[MPA/MPP Applications, Fall 2016 Start (Canada)]

2 minutes ago, PhD in English said:

Hello guys, 

Does anyone know if "recommended for admission" status is a good sign at Carleton? 

My application status has been changing from: 
1- Preliminary review required
2- Review in progress by department
3- Recommended for admission (this is my current status)

I highly appreciate if the ones who got admitted could explain to me their process. Just for the record, I am applying for a PhD program in English, but still the process is the same for the entire university, right?

Please please please enlighten me...

Many thanks in advance,

Hey. I applied for the MPPA program, on the weekend my application status was "Recommended for assessment", but this morning it changed to being "Review in progress by Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs", then I didn't look at it again and I just received an email offering admission. So I don't know if mine changed to recommended for admission or not, but I do know that I heard pretty soon after it changed to being reviewed 

[MPA/MPP Applications, Fall 2016 Start (Canada)]

Hey guys, I got accepted to Carleton this afternoon via email. $20 000 in funding 

[MUNK 2016 (Uoft)]

On 9/9/2015 at 11:10 AM, AlinaD said:

Since applications are going to be opening Oct 5th, I decided to start a forum.

Feel free to post your stats, GPA, where else will you be applying to, any other info.. 

Personally i am going to be sending an application to Munk, SPPG and MIRHR all of which are at Uoft.

Going into my 4th year of Law and Society. 

Hey! I applied to MIRHR as well, 4th year honours econ student... not too sure I'll be accepted but keep me posted/let me know if you hear anything

[Quee's MIR (Master of Industrial Relations)]

4 minutes ago, skippy12 said:

You are right, the application was very confusing indeed. I had the same problem when I was applying. I was trying to look for the SOI tab but I couldn't find it anywhere. Apparently, that tab is hidden and it "only" shows up once you click "next" in the reference tab. It is super idiotic the way it is laid out... Anyways, it's awesome that they accepted you purely on your GPA and references lol.

Wow, I'm so dumb... didn't see that. Still waiting for them to retract their offer based on my lack of attention. Sorry for all the novels haha, keep me posted on your status, perhaps we'll be classmates! 

[Quee's MIR (Master of Industrial Relations)]

9 minutes ago, skippy12 said:

 

Hey, I was a bit confused when you mentioned that you didn't hand in a SOI. When you filled out the application online, didn't you have to write a Statement of Interest?

But there was a section that said like "if there was anything you wanted to mention anything about any deficits on your transcript or whatever do so here" so I wrote a little blurb there about how busy/involved I've been during my undergrad (aka basically wrote out half my SOI) so that's why some grades may be lower, so they did have that. I must have just clicked right through the SOI part (don't do applications when you're tired folks)

[Quee's MIR (Master of Industrial Relations)]

3 minutes ago, skippy12 said:

 

Hey, I was a bit confused when you mentioned that you didn't hand in a SOI. When you filled out the application online, didn't you have to write a Statement of Interest?

I know, I was extremely confused. I did the application when I was really tired, so I was just going through and putting like my research interests and stuff, and I didn't see anywhere for me to put in my SOI or CV, so I figured (like a few other schools I applied to) there would be a place for me to upload them after I paid, so I paid but there wasn't. Then I panicked and emailed the department but I never heard back. I figured they would just throw my app in the garbage because I clearly can't follow instructions, but then I got an offer. That's why I called them, and I mentioned my confusion and they just brushed off my question and said I had a great transcripts and really good references so it was a no-brainer. But the site is confusing too - on the admissions tab it says the only documentation you need is the application form, transcripts and references. But then in the FAQ, there's questions about the SOI, so I have no idea what happened there. Did you upload your SOI in the application form part or what? I was pissed because I spent hours on my SOI, and my i've been super involved at school & in research/publications and stuff so my CV is pretty packed and they didn't even see it. 

[Quee's MIR (Master of Industrial Relations)]

1 minute ago, skippy12 said:

 

From my research, it is not too difficult to get a entry level HR/LR job if you go to either of these programs. The big difference is landing a "decent" paying entry level job. My friend who graduated from the MIR program told me that "big" companies and government agencies recruit from Queen's. The starting salary for many of the positions was  very high. However, there were only a few vacancies available. Apparently, those who had prior experience got the job. Since my friend had zero work experience he was not able to get any of those coveted positions. As a result, he had to apply externally through various job boards.  In the end, he did find an entry level HR job, but the starting salary was very low compared to some of his other classmates.

