MathCat

There's no reason that answering this question should burn bridges if you are polite and honest about it. I think you should let them know that their lack of diversity is costing them. You should also mention the other factors.

You could email them to make sure. I would just say that since you didn't get any confirmation you just want to be sure that your acceptance went through.

This is something that you need to ask the (PhD program) department.

You could also ask for an extension for the program that gave you a deadline. But really, I would call the other departments at this point.

Are you sure the April 15 deadline affects you? If so, given that it's only a few days away, I don't think it would be out of line to call the admissions people at each department.

I do almost all of my printing on campus, so I just wanted a cheap printer with a scanner for occasional home use. I got the HP Deskjet 1510 from Amazon. It's not a great printer - not very crisp/clear (but it is always legible). But I wanted an HP for cheap ink refills, and the scanner works well. For printing things that don't need to look great, it's fine. So, it depends on your needs and budget I guess.

I do the same thing as fuzzylogician. If you want to search for such hubs, they are usually called docking stations. I have one that has my (wired) printer, ethernet, keyboard, mouse, headphones, and monitor plugged into it. Then there is just one cord that goes into the USB port of my laptop when I'm home.

How much does the top school cost, taking into consideration the cost of living? How big of a difference do you expect it will make for your employment prospects? My normal response is to take the full ride. But if the cost of attending the top school is not too high and you expect that the difference in employment prospects will balance it out, it might be worth it.

I think you should ask current students, as I imagine this depends on the department.

Well, if I file as a resident, I have to declare my US income, so I wouldn't qualify for the GST refunds. I have to look into the implications for health coverage for when I return.

@TakeruK Oh, due to posting times, I only just noticed your response. Thanks for clarifying. I have no clue if it is better for me to be a resident or non-resident for tax purposes. My naive impression is that being deemed a non-resident is beneficial, since my income is all from the US anyway. If I lose the ability to build up some tuition credits for when I return to Canada, that's a bummer though! I'll have to investigate this further. I actually filled out the residency determination because I was asked to by a bank (won't get into that) so it wasn't really a "strategic" move in any way. I fully expected to be deemed a factual resident, and it seems strange to me that I was not. I agree that the CRA webpage generally suggests that I should be, but their statements are always vague and contain caveats: one would be that I didn't maintain sufficient residential ties!

At this point, I'm not even clear on whether being considered a resident or a non-resident would be better for me!

That's the form I filled out. There were actually not that many boxes on the 3rd page for me, mostly just those related to banking, having a passport, keeping provincial health insurance, having a mailing address, and I described my family ties to Canada along with the fact that I will return after my PhD. So if my family ties are not sufficient, I can agree with their determination that I don't have significant residential ties. By the way, I called CRA. If I want a second opinion on this, it will take 37 weeks to hear back.

It does actually ask why you are leaving. I checked a box saying I'm leaving to study, stated that I'm currently studying in the US, answered that I am living in a university owned apartment, have university health care, and am employed by the university. So I doubt they missed this information. Also, could you explain why this was a mistake? It is my understanding that this determination means that I am not going to be taxed on any income that does not come from a Canadian source. Since this is essentially all of my income, barring a very small amount of interest on my Canadian savings accounts, this could save me a significant amount of money in future years! The main drawback I can think of is that I won't be able to claim my educational tax credits. I'm really, really unclear on how much of a benefit those would be - I'm not sure how much of my tuition costs would count, etc.. I do have a tuition waiver from the university, and it's my understanding that how this affects the TL11A can vary by precisely how the university handles such things. However, I have quite a generous stipend, and given the low Canadian dollar, if I convert my income to CAD, I am not in the lowest tax bracket anymore. So I think it may be that the amount I would save by simply not being taxed in Canada would outweigh the tuition credits. Again, I am not sure about this! I should also clarify that they only deemed me a non-resident effective the date I moved. I'm actually not sure if the tax residency page suggests that I should be a factual resident. On this page, it states "If you are working temporarily outside Canada, vacationing outside Canada, commuting (going back and forth daily or weekly) from Canada to your place of work in the United States, or teaching or attending school in another country, and you maintain residential ties with Canada, you may be considered a factual resident of Canada." However, I haven't really maintained any residential ties, unless you consider my family being in Canada and my intending to return to be residential ties. That was included on my residency determination form, and apparently CRA doesn't think that's good enough (they explicitly stated this: "In our opinion, you have not maintained significant residential ties to Canada.")

