UCSD Teaching Assistant Application Experience Sharing
This content was automatically generated by gpt-4o-mini (No human review). The original post is in Chinese.
This article mainly discusses the funding issues for graduate students and shares experiences applying for a teaching assistant position at UCSD.
Graduate Tuition Issues
Fellowship
I entered the UCSD NanoEngineering PhD program in 2019. In the first year, the program provides a Department Fellowship for PhD students, which is about $2689 per month (and due to the US-China Tax Treaty, there is no tax, so this is the amount received). It is distributed over 12 months (including summer), and that year was truly wonderful because afterwards, if I got a GSR or worked as a TA, the take-home pay would only be a little over $2000. My tuition is about $10,000 per semester (specifically $10829 for Spring 2021), and this amount includes the out-of-state tuition of $5000 that only international students have to pay, as well as student health insurance ($1285) and other fees. The fellowship covers tuition, so I did not need to pay for tuition or health insurance that year, and the monthly income was enough to live in San Diego.
GSR
However, in the second year, NanoE no longer provides fellowships, and typically, PhD advisors need to fund Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) positions for their students. GSR positions are divided into 50% and 25%. Regardless of which one, both will cover the $10,000 tuition, but the difference lies in the working hours and monthly stipend. A 50% GSR requires working (doing research) 20 hours a week, which, based on a full-time schedule of 40 hours a week, means that 20 hours is 50%, leaving the other 20 hours for coursework. Throughout the semester, student employment cannot exceed 20 hours (except during summer). In 2020, the pre-tax stipend for a 50% GSR was about $2770/month, with taxes around 15%, so the take-home pay was about $2300. A 25% GSR requires working (doing research) 10 hours a week, with a pre-tax stipend of $1385/month. However, the actual hours for GSR are somewhat meaningless; advisors do not strictly limit you to 10 hours of research just because you are a 25% GSR. The difference in stipends is significant; a salary of over $2000 is enough to live relatively comfortably in La Jolla (shared rent might be around $1000, and if you cook for yourself, food costs could be $400-600, plus car and phone expenses). But with a salary of $1385, I can clearly tell you that it is not enough to live in San Diego; you have to budget every penny carefully, and rent cannot exceed $800. A senior in my lab, when receiving a 25% GSR, basically had to rely on financial support from his parents to cover normal living expenses.
Teaching Assistant
If unfortunately, your advisor cannot provide you with a 50% GSR, then you will need to apply for a Teaching Assistant (Instructional Assistant) position yourself. The TA positions are divided into Teaching Assistant (TA), Reader, and Tutor, and the salaries for these positions vary (refer to UCSD MAE Compensation). The Desired Appointment Level is also divided into 25% and 50%, which correspond to a workload of 10 hours and 20 hours per week, respectively. The pre-tax salary for a 50% TA is $2507.66, which is about $2140 after tax, while the 25% position is only half of that. The salary for a Reader is much lower, at only $17.26 per hour. This means that if you take a 25% Reader position and work 10 hours a week, your pre-tax salary would only be $690 per month. In contrast, if you are a 25% TA working 10 hours a week, your pre-tax salary would be $1253, nearly double that of a Reader, even though the workload is quite similar. Generally speaking, the requirements for a TA are higher; you are expected to lead discussion sections, hold office hours, grade assignments, and write solutions for exams, while the requirements for a Reader mostly involve grading assignments. However, I find the difficulty of the work to be manageable, and under the same circumstances, I would definitely prefer to be a TA. Unlike GSR positions, the workload for TA/Reader positions can actually be executed according to the appointment level. If your workload exceeds the scheduled hours in a given week, you can provide feedback to the instructor and request to reduce your hours (for example, working fewer hours the following week), delegate some of the work to others (other TAs or instructors), or request additional compensation. If your working hours fall short of the scheduled requirements, you generally don’t need to worry; just fill in the hours as stated in the contract. TA salaries are paid monthly, while Reader salaries are paid biweekly and are based on the number of hours worked. This means you get paid for the exact number of hours you report (but generally cannot exceed the hours stated in the contract). Another difference is that, for example, if I worked as a TA in the Spring semester of 2021, which lasted from March 24 to June 21, the TA salary would be paid over the months of April, May, and June. However, if I were a Reader, the salary would be reported weekly, covering only about 11 weeks, which is actually less than 4 months, resulting in a lower monthly salary.
