RunnerGrad

Grades are finally posted! I ended up with two passes (these were pass/fail courses), two As (in courses where the prof said an "A" was for meeting graduate-level expectations and an A+ only if you absolutely wowed her/blew her away - same prof for these two courses), and two A+s. I'm very happy, especially considering I've been struggling with post-concussion syndrome all year. Now I'm completing my first summer practicum, part-time (again, thanks to post-concussion syndrome). I'm loving my practicum! I have great preceptors, interesting projects, and I'm learning a lot. My preceptors also have a great deal of faith in me, and threw me right into projects that I said were within my skills and comfort zone. In other news, my undergraduate thesis research looks like it will finally be published. I'll be third author, but we should get two publications out of it. First author is the grad student I was working with, second our advisor, and I'm third! Very excited, even if it isn't in a super-high impact journal (impact factor about 2.5).

Look at the policies in place at the PhD programs that are of interest. In my case, many of the PhD programs I intend on applying to require a minimum of an A- in all graduate-level courses.

In my experience (and it may be a Canadian thing), you are not allowed to repeat courses you passed, and graduate programs don't look kindly on retakes. I have two undergraduate degrees (I needed to take the second in order to become a registered dietitian). The dietetics program (2nd degree) wanted me to retake biochem, despite having a 92 in the course, because they felt it had been too long since I had taken it as part of my first degree. I was not allowed to retake it, as I has passed it the first time around. I would have needed special permission to retake it if the dietetics program had insisted on the retake.

Clothes I buy on sale. I don't buy from Goodwill or swap sites, due to worries over bedbugs. Having dealt with bedbugs once, I don't want to deal with them again (I'm extremely allergic to their bites and have a severe reaction to their bites). I cook my own meals, in bulk, from scratch, on the weekends. So I make my own pasta sauce, chili, etc, and freeze the leftovers. It's healthier and saves money, compared to buying processed foods. I shower at the gym at the university (free gym membership for grad students), which saves on water, and water heating, costs. I don't have cable, or Netflix, or Hulu. We watch shows for free via TV websites. Yes, new shows are only available for one week after airing, but that's enough for us. Older shows or movies we can borrow from the library. Our library also has all kinds of e-books and audio e-books available via an app for free.

I have an iMac at home and I have an iPad that I bring with me to university. I don't take notes on my iPad though - I'm old fashioned and prefer to take notes by hand. I use the iPad mainly for my readings (so I don't have to lug around a gazillion print-outs), to access my class portal (Blackboard) and to surf the web and answer emails. I do know people who takes notes on their iPad, however, either with a bluetooth keyboard, or with a stylus and an app like Noteability. A stylus like the Jot Script will work with an iPad.

I study attitudes towards obesity, particularly among future health professionals, such as students in dietetics programs. I look at their own experiences with weight management, as well as what they think causes obesity in adults and children, and what they think can be done to treat or prevent obesity in adults and children. I am also interested in what experiences have shaped their attitudes.

I'm happy to answer any questions about UofT or Guelph. I did my undergraduate degree at Guelph and absolutely love the university and the city. I hope to go back to Guelph to do a PhD! I only chose UofT for my MPH as Guelph doesn't offer an MPH that also includes the dietetic internship, which is a requirement to become a Registered Dietitian.

The TA for my policy course and my qualitative research methods course, in Public Health, was actually a PhD student in Social Work. He was nothing at all like what ohgosh describes. He was always challenging us to think about privilege, to think about what type of research gets published (and what gets missed), to think critically about how policy gets developed (and who gets forgotten in that process, and who doesn't have access to that process). He was always challenging us to think about what types of information, sources, and groups of people are priviledged and why. He had an extremely critical lens, and was very much anti-oppression and into social justice. Now granted, he was only one PhD student in the department of Social Work, but he certainly can't be the only one in that department who is interested in social justice, and who has an extremely critical view. He talked a lot about marginalized people who how we can have their voices heard in research and academia. The social work students who have been in some of my public health classes also seem to be very interested in social justice, anti-oppression and marginalized groups. Maybe those are just the types of social work students at UofT who take public health classes. I don't know. But my limited experience with the department of Social Work at UofT leads me to believe that at least some individuals in that department have a very critical lens, do not support that status quo, but constantly challenge it, and are heavily interested in social justice.

Yes, many clinical placements want titres as proof of immunity, even if you have your vaccination records, because vaccinations don't "take" in 100% of cases. There are some people who are not immune despite a full set of vaccinations. The titres provide evidence of immunity (or not).

Very common, in my experience.

UofT also has a lot of great courses offered in other departments that students take as electives. For example, we had social work students taking some of our public health courses as electives. Some of my classmates who took electives at OISE indicated that they had social work students in their OISE courses as well. For those interested in social justice, the courses offered by OISE's social justice education department can be great options.

