
boruchan93
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Canadian Political Science Programs- Fall 2017 cycle
boruchan93 replied to somuchtoread's topic in Political Science Forum
Oh so it begins! I am applying to U of T, York, Carleton, Alberta, McMaster, Victoria, Western Ontario and Queen's. I might apply to Balsillie School for a PhD in Global Governance too. I am applying as an international student. Did my bachelor's and master's as an international student at a top Japanese research university. I am not sure though. I need funding desperately so I don't know if I will make it to any of these schools. My top choices would be York, Carleton, McMaster and Toronto. I got accepted to these schools for MA but there was no funding so I had to stay in Japan. Now I am trying for PhD but it is another level of competition. I shared my profile for evaluation in this forum before but I'll just put it here too: Undergrad/Grad: Top Research University in Japan (I am an international student here) Degrees: LLB in Law and Political Science (Graduation thesis won best thesis award of faculty), LLM in Law and Political Science (most universities in Japan teach law and politics together so this is not uncommon) Undergrad/Grad GPA: 3.94 out of 4.30. I don't know my major specific GPA but it is probably higher than this; Grad GPA is not assessed like my undergraduate but I received top marks from all classes except for one. I'd guess 3.80 out of 4.00. TOEFL iBT: 102 out of 120 (R:25, W: 25, L: 26, S: 26) Experience: TA for two Political Science related classes; internship at a leading think tank in Turkey for 2 months in which I began co-authoring an article, did fieldwork for my Master's thesis and other admin stuff; 2 internships at 2 large corporate law firms in Turkey and Japan during my undergrad years SOP: I think it is good. I outlined my research within 500 word limit and related it to my previous studies and showed how it fits to faculty's research interests. Writing sample: I am worried about this one. I haven't started writing my Master's thesis because we have to do this Joint Research in which we design a project, conduct a research and present the findings at a conference. My papers written in other classes were not really related to my proposed study. So I decided to submit parts of my undergraduate thesis which was well structured and won the faculty prize for best thesis. It is very related to my proposed research so I thought it would be better than submitting something unrelated and not as good. Recommendations: 1 Canadian professor who is well known in the area of political economy and published extensively on the subject matter (1 single authored, 3 edited books this year). He was my undergraduate supervisor and my aforementioned TA experiences were under him. We will start working on a commentary to be submitted a journal. 1 from a Turkish professor teaching in Australia whom visited my faculty for a visiting professor job in my final year as an undergrad. I took 2 classes and aced them both. She read my thesis and aware of my research. She has a lot publications in her own research area and is quite well known. 1 from a Turkish professor that I worked with during my internship whom I began co-authoring a paper with. He knows my research abilities. 1 Japanese professor who is my current supervisor. She is aware of my research and published internationally. Publication: One piece in Japanese published for a business journal during one of my law firm internships Scholarships: Merit based scholarship throughout my undergraduate years which basically covered my tuition fees. Full funding of approximately 24,000 USD for my Master's with 5000 USD of travel grants for internship and research. It was renewed for my second year. Presentations: None I got accepted to two but did not receive the invitation letters on time thus I was denied for visa (one was in Canada, the other was in US). I will present my Joint Research in a conference; however the date it is not decided yet. Field: Political Science with a focus in comparative politics and global political economy. I am basically combining my knowledge of law and politics to look at issues related to neoliberalism and new constitutionalism. I will use Turkey as my paradigm case for analysis. Languages: Turkish (Native), English (Fluent), Japanese (Advanced) -
Comments on my profile for PhD in Canada
boruchan93 replied to boruchan93's topic in Political Science Forum
Thank you for the comment. McGill and UBC were out because they require GRE. I have tried to prepare for it for a while but I realized I was wasting my time since my practice scores were terrible. I haven't realized Waterloo and might apply to that now that I had the chance to analyze the program. Thanks for the heads up! Thank you for your comment. Actually the programs I applied (especially York, Carleton, McMaster and Toronto) have great supervision on "new constitutionalism" which is the concept that I will use as the basis of my research. That was the main reason why I picked these schools. York has the professor who coined this concept. All other faculties that I am applying have some faculty member that conducted extensive research on this topic. I tried to highlight how I will implement the theory to my research in my statement of purpose to show that I fit into program.- 4 replies
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Hello everyone, So I am applying to PhD programs in Political Science in Canada as an international student. I already sent most of my applications but wanted to get some opinion from other people about my chances. I was accepted to all these schools that I applied for Master's two years ago but I couldn't attend since they did not provide funding for international students. I am trying again for PhD this time which is way more competitive than Master's programs. I would appreciate any kind of comment about my profile and possible chances. Undergrad/Grad: Top Research University in Japan (I am an international student here) Degrees: LLB in Law and Political Science, LLM in Law and Political Science (most universities in Japan teach law and politics together so this is not uncommon) Undergrad/Grad GPA: 3.94 out of 4.30. I don't know my major specific GPA but it is probably higher than this; Grad GPA is not assessed like my undergraduate but I received top marks from all classes except for one. I'd guess 3.80 out of 4.00. GRE: Schools that I am applying do not require it TOEFL iBT: 102 out of 120 (R:25, W: 25, L: 26, S: 26) Experience: TA for two Political Science related classes; internship at a leading think tank in Turkey for 2 months in which I began co-authoring an article, did fieldwork for my Master's thesis and other admin stuff; 2 internships at 2 large corporate law firms in Turkey and Japan during my undergrad years SOP: I think it is good. I outlined my research within 500 word limit and related it to my previous studies and showed how it fits to faculty's research interests. Writing sample: I am worried about this one. I haven't started writing my Master's thesis because we have to do this Joint Research in which we design a project, conduct a research and present the findings at a conference. My papers written in other classes were not really related to my proposed study. So I decided to submit parts of my undergraduate thesis which was well structured and won the faculty prize for best thesis. It is very related to my proposed research so I thought it would be better than submitting something unrelated and not as good. Recommendations: 1 Canadian professor who is well known in the area of political economy and published extensively on the subject matter (1 single authored, 3 edited books this year). He was my undergraduate supervisor and my aforementioned TA experiences were under him. We will start working on a commentary to be submitted a journal. 