TofinoGal

Hey guys, 
I got accepted to NPSIA (I got OGS, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship which amounts to $15,000 as well as an additional $14,000 with the potential of a TAship so basically $29,000 +), for GSPIA (I received a 12,000 scholarship, a $6,000 merit scholarship and a $5,500 TAship), for the MUNK School of Global Affairs (the scholarship is only $5,000 which is nothing compared to their $30,000 a year tuition). I also applied to the School of International Development and Global Studies (SIDGS at the University of Ottawa) -->($15,000 scholarship and a minimum $18,000 RAship/TAship). I have finally made my decision and I just accepted my SIDGS offer... I feel a lot better and I am no longer going to overthink this. I just wanted to let you guys know because you have all been a tremendous source of support and help. For those who have been waitlisted to any of these programs I am declining my other offers so that means a new opening and more scholarship money for ya'll. Best of luck guys! Who here is going to be attending SIDGS? 
Also, since I basically don't know anyone in Ottawa I would still love to meet up with some of you despite the fact that I will not being going into the same program since many of you seem to have applied to either GSPIA or NPSIA. 

For any and all who are planning on attending Munk in the Fall, feel free to join the Facebook group:
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1222437797853191/

Sucks that the waitlist at Munk isn't ranked. I emailed back to at least find out how many applicants are on the list - will keep the rest of you posted! 

Im currently 0/2 with one application left to go. This was my first time around applying to masters programs. Learned the arduous process that is the application process (LOIs, chasing down LOR, going into debt for application fees, the anxiety of waiting, and finally the dejection that comes with rejections). As it stands, I am most likely getting another rejection from the last program I applied to as it highly competitive (something like 600+ applicants), and quite frankly I think my GPA is just too low to even be considered as competitive for that program. What makes my situation even harder is the fact that I am an older student (30++), so at my age the years matter more than  if I was still in my twenties. So, yes I am feeling a little hopeless..but quite frankly I have invested far too much time and effort in this "project" to simply give up and walk away. I will go back, take a few more courses, do well in them, boost my GPA, continue to be involved in some extra-curriculars and try again next season. I've always believed that we truly define ourselves by how we react to failure.

I just came to say I've been where you are, and do NOT give up! I am on my third application cycle, and last week received my very first acceptance. Getting into grad school is unbelievably competitive - most schools take less than 10% of applicants - so not getting in the first time is by no means an indication of your "fitness" for graduate school. Getting rejected across the board two years in a row was really disheartening, and there were times I said I wasn't going to go through this whole grueling process again just to try to prove I can hack it to a group of strangers based on a few pieces of paper and an online form.
HOWEVER, after the devastation subsided, I realized changing my viewpoint about the application process to that of a learning experience helped me move forward and try again. Each time I have gone through this, I have learned how to present myself just a little bit better, how to describe my work and my research interests more clearly and succinctly, and how to gracefully handle rejection - which we are going to get a lot of in academia.  Giving up after one cycle, if this is something you really want to do, seems a little premature when you consider how few applicants actually receive acceptance. Also, this cycle is far from over!!
 

Just wanted to say a thank you to everyone on this forum!! I hope I get to meet at least some of you in person at school in the fall and this forum has helped ease my nerves so much!  Loving the little sense of community we got here