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nugget

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Everything posted by nugget

  1. I recently learned that some schools in europe charge local resident fees to non-european residents with an EU passport. This is something else I'm exploring and I could probably get an EU possport. But finding something online and part time in this area of study is proving to be a challenge. If anyone has any leads, please let me know. I'm also trying to find the most affordable options in the US. So far that would be Fort Hays State University. Is this a good school? Anyone know of other schools that would be inexpensive for international students for this sort of program? Not sure if it would make more sense to explore the option of getting an Associate degree first at a local college and take advantage of lower tuition fess, then tranfer elsewhere. But then I'd have to find a school that would accept my transfer credits so I could just do the extra credits at the other school for a major or honours in Spanish. I'm really not sure how that option would work since I'm not too familiar with the US education system. Would someone care to fill me in? If I have a BA and a master's from Canada, would I be required to do an testing like SATs? I certainly wouldn't want to spend my free time studying for that at this point in my career. The search continues...
  2. I'm having a tough time finding part time, online bachelor programs in Spanish Studies (a French minor too would be even better). Sorry for posting here, but I don't know where else to search for this needle in a haystack. I'm from Canada and I don't want to pay more in tuition fees than what I'd pay back home for an in-person learning program (which is about $7000 Canadian or $5500 US per year). Unfortunately this program doesn't exist in Canada via online delivery. Does anyone have recommendations for me? This would be an extra degree for pleasure and personal interest only, so I'm not hung up on university rankings. (I am eligible for an EU passport, in case that changes anything in terms of eligibility for lower tuition in Europe). I am open to schools in any country (including the US, Latin America, Europe, etc) depending on the time zone it's in. Thanks.
  3. This is an expression. It means that a person who is wise does not tarnish relationships or get on someone's bad side until they know they are strong and mighty, and can basically do it all on their own without any help from others.
  4. Are you ok with giving this info out to only 2 schools? I'd take the next month to decide between these two schools. If you still don't hear back from the others, there is no need to hang on to both offers. Pick one out of these two options and move on. If you pick the school requesting the deposit, pay it and keep waiting on the other 3 schools. Paying the deposit is well worth having the peace of mind that there is a spot waiting for you in the fall. If you pick the school that has no deadline, write an email to them indicating the date you will give your final answer and/or deposit (maybe April 16??). Make sure you request written confirmation that this date is acceptable to them and keep a copy of the emails for your records. When you hear back about the other 3 schools, hopefully all 3 will be within a similar time frame. If not, ask for an extension with each offer you get so you don't lose any more money than you have to. That way, you will only pay 2 deposits at the most and only 2 schools will get your passport information, rather than 5. As an international applicant, is there any chance one of the 3 schools will offer you funding? If not, I don't see why you can't start ranking all 5 schools right now and finalize your list within a month. So when offers come in, you will know right away which ones to decline. If funding is a possibilty, then you don't have much of a choice but to wait before ranking the others. As for bank account info, if you don't go with your first school where you left a deposit, shut down your bank account (a quick and simple process), open up a new one and provide your new bank account info to the school you want to go to. Problem solved. Unfortunately there is not much you can do about the passport information (unless you submit your spouse's application after you make your final decision, with the possibility that your spouse might join you a little later on). But you can limit exposure to your passport information to only 2 schools, providing that you hear back from the remaining 3 schools before the first one has a deadline.
  5. You can do your own search here: http://www.universitystudy.ca/search-programs/
  6. Look into University of Victoria. I think this might be your only option in Canada.
  7. Your profs do not need to know anything about your private health information. They simply need to know what kind of accommodations you are eligible for and require. You can discuss your accommodations with your doctor and your adviser at the Accessible Learning department and your adviser should be able to give you suggestions if you aren't sure what you might need. The last thing you would want to occur is for a prof with a non-medical background to determine what kind of assistance you require. I make this comment because I've actually heard of this occurring to an undergrad - an Italian Lit. student disclosed to her mental illness to her prof who did not understand the implications of mental illness and didn't accommodate her at times because of his own personal biases and perceptions regarding mental illness. He was pretty much determining whether or not she should be given accommodations based on his limited knowledge of her illness as it was up to the prof to determine whether or not extensions should be granted. This is a rare occurrence, however. Generally, most profs are accommodating once you have the support of Accessible Learning services. But if it were me, I'd keep it simple and only mention the accommodations your require because this is all the information that they need to know.