I did clearly state, multiple times (both by checking boxes for reason leaving Canada: studying or doing research and filling in optional text) that I was studying in the US for 5 years and would then return. I expected to be deemed a factual resident! It seems like a good thing, as far as taxes, but I'm concerned about the implications for health insurance if/when I return to Canada long term. I am consulting Canadian tax experts.

I'm Canadian, and started my PhD at a school in California in Fall 2015. I'm working on preparing my taxes for both the US and Canada now (well, doing the US ones first, as required). Shortly after I moved, I asked CRA for a residency determination. They just replied with the response that I have not maintained sufficient residential ties to Canada, and am now deemed a non-resident for tax purposes effective the date I moved to the US. I'm quite surprised by this, and as it stands, I'm currently not a resident of any country for tax purposes! Now, the letter does say something about the effects of this for Canadian income: "As a non-resident, you may be subject to a non-resident withholding tax on interest, dividend, rental, and pension income received from a Canadian source. The Canadian payer is responsible for withholding 25% of the gross amount of these types of income. However, if the country where you live has an international tax agreement with Canada, the provisions of that agreement may reduce the rate of withholding tax." The only Canadian income I would have after I moved is any interest from my bank accounts. I'm not sure what effect this has on my taxes in each country. I was somewhat confused about my taxes before I got this letter, and now I'm even more uncertain. I'm pretty sure that I can't claim the US-Canada tax treaty on my US taxes (since I made more than $10,000 of taxable income). I don't know if I could claim anything from this agreement in Canada, given that all my income (barring a small amount from savings accounts) is from the US. My main concern is if my tax rate in Canada will have gone up by this determination. I expect to have to pay some taxes in Canada on my US income while I'm here, but I expected to have enough credits to not owe anything this year, as my income is only for 4 months and thus is not that large. Has anyone been in this situation, and could shed some light?

Another reason to add to TakeruK's list: sometimes newly appointed professors don't take students for the first few years. I don't know how widespread this is, but one program I was accepted to had told me a fantastic new assistant professor (already an established name) would be starting at the same time I would matriculate. However, he would not be advising students during the first two years because of some university policies, making him not a viable advisor for me anyway. Now, you don't always need to pick an advisor in your first or even second year, depending on field, but if they haven't even started the search, a situation with the new hire not immediately taking students would likely take them out of the running as potential advisors, due to the delays TakeruK has mentioned (and that's even assuming they do hire somebody!).

Passing comps in masters is not the norm in every field and every country. For example, in my undergrad institution (and, indeed, I believe in all math masters programs in Canada), there are no quals/comps. They are only required of PhD students. However, masters students are often offered the opportunity to attempt them, and if they passed, it would count towards their PhD if they stay at that institution.

I don't think the OP meant that they would lie about passing *this* qualifying exam. This sentence seems to say that they passed the comprehensive exam in their master's degree. I interpret this question to mean "should I tell the committee that I passed (a previous) comprehensive exam during my master's degree and received an honorable mention for academic achievement (also in OP's master's)?" If I've read this correctly and it's factual, I think this is relevant information and could be included, but I also agree with everything fuzzylogician said - this is a long shot.

Not actively recruiting is one thing, but declining to meet with an interested student who requested to is different, and I think far more worrisome. It would make me question just how much they advocate for their students.

I don't think you should weigh general placement rates too heavily without knowing details. I would look more closely at what your potential PI's students go on to do. I do think refusing to meet with students is a red flag. But I want to clarify - did you request to meet with him and were denied, or did he simply not take the initiative to set up a meeting? If it is the first case, I would be wary of working with him. I would wonder about getting stuck in the middle of his squabbles with the rest of the department, or being used as a pawn or leverage somehow.

My approach in all negotiation was just being honest. If I were in your situation, I would let them know that I was very interested in their program and would love to attend, but would not be able to without funding (you definitely should not accept an unfunded offer!). If you are polite, professional, and honest, I see no reason for this to lead to burned bridges if you end up having to decline if they can't find funding.

I don't think it is unreasonable in this case to politely contact the programs you have not yet heard from, saying you have a pressing deadline but are still interested in their program. Of course, only say this if you actually are still interested in their program (otherwise, you should withdraw your application anyway). Just be prepared that some may not give you a reply any earlier. When I was in this situation, I contacted programs and got earlier responses from 3 of them because of it. The rest simply stated "decisions will be available on <date that was much too late to be of any use>".

I think it's a choice you and your husband have to make. There is a real risk that if he passes up the job offer, you could still end up with no funding. Is that a risk the two of you are willing to take? I can't answer that.

You should just ask them. This is especially important if you have time constraints with your husband's job offer.