Sagnik_G

I agree, even though French is easier to learn than certain languages, it's unlikely to achieve full fluency in 2 years while pursuing a whole Intl. Affairs degree. I'm not exactly sure what they expect the level of fluency to be is, perhaps some of the people who are already in right now will be able to answer that better. If I had to guess though, I'd say perhaps Intermediate to Upper Intermediate maybe. 

But I think I was the very first one. By next week they'll start rolling them out.

I received my official offer on march 13th (the letter is dated) and I have 21 days to refuse or accept the offer. I had received an unofficial offer back at the end of february (so i think that was part of the first round? - idk). So the time I have to decide is from when I received my official offer.  so I'm thinking they will just start processing second round offers
I don't know anything about second round offers- sorry 

Hi,
I emailed Carleton this morning to see whether it is the same procedure for their Communication MA. If yes, I will complain and I will also request my money back. It still doesn't make any sense to me that you would accept domestic students first, and IF there is availability, you'll take a look at the international students. If that is their policy, I cannot change it, but they should clearly state it on their website. I would have never applied (and hoped for an acceptance) if I had known this... I'll let you know how it goes if you're or anyone else is interested.. 

I'm guessing they will see how many of the domestic students they have sent out offers to accept the offers and then decide on looking at how many international students they are looking to admit. 
It really sucks that they have such a limited opportunity for international students, really limits how holistic a course is, but then again it seems like a pretty small program so it's not unusual as well because it's common practice to first look at domestic students. 
Don't give up hope, it's not a rejection. You're still in the game. 

No problem, it keeps the ladies in the office happy cause they have less calls, haha. As far as I know, they don't disclose where anyone is on the waiting list. Considering that no official acceptance letters have come out yet, I would probably hold off for now. I know it's hell to wait, but everyone should know somewhat where there standing is in the next few weeks.
There's a lot of different routes for you to meet the language requirement! You can either prove you have a background in it (classes in undergraduate, immersion, etc) or take an intermediate level class and pass with a 70 or higher. There used to be just a general test you could try and pass for multiple languages, but the company that did it went under. Right now, you can also take a 5 month long online course for French (pretty sure it's just Rosetta Stone!) and if you pass the final test that counts. They're working on figuring out a new testing/learning option for other languages as well, but if you're planning on living in Canada, it doesn't make much sense to learn another language aside from French.
I'm from Northern Ontario, so never really got much in terms of second language training. Right now, I'm taking lower intermediate French to help improve my grammar and the basics, and then am planning on taking the online option this summer. While challenging to learn and language, take masters level classes, and be involved elsewhere, the language component is not as daunting as I originally felt it was.  
EDIT: Also, I know you're all probably sick of hearing about Duolingo...but Duolingo. I put in 10 minutes or so everyday over the summer since I was worried about my French, and it helped me to get into lower intermediate rather than just beginner. Other free language software is out there too if you're super worried about the language component and want to get a head start.

I think I read somewhere that you need to achieve a B1 level of proficiency, which is intermediate level but certainly not completely fluent. This is specifically for German since that is what language I am interested in taking, but I think it would be similar for other languages.

Intermediate/Upper Intermediate would be way more manageable. I'm currently taking French classes and my goal is to improve as much as I can before September, but man, I'm really wishing I paid attention in class back in HS right now. 

I wish they would have just released all decisions on a certain mentioned date. It would have reduced the anxiety levels.

Okay, good to know you guys. I'm going die stressing by that point.

Congratulations everyone!! Very happy for you all. 

Hopefully the rest of us will hear back by the end of next week.

Nice to see they got invites out so early this year! Official offers with funding started rolling out anywhere from 1-2 weeks after the unofficial ones last year. Most of the TA/RA offers came out in the first batch I found, but there were some exceptions as always.
I’ll make a recommendation for those who are certain they’re coming to NPSIA: make up a class of 2020 Facebook group! We used that over the summer to connect with other students and find possible roommates. Helps make the move to Ottawa less daunting! It also becomes a great place when you start to share events and ask questions about class (and post memes about statistics...).
If anyone has questions about the program, classes, or about the city itself, please don’t hesitate to ask! Be seeing some of you in class next September.

I've been "Recommended for Assessment" for what seems like ages. I'm hoping they'll just skip right to the good stuff. 