  8. Welcome phd2msw, It's a quiet time of year. You might not get many replies until the fall when a new batch of applicants returns online. But I'll give you my 2 cents. Your work in social justice for aboriginal populations is social work. Your interviewing experience is good too. Some social workers are into clinical stuff and others do stuff like research, policy work, program planning, community education, etc. All of it is social work. So you should definitely write about the experience you mentioned above in your application. You are correct that lots of schools look for more experience, often the equivalent of 2 years fulltime or more, but U of T is more lenient in terms of the number of work hours. I think you stand a very good chance at U of T with your research, academic background, GPA and demonstrated interest in social justice issues. If you acquire extra volunteer experience that would make your application stronger. As you are already 2 years into your PhD, I wonder if this is the only reason you want to drop out now. How close are you to finishing? Are you stuck at a tough point in your research and you decided you'd rather quit instead? The earliest you'd be able to begin an MSW is in 14 months. Depending on your level of motivation, it may be worthwhile to complete it and do an MSW afterwards, esp. if you're one year away from completion. If you're 2 years from completion, delaying your MSW by an extra year would give you more time to accumulate part time experience on the side and enable you to be more competitive for other MSW programs as well. Having a PhD would also allow you to teach at a university in the future if you decide to go that route (in social work, not necessarily in the humanities). That's my take on it. But only you can decide what to do. Good luck.
  9. Could you do the PhD at the French school and a post doc at Cambridge? If this is feasible, I'd go this route instead because of the sheer fact that it's a lot of debt. How much total debt would you incur, including cost of living? I would get the full figures and evaluate how much debt you are comfortable taking on before making a decision and figure out the benefits and downsides of studying at each school.
  10. I think it's worth applying to U of T. Your GPA is good enough and your 1 year of experience should meet the minimum standard (although you did not mention your hours. If you only volunteer 2 hrs per week for one year, for instance, your total hours will be much different who does 15 hours/wk). Although, keep in mind that U if T doesn't formally have a minimum number of hours that they are looking for. You get admitted based on your overall application and strength as a candidate If you have excellent references and a strong statement of interest then you might get in. While I don't think you have nearly enough work experience for other schools, U of T is the most likely school I've come across to admit people with little work/volunteer experience. So I would give it a try and see what happens.
  11. I agree that getting to know your professors will be helpful as you will need to ask for academic references. So doing things like participating in class, talking to profs during office hours about course material, getting an RA position, volunteering for committees, etc would be some great ways to make yourself known in the department. If time allows for it, try to do volunteer work at a place that staffs social workers. You can learn more about your interests in SW (which will help you write a more focused statement of interest) and will have people to get advice from, such as what to put in your statement of interest for grad school apps, and you may meet someone who will end up serving as a reference in the future. I would also recommend researching schools and writing your apps early, especially if you are willing to move to do your MSW and plan to apply to many schools. So for instance, if you are in school from Sept - April, you might choose to use the spring and summer to read books on how to put together a good application for grad school, decide which schools you want to apply to based on your interests and the focus of each school's SW department, and take time to write a thoughtful and well written application for each school. I'd encourage you to take advantage of your school's academic advisers while you are still a student and attend a workshop on applying to grad school if your school has one and ask an academic adviser who has been designated by your school to proofread grad school apps to give you give you feedback on your applications. You may only have access to such services while you are enrolled as a student or up until the end of the summer of your last year of studies, so if would be a good idea to find out how long you are eligible to use such services in advance and plan your timeline accordingly. You will find that if you apply to a lot of schools, some of the questions will be similar and you will be able to reuse some of the material for different applications which will save you time. But there will always be differences so you will need to customize your app for each school you apply to. If you take the time to carefully research each school you will be able to pick out schools that are a good fit for you and emphasize the points of your application that would make it clear to the admissions committee that you are a good fit for their program. ex: U of Victoria has a strong focus on Aboriginal issues and children. You might even decide to research schools in the summer after year one as things shouldn't really change all that much by the following year, and focus on putting together your apps the following summer and fall. Here is a great website to search for schools all across Canada: http://www.universitystudy.ca/search-programs/
  12. I think you need to decide if you are going to work towards getting into a bachelor of science program in nursing or an MPH, then plan the next year accordingly to increase your chances of getting in. Focus on acquiring research experience if you want to go for an MPH and if you want to do a bachelor of science in nursing focus on gaining hands on health care experience working directly with patients in a helping capacity.
  13. Have you considered applying to nursing schools in the US? There are far more schools in the US compared to Canada, with varying levels of competitiveness. ie: 1st tier, 2nd tier, 3rd tier... whereas I don't think we even have 3rd tier in Canada. With so many more choices in the US, there ought to be a BSc. program you could get into. If you attend a 3rd tier university and return to Canada to work, most Canadians don't even know which schools have 2nd and 3rd tier programs, imo, so I don't think it would matter much. (I don't mean academics, they certainly would know, but hospital HR people and other nurses wouldn't typically know the difference). You just need to make sure the college of nursing would accept your degree from a given school in order to become a registered nurse. In the meantime, you could try finding work as a personal support worker to gain practical experience. Try a group home or temp agency. Getting a PSW certificate, if possible, would help too and would allow you to work at a hospital, long term care facility or other setting. Good luck!