What are the benefits of applying for a TA position? Both TAs and Readers, in addition to their monthly stipends, cover part of the tuition fees, including student health insurance and other miscellaneous fees, but do not cover out-of-state tuition. This means that if you are a PhD student and your advisor does not provide you with a GSR, being a TA will only cover part of your tuition, and out-of-state tuition is over $5000 per semester, which you will need to worry about. Generally, if you are still conducting research in the lab, you can ask your advisor to help cover the out-of-state tuition (after all, the total TA salary for a semester is only about $6300). This way, you won’t have to pay tuition out of pocket, and with a 50% TA position earning $2000 a month, you can manage your living expenses. If your advisor is unwilling to cover your out-of-state tuition, it is advisable to switch advisors. As a PhD student, you can also reasonably request the department to help cover your out-of-state tuition, proactively negotiating with your advisor and their assistant as early as possible; you should avoid paying out of pocket unless absolutely necessary, as it is a significant amount of money. In summary, out-of-state tuition is an unreasonable and very frustrating burden. I really hope it gets eliminated, or that TA positions can help cover this cost.
Suggestions for PhD Funding
Regarding funding for PhD students, it is advisable to carefully check how it is stated in the PhD offer letter when you receive it, and to clarify with your advisor when you first join the lab. For example, whether there is a guarantee of 50% GSR throughout the PhD period, whether you are required to be a teaching assistant, how many semesters this is required for, and whether the advisor will help find teaching assistant positions. It is better to clarify these things as early as possible to avoid future worries and to focus on research. For instance, I received an offer letter stating a fellowship for the first year and 50% TA/GSR for the second and third years, but this was not actually guaranteed. The reality is that my advisor has insufficient funding and often provides only 25% GSR to PhD students or expects you to find a teaching assistant position on your own. The advisor will not help you find a teaching assistant position unless they are teaching a class that semester, but their teaching assistant slots are also limited, possibly allowing only one student from the group, leaving the rest to find positions on their own. Moreover, our department, NanoE, does not assign teaching assistant positions to PhD students, does not guarantee that you can apply for a teaching assistant position, and does not provide any assistance; you have to apply for teaching assistant positions entirely on your own.
If your advisor also has limited funding or has not guaranteed you 50% GSR, it is recommended that you clarify the source of your funding for each semester before the semester starts, so you can apply for teaching assistant positions in advance. If your advisor provides you with 25% GSR, you might consider applying for another 25% TA position, which would allow you to earn around $2000 per month, but you will have to balance teaching, research, and being a teaching assistant, which can be quite burdensome.
Teaching Assistant Application Experience Sharing
So far, I have been a teaching assistant for a total of 8 semesters. Overall, the first time applying for a TA position is the most difficult; once you have TA experience, it becomes much easier afterward.
My TA Experience
Application Timing
You should apply for TA positions early. Generally, TA positions are arranged before the new semester starts, and the application window may open 1-2 months before the new semester begins. Additionally, TA positions are typically first-come, first-served, so if you apply late, your chances decrease. Different departments also have different policies; for example, I learned that the UCSD Physics Department reserves most TA positions for their own PhD students. Therefore, if you are not from the Physics Department, your chances of getting a position there are not very high. They usually allocate TA positions first to students who are pre-approved by the professors, then to their own PhD students, and finally to master’s students and PhD students from other departments. The impact of these priority differences is quite significant. You need to keep an eye on your email for the TA application window or check the department’s webpage to see if positions are open. This is the UCSD TA position summary webpage, which requires SSO login to view.
2020 Fall Failed Experience
When I applied for a TA position for the first time, I applied to 3-4 departments, including NanoE and Physics. Since I was an undergraduate in the Physics Department and had been a TA for 2-3 undergraduate courses in that department, I thought it would be no problem to get a TA position in Physics. So after submitting my application, I waited quietly for a long time without any updates. By August, when I still hadn’t heard anything, I sent a few emails to the department’s administrative assistant, but she didn’t respond much. I also emailed some faculty members in the Physics Department and was told that TAs are arranged by the administrative assistant. Later, due to family issues at the end of August and the beginning of September, I didn’t have time to focus on the TA application and missed the important application deadlines, resulting in not securing a TA position for Fall 2020, only getting a 25% GSR. By early October, when I wanted to look for a TA position again, it was already too late.
