Gradgradinternational

I can' confirm this but usually when you are "under review from post grad affairs" it means you successfully passed the NPSIA faculty review. The post grad affairs review is a formality, they just confirm what NPSIA says and handle the scholarships, they don't change the decision that was made. Things are looking good for you friend!

I definitely think it's doable, especially if you're use to managing a busy schedule. You're probably just going to be pretty busy at the end of semester especially, but that is to be expected nonetheless. The mandatory courses are not so difficult (that is Policy, In'tl law and Statistics) because all NPSIA students basically come together to help each other's out in order to succeed. They are also mostly pass or fail, and they were online/asynchoronous for some of them (might be the same in the fall 2022, I have no idea). In sum, yes, working part-time and doing the program is doable, a lot of students actually do it. For those who have never done it and come from undergrad, it might seem like much but if you're organized, it's not that bad. I personally took 2.0 credits in my first semester (so all mandatory course + 2 electives) and I was also working part-time, and I am still alive!

Hello, fellow NPSIA student here finishing it's 1st year in the program. It's pretty simple to be honest. So basically the whole program is 5 credits, 1 course being 0.5 credit. So for example, if you take the coursework stream (as 95% of NPSIA students do), you will only have to do 10 courses to get your M.A. (plus the second language requirement). All students have to go through mandatory courses in the 1st semester (September - December), which are the following: 1. International Law (0.25 credits) - This course is mandatory but only last 6 weeks (September- October). It's also Pass or Fail. 2. International Affairs and Canadian Public Policy (0.25 credits) - This course is mandatory but only last 6 weeks (november-December). It's also Pass or Fail. 3. Statistical Analysis (0.5 credits) - This course is mandatory and last the whole fall semester. Besides the above courses, students in the first semester usually pick an additional course (0.5 credits) in order to have 1.5 credits in total (since it's 2 half courses, and 2 full courses, it only counts for 1.5 credits in total, even though you are basically doing 4 courses). You always have the option to take on an additional full course in the fall as well if you want to make it faster/quicker (like I did) so you have 2 credits. In the Winter semester therefore, students usually only have 1 mandatory course left in the program, which is their ECON course (that varies depending on the stream you are). So students in the winter basically just chose their ECON requirement (0.5 credit) and an additional 2 courses (for 1 credit). If you count all of that right, it means that students usually have 3 out of 5 credits after 2 semesters at NPSIA, which leaves them with all their mandatory courses completed and only 4 electives left (or outside faculty courses). Then begins the co-op stuff and 2st year. You can also take on more courses in each semesters, do summer courses or do 1 courses while doing co-op if you want to complete your M.A. faster. That's pretty much all there is! Happy to answer questions if you have additional ones.

Hi there, fellow NPSIA student here. Finishing my second semester in the program. I came into the program after a few years working in the private sector myself. I can tell you with confidence that not all NPSIA students end up at GAC, not at all. In fact, the faculty, professors and older students seem to guide most students to explore other avenues since working at GAC, especially in your first years, is supposedly an HR nightmare (never worked there, but I've been told). There are a LOT of other opportunities in the public sector from NPSIA, NGO or even private. This program is really what you make out of it. Regarding your previous comment on the fact that GPSIA seems a bit academic, I can also tell you with confidence that NPSIA is not like that. It is VERY practice-oriented. Most professors are still working outside the faculty in the private/public sector in some way and very connected to it. All course assignments are very up to date and simulations of what you would do in real life (briefing notes, presentations, papers, research, teamwork, etc.). It is a professional school, aimed at preparing you for work environment. Because of this, I do believe it's probably the best place, especially for people coming out of undergrad with no work experience at all (prepare for a rough first semester though!), since the level and assignments will no ressemble so much what you did in undergrad. Also, now that I am actually working in the public sector, I can also confirm that NPSIA has a very high reputation as pretty much the best place to learn what's going on in international affairs and policy work. But eh, never been to GPSIA, that's just my take!

