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So at a recent informational seminar, I was encouraged to apply to be a graduate assistant, and if chosen, my tuition would be paid, in exchange for a certain number of hours of work per week. I have heard of grad assistants but I really don't know much about what they do. Anyone have any experience or knowledge of graduate assistantships?
It depends on the department and the position. Some are teaching assistantships, where you would teach undergraduate courses in the subject. Others are research assistantships where you would work on a research project, typically with a professor at the school. In a program I was looking at, the expectation was 20 hours/week, and would have included a stipend in addition to tuition.
I did a year long graduate assistantship while working on my masters degree. Mine was to teach/supervise students in a lab situation. The lab was part of the course, the professor did the theory/lecture, but I was there when they came to lab to set up/find supplies, evaluate data, read directions, interpret results keep the equipment in operating order, and clean up at the end of the lab periods. I was paid a small stipend and my graduate tuition was waved for 6 credits each semester. I ended up having to pay for the other 6 because I registered as a part time student (and then ended up taking 12 credits each semester).
I was a Graduate Project Assistant at Virginia Tech. We kept office hours and if we weren't working on projects for a professor, we were supposed to study. We got a stipend and tuition. Consequently, I had my student loans paid off way early. It was a great experience for me.
Depends on the field. I spent 4 years in grad school, 2 as a research assistant and 2 as a teaching assistant. The work varied depending on the class I was teaching or the research project I was working on. The teaching assignments ranged from just grading papers and holding office hours, to teaching a distance ed statistics class to actually teaching a class twice a week. The research positions generally involved different tasks ranging from making copies at the library to running statistical analyses and writing journal articles.
The end result was a very low student loan bill (assistanceship covered in state and out of state tution plus fees, but I still needed to cover some cost of living expenses and books) and additional work experience, plus a monthly pay check.
As mentioned above, it depends on the school and field. Some schools give great deals where you are paid a stiepend, get free tuition, and even health insurance sometimes. For other schools and programs, you may have to pay for tuition and/or health insurance.
I'm currently employed as a graduate research assistant, at a constant rate of 20 hours per week, although it is a salaried position. I work anywhere from 0 to 50 hours a week on my research project, it just depends on how classes are going and how much needs to be done. I don't have any set work hours, as long as my advisor is happy with my progress, I'm working enough. In my case the research project that is funding my master's is also what I'm writing my thesis on. It is nice because I have a lot of flexibility on what and how many hours I work, but also not so nice in the fact that there is ALWAYS something else I need to be doing, and I have a hard time taking off time without thinking about all that I need to be doing.
A teaching assistantship is another version, where you'll TA a class and/or do grading. Those can be nicer because the hours are a little more stable, but also not as flexible, as you can't blow it off if you have a test to study for.
I'd definitely encourage you to apply for some sort of a graduate assistantship. They will make grad school busier, but the extra income is great, and any kind of graduate assitanship looks great on a resume, whether teaching or research.
I was a GA for 4 years. Part of my responsiblities were teaching or TAing, others were doing research, depending on the year. You need to just check to see what the hour requirements are (most are 20 hours per week) and the exact responsibilities. That being said, definitely apply, it's great!!!!
So at a recent informational seminar, I was encouraged to apply to be a graduate assistant, and if chosen, my tuition would be paid, in exchange for a certain number of hours of work per week. I have heard of grad assistants but I really don't know much about what they do. Anyone have any experience or knowledge of graduate assistantships?
Many more years ago than I like to remember, I had both a teaching assistantship in biology and a research assistantship. Under the teaching assistantship I taught lower level biology laboratories and under the research one I worked as a researcher on a then-proposed nuclear waste deposition site collecting and preparing biological data for environmental documents. Neither assistantship paid my tuition but they did pay a small salary. The most important part of this work was that it launched a successful biological career from which I am now retired.
DH was a Teaching Assistant for two years, and a Research Assistant for 7 yrs, enabling him to pay for his studies at the University of Illinois, get a salary adequate to support himself, and graduate from a PhD program without debt. I'd look into it more, and probably go for it if I were you, Christina.
It really does depend on the department. In the sciences (as mentioned) it is quite common for students to be research assistants. I can't think of anyone that wasn't one. Part of your MS or PhD is the research that you work on, so you have to be an RA. I also had to TA for two semesters, some students that were planning to go into academia did more semesters of teaching, but 2 semesters seem to be the standard in the sciences.
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It was a great experience for me.
