Trying to understand the Graduate School financial conundrum...

Usually an RA or TA or graduate stipend will be decided based on your existing application and will be a part of the acceptance offer you receive, you don’t have to do anything but accept one.

What are you going to graduate school for? Getting a graduate degree in biology is much different than getting one in education. I would call the departments you applied to. Tell them the steps you have taken so far, and ask them what else you should do. Are you going to be writing a thesis or dissertation? If so, you may need to start researching what type of work you want to do, and looking for an adviser. I think you have done the right thing so far, but it is always a good idea to go visit the place or just send an email to get your name in there a little more.

@Snarp – how would they know whether or not I need an RA/TA-ship? They would offer, and if I accept, I get? Just not sure how they would look at my app and say – hey, let’s give him an RA/TA-ship.

My degree is centered around an M.A. in International Comm.

@JonnyCeltics They don’t know or care whether you need one, in general. A TA or an RA is a job, and they want to fill it with the best person, who they also assume will be the best student. Need doesn’t generally enter into the equation.

There can be exceptions to this, my wife’s program interviews every candidate before they are accepted, and also has very limited financial resources for TAs They do occasionally consider need if it becomes apparent during the interview, but it’s all subjective.

@JonnyCeltics – When I’m old and retired and have nothing better to do, I’m going to write a book for people trying to go to grad school. The whole process is a black hole. No one really knows the proper procedures to follow, and there is no easy way to find the info you need. Not only that, but for the most part, there are questions you should probably be asking that you don’t even know you should be asking.

Snarp is on to it. Most programs will hire you as a TA or RA. But, some won’t. I know a few people who paid their way through grad school, which I think was a mistake. Grad school is different than going to university in that they usually will only take the amount of people into their departments that they can fund.

But, as I said, they may not fund anyone. My advise to you (this is what I did when applying to schools) is to write an email to each department asking them if there are any special procedures you need to follow to be considered for a TAship. You should get the answers you need that way.

The schools I went to for graduate work were known for never accepting more students than they have TA and RA slots. I had some of each at various times, and also held a fellowship for a year. The RA slots generally came from my major professors, the TA slots were generally to teach lab sections of giant freshman intro courses, and the fellowship was because I had gotten to know an older professor in the department who had given up on research in favor of administrative work but still liked to talk about his research interests.

Even better than the actual pay was that at one of the schools all RAs and TAs have their tuition waived, which was a huge gift right there. Even so, a lot of us planted gardens or did other things to make certain we could eat.

Have you asked the departments to which you have applied how it works there?

It really depends a lot on whether you are in the arts or sciences. Many science students recieve RAs or TAs because there is a great need for research and teaching help. In the humanities, there is less need and also less grant money available. I don’t think financial need has a great deal to do with it at the graduate level. Darwin’s idea of talking to people in the departments to which you are applying is spot on.

This is one of the best educational opportunities you will ever have. Welcome to the real world.