DBT

SPPG increased enrolment last year from 55 students per year to 80, which is a pretty huge increase for a graduate program, so the rolling admissions process could take a while. Hope you have an offer on the way!

Thanks MatthewCasselman - very good points... I think I have now ruled out Queen's, but am still deciding between Carleton and UofT

MPPWonk, this is what someone at Queen's told me re: co-op: "The coop positions are available on a competitive basis - you apply for them and there are interviews, and the Ministry picks their best match. Most of these are at the Ontario public service because they send us a list of available coop positions in December and students apply for those. Last year there were 115 coop positions available and only students from 5 MPA programs can apply. So far, 30 students got a coop position out of the 63 - but not all students decide to apply for those." Let me know what you decide between the three programs, or if you have any other information. I am hoping to have a clear choice made by next weekend

Hi JTMurray, FYI, this is the reply I got from Anita @ SPPG re: financial considerations: "The MPP is a graduate professional program. We offer limited additional funding in Year 1, with our program’s allocation of resources being focused on the Internships and Career Services support offered to MPP candidates. Please do check into UTAPS independently. As a professional program, we leave it to the candidate and the UTAPS dept to interact directly. Please note that there are several current MPP students that have qualified for UTAPS funding. Please also look into www.sgs.utoronto.ca and explore other grants, bursaries offered through U of T. In the second year of the program, based on academic merit standings in year 1 of the MPP program, we do offer some scholarships, fellowships, TAS, etc to the top 30 students in the program." I heard from a SPPG 2014 graduate that there were a couple of students in that cohort who didn't get an internship after their first year. They did their internship in the summer after second year instead. I've also heard that the career support they offer to graduates is pretty good, especially if you are open to a variety of opportunities and are not holding out for the most sought after positions in cabinet or anything like that

Thanks for your reply Poliphilo! The 1st and 2nd pros you have listed for UofT are my main reasons for wanting to do the program. Carleton seems to have the same amount of quantitative training in my specialization, so I am not as worried about that. I am from Toronto and do want to work here after I graduate, so I am concerned that Carleton would put me on a different career track with federal govt. employers in Ottawa. I am ok with taking on some more debt to make an investment in my future, but I am having trouble reconciling UofT's program at 16K a year with my offer at Carleton, which includes a scholarship that would essentially have me paying $0 in tuition. The sticker price may be worth it though for where I want to end up and the recognition that UofT has...

Hi stressulcer, I wanted to echo MatthewCasselman's post in saying that GPA is not everything. My cumulative GPA is a little higher than yours, but my last two years' GPA is a little lower. I also had two terrible grades on my transcript from one brutal semester, which I thought might prevent me from getting accepted anywhere. No public service experience either. I met with a UofT SPPG alumna before applying and got some good advice about strong and consistent messaging in all elements of the application. I tried to make everything cohesive, and expressed a very specific focus for why I want an MPP/MPA and how I plan to use it (my SOP was much more clearly focused than I actually feel I got outside feedback on my SOP and edited it repeatedly, and I had solid references. From what you've said, it sounds like you have a good chance, and there will certainly be more offers going out at some point soon. Good luck!!

Thanks Poliphilo! I work in the field of immigration right now, but I have no direct public service/policy experience. Ideally I would like to find a position post-grad in the OPS, with the City of Toronto, or in the private sector, so I know UofT seems like a logical choice. It was my first choice when I was applying, but I am still really torn. I am having trouble justifying that amount of tuition when I now have other great options and already have student debt to think of. I have been accepted to the policy analysis specialization at Carleton, so I feel like I would be getting a lot of the same competencies as I would at UofT. I talked to a co-op advisor there today, and the vast majority of Carleton placements are with federal public service, but it sounds like there are opportunities to land placements outside of Ottawa through self-directed search. I like the idea of doing 2 co-op placements instead of just the one internship too. Queen's seems to specialize in the policy areas I am interested in (health, social), and place well into the OPS, and it would be a lot more affordable than UofT since it is a 10 month program, but the pace of the program also worries me a bit since I don't have a strong quantitative background. It seems also like UofT's internship program may be stronger? I feel like I am driving myself crazy weighing out the pros and cons. I am going to go to Kingston and Ottawa next weekend to see if the idea of moving to either of those cities from Toronto is enough to push me to accept at UofT Sorry for the ramble! For those of you choosing UofT's MPP program, why is it your top choice? Your reasoning may help me decide. Thanks again for your reply Poliphilo, and for the employment stats!

Thanks! You too!! I did my undergrad at UVic. I actually don't know exactly what my GPA was, as Uvic uses a 9-point scale. My grades were good but not anything amazing. I had 4 letters of reference for UofT, two from Uvic professors I had taken several classes with, one from my employer, and one from a volunteer position. I spent a fair amount of time on my statement of purpose too. I have also been accepted to Queen's and Carleton's MPA programs, and Carleton is offering a much larger scholarship so I really don't know which one I'm going to choose. They all seem like really strong programs, but with different structure and emphases and different career opportunities post-grad. Any insights/advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated

I received an email offer of admission from UofT this afternoon with a $3000 entrance scholarship.