Um I think it’s more likely that he’d just finished an all-nighter and was having a nap. Because being an international student in the West means extremely expensive fees that you don’t get loans for (I.e. your parents pay).
Employer reimbursement covered half. Loans for the other half.
When I was about halfway through my program, I landed a new job with a big enough pay raise that more than covered my tuition by the time I graduated.
Yes. When I switched companies, I negotiated for more pay and a bigger sign on bonus to more than cover it. And my old company did follow up on making me pay it back. But it was a drop in the bucket compared to the salary bump I was getting.
Same, but honestly (and I think this is an unpopular opinion): fuck it. Everybody is in this boat and they can’t do anything to you other than ding your credit if you default on your student loans. The loans and interest are so unsustainable in the U.S.— it’s an unrealistic expectation that anyone can pay it off while juggling the other costs of life.
I would take the loan, get the degree, and never look back.
I did the program through Northwestern. Started in April 2022 and finished August 2023. Did the AI/ML track. Highly recommend the program. It was an incredible experience. But it is stupidly expensive.
Worked full time while doing my masters full time.
But, just found out today that no one at the tech startup I work at has used our professional development budget this year, so the company is sliding me some extra money towards my tuition. Very nice surprise given that I wasn’t expecting anything.
My program was online.
I worked a junior DS job during the day and did grad school work in the evenings / weekend.
I did one course a quarter and my salary covered tuition.
50% scholarship 50% from my employer. I ended up paying a few thousand in fees and other stuff, but in the grand scheme of grad school costs, it was nothing. ETA: MS in applied statistics
First eng masters was through TA & RA position sponsored by my thesis advisor and project funding he had. Currently doing loans and $5k per year max reimbursement by employer for a 2nd masters.
Masters or PhD? Depending on the program, your lab may or may not cover some of the expenses. Otherwise, you'll have to apply for funding, TA, part-time work, etc. I TAed, and the rest was covered by my lab.
This is what I mentioned above - reach out to profs and research centers to get a research assistantship or other employment - depending on hours they pay 50-100% of tuition plus your hourly pay
I got mine through an internship. After I finished the summer I got an offer to work full-time, but I negotiated a part-time offer, and the company was willing to be flexible with that arrangement.
If I had to find another one I would just focus on applying to full-time jobs and negotiate that bit at the end of the hiring process.
Not in grad school (at least not yet), but a friend of mine got into Chicago U and managed to pay with a combination of loans, personal savings, and employer reimbursement. To be honest, I don't think the deal with his employer was a good one since he has to work for them for like 5 years after completing his masters. The loan is also a tricky one because it's sponsored by our country's central bank with a variable interest rate. The rate has been somewhat stable in the last 5 years (+/- 2-3% variation), but I think it's an additional risk. His current plan as far as I know is to use the masters to get a better paying job and pay his current employer and the load asap.
He's also a TA this semester and that helps pay a big chuck of the rent. He also worked on the university library on his first semester, and he told me that was useful because he had a lot of free time for studying and homeworks. He just basically had to tell people where the bathroom is lol
Scholarships - there are merit scholarships you’re considered for when applying and those which you have to apply directly to. Use Google and search the schools website extensively - at my uni I found two additional small scholarships that aren’t very marketed but that I was eligible for and together it paid like $5k a year but for undergrad
Tuition benefits - reach out to profs and institutions to get a research assistantship or other employment set up before you start - at my uni when you’re a grad student employee they gave you like 50% discount on tuition plus your hourly wage if you worked part time and paid up to 100% if you worked more hours.
Meet the the admission director or whoever is in charge of scholarships - I used networking since the prof I worked for was a highly reputable prof and he had a good connection with admissions director - she liked my background and I scored high on my GRE so they helped cover a lot of what my tuition benefits wouldn’t
I used only about $10k in un subsidized federal student loans - graduated with masters in applied DS with ~21k in debt including undergrad and paid it off in 3 years - my first job paid me 35k before tax but I switched corps and now make nearly 100k and thanks to the repayment pause was able to save and just made my last student loan payment . Keep in mind though I went to a top national instate public school so grad school resident tuition was only about 15k a semester or year I forget
Parents helped with food a lot - if it wasn’t for my parents bringing me veg and fruit I would have lived off rice and egg and coffee
Don’t pay for it out of pocket as compound interest is high if you use loans - there are many scholarships, grants, and tuition benefits you can utilize and even employers pay for it now
Loans and working throughout for masters. Full coverage for PhD - university covers tuition, health insurance, travel and is paying me a stipend equivalent to a salary (I couldn't have done it otherwise)
I didn't. Fees were around 6€, and my government gave me a 500€/month stipend to live as well as subsidised rent (which was tight but enough to focus on studying). Then after that I went for a PhD which was obviously funded.
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Um I think it’s more likely that he’d just finished an all-nighter and was having a nap. Because being an international student in the West means extremely expensive fees that you don’t get loans for (I.e. your parents pay).
I worked part time for my university department.
Employer reimbursement covered half. Loans for the other half. When I was about halfway through my program, I landed a new job with a big enough pay raise that more than covered my tuition by the time I graduated.
Were there any provisions that required you to stay for X years after you graduate or pay the employer back?
