Tution/ Conferences

[bloodyeuphoria]

I'm trying to figure out grad school finances (not applying until next year though) and have a question. Do you owe tuition every year you are in grad school (PhD) even when you are doing your research/ writing your dissertation or only for the first three years your doing coursework

Comments

[gangur]

The goal, for most people at least, is to get "full funding" - i.e. a TAship or RAship that you work ~20/week in exchange for your tuition being paid, fees being paid, health insurance, and a stipend (around here $1600/month). At my university, everyone gets full funding for 5 years. Other programs, departments, and universities may only give full funding for 3 years. There are also fellowships (some based on merit, some based on ethnicity, etc.) that would cover you and you wouldn't have to TA/RA. In my department, there are 2 fellowships for people writing their dissertations so that they don't have TA. There are also a number of ethnicity-based fellowships each year

[sporkgoddess]

[brittdreams]

You can't graduate if you aren't enrolled, so usually there's a continuous enrollment policy that requires your enrollment if you want to graduate that year. Obviously things are different if you're formally taking time off from school. Most schools let you take like 3 dissertation hours for a reduced cost. But in reality, you want funding that covers this, either a TA, RA, or external fellowship.

If you're going to the meeting just to meet people, meh. I wouldn't. But that's me. People at conferences are busy and unless you get them to set aside time beforehand, they may not have the time. Remember that they aren't there to meet potential grad students...

[nibea]

Recruitment of grad students is very important and the professors I worked with usually look out for potential grad students to recruit at conferences. I think it's a terrific idea to try to get in touch at a conference - of course it would be best if one was presenting there as well...

[brittdreams]

I think this varies by discipline. I'm not saying they won't meet with potential grad students, just that it might not be there top priority. The presentation may not guarantee contact. I think if the OP really wants to meet with profs at the conference, s/he should contact them well in advance to schedule a meeting time/place.

Plus, it's important to make sure the profs you want to meet will actually be there. They don't all go every year.

[anese]

Wanted to second your experience, as I have also been told this same thing by multiple professors. It very well may vary by discipline though, as brittdreams suggests.

[nibea]

Well, you should defnitely aim to get in with funding! However, at my schools if you only do dissertation hours (like 3 or so) you pay less than for being fully enrolled. Depending on where you'll end up going to school it thus might not be the full tuition for all years in the program. You need to check with each school individually though I assume. Also find out what the normal schedule of grad students in your program is like - how many years of full-time enrollment will you need in order to get all required credits?

[jesalope]

My school has a "continuous registration" fee for people who are no longer in coursework but have not yet graduated. I think it's a few thousand dollars a semester, but I go to a ridiculously expensive school

[flamingjune07]

some may not feel like talking to a stranger who almost certainly just wants to get on their good side to get admission into their college

This is what always makes me feel awkward about things like this, or about contacting professors in general. I don't want to come off like I'm just trying to get a favor or something out of them, but since I'm still a lowly undergrad it's not like I have much of anything to offer them in exchange. I've made myself get over it and write/meet professors with really good results before, but I still feel kind of skeezy about the whole process -- part of me just wants to say something like "Look, I am actually really interested in your work in general, as a human being, so can we forget that I'm a student who stands to benefit from your interest for at least a little while?" (But of course that would be terribly, terribly awkward).

[roseofjuly]

You ARE trying to get a favor out of them. But don't worry; they don't know that. Think about this -- the majority of social relations between humans is based on wanting to get something out of someone, whether that's more abstract (love, friendship) or something more concrete (money, admissions

[flamingjune07]

I just don't buy a lot of this stuff. (First of all, I don't really believe that "relations are based on getting things" stuff entirely, at least not the way it's usually told -- I think that's a superficial view of it, but that's beside the point). Really, my intellect?? I think I'm smart and I think I have a lot of potential and am perhaps better read than your average bear, but a professor -- especially a professor of the kind of consequence that means undergrads from across the country will know who he is and try to suck up to him -- isn't exactly in a position where he has a dearth of "intellect" around and needs my help. I also surely hope that a professor isn't talking to me because of the chance that I might govern his grant money in the future. As far as I can tell, the reason most professors talk to undergrads like me is because they care about the health of the profession on the whole and want to make sure the next generation is a good one, and so it makes sense to meet with those who want to be next and try to