1 from a Turkish professor teaching in Australia whom visited my faculty for a visiting professor job in my final year as an undergrad. I took 2 classes and aced them both. She read my thesis and aware of my research. She has a lot publications in her own research area and is quite well known. 1 from a Turkish professor that I worked with during my internship whom I began co-authoring a paper with. He knows my research abilities. 1 Japanese professor who is my current supervisor. She is aware of my research and published internationally. Publication: One piece in Japanese published for a business journal during one of my law firm internships Scholarships: Merit based scholarship throughout my undergraduate years which basically covered my tuition fees. Full funding of approximately 24,000 USD for my Master's with 5000 USD of travel grants for internship and research. It was renewed for my second year. Presentations: None I got accepted to two but did not receive the invitation letters on time thus I was denied for visa (one was in Canada, the other was in US). I will present my Joint Research in a conference; however the date it is not decided yet. Programs: York, Carleton, Toronto, McMaster, Victoria, Alberta, Queen's, Western Ontario, Dalhousie, Simon Fraser (PhD in Political Science) Field: Political Science with a focus in comparative politics and global political economy. I am basically combining my knowledge of law and politics to look at issues related to neoliberalism. I will use Turkey as my paradigm case for analysis. Languages: Turkish (Native), English (Fluent), Japanese (Advanced)
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I am having this weird problem with Queen's University Political Science department. I previously e-mailed them asking the institution and department code (it can be 89, 92 or 99 depending on the institution) for TOEFL since it does not state anywhere on their website. I received a reply which showed the minimum score requirements for admissions but did not mention any type of code whatsoever. I asked again and they just told me that I have to send my documents to an address that they gave. I am already aware of the fact that I have to send a complete admissions package with transcripts and etc. However, I also know for a reason that they need those official score reports directly sent from ETS. Either I am having difficulty of expressing myself or the admissions office does not care at all which is really annoying. Sorry for this rant, did not know where else to write.
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I am applying to Political Science programs in Canada and I received similar replies. Additionally, since I am an international student they were saying that competition is fierce and scholarships are very limited. However, I had some professors telling me that my research is promising and that I can nominate them as potential supervisors. I think it really depends on the character of the person. What I did was that I directly asked them at the end of my e-mails whether I could nominate them as potential supervisors. Also when they say they are not involved in the process they are probably not involved in the process. Committee that evaluates applications may consist some other people so it ends up at your submitted documents and how well you articulated your research interests. Furthermore, I really don't think these people have the time to Skype each person who mails them about possible PhD supervision. They probably receive tens of these mails. One of the professors I contacted is a huge name in his field and although it took him quite a while he replied saying that my research proposal is promising which I think is a positive feedback. If these people are replying back to you it means you actually have something promising going on. My recommendation might sound cliche but just try to submit the best application you can. Try to get the consent of professors that you want to work with so you can include their name as potential supervisors in tour applications. Hope this answer helps you!
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PhD Funding at Canadian Universities for International Students
boruchan93 replied to boruchan93's question in Questions and Answers
Thank you very much for this insightful comment. So basically what everyone is trying to tell me is that my application should be really strong to receive funding. I guess I will contact admissions office too for further information just to make sure. And hope that my application is competitive enough in the eyes of the admissions committee. Actually I can continue for PhD at my current institution with funding but I feel like I got what I could get in the past 6 years and should move to a place that will academically and intellectually challenge me. Thus, I want to go to a program that has more faculty conducting critical research with over the par PhD supervision. Canadian institutions fit to this profile perfectly and it would be a great opportunity for me. My research fits most of the faculties research interests but the uncertainty is too stressful. I will apply to Japanese programs, of course, to keep my options open. In Japan, it is actually easier for foreigners to get scholarship than Japanese students. And there is not much competition as schools are desperate to bring international students to increase the diversity. Once again thank you for the detailed information! -
Hello, I am currently in the midst of my PhD applications to Canadian universities. I will be applying to political science programs. I did my undergraduate and currently doing my master's at a reputable Japanese institution. I prepared all the necessary documents and contacted PoI's. I received very positive feedback from everyone I mailed as they showed great interests towards my research aspirations. However, one common thing that I noticed in each mail that I received was that the funding for international students are very limited. And the way they put it sounds like it is almost nonexistent. This, of course, got me a little worried. I can continue my PhD in Japan with full and very decent funding, although I feel like it is time for me to leave here and get exposed to new perspectives. What are my options to find funding for PhD? And how am I supposed to find one before getting admitted to a program at the first place? I am really confused about this whole process and would appreciate any comments. I will contact the school and previous international PhD students who received funding; however, it would be nice to hear different experiences.
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I actually received my acceptance for UofT this morning! Will probably decline though since I don't think I can afford it without financial support.
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Hello everyone! I applied to MA of Political Science programs at Carleton, York and UofT. I heard back from Carleton sooner than I thought but apparently they do not give any funding or RA/TA roles to international students. That's why I declined the offer. Did anyone hear back from UofT or York Pol Sci departments? I can imagine that the recent strikes affected the decision process but I feel like it would be nice to hear at least something.