition instead of 1.5 semesters tuition (which is the fee for graduating when you were not enrolled the previous semester). I'm not sure how hard it is to get non-resident status. The reasons listed on why it can be granted do not include wanting to pay less tuition. I do have to complete my general exams and write my thesis proposal, but that should be fairly easy to finish by the end of July. I also don't know if non-resident status counts as enough of a student to continue deferring my student loans or not.
At least Mira got funding, so we will have some income. I applied for summer internships at Draper and Lincoln Labs. I should probably apply to more places, but I don't have much time for it.