Hi all. Little late to this GradCafe thing, but reading through the thread has been very helpful and you all give great advice (it's also heartening to see people panicking just as much as me)
I applied to the MA programs at York, U of T and McGill. Got accepted on March 2nd to York, and have been in contact with the department and MA coordinator, who have been super helpful. Got the email acceptance to U of T on the sixth of March, apparently the letter and official offer will show up in a day or two. McGill got back me to today after I sent them a message asking for an update; supposedly they're finalizing things tomorrow and will begin sending out letters.
I also applied and was accepted to the MA program in Social and Political Thought at York, a really neat little program that was actually my first choice. I really wasn't expecting U of T to accept me, and they sent another email today letting me know they've nominated my SSHRC application, which is an amazing honor (I guess it makes sense though, as I'm hearing that U of T doesn't provide funding to MA students?). I don't get the results of that until April 1st unfortunately, which is after the deadline to get back to them. Both York Poli and SPT are also offering great funding. So I'm a little overwhelmed right now.
If anyone has any advice on... well, where to go, that would be really appreciated. I'm torn between York, which is super hip, has a bunch of profs I'd love to work with, and an intellectual atmosphere that would nourish the kind of work I want to do (political theory, studies of violence and racism), and U of T, which I feel would be better for my academic career going forward (I want to pursue a PhD in the States/Europe, publish articles/research and teach) and could potentially push me harder.
Also, if anyone has any insight on York SPT, I'd love to hear it. Two close friends and mentors of mine are graduates of the program and rave about it, but I've found little-to-no posts on this website about the program and would be interested in hearing from anyone else who may have applied.
Okay, apologies for the gargantuan post! Good luck to all of you and thanks in advance for any advice you'd be willing to share ?