marloe
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Everything posted by marloe
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Anyone else waiting on results for this program? I am surprised some decisions haven't come out yet. The deadlines were far earlier than normal this year, which I thought would mean that decisions would come out earlier as well. It seems that a lot of U of T PhD programs are sending out decisions, not sure why the information program has not.
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In their traditional masters programs there are opportunities for fully funded studies. The Data Science program I believe is still considered a professional program. The traditional research based masters programs are usually two years long, and usually have a thesis / research component. For example the Ryerson's Computer Science Masters program is a traditional masters program, while something like there Masters of Digital Media program is not. Professional programs can still have funding options, but is rarer. It is more common with research based traditional masters program. There is also a bit of discrepancy in tuition rates between certain programs, so sometimes funding amounts can cover all of your tuition depending on the cost of the program. Some professional or semi-professional programs have a higher cost than traditional masters programs.
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Ryerson for Communication and Culture MA. I was constrained a bit by the fact I needed to stay in or at least near Toronto. The coursework is a bit similar to the CIPS or Culture and Technology concentrations. I wanted grad school to be a chance to study the social impact of new technologies (particularly AI) and think about policies related to them. I already have a comp sci degree from like 20 years ago, so I have been just brushing up on my tech skills on my own a bit. The Ryerson program is more of a traditional graduate program, so it comes with funding. It also isn't as coursework focused, is more researched focused, which for me is appealing because I want to chart my own path a bit, and it gives me more time to work on my own projects and extra flexibility to balance school and family life.
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I was once told to really try to minimize the costs of going to grad school, because it can be a bit of a toss up on what the impact of a grad degree can have compared to actually working in the field or developing your own portfolio in the field on your own. That is part of what motivated my decision to take a grad program that was funded over the iSchool, even though the iSchool probably has the more relevant research and course work. That being said I am 40, so I only have about 20 years of working life left and I have been working for about 17 years aswell. If I was just starting to enter the workforce, the higher costs would probably be more justified. If you haven't worked in the field of study and you are relatively young, I would probably choose the program that has the best career support. I don't know the other programs super well, but the iSchool seemed to have great industry support / co-op options which might give it a leg up over the others if you were a new worker.
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Are you considered an international student for the Canadian universities ? I am guessing that is why your costs are a bit higher ?
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They all seem like good options, I would really look at what school has the least costs as far as tuition and cost of living if you intend to move to the city. Toronto in particular can be an expensive city to live, but perhaps that higher cost of living would be offset if one of the tuition costs are higher at another school, or if the program was 1 years vs 2 years etc.
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Re: Funding. I asked them about it and got a form email that said this : The entrance award and scholarship decisions for this year have been made and all successful applicants have been notified. I do know that this year the competition for these awards have been higher than they have ever been before, as many students applying this year had a perfect 4.0 / A+ GPA. However, don't worry if you did not receive an entrance award; there are other scholarships and awards you can apply for. Sadly, I am not sure if I can't attend iSchool without funding, the $11k-ish a year tuition is a bit much, and I have a full scholarship offer from another institution for a more traditional masters program. I preferred the ischool, but not sure I can justify the cost.
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Could somebody help me with this email from Ryerson?
marloe replied to ccisok's topic in Decisions, Decisions
I got a Ryerson offer aswell, and it takes a bit of time for stuff to show up in that system. I got an email like you first then 2-3 days later, the actual offer letter showed up in RAMMS -
I am in a similar boat, I got a funding offer from another university (albeit in a non-professional program) and was just wondering if there was a point where we should give up hope about getting any funding from the iSchool. I have asked Carol if they had informed everyone that would be getting funding.
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From my general understanding it is separate. I asked about funding in the iSchool mentor group on Facebook and the students there have been saying that funding is a bit rare. I was once told from an ischool staff person that decisions would be made in February, but I asked a few weeks ago and nothing has been decided yet. I just asked again, will report back if I hear anything.
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From my rough recollection of what I was told in the fall, they do their admissions on a rolling basis, so the acceptances you are seeing may be from people who applied in the fall. At least that is the case with me. Has anyone who has been accepted heard anything about any financial support? Don't know when I should give up on that.