Age doesn't matter. I have professors who didn't start their PhDs until they were in their 40s and 50s, and they had no problems finding tenure-track jobs after they completed their PhD. That said, in my field, there aren't a lot of RD PhDs, so most RDs who do complete a PhD and want to enter academia can generally do so. That's because undergraduate programs that are accredited by the Dietitians of Canada have to have a certain number of Registered Dietitians, with PhDs, who are tenured or in tenure-track positions. If the programs don't maintain the required number, they lose accreditation, and graduates of their undergraduate programs aren't able to become RDs.

In my field, the extra stuff definitely matters. Students without sufficient work or volunteer experience in my field are typically not accepted into graduate programs. The extra stuff is also great to have for scholarship purposes! Extra money is always nice.

Register with disability services / accessibility services! They will be able to provide you with whatever help and supports that you need. They will also be able to advocate for you if you run into problems with your advisor or other professors. Or if you need any accommodations, they will be able to either provide them to you, or connect you with those who can provide them.

A few things are different. First of all, UofT, like almost all universities in Canada, is publically funded. Quest is the only private university that I'm aware of in Canada, and it's unique in a number of other ways as well. Also, MOST PhD programs require a Master's degree first. Now, that's not always the case for all of the PhD programs at UofT (as you can see from Dedi's acceptance straight to the PhD program without a Master's), but the normal progression in Canada is Bachelor's -> Master's -> PhD. Certainly in my field, you won't get accepted to a PhD program without a Master's. But it does vary by field. With respect to life outside of the university, Canada is different from the U.S. in a number of ways. First of all, we have universal health care, where basic medical care is covered by provincial health care plans (however International students will obtain their own health insurance through the university, since they are not covered by provincial health plans). Same sex marriage is legal throughout all of Canada. Even in our military - it was actually legal within the Canadian Armed Forces before it became legal throughout the country. Our military also allows women to serve in all of the military occupations, including the combat arms and on submarines. Depending on where you've lived in the U.S., you may not be familiar with certain colloquialisms or words used to describe various things. For example, "pop" is widely used in Ontario, as opposed to "soda" or "soft drink." A "toque" is a winter hat/wool hat. And there are other examples. The second most common language people speak in Canada, besides English, is French. Although Toronto is so multicultural you'll hear a lot of other language more frequently spoken than French. Certainly I hear a lot of different Asian languages on campus at UofT and while travelling on public transit. Guns are a lot less common in Canada, although we do still have gun crime and illegal guns being used by criminals. It's a lot less typical for your average Canadian to own a hand gun and keep it in their home. For example, the people I know who own guns own rifles for hunting or sport. Right now the Canadian dollar is performing poorly compared to the American dollar. Not so good for Canadians looking to go to the U.S., better for Americans looking to come to Canada. Gasoline/petrol is more expensive in Canada. Actually, most things (except certain foods) are more expensive in Canada. Like Surefire, I'm happy to answer any questions about UofT, Toronto, or commuting to Toronto from outside the city. I just finished my first year as an MPH student at UofT, and as I don't enjoy living in big cities like Toronto, I commute into Toronto when I need to be on campus (which has generally been about three days a week).

If anyone has questions about the core courses that all the MPH students take at UofT, feel free to ask! I just finished up my first year in the Community Nutrition stream (which is being renamed the Nutrition and Dietetics stream). There are a number of courses all the MPH students take, so if you have questions about the content, format, etc. of those, I'd be happy to provide some input.

Their case-based approach is nothing special. Most other public health programs will incorporate case-based learning or problem-based learning into their courses. At UofT, the Intro to Public Health course is almost entirely case-based. Most of my other public health courses (with the exception of Public Health Policy) also incorporated case-based learning and problem-based learning, while also using other learning/teaching methods.

The University of Toronto is ranked 19 in that link. So is it in the top tier? Or is it in your next tier? Personally, I think it is a top tier school, although I'm not sure how much longer it will remain there. Certainly in medicine and health, UofT is one of the top in the world, if you go by rankings. It's 13th in this list: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2014-15/subject-ranking/subject/clinical-pre-clinical-health

Exactly! Waterloo is also extremely well known for its engineering and computer science programs. Guelph is internationally known for its food science, nutrition, veterinary medicine, and agriculture departments. York has one of the leading researchers when it comes to the Social Determinants of Health. Alberta has a top nanomaterials department. Ottawa has one of the top Heart institutes in the world. I could go on for almost any university in Canada. They may not be prestigious across the board, but most have at least one or two departments that are well respected internationally.

