cwasson

Hi Everyone, So I'm currently finishing up my masters degree in neuroscience at a small to medium sized institution in Ontario. I will be applying to my PhD in pharmacy at Waterloo and neuroscience as well as pharmacology McGill in October for January admission. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on some questions I have. Do you think it's better to do a PhD at Waterloo (which has a generally new program (2013) with a PI who is still somewhat new and seems pretty lax) or McGill (which is arguably the best university in Canada with a PI who is well established, with a huge lab - I'm just afraid I will fuck something up/I feel like i'd be the dumbest one in that environment; especially considering the grad program I am in now is not the highest ranked) Based on the fact I have my MSc and have talked to these PIs do you think I can get into both schools? Both PIs said they would take me on, but I'm nervous my applications wont even get past the admission committees at McGill (sorry, this is such an annoying question, but I genuinely don't know) Is anyone currently at McGill or Waterloo? If so, could you give me your take on what it's like as a grad student? And maybe if you know someone in grad school, share their perspectives from what they've heard? Has anyone ever switched from behavioural research to molecular research. This is actually my biggest concern. My masters is in behavioural neuroscience but my PhD would be mostly molecular stuff. I have done things like PCR, Western Blots, cell culture on the side but nowhere near full time stuff. Is there a big learning curve? Thanks for your help guys

Hey Juillet! Thanks so much! I can't believe what great advice I'm getting from everyone . I am making a list of things i need to fix based on your recommendations! Also Juillet, my paper's unpublished and the research hasn't been conducted. Let's collab ;D

Hi TakeruK! I want to thank you so much for taking the time to do what you did, I really appreciate it! Not many people would take the time to go through each segment bit by bit. I will take all your advice to heart and definitely agree with everything you said. I will make the changes shortly. Thanks so much

Hey guys, I have been reading tons of blog posts on how important it is to have a personal website now-a-days when it comes to getting jobs or promoting your research. Do any of you guys have your own personal websites? If so, I'd love to see them. I just made one today so maybe some of you could critique it on what I can add to make it better? Thanks! here's the link: http://cameronwasson.weebly.com (for some reason you have to paste it in your URL bar to make the site load otherwise it loops back to this post, weird :/)

I'd like to give an update. So I messaged the graduate office and they said everything is fine! So I worried for nothing basically. Thanks for all of your advice.

Gnome, I am openly gay at my institution, just was not to my rents' that is what caused the controversy. So to answer your question--yes. Actuallyatree, I think my circumstances are unusual. They are circumstances not experienced but those who are not apart of a minority. But I agree, I was being a bit selfish in what I said. Jenste, yeah i'm very lucky! because my marks are super high the course doesn't have much effect on my GPA, so it's not really hurting my average that bad, it's just in relation to my degree , blahh.

Hey guys thanks for your comments! As for asking the prof about extra assignments, the entire course is test based. I also asked prof for an extra credit assignment and he told me no, which is stupid.

jenste, The only condition is that I have a degree pretty much; my marks don't matter- well except in the fact that they have downgraded my degree. The good news is that the deadline for my final transcripts to be submitted are after I've already finished my first semester of grad school, so I could do summer school and up my grade. It would just be easier and finically more viable if I didn't have to. As well, do you think that if I had already finished an entire semester of grad school they would kick me out because I didn't have the honours designation?

smpalesh, I don't know if you quite understand what i'm doing, but I am not asking them to raise my mark from a D to a B. I received a 54% in the course and I need a 60% in the course for it to qualify for the overall degree designation. Furthermore, people deal with stress differently and evidently it has affected me in a very different way than you. Congratulations on getting an 87% thats great, though if the same circumstances had befallen you-you receiving a less than optimal grade- I guarantee you would be doing the same thing as me and you could use your 'circumstances' to appeal, so stop being so antagonistic.

