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Figuring out Finances
Figuring out how to afford the investment of an MSI degree can seem daunting, but there are many resources available to assist you with funding. We typically give out our first round of SI Merit Scholarships in early March. Our second round is typically in mid to late April, and our third round is in mid to late May. The scholarships are always highly competitive, and typically in the amount of ½ tuition for 4 terms. The first round is merit-based only, and additional rounds also take into consideration things like your motivation to attend SI.
ULA positions are hired by the library directly, and they are typically decided by late March. They contact students they are interviewing usually by email and phone.
Teaching assistantship positions are hired by individual departments directly, and it can help if you have some teaching experience already. It’s a good idea to look through the undergraduate program pages directly to look for any opportunities, or to contact the departments where you might be qualified to teach. A good URL to get started is http://umich.edu/undergrad.php. There is also a page called academic HR that posts some positions and can be a good resource as well at http://www.hr.umich.edu/acadhr/grads/postings.html.
Research Assistant positions are typically given out to current students, and are competitive. Faculty usually prefer to hire students they know and who have performed well in the program. Certainly, you could use our web site to identify faculty whose research interests you, and email them to introduce yourself to begin the process of exploring future research opportunities.
Filling out the FAFSA is always a good idea as you can turn down any loans that you do not want, but it is first come first serve. These are typically for US citizens or Permanent Residents and the contact info is at http://www.finaid.umich.edu/. There is also a loan for international students that the financial aid office recommends at http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Types_of_Financial_Aid/Loans/interloans.asp.
Matching scholarship opportunities from SI are awarded on a first come first serve basis. Simply contact us if you have won an external scholarship, and we can work with you to provide our matching funds. See the section on matching funds at http://si.umich.edu/applying/fin-aid.htm for details.
Finally, there are external scholarship deadlines and timelines that connect to on our website at http://si.umich.edu/applying/fin-aid.htm.
Posted by vvergoth at February 20, 2008 03:27 PM
