/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.3655752]

What's the deal with financial aid for grad school? I want to go get my PhD, but everyone I know keeps warning me that I'll have so much fucking debt after school and it's probably not worth it.

But when I talk to grad students, most of them say they usually get a lot of financial aid through teaching and research. I've heard many times it's not that hard to basically break even.

Which side is more true?

[Anonymous No.3655771]

Yes you will be in debt, but chances are with education like that, you'll be able to pay off your debt fast

[Anonymous No.3655790]

>>3655771
lol

most PhD pay is not enough to make up for the lost interest in payments. The opportunity costs are not worth it. Instead, it's better to go to the work force and aim for your PhD over time, OP.

[Anonymous No.3655808]

>>3655771
this is just not true.
>>3655790
this is true.

[Anonymous No.3655818]

>>3655790
Adding to that, many employers will encourage getting a masters/PhD and will pay for the related costs.

[Anonymous No.3655863]

>2011
>still choosing to be poor

[Anonymous No.3656020]

it all depends. i was fortunate enough that my parents could completely pay for undergrad. hence no undergrad loans. I am currently at a top 5 engineering school and make roughly 25K/yr before taxes. my school makes me pay ~1K-1.5K a semester in "reduced tuition plus fees", although I have friends at other schools where they pay for everything. In the city I live in housing is ~600/month. I've been lower than breaking even for about a year now, although I had a bunch saved up before starting (internships over the summer). Not sure what I'm gonna do when I start running low on cash (probably another year+ from now). I'll either have to take out a few small loans, or get get some cash from parents, but that is down the line from now.

In the end, you'll get a lot of financial aid, especially if you do sponsored research. The pay is really low, however, you wont get too much debt (maybe none, if you don't live in an expensive city). If I graduated with 20K in debt, but my starting salary was 70-80K (probably average for my school + major), I could probably pay it all off in the 1st year. it might not be worth it in the short run (5-10 years) in terms of opportunity cost, but in the long run (over an entire career) it could open up doors. Also, there's always the option to teach at university (and do research) instead of staying in industry if I grow tired of it.

[Anonymous No.3656031]

>>3656020
what I meant by "they pay for everything" is that at other schools, you wouldn't have to pay the reduced tuition + fees. not the students pay for everything. just realized the ambiguity in that sentence.

[Anonymous No.3656090]

>mfw my college pays Biochem Phd students a 23k/yr stipend and you can get payed to teach on top of that

[Anonymous No.3656115]

OP, why are you even asking?

Obviously you should believe the people who ACTUALLY WENT TO GRADUATE SCHOOL because they're the ones who actually know what they're talking about.

I'm going to Drexel for grad school in the fall, and it's an expensive school, but they're paying my tuition and offering me a teaching assistantship with a stipend.

[Anonymous No.3656555]

bump

[Anonymous No.3656582]

>>3655752

graduate school in the sciences is a waste of time and your life.

go to med school instead or enjoy your 35k/year post doc gig with shit room for advancement

[Anonymous No.3656624]

>>3656582
this is why you do PhD in engineering. they still pay you, but you can go into industry. also because engineering phd pays bank, a teaching position also pays bank. mfw my advisor makes 200K+ a year.

[Anonymous No.3656642]

>>3656582
>Get PhD in a science
>Apply to both industry and academic positions
>Pick the one with the best "I can stand to do this stuff" and "You will pay me how much?" set up for you
>Be happy

Seriously, industry can and will take people with a demonstrated ability through their PhD program and pay them very well.

[Anonymous No.3656658]

>>3656624
MFW I know people in the pure science making at least twice that.

[Anonymous No.3656694]

>>3656658
and i know people in the engineering field making 4x that in industry. was this an acedemic position?

[Anonymous No.3657458]

bamp