PeterH

Not my student card. I haven't sent them my picture yet. I think I read that we can pick our cards up in the first week of September.

Hmm. I'd probably recommend you contact your department then. It is important that you get that sorted out soon, and I'm sure they'll understand that.

I got the OGS. My payment agreement is still there, but on my summary, it says "Fee Status: Cleared". I chose the direct deductions option, since I will have enough to cover tuition. Regarding the admission status, have you sent your department a transcript yet? I sent mine a month ago (or thereabouts) and it took a while for my status to change.

I haven't seen anything there, but my payment agreement has been cleared. My suspicion is that the "Scholarship/Award" section is limited to undergraduate information.

For me, grad school is just the most logical choice. I see Nature as the essence of beauty, and I want to understand it at the most fundamental level possible. Thus far, I've been unable to think of anything that would satisfy that desire, short of a commitment to academia. The most obvious and functional route to get there is, of course, graduate school. I suppose at the same time, I also find it important to have higher degrees for the same reason Academicat mentioned -- namely that it has an associated legitimacy. Not just for working in the field, but for more general applications as well. I, for one, would very much like to be able to pass my understanding on to others, and formal degrees would be a great asset in that endeavour. To your particular query though... If I haven't done so already, this is the point where I'll sound stupid sappy, but it's the honest truth. When I see something particularly pleasing in nature (like a river, or hills, or other landscapes), more often than not, it makes me think of how amazing it is that the laws this scenery obeys are the same laws that stars, and galaxies, and the universe itself obeys. A billiard ball and a galaxy cluster just go about their daily businesses according to the same set of rules... To a lesser extent, those thoughts also pop into my head for still more mundane events in daily life. As far as I'm concerned, there is little I want to know more than what kind of rules could possibly describe such a diverse and remarkable world. Anyhoo, that's a great question, I'm glad you asked. I'm enjoying the other comments.

Huh. That's odd. The School of Graduate Studies and my department both say you have the window from July 10 to August 1, but I'm guessing your department sent you a more specific e-mail? Either way, good luck, and congrats on the OGS!

Congrats! You should have plenty of time to register eh, I think it only opens on July 10.

I visited McMaster for a day in March. The Physics department arranged the whole thing, and it was really quite a good time. I stayed very close to the school though, so I didn't see much of the city at all. When I visit in July, I'll drive down, so I'll have a car while I'm visiting, but I will eventually have to work out their transit system. Thanks! I may well take you up on that!

Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I wouldn't be comfortable signing a lease without actually seeing the room in person. As for cooking in the motel... Something you might want to think about is staying at McMaster. I'm not 100% sure how it works, but usually schools will rent out their residences on a daily/weekly basis during the summer, so you might be able to stay there and have a kitchen.

I'm not entirely sure I understand that sentence. I think I have a good idea of how I'm going to go about finding a place (i.e., lots of googling, and then a visit in person for a couple of days in July). I'd be interested to hear how others are planning to make their living arrangements though.

Ha! Somehow, I feel a thread about Mac with only one post is appropriate. Oh heck, let's see what we can do about that. I'm heading to Mac this fall to start a Master's in Physics. I have a great supervisor, but I foresee a lot of Skype in the future, since he's going to be at CERN all year. I'll be coming from Ottawa, so it's out of town, but not too far.

Neat! I find the American system you described kind of odd. I mean, from my perspective, TA and RA work is a job, so it should be employment income. Then again, if you have >$30k tuition (egads man...) I can see how it'd be important the income not be taxable. Aaaanyhoo, I'm just glad I'm not studying economics.

I find the wording CRA uses for that part especially misleading. The phrasing is income "received in connection with the taxpayer’s enrollment in an educational program." Personally, when I hear that, I think of income granted specifically to alleviate tuition fees. In my case, I have been awarded a couple of research internships over the past couple of years that are reported in T4As (Box 105), but that I would have considered basically employment income. Fortunately though, according to this place (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/tchncl/ncmtx/fls/s1/f2/s1-f2-c3-eng.html#N101DD): "The CRA will generally consider an award to be intended to support a taxpayer’s enrollment in a program unless it significantly exceeds the taxpayer’s tuition fees, living expenses and other expenses associated with undertaking the program." So unless you're getting some insane mega-scholarships or something, you're quite right that income in Box 105 won't be taxable. Phew. Sorry, I'm just catching up on my taxes now, and it's such a pain....

Ooooh nah, I'm doing alright browsing other people's questions. I figure I'll sort things out for myself in a month or so when I start looking for a place. Am I right in assuming you're going for Physics though?

A bit off-topic, but hey there reinhard, I'm heading to Mac for my MSc in the fall too. I hope you don't mind, I'm shamelessly mooching info off this thread. I live in Ontario, but I'll be renting for the first time.

Hey folks. Has anyone made any progress with their proposals? I'm stuck just shy of a page. After briefly describing why I love my field, my academic/career goals, and why Germany and this particular program are ideal for those goals, I'm kind of at a loss. Also, if there are any of the previous applicants still following this, I'd be really interested in having a look at your proposals as well.

Hey. I'm also trying to hash out a study proposal for this application. Have you had any luck? I've been thinking it might be a good idea to try and contact some successful past applicants to put together a list of suggestions for future applicants (and us!).