twinsora

Will be starting my PhD in Political Science @ UC Irvine. Four courses in first term: Qualitative Methods, Foucault, International Relations Theory, Social Science Teaching for TA's. Stoked!

UC Irvine here.

No worries! Glad I could help, and congratulations on your offers.

Presuming that both co-op opportunities are equal (since you're at the same school, different program/department), I'd go for the funded offer. Having an MA might be beneficial for working in the private sector, as compared to the MPS, as the MPS focuses a lot on government-related training. If I'm not mistaken, I think the MA program is normally 1 year, but extends to 2 if you are doing co-op, whereas the MPS program is, by default, a 2 year program with the co-op work term built into it. You might want to look into whether or not the MA program will fund you for both years, or just one.

Heard back from New School! Applied for PhD, accepted for MA -- Currently enrolled as an MA. Funding isn't great, but that's to be expected.

Simone and Kevin did, as I declared myself to be a theory major over IR; Cecelia is on research leave in Africa, and won't be back until 2017, and nothing from Kamal.

Looking to work with Simone Chambers, Cecelia Lynch, Kevin Olson and Kamal Sadiq on a Theory/IR project.

Nothing from New School yet. Has anyone heard back?

Waiting on a result from the states before I click yes to UCI. Sadly won't be able to stay in Canada, but Irvine is a good fit for my interests. Especially with the move of JK and SC from Toronto.

And to you as well! Although I will likely be headed to UC Irvine, since the New School doesn't fund very well.

Just waiting on the New School's PhD Program in Politics. (Theory Subfield). E-mailed admissions director, and decisions should be out by the end of this week. Last school for me! 1/7 so far.

Toronto PhD Rejection on Friday (Theory Subfield)

Yes it is possible. I can't speak from personal experience, since both my BA and MA are in Political Science, but I have heard of people who have gotten into Political Science PhD's with semi-relevant BA/MA's. ie: Philosophy BA/MA to Political Science PhD's in Political Theory; International/development studies MA's into Political Science PhD's in IR.

Go to where there is funding: Queens (Unless you got a funded MA offer from Toronto, in which case that would be unheard of and quite impressive) Pedigree doesn't matter much in the Canadian context for the MA.

Hello Belles, In my own experience, I have found that most of my MA cohort at York is left-leaning, especially in political theory and IR. I think if you have plans to go on with a PhD, doing an MA here would expose you to critical political science, and would likely inform your decision in terms of whether or not you would want to continue down this path or to move to more mainstream political science. That said, York is probably one of the best departments in all of North America for this kind of work. For me, I was drawn to left-leaning poli sci from the beginning of my undergrad, and so chose to go to York. The problem with York's poli sci, is that there are no real faculty members that do "mainstream" political science. I am sure that they are all aware of mainstream political science, but it isn't their strength. York has a fantastic environment for learning, at least in the graduate level. (I have heard horrendous things about York undergrads). One shocker that I wish I had known going into York's program is that they do not have any formal methods/stats courses or sequences. (This may make it difficult for you to transition into political science programs in the states, as most will have a methods/stats requirement) [This is less so in Canada, where Political Science is not nearly as quantitative, but it is still something to consider] All of this to say, the MA at York does open doors in America and Canada, but PhD admissions are a different demon altogether. If you have more questions, let me know!