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Yeah, the Ryerson Communications and Culture MA, isn't really a technical degree it is a more a traditional communications degree. It probably has coursework similar to the Critical Information Policy Studies and Culture and Technology iSchool concentrations.
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I am a Canadian citizen, I live in Toronto, so I would pay the domestic fees, but even with that they are still over $13,000 a year (and that was last year's tuition rates). Even if I get no financial support from Ryerson their tuition is only $5k a year. U of T does have the more renowned reputation though particularly internationally. That being said though with U of T because of the cost, I am going to have to work at least a bit at the same time as school to afford it, where with Ryerson's lower costs I may not have to, at least as much. Part of thought is that if I don't have to work as much then perhaps I could do more with my grad school studies, then I could if I had to work more hours.
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I am waiting to hear from Ryerson, where I applied to the Communications and Culture MA program and hopefully hear something the iSchool either way about funding before I decide. The iSchool program is my preference the cost is the only thing that is weighing on mind a bit.
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I am not sure if this applies to international students, or even if you are considered an international student if you have permanent residency, but have been told there are also a certain amount of entrance awards as long as you have applied by the January 31st deadline. I have no confirmation of this, but I have feeling there aren't really as many UofT financial supports as there would be in "regular" non-professionally geared academic programs. Most masters programs that are more academically/research focused (like a MA in History, MSc in Chemistry etc.) some form of entrance awards or financial support are pretty routine, but I don't think that is the case with iSchool programs. I have been told by the admissions people that financial support decisions are being made this month, and as of a few days ago no decisions have been made yet. The cost of the school is the big deciding factor for me. I, like you, graduated from uni awhile ago in 2001, and was hoping to do a bit of a career change aswell. I have a comp sci degree, but I have been working in media / journalism for the last 12 years and want to start doing a bit more tech oriented stuff again. That is why I felt the iSchool program was a good choice, could do some comp sci'ish courses, and also some more academic theory like classes.
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I got that mail out as well. I went to the info day in the Fall, and it seems pretty similar to it. I had applied for CIPS and ISD, because the HCDS also did exist when I submitted my application in early November. I emailed them that I was interested in the HCDS after I applied and they changed my application. I am not sure if concentration choice, has an impact on whether you are accepted or not though. I was curious about that when I first applied. I am still a bit torn on what concentration I want to focus on. I have really specific research interests related to AI and the impact of data and analytics, so I thought that the HCDS option made the most sense but I am a bit worried about the math elements of it. I have a computer science degree that I got in 2001, so I took a fair amount of math courses in University, but some of them (like calc) I really struggled with. It is part of why I didn't apply to any Comp Sci grad programs. I want to a mix of a bit of technical classes and theory classes where you study their societal impact, and the iSchool seemed like a better option.
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Found the other thread from 2018 related to the University of Toronto's iSchool programs very helpful, so thought I would start a thread for this upcoming year. Anyone else apply for the ischool programs for next year? Have you applied to other schools ? I applied to the Master of Information program for fall, and got an acceptance letter in mid January. I submitted my application in early November. I have also applied to the Communication and Culture at Ryerson, but haven't heard back anything from Ryerson yet. The MI program is my preferred program between the two, but I am only worry about the iSchool program is the cost compared to the program at Ryerson.
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Hello all, I have applied to a couple of Masters programs in Toronto and I amcontemplating a few others. One is a traditional Masters of Arts or MA, and the other is the Master of Information at U of T or MI. Also contemplating the Digital Media Program at York, which can be MA or MSc. Do you think it matters whether a program is a MA, MSc, MI or some other combinations of letters ? There is a slight chance that if I really enjoy my graduate studies and find suitable research areas that I would like to continue on with a PhD studies when I am finished the masters. Would having something other than a MA or MSc impact that ? The Master of Information program does seem to have a bit of professional slant, but also has the ability to be more research focused than coursework focused, and U of T does have a PhD program in it, but I am not sure how such a degree would be viewed by others schools if I wanted to continue studies at a different institution. Thoughts ?
