Indiana Astro?

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ccj1
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Indiana Astro?

Post by ccj1 » Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:19 pm

Anybody accepted who is not planning on going at all? I am wait listed and really interested in two profs and research there! Also, anyone accepted care to talk about their acceptance package? I hear the stipend is pretty low and I am just wondering whether I should hold out or withdraw due to other offers. Thanks

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psocket
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Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by psocket » Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:02 pm

I didn't apply to Indiana, but I did have the chance to talk to one of the professors last year who also used to be on the grad committee. He mentioned that the stipend looked low (around 14-15K), but that the cost of living is also fairly low there too. In my limited experience, looking at other profiles and based on my own acceptances, many programs seem to have similar stipend to cost-of-living ratios. Better students may get additional incentives, but at least for me this seems to be the case; this could be why Hawaii pays out 31K+, while Arizona and Indiana are closer to 15K.

As a side note, he also made the pitch while I was there that they have more telescope time per faculty at WIYN than the other partners, so that might be an added benefit to consider if you didn't already know.

ccj1
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Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by ccj1 » Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:14 pm

@psocket

Thanks for the response. I had an idea of the stipend but that still seems very low. I am also aware of the WIYN telescope, as I am a telescope operator at Kitt Peak Nat Observatory (I live in Tucson, AZ and attend the UA) and I have been doing my research in observational astronomy for about 2 years now. The WIYN is one of the reasons that I applied to IU and there are two former faculty members from UA that I have worked with before and my research advisors thesis advisor is now there so there are a lot of ties and reasons that I would like to go :) I just don't know about the stipend and living expenses. I got a couple other offers from lesser known schools but the pay is huge. I just don't know yet lol

ol
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Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by ol » Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:31 pm

I can assure you that the stipend for Arizona is much more than $15K. (I have friends who go there)
Last edited by ol on Fri May 10, 2013 9:10 am, edited 2 times in total.

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psocket
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Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by psocket » Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:54 pm

@ccj1 - Also, I am unsure if he was talking about 9 months or 12. Maybe they have summer work that would boost that number?

@ol - Yep, thanks for the correction. Looks like I was confusing some of the Physics and Optical Science offers on the profiles page. 30K in Tucson seems pretty good (at least if the low cost of living I've heard about is true)!

mtio
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Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by mtio » Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:32 pm

I was accepted by Indiana for this fall. In my acceptance letter, they told me that the current stipend rate for an Associate Instructor is $17,950 for 12 months. However, they are increasing my stipend by $6,150 for the first two years due to my "excellent academic record" (idk if they said that to just me or they said it to all those who were accepted), so it comes to be $24,100.

The weird catches I found in the offer were that they would only cover 96.5% of tuition. Tuition is about $25,199 for 2011-2012 for an out of state student. They projected I would have to pay about $914 for my part of the tuition, plus about $1,100 for fees which includes health insurance fees. So I guess that subtracts about $2,000 from my offer.

I also found a little surprising that Associate Instructor duties were going to be a little different from what I expected. They don't have labs for astronomy classes, so instead of TAs running lab classes which was what I was expecting to do, I guess I would be helping out in the actual lectures, along with grading assignments, proctoring exams, holding office hours, etc. However in the summer the AIs actually do teach their own small sections of astro courses. I'm not sure if I like this or not yet. I wonder how much actual teaching experience I would get during the school year.

Either way, Indiana is still one of my top choices. I'll be visiting them in a couple of weeks. I also have a couple other offers and I'm on the waiting list for one school that I really hope will get back to me soon :/ Hope this was helpful.

bfollinprm
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Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by bfollinprm » Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:05 am

psocket wrote:I didn't apply to Indiana, but I did have the chance to talk to one of the professors last year who also used to be on the grad committee. He mentioned that the stipend looked low (around 14-15K), but that the cost of living is also fairly low there too. In my limited experience, looking at other profiles and based on my own acceptances, many programs seem to have similar stipend to cost-of-living ratios. Better students may get additional incentives, but at least for me this seems to be the case; this could be why Hawaii pays out 31K+, while Arizona and Indiana are closer to 15K.

As a side note, he also made the pitch while I was there that they have more telescope time per faculty at WIYN than the other partners, so that might be an added benefit to consider if you didn't already know.

The exception is here in California. Since the UC system has unionized TA's, the stipend is uniform across the UC's, which means that people in high rent areas are payed the same amount as students in lower rent areas. The exception to the exception is Berkeley, which I'm pretty sure offers an additional fellowship to every grad student in the department.

ccj1
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Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:41 pm

Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by ccj1 » Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:17 am

@mtio

Thank you very much for the information. I have found it very helpful and did not know about the "associate instructor" duties. I am wait listed as of know and hope to hear from them soon. What is the open house date? I know you said a couple of weeks but is that the official open house or are you just visiting yourself?

mtio
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Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by mtio » Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:10 am

I'll be visiting on the 20th, and I should be just visiting myself unless another student visits that day of course. I guess it's a little strange because it's a Tuesday, but I'm out of school and have a free schedule. The department was very nice about covering the travel costs too: they paid for the plane ticket, hotel, and even transportation from the airport to campus.

asdfuogh
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Re: Indiana Astro?

Post by asdfuogh » Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:14 am

Not just Berkeley, I think UCLA paid out $15k extra as fellowships to first year grad students in addition to their stipends. Apparently, it's slightly less this year (or because my friends are 2nd years now?) but they still get a little extra fellowships in addition to the stipend..



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