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About financial problem.

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:45 pm
by satyad18
Hi guys.. Is it necessary for us to show bank balance to the university while admission..to show enough credit in the account.? If yes, whats the procedure like.? Does the scholarship they give, include the fees.? Y r v required to show bank credit, if at all.? I'm from India. Plz help me out..

Re: About financial problem.

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:05 am
by grae313
Your topic has been moved to the appropriate subforum. If you have a question on funding, you should post it in the funding forum, not webblogs. As for your question, all students admitted to physics PhD programs are admitted with full funding. They pay your tuition and health insurance, and give you a stipend to live off. You will not be asked to show a bank account--they don't care, they pay for everything. Masters programs are a different matter, and often do not come with funding, but you will never be asked for a bank statement.

Re: About financial problem.

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:28 am
by satyad18
Thanks grae313 for ur satisfactory answer. And I got 1 more doubt regarding this. Do I then apply for Masters 1st & switch to Ph.d later.? Or directly for Ph.d.? Which 1 is easier for getting visa.? Plz explain a bit..I'm getting confused..

Re: About financial problem.

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:05 am
by Skribb
grae313 wrote:Your topic has been moved to the appropriate subforum. If you have a question on funding, you should post it in the funding forum, not webblogs. As for your question, all students admitted to physics PhD programs are admitted with full funding. They pay your tuition and health insurance, and give you a stipend to live off. You will not be asked to show a bank account--they don't care, they pay for everything. Masters programs are a different matter, and often do not come with funding, but you will never be asked for a bank statement.
I was under the impression that in many cases some form of funding was provided but I haven't heard of this policy that all students receive full funding. Could you elaborate?

Re: About financial problem.

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:05 am
by grae313
satyad18: If your intent is to get a PhD degree, then you should apply directly to a PhD program. Applying to a masters program is meant for students who only want a masters degree, or in the case that you are unprepared for a PhD program after your Bachelors, in which case you would complete a masters program first to gain better preparation. Many of the top PhD programs do not even offer a separate masters degree program, they just award masters degrees to their PhD students after completion of their A exam on the way to their PhD. If you are admitted to a program here, you should be able to acquire a VISA whether it is a masters or PhD program as long as you meet whatever other VISA requirements are there.

Skribb: All *PhD* students receive funding, I need to make sure that point is clear. Masters programs are different. In the US, you are not admitted to a program unless the University is confident they can fund you. You are given either a TA appointment: "teaching assistant" or an RA appointment: "research assistant". In exchange for the hours you work, you are paid a salary and your tuition and health insurance are covered. Usually you begin by being a TA and as soon as you arrive you try to organize an RA with a professor and this is where you do the research that leads to your PhD. The University will make every effort to see that you are funded for the coming period as you progress through the program--if you can't secure an RA they will find you a TA.

TA appointments usually require about 20 hours per week during the school year and pay a 9 months stipend of usually between $15,000 and $23,000, then you can get another TA appointment or RA for the summer or take the summer off if you choose.

There might be some exceptions to this but probably not in the top 50 or top 100 universities.

Re: About financial problem.

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:35 pm
by satyad18
Thanks grae313..

Re: About financial problem.

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:44 pm
by satyad18
And to add more, thank u very much.! Now, things are more clear.. :)

Re: About financial problem.

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:58 pm
by Skribb
grae313 wrote:satyad18: If your intent is to get a PhD degree, then you should apply directly to a PhD program. Applying to a masters program is meant for students who only want a masters degree, or in the case that you are unprepared for a PhD program after your Bachelors, in which case you would complete a masters program first to gain better preparation. Many of the top PhD programs do not even offer a separate masters degree program, they just award masters degrees to their PhD students after completion of their A exam on the way to their PhD. If you are admitted to a program here, you should be able to acquire a VISA whether it is a masters or PhD program as long as you meet whatever other VISA requirements are there.

Skribb: All *PhD* students receive funding, I need to make sure that point is clear. Masters programs are different. In the US, you are not admitted to a program unless the University is confident they can fund you. You are given either a TA appointment: "teaching assistant" or an RA appointment: "research assistant". In exchange for the hours you work, you are paid a salary and your tuition and health insurance are covered. Usually you begin by being a TA and as soon as you arrive you try to organize an RA with a professor and this is where you do the research that leads to your PhD. The University will make every effort to see that you are funded for the coming period as you progress through the program--if you can't secure an RA they will find you a TA.

TA appointments usually require about 20 hours per week during the school year and pay a 9 months stipend of usually between $15,000 and $23,000, then you can get another TA appointment or RA for the summer or take the summer off if you choose.

There might be some exceptions to this but probably not in the top 50 or top 100 universities.
Thanks for the response.

Re: About financial problem.

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:40 pm
by shouravv
If you must fill out the finances form, just state "expecting funding from TA/RA work".

Sometimes the embassy staff members, in the infinity of their wisdom, want to see bank statements etc. (Okay, I have got to admit that those people work hard everyday, have to deal with con-artists, and most of the visa applicants are not prospective physicists and astronomers.) Have a bank statement handy that shows that you have enough money to buy a round-trip ticket and a few hundred dollars more (local currency is fine). Most importantly, make sure that your I-20 shows that you are being funded. Request a letter from your future department stating the same in words, it sometimes help.

When I was applying for visa, five years back as a college student, I told the embassy people that my parents life-long savings is $6,000 and showed them the bank statement when they asked about it. It did not matter since I had a 98% covered financial aid from my college. In fact, I guess, if I somehow showed that I parents are millionaires, then I'd probably be quizzed about how I got the financial aid! When I applied again last year as a graduate student, they simply looked at the I-20, and that was all.