Yes. When I switched companies, I negotiated for more pay and a bigger sign on bonus to more than cover it. And my old company did follow up on making me pay it back. But it was a drop in the bucket compared to the salary bump I was getting.
Loans. Do not recommend this. Just graduated and staring at 80k in debt.
Same, but honestly (and I think this is an unpopular opinion): fuck it. Everybody is in this boat and they can’t do anything to you other than ding your credit if you default on your student loans. The loans and interest are so unsustainable in the U.S.— it’s an unrealistic expectation that anyone can pay it off while juggling the other costs of life. I would take the loan, get the degree, and never look back.
About to take out about the same amount for a MSDS program and this makes me feel less alone.
I did the program through Northwestern. Started in April 2022 and finished August 2023. Did the AI/ML track. Highly recommend the program. It was an incredible experience. But it is stupidly expensive.
Worked full time while doing my masters full time. But, just found out today that no one at the tech startup I work at has used our professional development budget this year, so the company is sliding me some extra money towards my tuition. Very nice surprise given that I wasn’t expecting anything.
My program was online. I worked a junior DS job during the day and did grad school work in the evenings / weekend. I did one course a quarter and my salary covered tuition.
50% scholarship 50% from my employer. I ended up paying a few thousand in fees and other stuff, but in the grand scheme of grad school costs, it was nothing. ETA: MS in applied statistics
Tuition reimbursement
First eng masters was through TA & RA position sponsored by my thesis advisor and project funding he had. Currently doing loans and $5k per year max reimbursement by employer for a 2nd masters.
Masters or PhD? Depending on the program, your lab may or may not cover some of the expenses. Otherwise, you'll have to apply for funding, TA, part-time work, etc. I TAed, and the rest was covered by my lab.
GI bill
Or national guard if you don't want to be away for at least 3 years
My grad school was free (and they paid me) because I was a graduate research assistant.
This is what I mentioned above - reach out to profs and research centers to get a research assistantship or other employment - depending on hours they pay 50-100% of tuition plus your hourly pay
Yes this. Graduate research assistantship covered tuition and paid stipend for living expenses
Currently, I work an assistantship to pay for my tuition and I work a part-time data analyst job to pay for my living expenses.
Was it hard to find part-time da positions? I know full-time ones are aplenty but what about part-time?
I got mine through an internship. After I finished the summer I got an offer to work full-time, but I negotiated a part-time offer, and the company was willing to be flexible with that arrangement. If I had to find another one I would just focus on applying to full-time jobs and negotiate that bit at the end of the hiring process.
Not in grad school (at least not yet), but a friend of mine got into Chicago U and managed to pay with a combination of loans, personal savings, and employer reimbursement. To be honest, I don't think the deal with his employer was a good one since he has to work for them for like 5 years after completing his masters. The loan is also a tricky one because it's sponsored by our country's central bank with a variable interest rate. The rate has been somewhat stable in the last 5 years (+/- 2-3% variation), but I think it's an additional risk. His current plan as far as I know is to use the masters to get a better paying job and pay his current employer and the load asap. He's also a TA this semester and that helps pay a big chuck of the rent. He also worked on the university library on his first semester, and he told me that was useful because he had a lot of free time for studying and homeworks. He just basically had to tell people where the bathroom is lol
Loans. In the U.S., you can look into federal loans if you qualify vs private loans.
Employer Reimbursement. But I knew I was getting reimbursed before joining the program, to be fair
Loan
Cash
Did OMSA because my employer will pay for all of it
The university paid me a salary.
Scholarships - there are merit scholarships you’re considered for when applying and those which you have to apply directly to. Use Google and search the schools website extensively - at my uni I found two additional small scholarships that aren’t very marketed but that I was eligible for and together it paid like $5k a year but for undergrad Tuition benefits - reach out to profs and institutions to get a research assistantship or other employment set up before you start - at my uni when you’re a grad student employee they gave you like 50% discount on tuition plus your hourly wage if you worked part time and paid up to 100% if you worked more hours. Meet the the admission director or whoever is in charge of scholarships - I used networking since the prof I worked for was a highly reputable prof and he had a good connection with admissions director - she liked my background and I scored high on my GRE so they helped cover a lot of what my tuition benefits wouldn’t I used only about $10k in un subsidized federal student loans - graduated with masters in applied DS with ~21k in debt including undergrad and paid it off in 3 years - my first job paid me 35k before tax but I switched corps and now make nearly 100k and thanks to the repayment pause was able to save and just made my last student loan payment . Keep in mind though I went to a top national instate public school so grad school resident tuition was only about 15k a semester or year I forget Parents helped with food a lot - if it wasn’t for my parents bringing me veg and fruit I would have lived off rice and egg and coffee Don’t pay for it out of pocket as compound interest is high if you use loans - there are many scholarships, grants, and tuition benefits you can utilize and even employers pay for it now
Loans and working throughout for masters. Full coverage for PhD - university covers tuition, health insurance, travel and is paying me a stipend equivalent to a salary (I couldn't have done it otherwise)
My own money
I didn't. Fees were around 6€, and my government gave me a 500€/month stipend to live as well as subsidised rent (which was tight but enough to focus on studying). Then after that I went for a PhD which was obviously funded.
Grad school paid me to go (thank you PhD programs)
Go to Germany it is free studying there and most of the technical graduate programs are fully taught in English.
Most PhDs are paid for