Not a lot of funds here either. Most of my travelling is thanks to the U.N. (my father worked for the International Civial Aviation Organization for many years) or the Canadian Armed Forces! Being in the military or being a military spouse gives you many opportunities to travel - granted not all of the places you are sent as a seving member are vacation spots, but there are some perks (visiting nice places when you have leave during a mission, for instance, or beingn posted to Europe for four years and having plenty of opportunities to travel while on that posting). Military life, or being a military spouse, certainly isn't for everyone. For for those who enjoy it, there are lots of great opportunities to see many different places. Also, I don't know how the Reserve system works in the U.S., but in Canada, if you are a member of the reserves, you can't get forced to do a mission overseas, nor can you be posted to a new location within Canada. The reservists who are part of missions overseas are those that volunteered for those missions. So the Canadian reservists who served in Afghanistan volunteered for the mission, they weren't forced to go there. That's unlike the regular forces, where you have to go where they tell you, unless you DAG red (i.e. aren't able to go on a mission at a particular point in time due to any number of reasons), and where you can get posted to locations you might not want to within the country.

Felinebookworm, it sounds like you've made the right decision for you! I have to say that I enjoy most of my graduate classes at UofT (although one was a complete waste of time - we learned more and did more complicated/involved projects in undergrad, but that was just one course), but I absolutely do not like the city of Toronto at all. I much prefer Guelph as a city! It's one of the many reasons that I choose not to live in Toronto, and commute into UofT for grad school. I just don't enjoy living in a city like Toronto. I like being close to big cities, so that I can attend whatever events I want to that aren't offered in my smaller city outside of Toronto, but I much prefer smaller, greener, quieter, cheaper cities, where there isn't constant traffic, noise, and congestion.

Guelph is not remote, nor is it barren in the winter. Guelph is only an hour from Toronto, has winters incredibly similar to Toronto, and is far from barren! It has many wonderful green spaces, and is a wonderful place to live if you like being outdoors, due to the numerous parks, running paths and cycling paths. Guelph has GO train service to Toronto during the morning rush hour (and service back at the evening rush hour) so you do not need a car nor do you have to rely on Greyhound buses. Guelph transit is great for getting around Guelph, but Guelph is incredibly bike-able, and much, much more bike-friendly than Toronto! That said, Guelph is obviously much smaller than Toronto, so if someone likes big cities, Guelph will not be for them. Guelph has a very active downtown core, with lots of activities going on. There are plenty of sports and cultural opportunities in the city. Every weekend there is a festival of some sort or another going on. As for landscape architecture, Guelph is extremely well known in the field. Also, with the arboretum attached right to the campus, landscape architecture students have wonderful opportunities available right on campus! One landscape architecture student recently re-did the cross-country course for the Ontario provinicial university championships, which runs through the Guelph arboretum. I don't think you get that kind of green space in downtown Toronto (at least I don't as an MPH student in downtown Toronto at UofT - I wish there was more green space on campus!) OP, I'm sure you've seen this site at Guelph, but if not, check it out: https://www.uoguelph.ca/sedrd/landscape-architecture/why-choose-la-guelph Guelph also has the only ASLA accredited program in Canada at the undergraduate level: http://www.asla.org/contentdetail.aspx?id=21636(which probably doesn't matter for grad studies, but shows how seriously Guelph takes landscape architecture) UofT is a great university. But Guelph is just as strong when it comes to certain programs, and landscape architecture is one of them.

Do you have a local public health unit you can volunteer with? Or a community health centre? Basically, many public health programs want to see you have some experience in public health, and know what's involved. That can either be work or volunteer experience.

My classes have typically been 0900-1200; 1000-1300; 1200-1500; 1300-1600; 1300-1700; or 1400-1700. I was only part-time this past year, due to recovery from a concussion and dealing with post-concussion syndrome. On the days I had classes: 0500 - wake up 0530 - leave the house 0530-0630 - commute by car or train with husband 0630-0700 - commute by subway 0700-0745 - do physiotherapy exercise and whatever other exercise I was allowed at the gym 0745-0830 - shower, dry hair, put on make-up, etc. 0830-0900 - grab a tea, a bite to eat (usually a piece of fruit and a yogourt) 0900-1200 - class if I had a morning class that day; if no class, relax in the grad lounge and crochet (needed to stay off computers/tablets to let brain heal) or, if not caught up on readings, do readings with plenty of breaks; meet with group members if needed for group projects 1200-1300 - normally lunch, unless class time overlapped with this time (then lunch would be before or after) Afternoons were different, depending on whether I had an afternoon class or not If I had an afternoon class: 1300-1600 - class (or whatever time class started and ended at) 1600-1630 - subway commute 1630-1830 - commute by car with husband 1830-1930 - make and eat dinner 1930-2030 - relax and spend time with husband 2030-2100 - listen to book on tape (not allowed to read for pleasure to let brain heal) 2100 - go to bed If I didn't have an afternoon class: 1345-1415 - physiotherapy 1430-1300 - subway commute 1300-1630 (approx) - commute by car back home with husband 1630-1730 - relax with husband 1730-1830 - make and eat dinner 1830-1930 - do readings in small chunks if needed, or work on assignments in small chunks if needed; if not, relax with husband 1930-2030 - relax and spend time with husband 2030-2100 - listent to book on tape 2100 - go to bed Weekends, and the days I didn't have class, would be spent doing readings and working on assignments (in small chunks), Skype with group members if required for group projects, etc.