For UofT, I'm guessing someone with little work experience would benefit from the 2 year program. The reason is because they offer summer internship. From what I heard, there are many "big" companies that hire students and there many positions available. Companies are more willing to hire interns because it is cheaper for them and they only need to commit to 3-4 months. The real benefit for students is that once they graduate, they'll already have 3-4 months of solid work experience vs many Queen's students who will still have zero work experience when they graduate. Also, some students who completed the internship program get hired back from the same company.

 

Yeah that's what my intuition was as well. In reality, I'm really interested in the quantitative side such as working as compensation analyst, but my all time goal would be to get an mba or ma/msc specializing in business analytics/big data/predictive analysis. Since I obviously need a couple years of work experience and a good gmat for that, I was thinking I could go to queen's, spend less time and money, then work in entry level jobs for a couple years while studying/taking courses for my gmat (and getting certificates in data analysis/big data etc). However, I'm afraid once I get into the working world I won't want to go back to school, in which case I would rather have a two year degree from u of t. But if I go to UofT and still want to get my mba later, I'm looking at a billion and a half years of schooling (really just 1 more year but i'm sure we can all agree that right now that feels like forever). What I'd give for Queen's to have an internship option. I really don't want to get a masters degree to get paid peanuts.

Is anyone from the toronto area? If I get no funding and have to pay around $12 000 for tuition alone, how much would you estimate I realistically spend after the two year program? What's the average funding? I feel like it's only a couple thousand max, does that sound right? 

[Quee's MIR (Master of Industrial Relations)]

Yea I feel like Queen's is more like GPA/recommendation based. I was confused when I received the offer this early so I called in and they just said between my transcript and references I was a good fit. I didn't hand in a CV, SOI, writing sample or anything so had to be transcript/reference based. Don't be worried about not hearing yet, though. They mentioned they don't start meeting often until end of feb/all through march which is when the majority of offers are handed out.

For IR/HR programs I just applied to Queen's & UofT. I applied to a couple policy programs, too, but I'm thinking IR/HR is more up my alley... Just wish they had a higher level of quantitative courses. Anyone know when UofT starts handing out offers?

Also wondering your opinion on the programs - it sounds like you guys know your stuff so feel free to give me your honest two cents! Obvi, like most students coming out of undergrad im pretty broke. I don't have any experience in hr. I do have a lot of data analysis/research experience so I could probably get a job as like a compensation analyst/in labour economics research or something, but i'm wondering how hard would it be to break into hr (with a good job) out of queen's with no experience? I would love to go to UofT but they barely offer any funding, tuition is high, it's two years and you're living in toronto/gta ($$$)... but there is that summer internship. Would the summer internship be worth the debt? 

PS. smcgill5 congrats on LSE, that'd be a sweet adventure (would also be fun to be classmates haha), and I hope to see you both in the fall! 

[Quee's MIR (Master of Industrial Relations)]

I received an email offering admission this afternoon 

[MPA/MPP Applications, Fall 2016 Start (Canada)]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if I could get some feedback. I want to work in public policy, specifically education policy. I've been searching all the threads to see what type of people get into these programs, and I can't decide if I'll get in or not. Here's my info (I don't know what will count towards my admission so I added pretty much everything)

•  Honours Economics degree from small east coast university
• CGPA of 3.7, last two years GPA also 3.7
• Only one political science course (Canadian Government Institutions)
• 4 year varsity athlete, 3 (will likely be 4 after this year) year Academic All Canadian 
• Will have strong LOR from plenty of Econ and Soc professors 
• 1 year of research on housing prices and social housing policy
• Honours thesis on education policy
• One year of work as a TA in the Econ department
• Position on Student Union 
• Graduated from a 3-year leadership course through our school's varsity athlete council (very selective, only one in Canada)

Anyways, now that you sat through my life story you're obligated to help me. Please be realistic (I can take it), will I get into MPA/MPP programs in Canada? Will I be on the fence? Do I have no sweet chance? I know the decision making process is completely dependent on the year and the SOP/LOR and everything, but assuming I do well in those areas what's your opinion? Are there schools I shouldn't consider applying to? 

I'm from Ontario, so I'd ideally like to get back there. Right now I'm considering applying to Carleton, Queen's, Ryerson, Dal, and Waterloo (MPS). PLEASE don't hesitate to let me know if I'm wasting my time and my already dwindling $$.