Hey everyone,
I just got off the phone with NPSIA, according to them some decisions have been made, but no one has been informed. Offers should start rolling out by next week or the week after. 
Stress level just went from 0 to 100 real quick. 

Spoke with Tabbatha on the phone today, and she said that they're trying to have decisions out by the end of the month. If they can't go through with that deadline, then she said it'll be early - mid March. @LoopyLex was correct!

Heya folks.
Just a heads up in advance, because I know you'll all start worrying about this soon (it sure got to me last year). Don't go panicking and start bothering the poor office if your status hasn't changed, or is behind others. I don't think there's any rhyme or reason in how they do it. Personally, my status didn't change from 'preliminary review required' until two weeks after most others did, and after that it didn't ever change to any of the other steps until after I got an informal invite (although many others had their statuses change). They're not super concerned about updating them to each step, since it's a lot of extra time that could just go in to making decisions quicker. So long as you haven't gotten a 'declined' don't go panicking. These things are not an actual indicator 100% of where you are in the process, and just because someone is ahead of you in it, doesn't mean you're not going to get an invite. 
As always, if you have questions, feel free to bother me.

@Sagnik_G I did my bachelor's degree at Queen's in History. I loved some aspects of Queen's and had issues with some other aspects. 
Queen's is a fun and vibrant school with a great sense of community. The Scottish traditions give the school a unique vibe. Queen's also has an abundance of resources and opportunities.
However, there is a lack of diversity at Queen's compared to other Canadian universities. Part of this is because Kingston is not a big city like Ottawa, Montreal, or Toronto. The other part of it is that Queen's has a stereotype for attracting rich, white people, which has some truth to it. That's why I'd like to go to a school like Carleton so I could have a more urban and diverse educational experience for my master's degree. I know there is some important anti-racism work being done right now though in response to past incidents.
Of course, this is just one person's experience. Also, please keep in mind that a grad student's experience is usually different from that of an undergrad student.
Relevant links:
Something to keep in mind as a potential Poli Sci grad student at Queen's: http://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2015-11-27/news/updated-reports-of-sexual-harassment-verbal-abuse-in-political-studies/
Anti-racism work being done at Queen's: http://queensu.ca/provost/committees-and-reports/university-council-anti-racism-and-equity

@DCrSS You can find out what all the statuses mean here: https://graduate.carleton.ca/application-status/

Good luck to you all!
You should! I think they're aiming for an earlier date because otherwise those who applied get antsy and start bothering the admin a bunch. (we sure did last year, oops). I've got friends throughout the program who have connections with faculty and other staff, so these sorts of details come out, and I'm also involved and have heard similar from staff. Figured I'd let you all know so you're not bombing the office with the same questions about when you'll hear back. That poor office is drowning this time of year.
This is when they are planning to have them out for though. Doesn't mean it's guaranteed, so don't come after me with pitchforks if it's March 1st and you haven't heard back yet. 

Hey.
I was in a very similar position, so I just wrote it anyway, but then once I completed my initial application, some stuff was emailed to me. As you know the application (at least for intl. students) is a 2 step process, the first being the OUAC application and then uploading the documents and transcripts onto CC. So, I got some general emails from the Director along with an Instructions File, I'll just tell you what the instructions for the Letter of Intent were although I'm pretty sure it was quoted verbatim somewhere in this thread earlier.
Statement of Intent (1 required)
For the MA/ MA-JD Program: Your statement of intent should be between 1 – 2 pages in length and
should clearly indicate the areas of research you are interested in as well as any faculty members you
would like to work with, courses you would like to tale and your future career goals.
Hope that helps!
P.S. And no, that typo is not me. That's how it came in the PDF. Just saying. 

Hey Sagnik - I'm a current second year student. This is totally normal. I went straight from undergrad to NPSIA. We also found out late March about admission, and I received an email on April 1st explaining where to send the transcripts. I think your transcript just needs to get there before course registration in June - you'll have a conditional offer of acceptance until they receive your transcript. You won't be able to register for courses until that happens. They received my transcript in June. Your undergrad institution has to send it.

^seconding that! I also went from my undergraduate right to NPSIA. Might be a bit more of a pain if it's a distance to mail, but so long as you send it as soon as all your final grades are known, you shouldn't have any problems.