  14. By the sounds of it, if you do not receive funding one month before your program begins, you will get your visa after the semester has begun, which is too late. I think that if you don't hear anything one month before the program start date, you would be wise to go with your preferred choice of attending a local school for your master's and trying to get into a PhD program in the US afterwards.
  15. Can you defer your offer by one year? If you can attend next year instead when it is not an election year, you should get your scholarshipmoney faster, based on what you have said here. It sounds like a busy and stressful time in your life. Perhaps you could use this upcoming year to adjust to your new life with your husband, save more money and give yourself plenty of time to apply to more scholarships next year. Best of luck!
  16. U of T is a great choice if you want hospital experience. It's a pity that York doesn't offer the experience you are looking for. I guess it comes down to great fit and work experience and reputation vs. funding. In your shoes, I would probably go with U of T but it would be extremely difficult for me to turn down the funding. Not an easy decision for sure.
  17. I agree with the above. I think you should pick a school and stick with it. This is not considerate of both schools as you are taking up extra spots that could go to someone else and you are not being truthful. In additional, this will not be good for your reputation as a professional. Furthermore, from your perspective alone, it will end up being fairly costly to remain out of the workforce for a couple of extra years by switching back and forth between schools. I think it would also look odd on a resume to complete 2 identical degrees and raise suspicion by a potential employer when they see your school attendance dates on your resume. I think you need to have more confidence in your decision making abilities. Pick the school you think is best and go with it. No one can predict the future. You simply need to make the best decision you can with the information you currently have and trust that things will work out for you in the end. Good luck.
  18. I see lots of positives for Northwestern based on the points you have made. So I am left wondering why you are still considering Duke... Is Duke engineering ranked higher than Northwestern?
  19. A long time ago, when I was much younger, I was in a similar situation. Because I absolutely needed to continue working and earning money, I only gave 2 weeks notice and said that I was on a wait list for school and just found out I had been offered a spot. This is a moral decision that will be influenced by your financial standing. If you have the luxury of not working for 2 months and being able to pay all of your bills and living expenses then you can decide from a moral standpoint. If you absolutely must work to pay for food, rent, debt, et cetera, then either you can find another temp job or give them two weeks notice, imo.
  20. If you are in it to develop solid counselling skills I think SMSFT is the way to go. If you are interested in social justice issues and helping people in ways that do not exclusively involve counselling, then I'd suggest an MSW. I know someone who has done both (at different schools) and when he compares the two, the MSW training seems to be fairly limited in terms of helping him develop his counselling skills when compared to the SMSFT program. But an MSW is useful in different ways as the training is broader and you learn about marginalization, social justice issues, etc. It is also more recognized and it opens up a greater range of job opportunities, which is one of his reasons for getting an MSW too.
  21. Do you plan to work in China or the US afterwards? If you want to return to China, I would ask some professionals in your field (professors, people in industry, etc) their opinion on how well recognized each school is and the reputation of each school in China. If you want to work in the US, hopefully some Americans can comment on this here.
  22. Sounds like Laurier, except there is no "better control" in the second year nor in advanced standing. At least at UofT students get one of their top 5 placements whereas Laurier students get a top 10.
  23. Most eloquent way? I would definitely say poetry. Joking aside, I think facts are facts and you will just need to tell them the news. You may wish to preface it by stating that is was a very difficult decision to make given the strength/appeal of their offer/program, but in the end you chose with a different offer and thank them for inviting you to their program.
  24. I would try getting a job in a group home for youth. I hear they're pretty easy to get. I have also heard great things about volunteering for Family & Children's Services (F&CS). If you're interested in disabilities of all kinds (physical, cognitive, mental illness, etc), you could also try working as a personal support worker at a children's residential facility for disabilities but you might need to take a PSW course for that (not sure though so you'd need to look into that if this appeals to you). As well, some people volunteer as a teaching aid at public schools and help students with disabilities part take in classroom activities and homework. I know someone who worked as a relief worker for parents with children with disabilities and basically played with the kids and kept them occupied to give their parents a rest once or twice a week. She did this work privately though and had no previous training. The hardest part for her was getting started out. If you can find a couple of contracts and make a great impression, your future clients will find out about you through word of mouth and business will grow. This person, by the way, was able to get into a social service worker program later on and this was the only experience she had in the field.
  25. This situation isn't uncommon. There is a way to write it on a cv to indicate you received one but did not accept it (don't remember the specific phrase at the moment unfortunately, but perhaps someone else here does). If you really do not want to decline and still want to TA, is it possible to be a volunteer TA? I've never heard of such a thing but it might not hurt to ask if this option appeals to you. You could also ask about not accepting the full $50,000 and only accepting a total of $40,000 worth of funding. (As a side note, I think it's silly you cannot accept more than $40,000/yr. I know of a couple of people who won a Canadian award worth $50,000/yr for 3 years and they had no problems accepting it. Congrats, nonetheless. That's quite an accomplishment).
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