NotNomNom

This reply may be quite late, but I know that in Canada they typically want 4 classes each for micro, 4 each for macro, and 2 for econometrics minimum for MA admissions. Even if you are 1 class short fro each, at least in Canada math/stats majors with strong grades transfer OK. A few universities like McGill and UAlberta also accept what's called a "foundation year" for students from any discipline, where you spend a year doing 8 advanced undergrad classes and then go into masters. It's a year extra, but the upsides are 1) you pay grad fees for undergrad courses; and 2) do 4 courses each term instead of 5. Some departments may even prefer FY students because in doing an extra year they show commitment. If you are really interested in this field then it might be worth a try.

I spent about 2 months to prepare my MA applications, including asking for letters and GRE prep. I got into a pretty nice program, but sometimes I wonder if spending longer/shorter will change my outcome. Interesting that this was shorter than undergrad application prep, which stretched to a 4 months gruelling process. Just curious: how long did you folks spend to apply to Masters/PhD programs, from research/reaching out to PI to submitting full application package?

My friend paid $4k for what I felt was just the leg work of applications: opening accounts, filling in forms. They had to know where they want to go, came up with how they'd structure the applications, check rec letter progress, AND double check the forms a lot because the consultant made an error at one instance. Based on that investment/return ratio, I'll say getting an actually good consultant will be pretty expensive. Unless you know exactly why you got rejected and can get a consultant to work specifically on that, talking a lot with your profs and some existing students might be more worth the effort.

I'll be happy to share my comments! Sent you a message.

My grad program also said that they can only honour half of the funding package if students are not in the country. I will be in the country though so it wouldn't apply to me. The worst thing is probably being in the country + no TA because of program cuts for some upper year students.

I think setting up a life is difficult, tbh. I've lived in a few places, and the hassle of closing banks, driver's license, changing mail address, getting the right documents at the right locations sometimes come to bite. Also, losing friends is a big deal. It's hard to have many and even harder to keep them. You may say that true friends never leave, and indeed they don't, but being out of touch with what's going on can really suck.

My masters offer does say that admissions are contingent on honours graduation, but requires the official status and documents latest on Dec 31st. Maybe you could check with the departments about when is the actual deadline.

I'm not a PhD student yet, but I feel from your descriptions from your masters experience that you are interested and able in doing research. If this is something you'd like to do if there was not so much structural hurdle, then you should hang on for a bit more. Would it be possible to talk to her previous students and figure out how to navigate the situation?

I lived two doors from campus for most of my undergrad and trust me there's no lack of student roommate (college dorm) experience if that's what you're looking for. Grad housing is often quiet and dead, and most importantly, you don't get to accrue social credit for future job/lease/financial applications as you are not taking a on-market lease. I personally think that's the biggest demerit for campus housing.