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I just graduated two weeks ago. Unemployed, but actively looking for postgraduate positions. Currently, I'm inclined to take a fellowship offered by the school, and the career service strongly urged me to do so.

My only concern is, the monthly stipend from the fellowship is hardly enough to cover the rent alone if I want to work anywhere in a large city. Imagine living in NYC with ~ $2.5k per month.

When you work for an organization while getting paid through the school fellowship, are there additional funding/fellowship/grants you could be eligible to apply? (I'm not talking about federal and private loans here. Don't really want to take out additional loans) Do I really have to work at Starbucks during the weekends to earn additional income?

What exactly is the level of funding offered by your school? The PI lifestyle isn’t extravagant, but plenty of us are getting by on fellowship funding. I’d start with a cheaper apartment...

Anonymous User wrote:I just graduated two weeks ago. Unemployed, but actively looking for postgraduate positions. Currently, I'm inclined to take a fellowship offered by the school, and the career service strongly urged me to do so.

My only concern is, the monthly stipend from the fellowship is hardly enough to cover the rent alone if I want to work anywhere in a large city. Imagine living in NYC with ~ $2.5k per month.

However low the pay, having some (albeit paltry) income beats having zero income (your apparent alternative at this moment). Does the fellowship preclude you from looking for other/permanent jobs? Does it lock you in to working for a specific period of time?

Fellowships tend to be fairly loose about commitment. I would think that's especially true for school-funded ones. They're meant to be a bridge between law school and finding full-time employment.

I'm doing a 2-year fellowship that is funded by state government, and people routinely leave early when opportunities open up. It's generally not a problem provided they give sufficient notice (and do a decent job at their fellowship assignment). Take special care not to burn bridges in the process, but most places you work will understand that your goal is a full-time/long-term position.

Your school fellowship is only $30,000/year in NYC? My apologies — that is tight. To the effect of what others are saying, I’d investigate the ease of bowing out of a full fellowship term. If that’s common or otherwise OK with both the school and your host, there’s little to lose.

Sls17 wrote:Your school fellowship is only $30,000/year in NYC? My apologies — that is tight. To the effect of what others are saying, I’d investigate the ease of bowing out of a full fellowship term. If that’s common or otherwise OK with both the school and your host, there’s little to lose.

It is very tight, yet I also feel like perhaps the OP is conflating "NYC" with "Manhattan," or even perhaps "Manhattan south of Harlem." Living, e.g., in the Bronx or deep in Brooklyn/Queens would be significantly cheaper. Sure, it makes for a commute to work in Manhattan, and living in those places isn't "sexy," but it's not unreasonably far away and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

QContinuum wrote:

Sls17 wrote:Your school fellowship is only $30,000/year in NYC? My apologies — that is tight. To the effect of what others are saying, I’d investigate the ease of bowing out of a full fellowship term. If that’s common or otherwise OK with both the school and your host, there’s little to lose.

It is very tight, yet I also feel like perhaps the OP is conflating "NYC" with "Manhattan," or even perhaps "Manhattan south of Harlem." Living, e.g., in the Bronx or deep in Brooklyn/Queens would be significantly cheaper. Sure, it makes for a commute to work in Manhattan, and living in those places isn't "sexy," but it's not unreasonably far away and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Yeah, true, when people complain about living in NYC on $100k I have this response. But 30k is extremely tight - $750/month for a room in an apartment is 30% of the salary, and that is low even for Bronx/Brooklyn/Queens. Of course it is better than no money, but let's not pretend it isn't very little money.

/edited to fix typo

Nobody expects you to keep those school-funded fellowships any longer than it takes to land a real job. Two week notice is more than enough to give your sponsor organization, they're getting free labor, they have no room to complain. With that in mind, you can make $2.5k a month pre-tax work for the short term. If not, then get a fellowship somewhere besides NY/SF.