ereissoup

Wow, rude. Just because they have a name like "AnimeBabe420" you automatically assume they're a troll?

This seems like an area of study that could fall within various disciplinary categories, not just art history. Media Theory/Communication Studies, East Asian Studies, Anthropology and Sociology, etc... What I'm saying is, don't give up if you fail to garner a positive reception at first...

I don't have a horse in this race, but you guys are coming off as kind of pretentious... Is Chicago really so superior to every other program in existence that you have to pay for the privilege of attending?

All of the programs I applied to (I only applied to Canadian schools) offered some sort of funding to their MA students.

They definitely have first round and waitlists. I think that most Canadian schools, with the exception of McGill, have sent out their first round of offers at this point. So far there are results from UBC, UofT, and Queen's on gradcafe. I furthermore heard from a buddy that Carleton and York have sent out acceptances.

This one was sad and a little poetic:

U of T is definitely very appealing, but all I can do is echo your concerns about the awkward timing of recommendation letters in a 1-year program. If you are planning on taking a gap year after the MA to learn a language or research etc., then I think it would be less of a potential issue.

The first McGill offer is up... o.o

Congratulations again! If you chose to accept, let me preemptively welcome you to Canada

Congratulations! Is it a European or North American school?

I would be interested in knowing this too. I couldn't find anything online either, but if I had to estimate (based off of the annual MA intake of comprable Canadian departments) I would say around 12-18, with a total enrollment of 30-ish.

Sorry for the necro (I guess I'm in a similar situation to the OP now, though), I would add that something to consider is that while the MA programs at McGill and UBC are both 2 year, thesis-based programs, the MA at UofT is 1 year, course-work based. I'm not sure how this would affect potential PhD applications moving forward from those degrees, although it seems like it would be harder to garner recommendation letters at UofT because of the application cycle timeline. Thoughts?

Mandrake root

Thank you so much for that detailed reply! It really was quite thoughtful--not to mention helpful! I'm from Vancouver as well, so a lot of the differences you mentioned definitely resonate with me. Although if I do go to Queen's, I think I would enjoy the small/college town atmosphere. Also, is it fairly easy to get by without a car in Kingston? I've lived in cities with well developed rapid transit all my life, but I also figure that the smaller size of kingston would perhaps make travel by bus or bike a bit easier...

I am pondering queens, but what you've said about housing seems like it could be a problem. Just how bad is the rental market? In terms of looking for a nice, quiet place, I wouldn't mind living far away from campus and paying more than usual, but I'm also worried that there might not be any leases like that available...

Hmm, that's what I thought.. And judging from the results posted on gradcafe, McGill won't send out notifications until March..

Has anyone heard from UBC or McGill?

Agreed. The department usually has other students lined up that they might want to send an offer to, but can't--because a spot is being left open for you until you accept/decline. Declining an offer early if you definitely know that you aren't taking it frees them up to move on and send out another offer, which they will appreciate.

Got an MA acceptance to Queens today. Pleased but also surprised, considering how egregious my research proposal seems in the context of their department's general focus. If the results search means anything, I'll have to wait until march before hearing back from McGill...

Congrats! Good luck on your graduate project, fellow photography scholar

So far, my status in the online portal didn't change from "under review" to "decision made" until a week after I'd received an email of acceptance. So, I think you're correct OP--if you're accepted they will find a way to let you know.

1.3 pages, even for the places that had longer word limits. No point in needless loquacity, especially regarding things already covered on my CV and application form.

In Canada it's the norm to do a 2-year MA before continuing to a PhD. Most MA's are also funded.

When in doubt, contact the department about it. You could always mail it in, too.