Hi all,
I've been accepted at U of T for their MIRHR program and at U of Waterloo in their masters/phd of I/O psych.
some basics:
I have 15k funding at Waterloo, nothing at U of T
2 years total length at U of T, minimum 6 at Waterloo
My problem:
I really liked the lab I interviewed at in Waterloo and think I'd be happy with the people, but I'm not totally sold on going into academia. Everyone there really emphasized the fact that they'll be training me to be a researcher with the assumption that I'll go into academia once I'm done. 6 years is a really long time to invest in something I'm not 100% sure on. I'm also from a big city and when I visited Waterloo I was struck by how EMPTY it was. I'm by no means a party animal, but there was really nothing to do/see/go to in the area. Plus I don't have a car so I'm told it'll be difficult to get around.
As for Toronto, I'm really liking the fact that it's only 2 years with a chance to do a phd (if I want to) afterwards. Plus they have a good employment rate right out of the gate. However, I'm worried I'll be shooting myself in the foot if later on it turns out I WOULD like to go into academia. It is a big city though with good public transport (and around 3 hours closer to home) so it's got that going for it.
Help? Any advice? I'd love to hear from people who did either of these programs.
