NIH Kirschstein-NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship
Tau Beta Pi Association Graduate Fellowship in Engineering
As you progress through your graduate studies there are also additional fellowships available at later stages, particularly dissertation fellowships that are designed to help students finish up their Ph.D. program.
There are two basic types of support provided through universities that will fund your graduate studies. There were some variations on the specific titles depending on the institution, but many intuitions use the names research assistantship (RA) and teaching assistantship (TA). These assistantships usually provide for both tuition and a stipend for your living expenses. In return, you will be working on a research project or by teaching undergraduate students.
In many cases, research assistantships have a great deal of overlap with the research you will ultimately use for your thesis or dissertation. So, you are getting paid to do the research you would have needed to do anyway. Although the RA position may have a percentage appointment or certain number of hours associated with it, you will likely need to spend more time than what you are paid for in order to complete your degree in a timely manner. A good way to think about it is that you need to do a certain amount of research in order to earn your degree, and you are lucky enough to get paid for a portion of it!
As discussed above, there is more match-making needed in this case because you will need to be highly qualified, find a good fit between your research interests and a faculty member’s research program, and have this match up with available funding support. Once you have identified schools that you are interested in attending, you also need to look at the research interests of the faculty members and contact them about the availability of funding. If they have an RA position available and you are a good match, then they may make you an offer!
In some cases graduate students may be brought into a degree program and initially funded by a teaching assistantship. In other cases, the TA opportunities may come later in the graduate experience and something that you do after you have progressed in your degree program. The type of work that a TA would do depends on the specific position and may include grading, holding office hours to answer student questions, running a discussion section, or teaching the lecture component of a course. Regardless of the position, there will be an instructor or faculty member in charge of the course, and you may also be working with other TAs on the same course.
Teaching assistantships, although excellent skill building opportunities, will not be as directly related to your degree progress. If you are interested in an academic career path, the opportunity to be a TA can help you gain invaluable experience. Even if you are not interested in being a faculty member some day, teaching a subject provides an opportunity for you to deepen your own understanding of it. If you are in front of a classroom for a portion of your TA work you will also be able to hone your presentation and explanation skills. Employers of every type appreciate these skills.
For students planning to pursue a Master’s degree only, the funding opportunities are fewer. Sometimes RA and TA positions are available, but if you do not intend to continue on for a Ph.D. it is more likely that you will be paying tuition for the degree. Regardless, the investment in a Master’s degree should pay off. On average, your salary will be higher,7 your lifetime earnings with a M.S. vs. a B.S. are higher, and the unemployment rate is lower.8 Employers are also increasingly requiring a Master’s degree.9
Finally, there are student loans. Generally speaking, if you have student loans coming into graduate school, you will be able to defer your payment of them while you continue your studies. It’s also often possible to get student loans for graduate studies to support the cost or supplement funding you have from the university.10
2.5.3 FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS
As mentioned in the previous section, fellowships come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from a “full ride” to a small supplement. However, there are a number of commonalities in the application process for those you would need to apply to yourself. This happens independent of the university you are applying to or attending, so you will need to manage those deadlines in addition to graduate school application deadlines. Look into these opportunities early. Although the deadlines vary quite a bit, many of them are due BEFORE the standard graduate school application deadlines.
As you look into each fellowship opportunity, carefully read the eligibility criteria. You will not want to waste time on an application where you do not meet the basic criteria or where you are not a good fit. Keep in mind that in some cases you will be applying as a senior undergraduate and in others as first year graduate student. Some fellowship competitions allow you to apply in more than one year as well.
Don’t try to do this all on your own, without feedback. You will have a much higher likelihood of being successful if you plan ahead and seek out guidance. Determine if there is help available on your campus that will guide you in the fellowship application process. If there are workshops offered, seek these out and attend. There may be one-on-one help available if your campus has a writing center. You may also be able to seek feedback on portions of your application from an academic advisor or faculty member willing to read the essay portions. You should also use your network to find out if you know someone who has been successful in getting one of these fellowships. Being able to look at a successful fellowships packet will give you a model to emulate.
In addition to the fellowships available for your studies, there are also often small pockets of money that can help to defray other costs. Keep an eye out for other opportunities along the way, such as travel grants and other supplemental funding. Then later in your graduate studies, when you become a dissertator, look at fellowship opportunities again. Although there are not as many options as there are at the beginning of your graduate studies, in many fields there are dissertator fellowships that you can apply to which will help speed up your degree completion.
2.6 UNDERSTANDING THE ORGANIZATION OF YOUR RESEARCH GROUP
After you have joined a research group (or even while you are in the process of determining if a research group is a good fit for you), it is important to understand how the group is organized.
There will be research projects underway—some ramping up, some ongoing, and others winding down. You will be involved in at least one in detail, but you should also understand the basic themes of the other topics that your colleagues within the research group are engaging with. Having the basic framework of the research topics will allow you to sort and process additional information that you pick up in research group meetings, conversations with other research group members, and interactions with your research mentor.
Student Perspective
“My research group … usually meets on a weekly basis to give updates on progress and get advice on how to proceed if we have a problem. I find this to be very beneficial because it helps me get a feel for what everyone else in my group is working on. Although it is hard to follow a lot of the time, it’s good to learn what their projects are…”
Initially these interactions, particularly in research group meetings, may seem like a waste of time because nearly everything that is discussed is going over your head. But it is important to persist and try to follow as much of the information being exchanged as possible. You can also connect with one of the other more experienced students afterward to ask then to help you fill in some of the gaps. With time, you will be able, not only to understand more of what is being discussed, but also help provide useful feedback and ideas to the group yourself. Just keep in mind that it takes time to come up to speed, but you will make progress if you set goals for yourself that sometimes feel like a stretch.
Student Perspective
“Where I used to attend group meetings with glazed over eyes, I am now able [to] see what the other people are actually doing. However, I am usually not able to contribute too much because I still lack a significant amount of knowledge. Therefore, my main goal in the coming year is to be able to