MathCat

Thanks you two, this is helpful.

Well... it is still the holidays. He may not be in contact with anyone.

If they only ask for your resume/CV, I don't think you are expected to include a cover letter.

Well, I suppose it's true!

So, I can't be the only one who has had dreams/nightmares about admissions. I thought it could be fun to share. I've had two dreams that I can recall: I dreamed that I was accepted into Cambridge with an amazing full-ride scholarship. But they only gave me two days to decide, which made me mad and I rage-rejected them. I dreamed that I got rejected from my "safer bet" school, but they decided to offer me a job making burgers in their cafeteria instead. LOL!

I'm Canadian, and I've applied to universities in both Canada and the US. I've been admitted to one of the top schools in Canada (QS ranks it in the top 30 in math), but I have also applied to some top 10 programs in the US. I'm not that keen on living in the US, so I would only go if I felt that the quality of the program and value of the degree would be worth moving to another country and dealing with being an international student. However, it has occurred to me that I'm not actually that sure about what international students (specifically Canadians) have to deal with if they go to the US. I hope some of you can enlighten me. It will also be my first time on my own (I live with my parents), which will likely be quite a shock. So there might be stuff related just to that, and not the US, that I am very naive about. Things I have wondered about: Getting F-1 status appears to be easy for Canadians. I think I have to get an SSN - I have no idea how that works as a grad student. I don't think I can get a contract on a cell phone. I will have to buy almost everything once I move (this is not really specific to the US though). insurance? Many funding offers seem to include medical, but I'm not sure about dental or vision, or if there are others I would need too. I don't have a driver's license now, and I'm not sure how easy it would be to get one if I need to. I don't really expect to be able to afford to drive anyway, and I took this into account in my choice of schools. Will getting utilities be a pain? What about banking? I know my bank operates in the US, so I might just be able to open USD accounts and be done with it. Have you experienced any social problems as a Canadian international student? Edit: One more question: was there anything that really surprised you, that you hadn't thought about before you went?

I think you will probably be okay. The only issue really is if your quant score gets you automatically disqualified anywhere - seems unlikely for archaeology, but what do I know. The verbal and writing scores are not so bad and the rest of your application should outweigh them. Some people flop standardized tests, and I think your profile will show that it's not the norm for you.

I probably would. They might wonder about it, and if you haven't addressed it anywhere, you could briefly explain it there. Probably phrase it as you did in your other SOPs.

Check the program website - they might have a sooner time than 11:59. Like one of my programs merely listed December 10 on the deadline, but it was actually Dec 10 by 8pm.

Well, one school I applied to admitted me very quickly after I finished my application. They do not specify that they have rolling admissions, and they do have an application deadline (much later than I applied). They are going to do what they want, and you can't always predict it, so getting your application in early can help in some cases, or have no effect elsewhere. I just wanted them done - I didn't expect to hear back so fast!

Yes, your quant score is pretty low.

Follow their instructions.

Well, I put a header with my name, the program I'm applying to, and what it was (e.g. SOP). No program asked me not to, although a couple insisted on at least 1" top margin, perhaps to print this information. Several did ask me to include this.

That is definitely the place for it. It sounds to me like you've done this right. Good luck!

Do the schools you are applying to allow for another place to include this information? If so, put it there. If not, I think it is highly relevant to how your application will be viewed, so unless one of your other letter writers could explain it for you, I don't see what choice you have. Can your new supervisor explain the situation in his letter? Only one program I applied to had any second essay - if I needed to include such information, the SOP or a LOR would be the only places that I could. If you must include it in your SOP, I would probably shorten it, and definitely soften the language as museum_geek suggested. If it's just a few sentences, it will have less of a derailing effect on your narrative.

My SOP was around 700 words, although it varied a bit for each school as I emphasized different things. It did still fit on one page, with 12pt font and slightly larger than 1" margins. One school restricted the SOP to 500 words, which was very tough, as I had already made it concise in the 700 word version. Another limited it to 200-300 words - practically nothing! My personal history statement (only required at one school) was about 400-500. I would be wary of making this any longer, unless you actually have something to justify the length. There are some people with truly fascinating personal histories and reasons for attending grad school, but unless that's you, I wouldn't drag it out.

York University is not well known, even inside Canada. I do not know how accurate this ranking is, but here is what I could find about environmental studies in Canada: http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2014/environmental-studies#sorting=rank+region=+country=222+faculty=+stars=false+search=

Ask them. With a deadline still so far away, I would expect they would allow it, but nobody but them can say for sure.

I would say the top score is definitely the better one overall, and I doubt a 163Q would get you tossed out. If you are worried about that, you could send both.

Commenting so I can find this later. I hadn't thought about this before, and I might be going to the US.

Commenting so I can find this later. I've been accepted and invited for a visit, and I'm not sure how to dress. Math is pretty casual in general, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to dress a little nice, right? It's made more difficult because the climate is much colder than where I live, so I only really have a couple of items that I could wear... At the moment, I'm leaning towards new, well fitting dark wash jeans (which I have), with a nice blouse and my nice coat. I think wearing actual dress clothes would probably be too formal for me, but I don't know about chemical engineering. Editing to say that I'm probably also going to ask one of my current professors, to make sure I'm not making some egregious dress code error here!

I am applying to Masters programs in Canada, but planning on continuing to a PhD. So, I am not currently applying to work with any specific professor (it not common to do so for a math Masters here, but not unheard of). I think I will just ask the coordinator after the university reopens, and go from there.

I would say it only felt like something that is really going to happen when I got an early acceptance. Now I'm actually thinking about moving across the country (or potentially to another country!), rather than putting it off as something to think about if they accept me. It's kind of scary, but also exciting.

Is it possible to search without creating an account?

If you have a strong relationship, you should probably ask them why they think you're not ready. But if I'm reading this correctly, you did a Bachelor's and are trying to go straight to PhD (outside of the US system, where this is the norm)? It is not really surprising if this is the case - almost everybody will do the Masters first.