Caylynn

That's interesting TakeruK. When I asked graduate admissions at my undergrad university about diversity, they told me that they aren't allowed to discriminate on the basis of race, cultural background, sex/gender, religion, age, ability/disability, etc., because to do so would be in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They told me that bursuries and scholarships targeted at various minorities were to encourage such students to apply and to pursue graduate studies, but that they had no bearing on admissions. Supposedly if the admissions people looked at an individual's race, background, gender, age, etc. then their decisions could be challenged through one of the Human Rights tribunals. I'm no legal or admissions expert, but that's what I was told when I inquired whether it was in my interest to self-declare in certain categories. Maybe it differs by institution or province, but they seemed pretty clear it was a Charter issue.

I'm happy to exchange and critique essays. This is my first time applying, however, so I don't know all the ins-and-outs of SOPs. I'm told I'm a decent writer, however.

Plan A: Combined Masters/Dietetic Internship Plan B: Stand-alone Dietetic internship Plan C: "regular" Masters (no internship) My plan C is already secure - my fourth year honours thesis professor will happily have me as an MSc student. The only problem is I can't become a registered dietitian that way - I need to complete a dietetic internship in order to do so. The good news is that out of all the MSc students at my university, only one hasn't managed to secure an internship after graduation with their Masters degree. Plan A is definitely my preferred option. As a non-trad, the sooner I start work, the better.

Yes, definitely contact professors ahead of time if you are interested in their research. At my undergraduate institution, you don't need to have contacted a professor ahead of time, but when the admissions committee meets, if you have contacted someone, and they would like to have you as a student, then you have someone who can advocate for you. They can say, for example "oh yes, I remember so-and-so contacting me, and I would like to have him/her as a student." It is perfectly fine to contact professors regarding a Masters program. In Canada, it is extremely rare to go straight from undergrad to a PhD program, so professors are quite used to students contacting them regarding Masters programs. Canadian schools do not have affirmative action. There are some programs in place to help aboriginal individuals pursue higher education, but you would need to be a member of a Canadian Aboriginal group, with the appropriate documentation to demonstrate you were a status Indian, Inuit, or Metis. I've never heard of anyone getting Canadian permanent resident status by going to graduate school. And I'm in Ontario. Glad to hear you've talked to a lawyer about it. (As for the GRE and writing sample, I'd never heard of either until visiting these forums. None of the Masters programs in my field in Canada require them!)

TakeruK is correct. Most of the programs I'm applying to (all in Canada) will look at my most recent 2 years to compute my admissions average (so third and fourth year if they were full-time, if not, they go back as far as they need to in order to get the same numbers of courses that you would normally take in 2 years). In my field, they don't really care what level those courses were or which courses they were - although they do assume everyone is following a "typical" course sequence for a Dietitians of Canada accredited program. A few programs also look at your grades in specific courses, such as statistics and research methods (they want to see at least a 75% in those courses, in the past three years, and if you don't have that, your application will be thrown out). The programs won't look at the third and fourth year courses I took in second year, even though they are relevant to my field, because they weren't taken in the past two year full-time equivalent. Yet they will include the unrelated first year required course I had to take in third year (a ridiculous first year computer course that is required to graduate, but has nothing to do with nutrition or dietetics). That's just the way things work.

My first app is due Jan. 2nd and my last one Jan. 21st. I'll be finishing my applications after exams, so polishing my letters of intent and CV during the second and third weeks of December. One LOR has already been submitted to each of the programs by one referee and I'm still waiting on the others. The earliest I will hear back is in mid-February. It could be March or April, however, until I've heard back from all the programs.

I guess it depends on the field and the program. I've been told by some of the programs I'm applying to, for instance, to definitely address my career change in my statement of intent. They will have all my transcripts, after all, so they will see that my first degree is in engineering, and that years later (and I mean many years) I returned to university to complete a second undergraduate degree in nutrition/dietetics. I am applying for mostly professional programs, however, only one thesis-based (ie. research) program. So it may be different for research-based masters and PhD programs.

We have a lot in common! My husband is a member of the Canadian Forces, and up until now, I've followed him around (one of the reasons I was never able to get my PEng). We've moved around a lot. Once I'm done with school, he'll be happy to follow me - we just can't afford for him to retire from the Forces until I'm done with school (especially since dietetic internships are unpaid and the graduate programs I'm applying for are all professional programs, so they tend to offer much less financial support). I'm old enough to be the parent of my current classmates (in fourth year of my second undergraduate degree). I remember when home computers were new (the Commodore Vic 20 was my first computer). I remember having to listen to lectures (during my first degree) and decide, for myself, what I was going to write down, since I couldn't scribble fast enough to write everything the prof was saying. I remember when email was newly introduced to the university. I've lived on two different continents, in four different provinces, have travelled to over 20 different countries on four continents and I speak three languages. I've held full-time jobs where I was responsible for supervising other personnel, for managing budgets, and for ensuring projects were completed on time. I've had to deal with my husband being deployed to places like Afghanistan and Eritrea. I have more in common with my profs than my classmates, and I'm actually older than a couple of the profs I've had. In one case, I knew more about the subject than the grad student teaching the course, and had to really watch what I said so I wouldn't "overshadow" the instructor. I enjoy my studies, however, so wouldn't change a thing. I just hope my life experience is worth something when my applications for dietetic internships and combined masters programs are evaluated. It's actually kind of ridiculous: I actually think I have a better chance of being admitted to the combined internship/masters programs, as opposed to the stand alone internships (which should be easier to gain admittance to). Why? I'm limited to a 2-page, 12pt Times New Roman, 1" margins resume for the internships (so can't include all my work and volunteer experiences - I've lived too long to condense it down to 2 pages) whereas for the grad programs I can include a CV with no page limit! I'm also limited to a 1 page SOP for the internships, but have 2 pages for the combined programs. Since the combined programs are my preference, I'm actually okay with that, but I just find it weird. It's clear that the requirements for the internships are based on students who went straight from high school to university to internships.

I agree with Monochrome Spring. For example, for one of my applications, there is an "academic intent" section that is part of the online application, but the program also wants you to email them, separately, a statement of intent. Now, in this case, they are kind enough to let us know that the statement of intent is supposed to be an elaboration of the academic intent portion of the online application. I suspect that the academic intent portion is viewed by the Graduate admissions department for the entire university, whereas the statement of intent is viewed only by the program to which I'm applying. Your case might have something similar.

Thanks all! Appreciate the different points of view and suggestions. They definitely help!

Check out what GPA various programs look at. Some only look at the last two years or most recent 30 credits. For those programs, you'll obviously have a better chance than the programs that look at your cGPA. The Global Health program at McMaster is actually very competitive. I've spoken with numerous individuals who have applied to that program (and some who have been admitted) and it is very, very popular. I'm in Ontario, so haven't heard much about the programs in other provinces. With your experience and publications, I think it is worth applying, especially to those schools who look at your last two years or last 30 credits.

Thanks Loric! That definitely helps. I guess I'll have to work on a better way of phrasing the lifelong learning bit for the programs that state that are looking for candidates who demonstrate initiative, self-direction, and lifelong learning skills.

One piece of advice I received from my university's career counselling centre was to include the "so what?" when creating my resume. So, when describing what I achieved or what I did, I was told to indicate why it was important, or what skill I demonstrated or developed by doing that task - the "so what?" piece. And, as previously mentioned, make sure you use strong action verbs. Here's one list I was pointed to: https://www.recruitguelph.ca/cecs/sites/default/files/files/Action%20Verbs.pdf