I have been admitted at the Ph. D. Program of Civil Engineering at two universities of Southeast. I got an email saying that I have been admitted. But nothing has been mentioned about funding. What chances do you see for the admitted  students to secure funding? Is there any way to secure funding like separate application, email to professor or applicants will be automatically considered for all types of funding? The students who are through funding in U.S.A. are kindly requested to share their feelings?

I got funding after I got admitted.The way it works is:

Thank you very much for the suggestion , Gothalojee!

First of all I would like to  be clear: are GA and TA same? I have heard that  we will have to pay the total tuition fee before getting visa. Is it true?Currently I am located in Nepal. It is quite impossible for me to pay the tuition fee. I have Master's degree from Japan. When I applied for the doctoral program I had the option to tick mark the box of funding option. That is all I did when I applied. I have not talked to any professor. My score in GRE is 1190 (verbal 520 and quantitative 670) and I have no publications. On this basis, what chances do you see for the funding? Is it worth attending the Ph. D. program without funding? Please suggest me.

Prashantaji,

Ok here is my experience..

I did my undergrad from US and applied directly to the Phd program. I applied to several schools and in all of those I checked the box that asked for funding so basically I said I will need funding from the school. When I was admitted to the university that I am currently enrolled I got my Graduate Assistantship letter together with my acceptance letter into the program. In my I-20 it said that my tuition will be paid by school and I will be working as a Graduate Assistant for which I will get a stipend and I should use that stipend for my personal expenses (Room and Board). As far as I make satisfactory progress I will be getting funding from the department for 5 years. However, some of my friends from other countries were admitted without funding. They used their personal funds for the first semester  and after that they applied for funding and some of them got it from my department itself and some applied to other departments and got funding. However, for them funding is not guaranteed every semester. They just have to apply and see how it goes. Also in my program we have to take  qualifying exam after we finish our first year. Only if we pass that exam we will be allowed to continue in the program and will get funding from the department. If we fail that exam then we have to withdraw from the program with or without a  masters degree.

In our program if we get funding from the department then ..first year we have to work as a GA which is basically grading hw and exams for a professor...from second year we either work as a TA or AI...TA means basically running review/discussion sessions for a group of 30-40 students..grading hw/exams...AI (Assoicate Instructor) means teaching your own class..so you have to do all the work..give lecture, prepare exams, grade hw and exams..hold office hrs and everything else..Salary for AI is higher than GA and TA..In order to qualify for AI we have to take this English speaking test..which is pretty stupid.. :-)

I hope this answers your question.

Goodluck

 

anushka1,

Prasanta,

First of all congratulations on being accepted for PhD program at two universities. When it comes to graduate school funding, there is nothing like "one size fits all" notion. The funding criteria and procedure differs from university to university, and even from department to department within a university. For example, few universities only provide instate tuition (as Gohtalo mentioned) where as you qualify for full tuition waiver in other universities with GA/TA/RA.

In your case, I would suggest you to write to the professors who work in the area(s) that you are interested to work on. Tell them you have been accepted to the program and relate your past research/work experience with their research projects. Professors can get their research project funded any time of the year and then they need students to work for them. If you want to take a chance, you can always fund your studies for a semester and look for an assistantship once you land in a school. Your chance of getting assistantship solely depends on you in that case (you have to get a good grade and keep a good rapport with faculty members you are interested to work with).    
Good luck!

Gohtalo

well the stipend given to Phd students differs from one department to another. In science department (physics, Bio, chem etc), they give higher stipend than in other liberal arts program..(I don;t know why).....for them it is around 20,000-25000 a year...for others it is little less....but whatever it is ...it is enough...coz you don't have to pay for tuition....some of my friends have family to look after and the stipend they get from our department is enough for the family..

Since AI (Associate Instructor) has more work to do they give little bit more to the AIs..

Well this is basically more or less same  in most of the schools..it depends on the program you are applying...I don;t know for sure... but I think GRE scores are important to get funding from the school..anyways each school has a different criteria and some might give more preference to GRE scores and others might give to GPA..

I agree with Nepal ko chora.....PrasantaJi , I think u should talk to the professor in your department. They might be able to help you with the funding.

Goodluck!!!

It depends on how you apply. Did you contact department or professor? What are the policies of the univerity? I am doing PhD in civil engineering. I came in my master degree just with "out of tuition waiver" and got very less funding after one year. But for PhD, I am in the same school and one of the professor is funding me.

Means, how you applied, just elaborate, so that we can have an intellectual guess. Best of luck.

Dear Gohtalo, Nepal ko chhora, Anushka and timer jee! Thank you very much for sharing your experience. I am attaching the email I have received from an assistant professor  here. As all of you suggested me to come  and pay for the first semester, how much does it cost approximately for one semester?

Dear....
I am sorry to tell you that you have not been recommended for a fellowship.  I understand that, as is the case with most international students, it is not financially possible for you to attend USF without an offer of financial aid.  However, we had many more qualified applicants than we had available fellowships.  I will certainly keep your application on file and, if I am able to obtain additional research funding in the future, I will consider you for any openings I have available.  But for now, we are not able to offer you financial aid.

With my regrets,

.......... Assistant Professor
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Ave., ENB 118
Tampa, FL  33620

Prasantaji,

Congratulations for getting admitted for the PhD program. I saw USF in the email that you had posted and wanted to catuion you abuout Universitites in Florida. But keep in mind that I am not discouraging you. I just want to share what I know. I am in Florida for last seven years.

Whatever everyone has written is correct, but the rules differ from university to university even in the same state. KEEP IN MIND THAT UNIVERSITIES IN FLORIDA NEVER GIVE IN-STATE TUTION (not even after a year of study at the university) TO INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IF YOU DON'T HAVE SOME SORT OF FUNDING. IF YOU HAVE THE FUNDING THEN YOU WILL GET INSTATE TUITION AND IT WILL BE WAIVED FOR YOU. There are some states that provide in-state tution to international students after their first year (I think Minnesota is one of them but not sure).

Prashant,

 

I would not recommend you to come here for Phd program without funding.  I suggest you to apply again to a few more universities for spring semester. 

After my MS i was offered 30K annual assistantship for Phd but I didn't join since I wanted to work for few years in real world environment. I don't think any one does Phd without some sort of funding.So I agree with AAAA idea with not to join in unless you have some funding even you can pay.I think you need to wait and try more university in different states.

Prasant,

What is you background and where did you finished BE or ME?

Just curious