Westernford17

I hope you all get in! I mentioned before that I was accepted to STEP - I would really like to attend, but so far financial aid is a bit unclear. They have a "STEP fellowship" which I initially thought meant each student might get up to $25,000... though it looks more like that amount is divided among the cohort and maybe amounts to a few thousand dollars. It also looks like STEP folks are eligible for a $25,000 forgivable loan... but uh... that still leaves about $50,000 to be covered in other loans. I don't know how manageable that would be on a teacher's salary :-\ I was admitted last Friday, but nobody has mentioned any financial aid package as of yet

I don't know if you all are including STEP in this thread, but I think STEP and Master's applications were due on the same day (Jan 10th for me?) and I received my admission email last Friday... hopefully they're coming for you soon? They also notified us that their online portal is under maintenance through Wednesday so we can't log in and accept our official offers. Maybe they delayed sending out their admission emails for other programs for a few days to prevent a buildup?

Wow, thanks for all of the incredible input! Like I said, I really didn't have any idea how most MA programs run things - I was under the impression that masters theses, especially in a one year program, were actually pretty rare until my mentor said that. She said that she worked with a colleague that was forced to basically go and write a thesis since she hadn't already done that in her MA, but it sounds like that's pretty rare. Oh well. It just makes things easier! Also, that's great news. I guess I hadn't really considered figuring it mathematically It sounds like it's either Option 1 or 2 for me! (I'm leaning quite strongly towards 2)

Hi all! I'm new here but looking for some advice. In an incredible life-plot-twist, I recently accepted my offer of admission to the University of Western Ontario's English MA program. The circumstances that led to my applying UWO actually have very little to do with the school or program itself - it's only after I applied (perhaps for the wrong reasons), was accepted, and was offered substantial funding that I really began to consider it as a legitimate option. Now that I've looked into it a bit more, I'm really looking forward to going in the fall and I think the program/faculty is a really good fit for me. Anyway, it's about time for me to register for classes, and UWO offers three "degree options" for MA candidates. The list below is straight from the department website. Course work: This involves the completion of four full-year (or equivalent) courses and one half-year bibliographical methods course. Course work and Independent Research Project (IRP): This involves the completion of three full-year (or equivalent) courses and the submission of a 50-page IRP, researched and developed in close consultation with a faculty supervisor. Course work and Thesis: This involves the completion of two full-year (or equivalent) courses and the submission and oral defense of a 100-page thesis, researched and developed in close consultation with a faculty supervisory committee (supervisor and second reader). I have no idea which option I should choose. A mentor suggested to me that I do the course work and thesis option (Option 3), noting that some PHD programs require an MA thesis for admission. The thing is, I don't currently have plans to get a PHD. I may one day, but I'm not there yet and it isn't currently a part of my plan. So... I guess I'm thinking it would be really bad if a few years down the line I decided I wanted one and then couldn't get into a program because I didn't do a Master's thesis. At the same time, I'm really interested in the courses - I like being in the classroom and discussing material much much more than I like doing independent research. In the end, I'm sort of torn between doing the course option (which I want) or the thesis option (to maintain that potential for a PHD if I choose to go that route). Of course IRP is a good compromise option :-) I should note that When it comes to choosing the best option for my future, I don't really know what my future entails yet. I don't have any plans and I'm the sort of person that takes his life day by day (while being prepared for tomorrow's opportunities). Part of what makes it hard to know what's best is that I don't know what my end goal will be. Does anybody have any suggestions or input? I don't know a whole lot about the norms for MA programs... is it typical to write a thesis? Is it frowned upon to only take courses? I can think of some obvious advantages and disadvantages to all three options, but how does the academic world (and the rest of you) see things? Thanks for your help!

Yeah maybe. I'm not too concerned about missing classes, though. As an undergrad, when I had to be on campus three or more times a day, yeah I skipped my fair share on cold days. But with a graduate schedule that's less about contact hours and more about individual study, I don't think it'll be a big deal. Plus, as an undergrad I had a fair amount of classes outside my major that were pretty boring. I'd imagine I'll look forward to most of my classes as a grad student and won't mind getting to campus for them.

Also going to Western this fall! Trying to figure out the whole housing thing as well. I've applied to live in the residences (London Hall apparently has a Grad learning community, but I have no idea if it's legit or just something they say), but they're pretty costly and I'm sort of looking for something more apartment-style. I guess there are good options all over? People seem to like the Glenmore Apartments on Campus, as well as Masonville Gardens to the north and City Place downtown. The trick appears to just be finding a roommate PM me if you're interested!