Okay, so I get a letter from the place that accepted me, telling me that all of the stuff they will be paying for me amounts to $145,000
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Trust me, the 20 hours a week thing doesn't usually work out that way. You will probably have weeks that are far less work. I'm spending about 5 hours a week in class (sitting in on the lectures, TAing 2 sections), plus I do 2 office hours each week, plus about an hour of prep.
That's about 8 hours a week, which is really nothing in the scheme of things (Particularly when you consider that in my program, the TA responsibilities take the place of a third class).
Now, the weeks when they turn things in? Yeah, that'll put you at 20 or more. but that's not all the time.
I'm afraid I'll burst out laughing with a bunch of 17-year-old's eyes on me, thinking that I'm all knowing and will have the answers they need to graduate.
What I've found really great in my program is that the profs constantly remind us that we don't need to know everything, that it's okay to tell a student we don't know something and will either look it up - or heck, tell THEM to look it up. :)
Also, I don't know about other programs, but I'm guessing this will ring true for many programs - we aren't guaranteed TA positions for courses in our field. I lucked out this semester, but I've got a friend who TA'd a holocaust course (and he does American 20th century history). So, in a case like that, you may know NOTHING, aside from the reading you do for the course.
Oh yeah: also expect that 20 hours to include the time you spend reading for the course. :)
Hey, I wandered over here while mindlessly checking who_got_in (like there's going to be an acceptance post at 10:30pm).
I got the same letter, and I totally know what you feel. It's a fully funded PhD program, but while I'm really happy about it, I'm also feeling the same but-it-could-have-included-a-whole-year-of-fellowship annoyance. And then an extra layer of annoyance at myself for being such an ass about it.
Anyway, that ungrammatical mess really adds up to me saying "Yeah, it's weird, huh?"
(Tigg's comments, as always, are encouraging though.)
i heard about your place that it is the no. 1 grad student exploiting graduate school in america. as in, they let their students teach more than anywhere else, and have high expectations from it all, without paying more than others.
this might be a good topiv to talk to current grad students about...
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Things will look better in the morning, eh? :)
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That's about 8 hours a week, which is really nothing in the scheme of things (Particularly when you consider that in my program, the TA responsibilities take the place of a third class).
Now, the weeks when they turn things in? Yeah, that'll put you at 20 or more. but that's not all the time.
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I'm afraid I'll burst out laughing with a bunch of 17-year-old's eyes on me, thinking that I'm all knowing and will have the answers they need to graduate.
Ah, but for the days I was that naive!
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Also, I don't know about other programs, but I'm guessing this will ring true for many programs - we aren't guaranteed TA positions for courses in our field. I lucked out this semester, but I've got a friend who TA'd a holocaust course (and he does American 20th century history). So, in a case like that, you may know NOTHING, aside from the reading you do for the course.
Oh yeah: also expect that 20 hours to include the time you spend reading for the course. :)
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20 hours of *actual* teaching, plus preparation for those 20 hours sounds like hell.
It definitley will make all the difference.
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I got the same letter, and I totally know what you feel. It's a fully funded PhD program, but while I'm really happy about it, I'm also feeling the same but-it-could-have-included-a-whole-year-of-fellowship annoyance. And then an extra layer of annoyance at myself for being such an ass about it.
Anyway, that ungrammatical mess really adds up to me saying "Yeah, it's weird, huh?"
(Tigg's comments, as always, are encouraging though.)
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this might be a good topiv to talk to current grad students about...
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