A few months ago, I chatted with a friend who decided to go back to school to pursue their PhD degree. Although I hate to give people advice without solicitation, after discussing several issues they were concerned about, such as application materials and qualifying exams, I felt that I had to pause and told my friend, “Don’t forget about money! When you research a PhD program, make sure to do some homework about how their students are funded and the living cost in the area.”
My friend was surprised that I brought up money. Similar to me five years ago, my friend was excited about finding a program to learn from experts in fields and explore their research interests. We thought only the training opportunities matter.
Looking back, I realized I had two assumptions about funding for PhD students. First, I thought that PhD students do not need to worry about funding (i.e., they are always funded, so they can focus on research). Second, I thought PhD stipends may vary but are always above the local living wage.
Unfortunately, these assumptions were approved to be wrong over the past years through my personal experience and stories I heard from my network. I would give more thought to programs I applied for if I knew funding insecurity could be a chronic stressor for 4~6 to years.
In this and the next post, I will share my stories and some unsolicited lessons I wish I had known five years ago.
For a bit of context, I am an international student in Public Health (non-STEM major). I don’t have any dependents who need my financial support or any caregiving responsibilities. I don’t have any student loans, but I am not from a rich family. My parents had been working very hard and saving for many years to invest in my education. I did not expect more financial support from them during my PhD.
Typing the paragraph above made me realize despite hustling, I have lower financial stress than many of my peers pursuing their PhD degrees. I cannot and don't mean to speak for anyone in my institute or from a "similar" background.
Year one
My offer came with a two semesters Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) position working for my PhD advisor. My program was guaranteed to fund first-year students. Now they expand this coverage for the first two years. I think this could make a huge difference because we have the comprehensive exam (comps) in the second-year summer.
Even though I only had guaranteed funding for two semesters, I felt fortunate because, during the graduate school orientation, I met a first-year international PhD student who was still looking for funding for their first semester. Years later, I realized they were not alone. I was too naive about the hardship many of my peers are facing.
In general, this GRA experience was positive. During the Fall and Spring semesters, I assisted with various tasks when the lab needed my skills. I also developed some independent research projects (mainly secondary data analyses) under my advisor’s guidance.
Over the summer, I was hired to work part-time for the lab and also took a second part-time RA position at another university. Because I am an international student, I had to pay one-credit summer tuition (1K+) and apply for CPT to work off-campus.
I wish I could give myself some grace instead working full-time over the summer. I was burned out after the summer. I also felt lost. I completely embraced the hustle culture, but I did not know my dissertation topic. I did not have protective time to think about it.
However, I had to work to make some money. I was surprised (actually, panicking) to find myself starting to use my savings before the summer.
Lessons learned:
Do more research about the funding in your PhD offer(s)!! How many years will you have guaranteed funding? What are the expectations of the funding package? Will the stipend consider a living wage? Will you get dental insurance?
Ask to connect with current students in the program and talk with them before you make the decision. Many would be honest about their financial struggles.
Year two
I continued working as a GRA in my advisor’s lab. But as my research interest in a different topic grew, I longed for more space and time to focus on exploring my research interests and dissertation ideas. I still had a heart for our lab’s work, but working on multiple research topics simultaneously (plus taking courses) was exhausting.
In the Spring semester, I had an open conversation with my advisor about my thoughts and concerns. It was not easy. But we agreed that alternative funding options other than this GRA might work better for me as I move toward dissertating phase. I was still part of the lab and could continue engaging in projects that interested me, but I was not supposed to perform the RA duties.
This conversation was a huge relief but also led to stress on funding seeking. In that semester, I was hustling for funding for the summer as well as next year while studying for comps during the pandemic. I applied for multiple teaching assistant positions, including several MPH courses and 1st year PhD courses in my program. I had zero experience but thought it would be fun to explore my potential in teaching.
For the summer, I applied for a summer research fellowship from graduate school, which provided $5K (now $7K) for a graduate student to conduct independent research with the guidance of a faculty over the summer. This fellowship had a condition: no other summer funding was allowed. I thought it would work perfectly for me since I was too tired to look for something else. I also needed protected time to figure out my dissertation ideas.
I was fortunate to be selected for this fellowship, which became a turning point in my PhD life. I took a (short) break after comps, worked on projects in my current research area, and established new mentorships and collaborations. I loved that summer (except for COVID), but I also think a PhD student who experiences higher financial stress than me may not even consider this opportunity.
Lessons learned:
PhD students are not the property of their advisors or labs. Good advisors and PIs can understand students' changes in interests, and some even continue supporting them in exploring their interests.
It is super stressful when you do not have secured funding. It is not fun (at least for me) to send cold emails and apply for a lot of positions. But this demand can also open many doors.
Tell people (e.g., trusted faculty, leadership, senior PhD students) about your funding needs. Some people care, and they will introduce opportunities!
Have your CV/resume handy.
Try not to let hustle culture in academia eat you up. You don't need to engage in a million projects to approve your worthiness as a PhD student.
To be continued :)