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NPSIA grad

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Posts posted by NPSIA grad

  1. 8 minutes ago, pbomu said:

    Hello! This will be my first time applying to the MA program of International Affairs at NPSIA (fall 2021). I have a few concerns regarding the admission process, I would really appreciate if someone could help me out. I am a spanish student who recently graduated with two BA, specifically Sociology (grade average of 8,7/10) and International Relations (8,4/10). Initially I wanted to study a masters degree abroad, as soon as I finished my bachelors, but because of COVID I decided to postpone it and pursue a MA in Security and Defense in my hometown, that way I also had more time to explore all the options. Finally I think NPSIA and Munk are great programs and I would really want to enroll either of them, but I am worried they won´t consider my application because my grades I don´t hace work experience in the field. Here in Spain options are quite limited and I also worked at retail during my college studies so that today I could actually afford studying abroad. During high school I spent a year in the US, and I also participated in a summer campus in France (Science Po Lille, EU-International Affairs program). What are your thoughts considering mi background? Do you think I stand a chance? Also, considering the co-op, is there a preference for national students compared to international ones? Thank you!

    It seemed to me that the majority of students at NPSIA didn't have any relevant work experience or volunteer experience, at least that's my understanding based on all the people I met in the program. Regarding co-op, the co-op positions within the Government of Canada require security clearances (secret level for most, top secret level for some). For that reason international students might have a hard time securing co-op positions in government departments. I think the process to obtain a security clearance as an international student takes longer which makes obtaining it before the co-op start date difficult. The hiring managers for the co-ops might take this into consideration. Security clearance processing is a very frustrating thing for hiring managers already. Note that this is based only on a couple conversations I had with a couple international students so I could be mistaken and it could vary based on country. Also this only applies to co-op positions within Government of Canada departments. There were several other non-governmental options. There were research institutes, defense contracting companies, NGOs, etc. For those, security clearances are not required.

  2. I graduated from npsia last year. To strengthen my application I did several things including:

    (1) took two introductory IR courses 

    (2) asked an IR professor if I could be a research assistant for a semester 

    (3) volunteered a local, small international development agency 

    (4) became an online UN volunteer (very easy to do)

    feel free to DM me for any questions relating to CV building / statement of purpose letter, or just general questions about the program (co-ops, courses, etc.)

  3. On 4/12/2017 at 5:07 PM, Nupur11 said:

    To those who are accepting their NPSIA and MUNK admission offers, can you guys share your profiles please?

    I accepted my NPSIA admission offer (22k). By profile I'm assuming you mean major, GPA, professional/extracurricular experience, volunteer stuff, and the like, right? Or do you mean academic/career interests and goals? I'll share both. I did my BA Lhons in pol sci, last 2 years 3.8-ish GPA. Two research assistant positions with faculty members. 2 publications. 2 conference presentations. lots of community volunteer work (some relevant to IA). Volunteer work abroad helping out with refugee relief efforts. A bit of online volunteer work for UN. Going into the conflict concentration at NPSIA, taking the thesis route, intend on focusing on new patterns of conflict like hybrid warfare and what the implications are concerning NATO. Hoping to find employment in GAC or an intergovernmental organization. I don't intend on doing a doctorate though perhaps way down the road because teaching is something I can see myself really enjoying.

  4. Anyone have any thoughts on whether or not NPSIA might budge on the required B- grade for the econ requirement? I am taking micro right now, and the class average on the midterm was 39%. The class is graded on a curve with the class average being scaled up to a C+. I scored higher than the class average on the midterm BUT at the end of the day it is quite possible that I don't do better than the average and end up with a C+ and not a B-. I could always retake it during the summer so its not the end of the world but thinking wishfully has me hoping that perhaps the B- cut-off is a loose policy? Meh probably not. 

  5. 12 minutes ago, Investigate311 said:

    Do you think that'll translate into accepting more people into the program? 

    no. my theory is that no one is getting admitted save for the 2 peeps that Daniela processed before their two bit operation got overwhelmed. they will probably retire the entire program and try to rebuild. I expect the announcement by weeks end

  6. Nancy is a boss. I had heard rumors of a lady at GSPIA who is super nice and helpful and yes, friends, the rumors are true. If you phone in and Daniela answers, just hang up and keep trying until Nancy answers. And yeah, NPSIA has been top notch throughout this whole process. My theory is that this is the 1st year where everyone is starting to see NPSIA and GSPIA on equal footing and a whole lot of folks are even listing GSPIA as their top choice, so an increase in applications has probably thrown them a curve ball. In previous years it has probably just been Daniela in an office full of cobwebs quietly losing her mind getting 3 phone calls a week (which would explain some things) and then this year a 8.5 million people applied so they brought big Nancy in on contract to handle things but their online system just can't cope so its just been one huge technical glitch. It seems as if Daniela was able to process 2.5 applications back in early feb before things got crazy. 

  7. 5 hours ago, Norma955 said:

    Who else feels that NPSIA is a lot more generous with funding and scholarships than GSPIA? Comparing my $29,000 at NPSIA to $12,000 for GSPIA... This is a huge difference, anyone else have this dilemma? 

    no one else has even heard from back from gspia yet. it's as if they sent out 2 offers a few weeks ago and then just went on vacation. my application was 'incomplete' from Feb 1st to like 2 days ago. fucking unreal. and then you call them and Daniela picks up the phone and sounds all flustered like your wasting her time and then you call back a month later and they are like oh yah hehe looks like we accidently labelled your letter of intent as a resume hehe so we just ignored your application good thing you called hehe. 

  8. What about the fact that GSPIA offers the possibility of an internship at a Canadian embassy abroad? As far as I know, NPSIA doesn't have an official internship program. At this point, this is the only thing that could swing me away from NPSIA. It has been so hard to get any work experience so I am really pulled to any kind of outside of the classroom stuff. What do ya'll think about this?

  9. 2 minutes ago, billballbull said:

    Well although I'm very happy I got into NPSIA, I'm a little disappointed with my funding offer after viewing everyone's here. 

    Only offered 5k over the 2 years and no TA position. Disappointed considering I was offered 19k plus TA positions at carleton's political science program. 

    Do you have overseas stuff on your CV? I think NPSIA is pretty obsessive about whereas for the MA in pol sci they prob have their eyes on other things

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