Do the dollars make sense?
Our 20th and 21st book winners are Freya Whittaker (incoming PhD student) and Kimberly Wu (current PhD student)! Be sure to enter the book giveaway for your chance to win a copy of A Field Guide to Grad School! More details below (at the end of the post). A special thank you to Nicole Betz for sponsoring an additional 5 copies! Now, onto the good stuff!
Students have been reaching out to let me know they are receiving PhD offers and I couldn’t be happier for them! Perhaps you’ve received some offers by now, too! Now comes the fun (but also probably stressful) part: making sense of those offers and figuring out what is going to work for you. Keep in mind that one post related to PhD offers is simply not enough. So, this won’t be the last you hear from me on this topic. For now, I’m going to focus on the typical contents of offer letters and what more you can ask to determine whether an offer is going to work for you. Note that the information shared here largely reflects letters and concerns for those applying to programs in the United States and Canada. [Also, see this recent Twitter thread from Dr. Jay Van Bavel who also walks through how to evaluate offers.]
Stipend. What is your annual pay going to be? Your letter should explicitly state your level of financial support and how that support is being funded (e.g., through fellowships, teaching assistantships, etc.). Your letter should also include for how many months that support is being offered. Some stipends (or fellowships) cover only 9 or 10 months, some are spread across all 12 months. Ideally, your letter will also indicate how that support will be disbursed (e.g., monthly, semesterly, etc.) and for how many years it is guaranteed. Guaranteed funding for the duration of your training is key! If a program is unable to guarantee funding after the first year, be very careful and talk to as many current students as possible to see how they secure funding for subsequent years.
Once you have a clear sense of how much you will have available to you each year, consider your cost of living. A $25,000 stipend in Lawrence, Kansas is very different than a $25,000 stipend in Los Angeles, California. You can use this cost of living (COL) calculator from NerdWallet to help you make sense of COL differences. Other costs to consider include (not exhaustive): travel to/from family and friends, car payments (including insurance), regular health-related expenses (e.g., premiums, medicine, treatment), dependents.
Teaching and research assistantships. Are you going to be required to teach (TA) in any capacity? Are you required to serve as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)? Teaching and research assistantships often cover portions of your funding throughout your doctoral training. For example, at the University of Michigan, I was required to TA for five terms (this was reduced for students who were awarded an external fellowship like an NSF GRFP). If required to teach, when will you be required to teach? Ideally, you won’t be required to teach during your first and last years, but that’s not always possible to avoid. If required to serve as a GRA, what will this look like? Will you be funded to work in your advisor’s lab or will you be required to serve as a GRA elsewhere at your institution?
Coursework. What number of credits are covered by your funding package? This number may vary as a function of your student status (pre-candidacy vs. candidacy) and/or TA/GRA status. Relatedly, make sure you have a clear understanding of course requirements. Ideally, programs will have a handbook that details the order in which courses should be taken and when. Nothing should be a mystery (yet, so many things are!).
Research and conference funding. Are you guaranteed funding to support your research and conference travel? If so, what is it? If research and conference funding are not listed, what internal funding opportunities are there for students? Will your advisor fund your research? As a side note, you may also want to ask current grad students how they are reimbursed for expenses. Ideally, you will not be required to carry large balances for conferences on your credit cards as you wait for reimbursement, but I know this happens (and far too often).
I’ve also seen an increasing number of programs offering laptops to first-year PhD students. Will you have a computer available to you or will you be required to furnish your own? If you are expected to furnish your own computer, which is often the case, you may consider asking whether there are lab or university machines available for personal use. Computers are expensive and it’s not out-of-line to ask whether your program can provide you with one to use during your training.
Health benefits. What medical coverage is available and who is responsible for associated fees? Will you be required to pay a premium? Can your dependents (if applicable) be covered by the plans available to you? In short, what are your yearly health benefits going to cost you? At the University of Michigan, basic levels for medical and dental were covered by my program. I then had the option to increase my level of coverage for some monthly fee. I should note that the “basic” coverage available to me was actually quite good. This may not be the case for you. So, read everything very carefully and know that you can call the Benefits Office at your potential institution(s) to ask them to walk you through what coverage will actually look like for you and what costs you should expect to cover.
Relocation costs. Will your program cover your moving costs or offer any level of support for moving? Moving can be very expensive and I was excited to see support offered by at least a few programs! If not included in your offer letter, it would be reasonable to ask your potential advisor or student liaison whether support can be made available. I suspect the answer will often be no, but you never know!
Some final thoughts.
Get everything in writing. There can be a big difference between “what has been done in the past” and “what will be done in the future.”
There is (sometimes) room to negotiate! I’ve worked with students who have negotiated stipend increases. Don’t leave money on the table. If you need more funding, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Start by emailing your potential advisor and go from there.
Get everything in writing.
Know what fees you are responsible for. There are often random (at least they seem random) student fees that may or may not be covered by your program. Current graduate students will know best.
Get everything in writing.
Ask current students how they make the financial stuff work. Do they have roommates? Do they sleep four to a room during conferences? Talk to as many current students as possible.
Get everything in writing.
SCHOLAR PROFILE #16: IKE SILVER
The purpose of these profiles is to highlight and connect you to scholars at different career stages doing interesting and important research and service work.