Hello! I can provide info on this, as asked the faculty last year. Regarding funding, there are three types: Scholarship Departmental : Basically just a lump sum to be provided as a scholarship by the Faculty, no work needed. Research Assistant: Scholarship associated with work with a faculty for one semester 10 hours a week or two 5 hours a week. You will be contacted by your assigned faculty member directly to determine how you would like to allocate this. TA Ship: These are 130 hours over the course of the term. The way this is allocated will be worked out when your course and faculty member are assigned, as these hours may be a mixture of hosting seminars, meeting with students, and marking. Students who receive funding will have a mixture of those above, and my understanding is that you can decline some of them with if want (i.e. decline a TAship if you already have a part-time job, keep the scholarship departmental). Hope this helps!

Hi everyone, Just got my acceptance to NPSIA today! Got accepted with a very generous funding package in my first specialization choice. For all of you still waiting, I may be able to provide some hope! I applied to the program last year and got an acceptance as well, but had to reapply this year as I had to decline my acceptance last year due to personal reasons and NPSIA does not offer deferrals. Last year, I receive an acceptance with funding around the end of February. I can honestly say that I believe they received a very high volume of applications this year to the program, since I reapplied in December 2020 and just received an acceptance today (so more than 1 month later than last year!) They also informed me that they would be rolling out first round applicants until the beginning of April this year. I do not believe there is any specific order for the review process at the faculty, since as I said I applied in December 2020 and just received my application. I also received funding, which is more than the one I received last year when I applied! I also had been stuck at 'review in progress by department' and 'recommended for assessment' for more than a month. For all of those still waiting, there is still a lot of hope I believe, and also still funding available for first round offers!

100% agree. I re-submitted an application this year as I had to postponed my previous one last year so I can confirm. I got an acceptance last year around February 28 at the same time as most 1st round applicants I believe. I reapplied this year and I am still waiting for news from them! It's getting kinda long, especially since they seem to admit people every day for the past 3 weeks? hope I will get similar results ...

Hello! On the same boat. I am still waiting for a reply from NPSIA and I have been at 'review in progress by department' for quite some time now. I applied in December 2020. I have also been accepted to IHEID for the MIA earlier this week, and it's funny because I applied both to NPSIA and IHEID last year and got acceptance to both programs (NPSIA with funding). I finally had to postponed everything for personal reasons and reapplied again this year and now I am still waiting on NPSIA as well... how much longer can this take? ? I though it would be quick since I got in last year but I am still waiting a decision!

Hi everyone! Asked this at the beginning of the forum for NPSIA candidates and current NPSIA Students / alumni and never got a reply from anyone. Figured I might have insight on this now that the forum is pretty active! I was wondering if anyone knows what is the average age of students that get into the program. Like, do students have other work experiences / masters / multiples degrees in their mid-late twenties, or is it more like students coming straight out of their bachelors in the early 20's? Just curious!

My status just changed yesterday from 'preliminary review required' to 'review in progress by department'. I finished my application in December, and I see that others that applied in January went through this step before I did. So I don't think there is any specific order and clearly they are currently reviewing everybody's application. So I think everybody needs to relax a bit! Haha

Correct. I received the same email from NPSIA Faculty: ''At this time, we are in the beginning stages of admissions and are still reviewing many applications. We have not sent out all admission offers for fall 2021 at this time, and this will be an ongoing process over the next few months. We will aim to complete our first-round offers by the end of March, however we will continue to send out offers throughout the spring if space still remains. All application decisions will be made no later than August 31st. We also wanted to confirm that NPSIA does not offer deferrals, and applicants from fall 2020 were asked to reapply this year in order to be considered for the fall 2021 cohort. We did not reserve spots in the program for applicants from last year.' very weird for someone to post this bad information online lol... I don't even see the goal in doing so... aniways good news is that decisions are coming!

I think usually people have NPSIA/Munk at top of the list (but then again a lot of people tend to disregard Munk because it is in Toronto and not Ottawa and because of the ridiculous tuition fees), and theN GPSIA. Again, this is my impression from people I spoke too and previous years forums!

Usually people get news from NPSIA/Munk at the end of February and beginning of March. My understanding is that GPSIA sends replies before others, but it's totally normal that nobody heard from NPSIA or Munk yet they are still processing the applications.

Hi there! fellow NPSIA applicant over here! I was wondering if anyone knows what is the average age of students to the NPSIA program. Do students frenquently have other masters or work experience coming into NPSIA for example, or are they all students coming out of their bachelors in their early 20's? just curious!