<human>: I am applying to grad school for fall 2016 and I want to make sure I am being as smart with my money as possible. 

Right now I currently have about $30k sitting in my savings account, (I know, I know, that's why I'm here asking!) about $7k in Vanguard index funds that I contribute ~$1000 to over the course of each year, and I just became eligible to get matching contributions to my 403(b) at my job. (They match 5% if I contribute 3% or more)

I've wanted to keep a lot of my funds liquid because I'm not sure what the future will hold. Ideally I will get into a fully funded phd program and get a 25k/year or so stipend, but there is a chance I will do an in-state not-funded masters first. I still have enough in my college fund to cover the pretty inexpensive in-state tuition for 4 semesters, but I would either have to have enough savings to live on for 2 years, or take out loans. 

So now the question is how much I should contribute to the 403(b). On one hand, I could max it out ($16,500) and not feel a thing even though I only make 30k pretax at that job, because I could just start supplementing my significantly reduced paycheck with savings. Or I could throw in like 5-7k just to get retirement savings started, but still keep more liquid. When I go to grad school, I can either keep it in the 403(b) or roll it over to an IRA.

I know having 30k in savings is not the best use of that money, but will the compound interest on putting a big chunk of it in the 403(b) outweigh potentially having to take out loans for grad school?

Can you condense the text into a few key points?
<bot>: I have 30k in savings. How much should I invest (and where) versus leave liquid in case I need to support my self for 2 years while in grad school.