This week, we get to learn about Ike Silver, who is PhD student in Marketing and Psychology at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Now, let’s learn about Ike’s academic journey.
What are your research interests?
I am interested in moral and political marketing, social interactions and judgments, and prosocial behavior.
With whom are you working for your PhD?
I am working with Dr. Deborah Small, who is a Professor of Marketing and Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Why did you choose your PhD institution and advisor(s)?
When I applied to graduate school, I had three goals in mind. First, I wanted to find an advisor who was both a top-notch researcher and a caring/generous mentor. For better or worse, most PhD programs resemble apprenticeships, and I knew that I would only thrive with an advisor who would both push me hard as a collaborator and look out for me as a person. Second, I wanted to find a research community where other professors, post-docs, and students readily saw value and took interest in the topics I found compelling. Third, I wanted to find a city where my partner and I could make friends, find community, and live comfortably on a graduate student budget. At the time, I was reasonably happy with my job in the private sector, so I only applied to schools where I was fairly certain I could get all three. In the end, I received a handful of (painful!) rejections, but also some acceptances. UPenn had a great community of social and moral psychologists and a well-funded doctoral slot for me in an affordable, friendly city. Getting to work with Dr. Small, who had a track record of producing fascinating research and sane, successful graduate students, made my final decision an easy one.
Please share more about your academic journey.
My first exposure to psychology research came as an RA for Dr. Frank Keil and Brent Strickland (then PhD student) during my freshman year at Yale. I needed a campus job to collect financial aid, and I had a vague sense that I wanted to major in cognitive science, so it seemed like a reasonable fit. For a long time, my involvement in research mostly entailed cold-calling parents to encourage them to bring their children to campus for developmental psych experiments. Gradually, as I took more classes and worked my way up, I earned more autonomy in the lab, and my interest in research started to compound. I took a second RA-job working for Dr. Joshua Knobe. I also spent a summer at the University of Chicago working with Dr. Alex Shaw. Despite enjoying research, I still wasn't sure if I could make it work as a career, and so took a two-year hiatus to work in finance after graduation. At the time, I figured that I would give 9-to-5-life a fair shake, and if I still had the itch to run experiments and write papers thereafter, at least I would be able to save up enough to look after myself during graduate school. Sure enough, two years later I was ready to take the plunge and pursue a PhD.
How do you recommend that prospective students being to navigate the PhD application process?
Although the process can seem fairly impersonal, there are graduate students, post-docs, and professors in every department excited to welcome you to the field and to help you present a compelling case in your application. The hard part is finding them and getting a conversation started. Cold-emailing professors is one common strategy in some fields, but I would personally recommend against it. Seems risky. Instead, you might start by reaching out to one or two graduate students (or RAs) in labs/deps of interest. Ask them open-ended questions about the department, lab culture, life in the city, etc. End every conversation by asking who you should talk to next, and work your way up from there. Most people will try to direct you towards others who are willing to help you. This is a great way to build your professional network bottom-up and identify people who might advocate for you in the application process and beyond.
What is one bit of advice you'd like to give new (first-year) PhD students?
You belong. Your department is lucky to have you. You deserve to feel valued and sane. Find someone who can remind you of this in case you forget.
Is there anything else about you or your journey that you’d like to share?
In rereading what I've written, I realize it would be easy to come away thinking that I basically always knew what I wanted to do or that I just followed a well-planned path. In reality though, I spent most of my time as an undergrad and beyond wholly focused on other things: rock climbing, making music, learning carpentry, dating, looking after family, traveling with friends, reading sci-fi, taking pictures of dogs. When I applied to graduate school, I did so knowing that I would likely love doing research as a job, but also knowing that research could never be my entire life. For me, working in academia affords flexibility to maintain a well-rounded lifestyle that helps me feel calm and motivated. People are seldom as sure of their path or their passions as they seem. Take small steps that feel right in your bones and trust that you will make sense of things along the way. Best of luck.
Many thanks to Ike for sharing more about his academic journey!
RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
In this section, I highlight resources you may find helpful as you navigate the PhD application process as well as the PhD itself. This week, I’m sharing a few resources found on, you guessed it, #AcademicTwitter!
If you’d like to see a specific resource appear here, please share the relevant information via this survey. And remember, I maintain a running list of resources here.
Building a habit of reading and reading well: Dr. Myers has shared 5 tips for improving your reading—a key skill that is often not explicitly taught!
Conducting literature searches: Dr. Lauren Locklear has shared 10 steps to conduct systematic literature searches, in line with the APA’s Meta-Analytic Reporting Standards.
Demystifying postdoctoral training: Check out this resource from the NeuroDEI initiative created to demystify postdoctoral training—from searching for opportunities to navigating postdoc training itself. This initiative was created by the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and includes many other resources you may find relevant to your graduate training and research.
How to reach me: You are always welcome to email me (letstalkgradschool@gmail.com) or find me on Twitter @tweetsbymidge.
Let’s give away some books: Readers located in the United States and Canada are eligible to enter the book giveaway to receive a copy of A Field Guide to Grad School by Dr. Jessica Calarco. To do so, complete this survey and note that you only have to complete it once to be entered in all subsequent giveaways! I do hope to expand the reach of the giveaway; however, at the moment, the shipping costs are too great to scale. If you’d like to talk about ways your institution could secure an electronic (or hard) copy, please let me know.
Until next time!
Margaret