MPPWonk

I'm in the same situation. I got accepted to Queen's and Carleton right away. My funding package at Carleton was better than others who got into U of T during the first round. So I expect to get in (I already started a Ph.D at U of T, though that was in a different field and I exited after the M.A. Maybe U of T didn't like this? Though I doubt SPPG would care about other departments). Anyway, I have been hotly debating the U of T vs Queen's with myself. I decided against Carleton because I am interested in municipal and provincial policy jurisdictions. On the one hand, it is vastly more cost effective to do the program in 10 months (at a likely $18,000 vs $12,000 tuition difference just for the first year). I may learn what I need in 10 months and save on the opportunity cost of the extra year. Even excluding the potential salary that one would earn in the second year of Queen's, I will have to borrow at least $40,000 to attend the U of T, and that is not a marginal cost difference by any means. One good thing about Queen's that I discovered is that you will likely share the summer classes with the Professional stream master's students, so there might be interesting networking opportunities and simply the opportunity to learn with people who have been working in the field already. Also, Queen's policy areas of strength are my areas of interest (social policy, education policy etc.). However, I live in Toronto and loved my time at the U of T, which, though it is a newer program, I am sure can provide an excellent education.I do like the idea of being able to volunteer or better focus on my studies at U of T, given the 4 vs 5 classes per semester, the extra year of studying and then being able to reflect on the internship experience while still at school (I've never worked in government or policy development before). In addition, more time is devoted to Quantitative Analysis and Economics at U of T - an extra course, anyway. Also, the classes are more general at U of T as opposed to Queen's where they have a lot of really interesting classes that are more specific. I feel that the general skill set is more necessary for me to tackle any issues that might come up in my career rather than an investigation of specific topics, which I am readily capable of pursuing on my own. But, I do want to work in social policy, and Queen's has a lot of classes in that area, so it could benefit me also. In the end, I believe that I will choose Queen's. Still, not knowing whether I have the option is killing me!

I've been accepted to Carleton and Queen's and applied to U of T.

I spoke to Queen's and they do indeed have 30 of 61 students at the OPS, not the federal government. I wondered how a student could do summer courses and an internship at the same time. The answer I got was that the employers are flexible with the start date, so usually students finish in September after having started in July. The summer classes at Queen's also take place over only two weeks, one in May and one in June, so that professional students taking the degree can participate. Thanks for all the help!

I am also trying to decided between U of T, Queen's and Carleton. I do have a few questions for the other posters: 1. Poliphilo, where did you hear that you can only do an internship with the Federal Service at Queen's? From what I understand, no one is guaranteed an internship position, anywhere. I went to the U of T info session and they were quite insistent on this point. You are *required* to do an internship at the U of T, but there is no preference given to U of T, or any other university at any government organization. The internships are posted and anyone is able to apply. So of course not everyone at Queen's gets into their internship of preference - that's the case at any university. Still, I would love to hear more about what the alumni said - is 10 months enough to learn the skills they need? I do worry that with only one economics class (Carleton and UofT have both Macro and Micro), Queen's is light in that area. However, Carleton seems as quantitatively focused as the U of T. Anyone with any other insight or info?