Babban_D

No worries. I am not too sure if I understand your concern. So the academic year runs from September to March and you can take upto 4 credits (which is equal to 8 subjects/courses). Most of the students, end up doing 3 credits (i.e. 6 subjects). The usual suggestion is to take 2-3 hours of self study for every 1 hours of lecture, thus, on a weekly basis, you have around 9 hours of lecture and around 18-27 hours of self-study time. Given these are graduate level courses, they are a bit more demanding for sure. The best person will be Avi Slack, whoes information is on the program website and I guess in a link I shared earlier on the forum. The program, honestly, is a bit more each person for themselves kind - with a class size of around 100 plus, one ends up being just a number rather than a close knit cohort. That being said, most of the folks have held full time jobs in the public sector, but I cannot comment upon how did they performed overall grade wise. I hope this helps.

So the first semester can be a bit demanding because you have 2 full courses and 2 half courses (so 1.5 credit) - second semester is still okay to manage, because the demanding course will be primarily the economics one. A lot of folks have been working in the program (assuming because they are with the government), so it is managable for sure. Just that first semester may need the best of you, specially if you are moving to Ottawa from another city (like I did) I hope this helps.

Hellos -- I will give a short reply to this and will circle back in a couple of days (exams approaching). TA position depends on what you end up taking. I did for economics in both Fall and Winter. It was easy and managable for me as I come from economics and my prof. was super chill. I think not more than an hour or two was spent by me in Fall 2021.. even less in Winter 2022. 2 years with co-op. As co-op runs for 8 months (if you do two co-op terms). One year i think if you are already working and not looking for co-op. I hope this helps.

Hellos - if you have not yet heard back on any emails all this while, it may be worth it to reach out to program team listed here -- https://carleton.ca/npsia/contact-us/ -- Avi maybe a good person to reach out to. That being said, this tends to be super busy season so reply may be delayed.

Hellos -- so it may be a bit too soon to say anything on this. Like Winter 2022 term was online for first couple of weeks and then things moved in-person. Some courses were still completely online. Thus, it will evolve based on the situation pandemic wise. Even in Fall 2021, most courses were online and a few in person. It depends on class size as well. Core courses, which everyone has to take, were online as social distancing would not have been possible. I hope this helps.

Hey everyone, current NPSIA student here - let me know of any questions that you may have and I will try to answer as best as I can.

Not too sure if it will help - but a couple of prof. overlap between Queen's MPA and MBA - thus, there is a bit better chance of networking from a pvt. sector perspective. Waterloo is a great prog. as well, but it is very much designed for public sector. Queen's is too, but given that Queen's MBA and BCom are farily well regarded in the pvt. sector, the chance to network in pvt. sector might be a tad bit better. One thing to consider, though, is that Waterloo's co-op seems stronger compared to that of Queen's but it is mostly PS. I attended Waterloo's welcome session and could feel the "support" vibe. At Queen's you will have to put a bit more effort (so if I were to split your effort vs. school effort, it may be 50:50 at Waterloo, but will be like 65:35 at Queen's. Background: I am a Queen's grad. Please feel free to PM for anything else.

Hi Yellbell, I rejected Queen's and Waterloo fairly early on. They were kind of my back-up school. I also recently declined MPPA. However, if I were to choose between MPA and MPPA, I would have gone to MPPA. My reasons being: Ottawa - A city both me and my partner love! I am a Queen's alumnus and even my references from the school suggested picking up schools in Ottawa, given it is the center for feds and all things policy. Co-op - While Queen's technically has a co-op program, the one at MPPA is a lot more formalized and one of their biggest strength. It is the biggest attraction for me. Course Selection - While most of the courses at MPPA are mandatory (a bit limited elective options), MPPA courses are a bit more elaborate. Funding - I recieved a very solid funding from MPPA and I guess the school usually gives all applicants some funding, thus, the less money one spends for a great quality education, the better! I hope this all helps -- happy to chat more via PM if it works well.

This is very similar to the process I went through as well and indeed, you have summed it up very well! One thing I wanted to add for OP and highlight the value NPSIA places on grades, was a coversation I had with a very senior member of the administration. During the conversation I was told that, ".. your CGPA is an A-, which would put you in a good position to gain admission. While it also depends on the pool of applicants but your chances of getting in are good." I hope it help, OP. It may also be worthwhile to reach out to the admin team around June/July as I guess they would have a bit more time to discuss the application and steps one can take to strengthen it. I reached out to a couple of programs and they were fairly helpful and supportive. Please feel free to PM for anything, if needed.

Hello h4ngp, Just thought to share my perspective. I believe the GPA does play a good role and a few folks suggested that taking more qualifying courses and getting solid grades in them is a good option. I don't feel that BCom is the issue. Similarly, my statement of intent kind of focussed both on my career aspirations and research interest. That being said, from what I have been able to deduce is that not of lot of folks go for MRP/Thesis option in NPSIA, thus, focussing on research in SOP is not a sure shot way to make it competitive. I guess being very clear in the end objective you want to achieve, and highlighting how your experience (or transferrable skills) will help you succeed is the key. Maybe taking a few qualifying courses and getting as high grade as possible in them is a good call or maybe gaining a bit more experience. As for me, I have ~10 years of work-ex in research, consulting, and a big 4 firm. My undergrad was absymal (50%), but then I did my master's where my GPA was A- and some solid recommendations. Happy to talk more via PM, if needed. Best, B_D

It is a good news! .. just a matter of time now!

Ah! Sounds good and happy to help. I did Eco literally once upon a time and was asked to re-take Econ 1002 .. happy to connect when the course starts.

Folks, for thoes planning to go to NPSIA and have to take ECON courses, Carleton has opened summer registration for ECON 1001 and ECON 1002. The courses via Carleton are less costly than what is available via Athabasca. Thought to share.

Folks, for thoes planning to go to MPPA and have to take ECON courses, Carleton has opened summer registration for ECON 1001 and ECON 1002. The courses via Carleton are less costly than what is available via Athabasca. Thought to share.

Hi Lake10, From what happened with me, it maybe a bit tough to say the exact timelines. I, for example, went from review in progress to recommended for assessment and then back to review in progress and this happened over three week window. What is certain, however, is that things moved fairly quickly once the stage was review in progress by faculty of grad. affairs. It just took a day or two for the final offer to come when the application was in review in progress by faculty of grad. affairs.