Studying in a bad economy

IBclass06
Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:27:55 +0000

I applied to UCLA, USC, and UC-Riverside. I got into all three. One of them was a Master’s and I received a TA-ship, the other two were PhD and I received full funding that is guaranteed (so regardless of budget cuts, etc I am still supported).

I don’t have to look through your posts to guess that you are in the sciences (or possibly social sciences).

The funding for those in the humanities is virtually nonexistent right now at the UCs. In fact, one department at Berkeley I contacted expressed uncertainty about even being able to have admissions this year. (Needless to say, I was quite peeved, as Berkeley is arguably the best fit for my interests.)

Not that this affects the OP as a MSE/MEM applicant, but it is important to realize that not everyone gets the same funding. Science students get superb funding in the best of times and are reasonably buffered even in the worst. Others are not so fortunate, and complaints about the dearth of funding are hardly overstated.