2021 Winter Success Experience
For this teaching assistant application, I can say that I learned from my previous failures. I started applying very early and submitted applications for teaching assistant positions in seven departments, including Cognitive Science, ECE, Physics, Math, MAE, NanoE, and Chinese Study. Not only did I submit applications online, but I also took the initiative to contact the instructors of the courses I was interested in, asking them if their TA positions were filled. I expressed my strong interest and familiarity with the course content and sent them my resume. I probably sent out over 20 such emails. Additionally, I gained more understanding of the courses I applied for; instead of just looking at the course titles, I also checked the department websites for course descriptions (for example, MAE Course List) to find courses I was more skilled in before reaching out to the instructors. At UCSD, courses with numbers below 200 are undergraduate courses, while those above 200 are graduate courses, so applying for undergraduate courses might be easier. It’s also helpful to ask senior students and friends in various departments about their TA experiences and recommended courses, as this information can be very beneficial.
You can apply for up to five courses on a department’s TA application page. If an instructor tells you their course is already full, you can remove that course from your application. After submitting your TA application, you can make changes, so don’t wait until the last moment to submit. From what I know, some instructors will actively reach out to students who have applied for their courses, and if you apply in the system and email them, you are even more likely to get a response. Other content on the TA application page is not as crucial, such as previous experiences or reasons for your interest, including the requirement to upload a personal resume on the website.
There are two types of course instructors: one is a PhD advisor, and these positions are generally reserved for graduate students in their research group. You can also inquire with their students about the situation. The other type is the Teaching Professor, who teaches 2-3 courses each semester and often repeats the same course. If you can secure a TA position with such a professor and perform well, you might be able to continue in that role the next semester. If an instructor reaches out to you, make sure to seize that opportunity, even if you might not have much experience in the course they are asking about; you can always ask if they need TAs for other courses.
I think applying for a TA position is quite similar to job hunting; the most important thing is to build connections. You might send out 10-20 emails, with most receiving no response and a few informing you that there are no positions available. However, as long as you get 1-2 replies saying they are hiring, your chances are quite good. At that point, it usually leads to scheduling a video interview to briefly discuss your situation. Some professors may also send you past exam or assignment questions, asking you to complete them and send them back to assess your understanding of the course content.
I personally contacted MAE’s Teaching Professor Delson, who teaches MAE 30A Statics. Due to my experience in physics competitions, I was very familiar with the course content, so I performed well on the problems. However, the professor informed me that the TA position had already been filled and asked if I was interested in a Reader position. I was very glad that I accepted this Reader position at that time, as it greatly helped me in my subsequent TA applications.
2021 Spring
Since I was a Reader for Prof. Delson’s MAE30A last semester, and he was teaching MAE 30B Dynamics this semester, I discussed with him in advance that I wanted to be the TA for this course. He gave me the TA position early on and actually let me choose whether I wanted to be 25% or 50%. After we agreed, the professor contacted the admin, and I was just waiting for the offer letter.
2021 Summer
At first, I thought there were no TA positions during the summer, but that’s not true!! There are still some undergraduate courses with TAs, and the pay for summer TAs is about 30% higher than in Spring, Fall, or Winter! The summer is divided into Summer Session I and Summer Session II, each lasting about 5 weeks, and the course pace is much faster than in other semesters, so the TA workload is also more concentrated. If you have been a TA before, there will actually be student evaluations of you in the system. I received a 100% student recommendation in Spring 2021 (out of 37 students, 12 submitted surveys, and everyone chose to recommend me 100% to other students). The teachers who come after can also see these evaluations, so it’s very helpful for applying for TA positions.
Since Prof. Delson wasn’t teaching during the summer, I tentatively reached out to a few other professors (about 3-4), but didn’t get any positive responses. During the summer, I wasn’t very keen on being a TA, so I left it alone. Unexpectedly, one day I suddenly received a TA offer letter, but I didn’t know this professor beforehand and hadn’t communicated with them, so I also left the offer letter alone. Until one day when classes started, the professor called me to ask if I wanted to accept the position. After some communication and understanding, I accepted the summer session II 25% TA position, with a salary of over $1700 for 5 weeks, working 10 hours each week.
Summary
In summary, being a teaching assistant is a great way to help PhD students solve funding issues. Whether your advisor has insufficient funds, or you are transitioning between labs, being a teaching assistant can help alleviate some tuition and living expenses. When applying for a teaching assistant position, be sure to start early. For your first application, it is advisable to apply to multiple departments at the same time, as the application websites for teaching assistant positions in different departments are different, and their opening and closing times vary. Additionally, you should proactively reach out to course instructors, as teaching assistant positions are usually discussed privately between students and instructors, and then the administrative staff handle the contract in the system.
Finally, I wish everyone success in their research and ample funding, and may you also find a teaching assistant position if needed!
