Please Help: Way, way in the future

marite
Thu, 23 Dec 2004 20:09:03 +0000

First, congratulations. Let me try to answer your questions one by one.

1. How long does it take one to get a PhD? Do you get a masters first or can you do it all in one swipe?
In most disciplines, students study for the Ph.D. rather than for a M.A., unless it is a terminal M.A. degree. Ideally, universities like their students to do their Ph.D. in 5 years: 2 years of coursework leading to the Ph.D. general exam, one year to explore a research topic, one year of research and one year of writing. But in many, perhaps most cases, students take somewhat longer, especially if learning languages is involved or if the fieldwork is in difficult conditions.

2. How much will this cost me? I know there is financial aid, but how much? After undergrad, my parents can’t finance my graduate education. How much are the average expenses after financial aid?
In many cases, students who are admitted into a Ph.D. program receive fellowships. Depending on the institutions, it can be an outright fellowship for the whole of the 5 years (Princeton), or a combination of outright fellowship and teaching fellowships. Teaching fellowships usually start after the student has passed the general exams.

3. How competitive are admissions? If I wanted to do graduate work at Stanford, how successful will I need to be in undergrad? What things do graduate admissions officers value as far as out-of-the-classroom activities?
Most universities encourage their students to go elsewhere for graduate studies so as to be exposed to different professors, different sets of interests, perspectives, methodologies. Graduate admissions consider only the academic record of the student, not extracurriculars, so it won’t matter if you crewed for Stanford or not.

4. What would be the general process for getting involved in teaching at the university level? See my answer to #2.

Once you get into Stanford, you will meet graduate students who act as TFs. You will get to know a lot more about what they do then.