This is what I wrote for my appeal: I am writing to appeal my degree (Honours Bachelor of Arts-Honours Double Major- Major Psychology, Major Kinesiology), as I have fallen short of meeting the requirements in my final semester of undergraduate study. I have received lower than a 60% in a kinesiology course (KIN 2236B), which will not allow me to receive my desired degree module. I am appealing this as I have been accepted with a conditional offer to attend Guelph University for their MSc in Neuroscience, a program that is contingent on receiving an Honours Degree. I believe that I have worked very efficiently and proactively throughout my undergraduate education and believe that I deserve my Honours designation. Furthermore, I have completed two independent study courses (PSYCH 3998F, 3999G) for which the workload is equivalent to that of an undergraduate thesis. Moreover, I believe that my inability to meet my desired degree module is a result of certain personal circumstances, which afflicted me this final semester of study: 1. Applying to graduate school is a known stressor and to this I concur. Over this past year I have been gathering reference letters, making academic connections, as well as making moving plans. In addition to this, it has been of great financial strain for me to submit these applications. All the stress of applying, of waiting, and of rejection have accumulated and taken a toll on my degree progress. 2. As a self identified member of the LGBT community I have faced obstacles that may not be faced by members outside of this minority group. After going through a tiresome breakup with my significant other I fell into a depressive state. I briefly turned to a therapist to talk about my problems; further, I turned to my family for support. However, this required me to “come out” or “self identify” to my family for which they did not already know; they were not fully accepting of my lifestyle, which put more stress on me. This depressive phase of my life I feel caused me to lose some motivation and preform less than optimal. This is potentially the key factor that caused me not to perform at my best. I am in full understanding that all students are put under an immense amount of stress and pressure; however, I feel that I have been put under more stress in one semester than many do face. Therefore, I feel on the terms of compassion I should be granted my degree module. I have worked hard to be accepted to my graduate program and have a passion for research in the realm of the neurosciences. I wish to make discoveries and add content to the scientific community, which starts with me being able to attend my program in the Fall. Because I have one mark that does not meet criteria for my module due to the apparent stressors in my life that have befallen me in the past few months, I fear I will not be able to secure a fulfilling future. I implore you to consider my appeal and hope that you are able to see that certain circumstances lead to my poor performance in my final semester of study. The “silver-lining” in the situation is that my hard work has qualified me to attend a graduate program, and I ask you to allow me to do this by conferring me an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree. do you guys think it has a shot?

Thanks jenste! Yeah I think my less than stellar mark was due to some personal factors. Everyone on here is making me nervous so I submitted an appeal to my faculty office to give me my honours degree despite having a shitty mark. I have back-up options, such as summer school, but those involve spending more money for course work so hopefully everything will work out for the best. What a time to get a bad mark, go figure.

Hi iphi, Yes it's Canadian, however, the only reason I ask because generally in Canadian universes especially in neuroscience programs you can apply without an honours degree and will treat it equivalent if you have lab experience.

Hey everyone I need some opinions on my situation. So I just got accepted to my program but my offer is conditional, stating that I need to receive a honours bachelor of arts (that is what I said I would have when I graduated). This semester has not been going well and I may not meet the criteria for the honours designation. In my program the honours has no meaning as it does not indicate that we wrote a thesis; rather, it shows that our average was at a certain % and we received no grade lower than 60%. Therefore, because of my less than stellar grade in one course, my degree will be downgraded to a regular BA. Do you think I will not get accepted on this account? While applying to the masters program it did not specify if you needed an honours degree. Additionally, my average still meets the criteria for admission. The only difference is that my degree will not have a certain designation that really means nothing. I have worked hard for admission and the course just sucks. Furthermore, do you guys think that I should send an email asking this, or do you think this will put me on their radar? Let me know what you guys think!

Accepted to the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience program at Guelph on Friday. With $16000 in funding, plus an additional $6000 from a research grant!

Did anyone apply to the Mcmaster Neuro Program? They started reviewing applications, has anyone been given an offer of admission?