Currently an undergraduate junior in economics. I plan on doing a master’s and Ph.D. in economics and focusing my career on research into global priorities, global health, and poverty. Policy and governance domestically and internationally are also intriguing to me too. Seeing as how tuition gave my family and me a near heart attack and my sister who is 30 has her student loans be a hindrance to her still, it would be wise to finance my tuition effectively.
I haven’t looked too into it in a year because the last time I checked the criteria were for only undergraduates and graduates attending elite and Ivy League universities. Also, most of them seem to not have occurred in the last two years.
I’ll be attending Rutgers University for the remainder of my undergraduate but have my fingers crossed of getting into Columbia or NYU Some links and resources you are aware of would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I will confirm this and also say that if your PhD does not provide funding, you should not go. This also applies to PhDs that don’t provide enough funding to live (though this may eliminate a few good schools—I’m not sure either Isabel’s alma mater (UCLA) or mine (UCSD) provide stipends that make sense relative to housing costs.)
Re. military service AND a PhD: we had a handful of active-duty people go through my PhD. They had three years to write their PhD—which is very short, and meant they did not write an academic-quality dissertation. (They all stayed in the military and went on to their next post; I do not think they regret not being academics.). That might be fine for you! But it’s worth bearing in mind that if you are interested in an academic job, using military service for funding probably won’t get you one.
I was Active Duty Army and completed my PhD through a fully funded program (at the University of Tennessee) that was part of becoming faculty at the US Military Academy (aka West Point). My PhD program was 3 years, the same as everyone else in my program, and my academic credentials were on par with those in my field. After 3 years as an academic at the US Military Academy I returned to a non-academic position in the operational Army. Many of my colleagues (Active Duty Army officers with PhDs) remained at the US Military Academy for several years and pursed academic careers, as well as a range of other policy related endeavors. It is a fairly narrow route to join the US Army as an officer and pursue an academic faculty position at the US Military Academy, but it can be done. Anyone interested in more information on this route, please let me know.
while I’d agree with the advice of “don’t go if they don’t provide any funding”, not providing quite enough funding to actually cover expenses seems more ambiguous?
For a while I considered a career path of being a Civil Affairs officer in the Army National Guard alongside graduate economics school and a career in developmental economics. It seemed like it would have fairly good synergy, so you might look into doing that. However, for a junior to try to join the military in the hopes of getting funding for grad school… that is an unusual path. As a junior you may be too late for ROTC or maybe not. You might want to talk directly and immediately to an ROTC department and an Officer Strength Manager.
Hey, thanks for the reply and information. I’m not looking to od ROTC or reserves right now. Possibly after I graduate. Thanks for the information of doing National Guard along graduate economics program and a career in developmental economics, that is definitely something to consider.
You should know that economics PhDs do not require masters in general, and definitely not for people who did their undergrad in the US (which I’m assuming you did if you are considering the US military!) They are also (usually) fully funded and pay a liveable amount.
Moreover, it is most common for people to do a two-year predoctoral research position before applying to PhDs. Those jobs pay $50-60k a year so they also enable you to save a bit or pay down a bit of debt, before you start grad school. So an economics PhD should not cost you anything.
If you want to talk more about this I’m happy to chat if you DM me.
What are you thinking of doing grad school in and why?
Currently an undergraduate junior in economics. I plan on doing a master’s and Ph.D. in economics and focusing my career on research into global priorities, global health, and poverty. Policy and governance domestically and internationally are also intriguing to me too. Seeing as how tuition gave my family and me a near heart attack and my sister who is 30 has her student loans be a hindrance to her still, it would be wise to finance my tuition effectively.
Thanks for the concern :)
Have you thought about applying for EA funding to help with tuition fees?
I haven’t looked too into it in a year because the last time I checked the criteria were for only undergraduates and graduates attending elite and Ivy League universities. Also, most of them seem to not have occurred in the last two years.
I’ll be attending Rutgers University for the remainder of my undergraduate but have my fingers crossed of getting into Columbia or NYU Some links and resources you are aware of would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
if you’re able to apply directly into PhD program, that might be worthwhile as they usually provide funding
I will confirm this and also say that if your PhD does not provide funding, you should not go. This also applies to PhDs that don’t provide enough funding to live (though this may eliminate a few good schools—I’m not sure either Isabel’s alma mater (UCLA) or mine (UCSD) provide stipends that make sense relative to housing costs.)
Re. military service AND a PhD: we had a handful of active-duty people go through my PhD. They had three years to write their PhD—which is very short, and meant they did not write an academic-quality dissertation. (They all stayed in the military and went on to their next post; I do not think they regret not being academics.). That might be fine for you! But it’s worth bearing in mind that if you are interested in an academic job, using military service for funding probably won’t get you one.
I was Active Duty Army and completed my PhD through a fully funded program (at the University of Tennessee) that was part of becoming faculty at the US Military Academy (aka West Point). My PhD program was 3 years, the same as everyone else in my program, and my academic credentials were on par with those in my field. After 3 years as an academic at the US Military Academy I returned to a non-academic position in the operational Army. Many of my colleagues (Active Duty Army officers with PhDs) remained at the US Military Academy for several years and pursed academic careers, as well as a range of other policy related endeavors. It is a fairly narrow route to join the US Army as an officer and pursue an academic faculty position at the US Military Academy, but it can be done. Anyone interested in more information on this route, please let me know.
while I’d agree with the advice of “don’t go if they don’t provide any funding”, not providing quite enough funding to actually cover expenses seems more ambiguous?
For a while I considered a career path of being a Civil Affairs officer in the Army National Guard alongside graduate economics school and a career in developmental economics. It seemed like it would have fairly good synergy, so you might look into doing that. However, for a junior to try to join the military in the hopes of getting funding for grad school… that is an unusual path. As a junior you may be too late for ROTC or maybe not. You might want to talk directly and immediately to an ROTC department and an Officer Strength Manager.
Hey, thanks for the reply and information. I’m not looking to od ROTC or reserves right now. Possibly after I graduate. Thanks for the information of doing National Guard along graduate economics program and a career in developmental economics, that is definitely something to consider.
You should know that economics PhDs do not require masters in general, and definitely not for people who did their undergrad in the US (which I’m assuming you did if you are considering the US military!) They are also (usually) fully funded and pay a liveable amount.
Moreover, it is most common for people to do a two-year predoctoral research position before applying to PhDs. Those jobs pay $50-60k a year so they also enable you to save a bit or pay down a bit of debt, before you start grad school. So an economics PhD should not cost you anything.
If you want to talk more about this I’m happy to chat if you DM me.