ibukinoya

Hi friends! I am happy to report that I have received offers of admission from both UBC and U of T for my MA in Political Science. For a bit of background, I am heavily focused on East Asian politics, and will be conducting research on Japanese electoral politics and constitutional politics. I have been offered significant funding from UBC, but nothing from U of T (which I have heard is the norm). I was not expecting to be put in this situation, so picking between these two universities has stumped me. UBC will be a better overall living experience, with more residence options and funding, but I have heard that the academic caliber of U of T, especially in political science, is significant. Also, U of T has offered me a combined Master's specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies, which would be incredibly interesting and useful to my research. My long term goal is to eventually get into a PhD program. I would like to maximize my chances, so my natural first choice was U of T. After speaking to my professors, however, they have suggested to me that the U of T name will matter less to future admissions than the research, grades, and publications that I produce. If this is the case, I may be a more successful student at UBC, especially since many have pointed out that it is "the gateway to Asia". Does anyone have any advice in picking between these two programs?

Thank you for your advice. I would say that the road to a PhD would be the my most favorable outcome, if at all possible. Does the GRE have weight outside American institutions? And how would one even go about enrolling in an independent study course? I appreciate your time!

Hello everyone, it's good to meet you all. I am new here, and as a third year political science undergrad, I am not quite at the point that many of you are. My academic career and been fairly rocky, but it is my dream and goal to get into a master's degree program for political science, and international relations specifically. I have a deep interest in East Asia and the political dynamics between the East Asian states. The purpose of this post is to find out if there is any hope for me to get into graduate school. I began university at the University of Alberta in Fall 2014 as a physics major in the department of science (don't even ask). After crashing and burning with a couple of D's, an F and W or two, I moved into the political science program (which had been my plan to begin with). I immediately started pulling much better grades in my second year, and was asked if I would be interested in the honours program in political science. This would have been a great opportunity, but I soon after discovered I was ineligible. The program required a B average in all PolS courses taken, and I had received a C in PolS 101 during my first year as a physics major. Since then, I have continued on the regular political science path, and aim to graduate in 2019. Currently, my overall GPA is about 3.4, and I will work to bring this up as I distance myself from my disastrous foray into the sciences. My fourth year is nearly entirely political science courses, so I intend to do better than I have in the past. Now I do not aim to be accepted into any Ivy League schools, but I would like to get into a decent Master's program in international relations. I have proficiency in the Japanese language, and have been investigating international relations programs at the University of Tokyo and Waseda University in Japan. These would be my top picks, as they allow me to be immersed in Japan, which will help my future research interests. I am concerned that since I am not enrolled in the honours program, which would normally allow one to prepare an undergraduate thesis, this will cause issues for me down the road. What are my chances, and what can I do to salvage my academic career? Thanks!