Hey! 
I'm so sorry, I should have been a bit more specific there. I think you said you were from New York? I think you'll be totally fine if you've gone through the American undergrad system. The reason I said that was because I'm from India where BA degrees (and actually most undergrad degrees that are not engineering or architecture) are 3 year degrees seeing as we follow the British system. However, what I discovered when researching programs was that the requirement for an MA-program in several Canadian universities was 16 years of education (12 years school + 4 years undergrad). Seeing that I had reached out to the respective departments, and they told me my options were either to do an MA degree from India and then apply to their institution or to apply anyway but my application would be considered 'non-standard' and I might be asked to do a year of additional courses before being considered for the actual program. Neither of those options were really viable for me.
NPSIA among some other programs like the Pol. Sc. MA at McGill, SFU, U. of Alberta, Queens U. and Concordia U. have considered this and have a 3 year equivalency for Indian students, but others like U. of Toronto, UBC, York etc. don't. UBC told me to do an MA from India, and U. of Toronto informed me of the latter option. The frustrating thing is that I don't think they have this system for students applying from the UK or Australia who also have 3 year undergrad degrees I think, but they do for India. Oh well. 
Anyway, that's why I said what I did in that post. Assuming you did a 4 year undergrad from the US, that doesn't apply to you, so you're totally fine! And many congratulations on getting into GSPIA and I hope you hear favourably from Munk as well!
I had Basic Principles of Micro and Macroeconomics as a Minor for my first semester, as well as Development Economics in my third semester. In mid 2016 when I was first getting serious and contacting NPSIA, I communicated with Ms. Lacroix who told me that those were sufficient for the ECON requirement, so I guess I'm good in that regard. I hope that still applies, because I have no idea what the protocol as an international student is for completing the requirement. 

Hey.
I was in a very similar position, so I just wrote it anyway, but then once I completed my initial application, some stuff was emailed to me. As you know the application (at least for intl. students) is a 2 step process, the first being the OUAC application and then uploading the documents and transcripts onto CC. So, I got some general emails from the Director along with an Instructions File, I'll just tell you what the instructions for the Letter of Intent were although I'm pretty sure it was quoted verbatim somewhere in this thread earlier.
Statement of Intent (1 required)
For the MA/ MA-JD Program: Your statement of intent should be between 1 – 2 pages in length and
should clearly indicate the areas of research you are interested in as well as any faculty members you
would like to work with, courses you would like to tale and your future career goals.
Hope that helps!
P.S. And no, that typo is not me. That's how it came in the PDF. Just saying. 

Hey! 
I'm so sorry, I should have been a bit more specific there. I think you said you were from New York? I think you'll be totally fine if you've gone through the American undergrad system. The reason I said that was because I'm from India where BA degrees (and actually most undergrad degrees that are not engineering or architecture) are 3 year degrees seeing as we follow the British system. However, what I discovered when researching programs was that the requirement for an MA-program in several Canadian universities was 16 years of education (12 years school + 4 years undergrad). Seeing that I had reached out to the respective departments, and they told me my options were either to do an MA degree from India and then apply to their institution or to apply anyway but my application would be considered 'non-standard' and I might be asked to do a year of additional courses before being considered for the actual program. Neither of those options were really viable for me.
NPSIA among some other programs like the Pol. Sc. MA at McGill, SFU, U. of Alberta, Queens U. and Concordia U. have considered this and have a 3 year equivalency for Indian students, but others like U. of Toronto, UBC, York etc. don't. UBC told me to do an MA from India, and U. of Toronto informed me of the latter option. The frustrating thing is that I don't think they have this system for students applying from the UK or Australia who also have 3 year undergrad degrees I think, but they do for India. Oh well. 
Anyway, that's why I said what I did in that post. Assuming you did a 4 year undergrad from the US, that doesn't apply to you, so you're totally fine! And many congratulations on getting into GSPIA and I hope you hear favourably from Munk as well!
I had Basic Principles of Micro and Macroeconomics as a Minor for my first semester, as well as Development Economics in my third semester. In mid 2016 when I was first getting serious and contacting NPSIA, I communicated with Ms. Lacroix who told me that those were sufficient for the ECON requirement, so I guess I'm good in that regard. I hope that still applies, because I have no idea what the protocol as an international student is for completing the requirement.