boneh3ad

You could get an R&D spot doing numerical work if your grad research was experimental... maybe. It all depends on your skillset. The bigger issue here is that if you are doing experimental work for a couple years and you hate experimental work, you are going to hate every minute of it. You should enjoy your work in grad school.

esloan7

This advice, from an apparently viable and direct source in R&D, has enabled me to conclusively decide to pursue the MS Thesis option versus the Non-Thesis route when I enter graduate school in the Fall. This discussion board, in general, has been very helpful.

iambored10

Question- Does anyone know if their are any M.S. programs that have some sort of funding whether it is in the form of scholarships, grants, RA, grading,etc.? Every program I am interested in states that their is no funding provided for MS students. Key schools that I am looking at are A&M, USC, and CMU.

NeoDymium

Generally funding is scarce save for assistantships (TA or RA), which usually only give you enough for living expenses but not tuition.
A few places you could look:
1. FAFSA gives loans and less commonly, a few grants. Loans are unsubsidized though, which is not very fun.
2. You could look for fellowships, either from the school administration (reserved for the select few) or external. Unless you're significantly more talented than the average bear, I doubt you'll find this. Given that you aren't trying for Stanford, MIT, and the like, I doubt you'll get these. You should definitely still mass apply for them, but don't be surprised if you fail on all fronts. Also, these are usually only for a single year, so finish in that year if at all possible.
3. You could get into a PhD program and drop out with a Masters. I wouldn't recommend this because it tends to burn a lot of bridges to do this unless you happen to run out of funding and be forced out, or you are a master at diplomacy and be able to leave on friendly terms (unlikely, you wasted your advisor's money). If you really, truly have no other options or are legitimately between PhD and Masters (50-50 not like 10-90), you can go for this route.

boneh3ad

Funding for masters degrees is very hit or miss and varies wildly by school and even by department within the school. Often it can vary by research within a department as well. I know the aerospace department at A&M has an unusually high percentage of funded, thesis-based masters degrees, but outside of that, I couldn't really tell you. Your best bet is to as various departments you are interested in directly.

Montegut

Are non thesis master's programs usually full pay for grad students, or can students get a scholarship to help pay tuition while enrolled in a non thesis masters program?

I'm talking not an assistantship where you have to TA, but an out and out "gift" scholarship, like undergrads get. Also not looking for a full ride, but just something to reduce costs.

In a state university, are grad students charged OOS tuition? If so, is it possible to maybe negotiate down to instate tuition?

NeoDymium

There is an OOS tuition fee. Doubt you could drop it unless you establish residence though.

Montegut

Some colleges offered waiver of OOS tuition as a form of scholarship, so I was wondering if this was also a scholarship available for grad students, especially those without funding.

Johnson181

Montegut - my school gives "gifts" to undergrads who choose to stay an extra year for their MS (both thesis and non thesis).

I will be/ am getting about 13k reduced.
And I don't have to do any work for the school at all.

This is fairly new for my school though (I'm in the first year they're doing this). It's completely merit based dependent on your undergrad gpa.

Montegut

^^^Son will definitely go to a different school for grad work. But I doubt he'll get full funding, so hoping his high GPA will at least get him reduced tuition at an OOS school. He will definitely be going OOS, though, or private. I also doubt he'll even apply to one of the tippy top schools, which probably get most of the funding, but will choose his grad school more for fit and research interests than financial concerns.

iambored10

I called GA Tech's office and they said that M.S. students qualify for 2k/month stipend...

boneh3ad

That is assuming you are a strong enough candidate to get a departmental fellowship or your professor pays that stipend. At least that is how the two GaTech departments I am familiar with (and had offers from) operate. Generally, professors pay for their students.

ken285

None of the schools that I had applied to offered any sort of funding for a non-thesis program. CMU did offer something in the ballpark of $10k if I would provide a "service" to the department. It wasn't a TA or RA position; they provided a few examples, but it's been a while and I don't remember what they were.

Experiment8

Our department will give non-thesis MS students a tuition waiver in addition to the regular hourly wage if you TA during the quarter for more than a certain number of hours per week.

Montegut

^^^That sounds good. Even an OOS tuition waiver would help. Son will probably go to a school on the quarter system, as the ones he's interested in seem to operate on that system.

Since some are saying non thesis don't usually get funding, is there a difference in the amount of time the different options take?