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Congrats on making your final decision, @AMStudent!!

Oops for typos!

Hey @crossbonestyle, when I did this before app deadlines, I sent an email to the professor(s) who would be an ideal prospective advisor/supervisor/mentor. I mentioned I was planning to apply, explicitly mentioned I was reaching out about potential supervision, outlined my research interests and current projects (implicitly aligning with theirs), and then asked if it would be possible to have a face to face/skype/phone chat (depending on locations). I know some PhD programs are adamant about having faculty members give the OK for potential supervision... without it, an applicant wouldn't be offered admission. I imagine a shortlist is created by the admission committee, then ranked by potential faculty supervisors, then again reassessed by committee. You apply generally to the program, then there is an internal list forwarded for recommended final admission by each faculty member taking on student(s). One school i applied to had a checkbox and space to fill in who would be my supervisor, and if I secured supervision. Maybe with your program, some people are able to do this after the app deadline. Usually though, I think you're to do it in advance. There may be some wiggle room to see if there's a fit and interest in taking you on. Now that it is after admission deadline, I'd suggest you quickly email the prof(s) with tthehr strongest links to your own research area and ask to see if they have come across your application. I'd also forward my docs to them (sop, personal statement if any, and cv), and ask if they would be able to speak to you about potential nomination for admission. Good luck!

No decision on my end, @Mingyang @AMStudent. Tentatively accepted a spot while waiting to hear back from Berkeley's waitlist.

Link is here

Hi @cactus77, thanks for being so open about your feelings around this challenging decision. I could relate to your post in many ways. I went back to graduate studies twice for different master's degrees and have worked in a variety of fields. Would've never imagined my path would be a windy one, but goodness, it's been rewarding, fulfilling, and SO exciting. Now I'm finally settled on a home discipline and career trajectory after testing the waters in various domains... oh yeah, by testing the waters, also include trips to various campuses across North America and Europe, long (and follow-up) chats with prospective supervisors, lots of reflection and freakouts, and many conversations with professor-mentors, close friends, recent PhD graduates, and current PhD students. For my first Master's, I had to decide between two completely different disciplines. And I ended up choosing based on my immediate intention (to practice a particular profession) and my priority (gain experience). I chose the route that would help me better professionally, which mean giving up a funded spot in a research-intensive program. I didn't want to delve into the world of research too prematurely. During the program, I realized I was more interested in research, but I still finished the program and practiced for a few years. I don't regret the choice AT ALL because those years enabled me to develop a nuanced and quite frankly deeper understanding of the field. I was ten times more deliberate and informed for the next move. And this experience and perspective was obvious, compared to my counterparts who quickly went from program to program without a breath for work experience. But even now, my work and research interests continue to be morph, and continue to be interdisciplinary. In many ways, I'm glad to have done the master's degrees because I can speak from a variety of perspectives and look at issues from many positions, using different lenses. You're making a decision in a particular moment in time. Know you'll be studying something for a duration of time - it doesn't mean you cannot get into a new area of work or research. You can always go back for more training, more courses, more readings, another degree. If you're competitive for a PhD program at this stage, I'd say you'll be a competitive applicant should you want to reapply to that program or another one down the line. Also, note that a PhD is a marathon, whereas a MA is more of a sprint. Both are challenging, sure, but the demands on you as a PhD student last a minimum of 4-5 years, more, depending on your field... and even longer if you are then entering postdoc position(s) or tenure track life. A serious commitment to make, in my eyes. You may or may not know, a lot of people will drop out of the PhD because it's not suited for their career paths, interests, or life goals. So from my perspective, you should think about what you want to be doing in 2 to 5 to 10 years time, while knowing these ideas may change. If you're young and/or without major commitments, you have a lot of time to explore and figure it out. When I met with prospective PhD supervisors (last year and back in 2013), they all asked me about why I was seeking to earn a PhD. Back in 2013, sure I liked research, but I didn't have the clarity and focus I have now about my work and why the doctoral training is the only way to go. They also asked me about my long term goals. Back in 2013, I definitely could not say with certainty that I wanted to be a professor at a university. Gosh, I could just remember I could barely decide on a home discipline, prospective programs, or a research topic for the darn application itself. Too many opportunities, too many interests, and quite frankly, I had very little background information, experience, and insight to help me make the decision. So I delayed. Fast forward to 2016, I have a clear sense of what I'm getting myself into and what I want to accomplish. This may be very terrifying to accept if you're like me, if you like to plan and think through career options and pathways years in advance... but truth be told, plans do change. What you prioritize now can and WILL LIKELY shift in 1 month, 3 months, let alone one year. Sometimes these shifts are subtle, other times drastic. So whether you choose the MA or the PhD program, you'll adapt and change course based on the experiences you gain from the program itself and the people you meet. Allow yourself the leeway, the latitude to have things evolve throughout the process. I don't think you'll make a wrong choice either way - both sound like good choices, but it really all depends on your priorities and goals, even in the short term. Happy to dialogue some more should it be helpful for you to continue to write through your thinking process. I suppose you don't have that much time to make a decision, but if you have a few weeks, maybe consider checking out these books. Nettles and Millet: Three Magic Letters: Getting to Ph.D. Gardner and Mendoza (Eds.): On Becoming a Scholar: Socialization and Development in Doctoral Education Lovitts: Leaving the Ivory Tower: The Causes and Consequences of Departure from Doctoral Study

Post your final decisions here! Feel free to post in our other thread if you're still deliberating or waiting.

Bumping this up so we don't miss it amongst the flood of MSW topics! Would love to hear your updates or current deliberations. I'm also going to start a different thread for final decisions!

I heard back from the Social Work PhD program in the first week of February, so I assume it's program-specific [Canadian, Canadian-trained]. Best of luck, everyone!!

Hi everyone! Hope you're all well. It's been a while since I've posted, probably because I'm freaking out internally and trying to avoid expressing this the anxiety virtually or in person. I wanted to echo what @CrimsonEyes said earlier - I too am grateful for all of you. This period in our lives - what an exciting and stressful time! At the end of it all, we're in a beautiful place. In a few months, we'll be starting a 4-5 year journey. At this moment, many of us don't know where that journey will start. We'll know in due time. I am glad we are all supporting each other as we hear back from schools.

@CrimsonEyes @Happysoul sorry to hear about Berkeley. As you've both applied to several fantastic schools, I'm rooting for you! I'm waitlisted at Berkeley -- I'm trying to be optimistic about it. It's a fantastic fit (institutionally and geographically) for my work. I'm also waiting on news from an external funding application (SSHRC). With the larger scholarships, the dollar amount drastically drops if the student decides on a school outside Canada. Did anyone end up applying to University of Toronto? Given the late deadline date (February 16) and the meager standard funding, I decided to drop my application.

@CrimsonEyes thanks for the update! Judging from previous years, I figured it would be this week. Fingers crossed! I feel sick to my stomach

Heads up, in case you haven't seen it! @wisdomspeaks also started this thread in the Waiting It Out category

Hi everyone! So glad to see some action on this thread! Some updates since I started the thread. I ended up only applying to two schools, UC Berkeley and McGill (Canada). Axed potential applications to Education or Communication after I realized Social Welfare/Work is a better fit for my overall work. Just got an offer today from McGill. What a relief to know I will for sure be a doctoral student come September. Are other Berkeley applicants also thinking we should hear back by end of this week? Sending positive vibes to everyone!

Update: heard back on Nov 25!