scottdickson86

I received official letter of acceptance from McGill Electrical and Computer Engineering department today.

Haha. Alright then. Congrats! And see you!

Another one?? Congrats! Haha. I'm still rooting for you to choose McGill. Haha.

The moves I'll make when I get the official offer of admission (WITH funding, cross fingers).

Of course I can believe it! You would have never applied if you didn't think you have a chance of getting in. Congrats again! Enjoy the victory!

I am so happy for you! If you decide to go, coffee's on me! Haha. Cheers!

Amazing! Congratulations!

I don't think it matters how you got in. It only matters how you'll perform under the program, and how you'll finish it.

Anytime. Thanks and good luck!

I think it means your application is on its first round of review. Interim reviews probably just check technicalities, like whether or not your GPA and/or GRE scores are above what the minimum set by the department. Good luck!

I applied to MS first too, and took GRE four days later. GRE is pretty basic. Quantitative is basic algebra, geometry, and stat. Verbal makes you read essays and identify main topics, identify synonyms. Writing makes you, well, write about your opinion or idea on a general topic. I remember writing about 1) breaking social norms and 2) assumptions and logical errors found in a given story. Even though these are basic questions and topics, the exam is timed which means you have to pace yourself accordingly. You don't get points for unanswered items.

This happened to me as well, twice (one week apart), because I haven't read the first notification. This means you passed the initial screening - your other qualifications (GRE, GPA, etc.) are above the minimum required. I think at this point it means that they need your SOP so you can officially be included in the pool of applicants to be considered for admission. The next phase would be comparing your application package against the rest of the applicants. Good luck!

I would say contacting a POI. I sent a short email about why I want to do research and the how I want to create an impact on the culture of computing. Got the POI to peek into my application profile. If I didn't contact a POI, I think I would have been just another applicant, waiting for admission results to come out in March or April.

You would have to come up with your own topic but it can be an improvement to a previously published solution to a common mechanical issue. You can look at a thesis as a documentation of your idea that attempts to solve a "known" problem or limitation in the mechanical world. Since a thesis normally tackles a common issue, there should already be previously published papers on the topic. A thesis (the paper itself) usually has a "Review of Related Literature" section which means you are going to have to discuss previous papers that also try to solve the problem you are tackling. You are then going to discuss how you approach is different, easier, better, more reliable, or more cost-effective. Also, a thesis requires analysis of results, and of course, conclusion. The role of your supervisor is to approve your proposal of a research topic and to track your progress over the course of your studies. Your supervisor should also be able to help narrow down your options of a research topic . How long do you have to take the thesis? Well, that depends on the progress that you make. I know some people who have finished all their classes but had to extend a full year to complete their thesis. A panel in the department (including your supervisor) determines the quality and completeness of your thesis and whether or not it qualifies you to earn the Master's degree. With regards to funding, this something that you normally declare during application - that is, if you want to be considered for financial assistance, you indicate this in your application form. However, most departments do offer some type of funding and automatically checks which of the applicants qualify - no separate application necessary.This is handled differently across departments/universities so you may have to read on the funding and scholarships section of the program you are trying to get into. You always need a supervisor for thesis-based programs but funding may or may not always be available. Thesis-based programs normally prepare students for R&D jobs or PhD programs. Course-based programs on the other hand normally prepare students for actual industry jobs like manufacturing, product engineering, test development, design. This, however, is not a very rigid line. If you take the course-based option, you still have to do a special project, which in most cases is not as demanding as producing a full paper in the form of a thesis. One of the important things you have to consider, if you decide to go the thesis route, is to contact a potential supervisor. While some departments don't require you to choose a supervisor prior to applying, being in contact with someone is beneficial for the following reasons: 1) It helps increase your chances of admission - if you impress one professor and he decides to take you, it'll be his/her job to recommend your admission to the department; 2) You can get direct answers on questions about funding; 3) You can narrow down your research topic even before the start of the semester. These are just thoughts at the top of my head. Let me know if you have other questions. Oh, and good luck!

Received unofficial McGill admission for ECE from POI via email on Feb 11th.

Thanks!

Well I don't really like the idea of dorms and I'm pretty friendly so meeting new friends should be easy regardless. But thanks for the tip! I'll look online for available 1 1/2 rooms around the area. Thanks again!

Haha. You're welcome and good luck! If your scores are somewhere around the average then that would probably mean that they're above the "minimum". The fact that the programs do not detail the required minimum GRE scores means to me that they're really not that big of a deal. But if you feel like you could do way better (lack of study time? I studied a night before up until an hour before my GRE exam haha) then go for it!

It was 9:40 PM and I was finishing an episode of The Big Bang Theory. I was feeling really tired as I haven't gotten enough sleep in the past few days because of the anxiety of waiting. I forced a laugh as Sheldon Cooper bragged about how he figured out a method in "synthesizing a new stable superheavy element." But my eyes were already closing involuntarily. I decided to hit pause to finally get some rest. When I closed QuickTime, there it was - an unread email from my POI. My mail client had been open the entire time and the first thing that I was able to read was the subject: Recommendation for Admission to McGill. My heart started racing. It was obviously good news but it didn't seem like it yet. I had to be sure. I was feeling both sleepy and scared so I went through the rest of mail as fast as I can. Scott, I've recommended to the department that you be admitted to pursue your graduate studies with me... I was smiling. And then I was reading it loud. And then I was screaming. Suddenly pictures of a snowy Montreal started appearing in my head. I remember thinking about making sure to get warm coats. I have lived in a tropical country most of my life.

I studied a night before up until an hour before the exam. Needless to say my GRE scores are average. It didn't seem to bother my POI.

I think you should just check the minimum required GRE scores for each of the program that you're trying to get into. If your scores are above the minimum (especially for your top two choices), then you're good; you don't need to retake it. To be honest, I don't think GRE scores have that much impact in our overall application package. If a department or supervisor is not impressed by our GPA and research experience (or lack thereof for that matter), I don't think a perfect GRE score is going to make a difference. I believe that people responsible for reviewing our applications don't spend more than two minutes analyzing the correlation between our actual GRE scores and our fit in the program. I think grades, SOPs, research experiences, and past recognitions matter more. I guess what I'm saying is that strong GRE scores aren't going to make up for the weaker parts of our profile. My Q score is actually one point below what's required by my program but GRE was never brought up in email exchanges and Skype interview with POI. I hope this helps ease your mind on the matter.

Hi jenste, do you think living in Downtown on-campus graduate housing is a bad idea? It's right along University Street and I prefer close to campus (4 mins walk to McConnel Engineering building according to Google Mpas) and a private bathroom. Do you think I'll be wasting too much money with no real benefits by choosing on-campus housing? I think it's going to cost 855 CAD a month.

I got my unofficial acceptance after six days interview with POI.

Thanks bro!

Haha! Merci mon cher! I really need to get serious on my French. I have six months. Haha