al627

I would say the VAST majority of students at NPSIA are placed in co-op positions in the public sector, mostly in federal government departments/agencies. Out of the first years I currently talk to and have secured summer co-op positions, every single one of them will be working for a federal department/agency. And that's mainly because most (I would say 90%+) of the job postings on the co-op portal are with the public sector (and most NPSIA students do seem to want to end up with federal government jobs after graduation). There are quite a few positions posted with the Ontario provincial government too. There are some private sector jobs posted, but they're mainly with large corporations (Bell, RBC) as part of their general student recruitment initiatives, so the positions may not be too specific to International Affairs. However, you are free to look for a co-op position on your own (not using the Carleton platform) if you're more interested in private/non-profit work, and if eligible, would still count as a 'co-op' by NPSIA standards. Hope this helps!

Not a problem, glad I could help! There's always A LOT of incoming NPSIA students who hadn't completed their econ requirements and do so the summer before they start the program. Last summer they even made a Facebook group chat with everyone to share notes and study together, so you're definitely not alone! 10.45/12 is definitely competitive! Even if your GPA is lower, NPSIA seems to take quite a balanced approach to admissions and looks at your application as a whole (grades, CV, references, statement of intent). Even if you're not too strong in one area but very strong in others, I would still say you're a competitive candidate.

Hey, congrats on the GSPIA offer! Honestly, getting a job after graduation was also my most important factor when choosing programs. I applied to NPSIA, GSPIA, and the MIPP program at BSA for the Fall 2020 cohort. Though I got into all the programs, here are some of the reasons why I chose NPSIA: - Great co-op program (you can complete up to 2 co-op terms), where it seems like the vast majority of students get full-time offers following graduation (based on testimonials from many of my undergrad classmates who went to NPSIA before I did). And because I was really interested in working for government, NPSIA seemed like the place to go since the majority of their co-op positions are within federal departments and agencies (and pretty much all NPSIA profs are practitioners in their field and have worked extensively within government). However, if you're more interested in working for non-profit or international organizations, it seems that GSPIA provides more of those opportunities. - NPSIA has a course-work option where you can just take courses (and not do a thesis or research essay) to complete your degree. GSPIA requires all their students to complete a final masters research paper, and I wasn't too keen on doing that haha. - Reputation. Based on everyone's comments here, I kind of also jumped on the bandwagon since most people seem to choose NPSIA over GSPIA. And so far, I've really enjoyed my experience with NPSIA. - Everyone dubs NPSIA as a 'professional' program rather than an 'academic' one, which I really appreciate, because most of our assignments are very practical. Not sure if you experienced the same, but my undergrad was in International Relations, and all my assignments were 15-20 page research papers and essays. But at NPSIA, the profs do a really good job of giving assignments that replicate the kind of work you'll be doing in a government/think tank kind of job. For example, I have written a few policy briefs (from both a government and industry/stakeholder perspective), Memorandums to Cabinet, and country profiles. This also becomes very handy when you're applying to co-op positions and they ask for a writing sample. I wouldn't call all these points 'advantages' of picking NPSIA over GSPIA, since this was based on what I personally wanted out of my masters program. And because I genuinely don't know how GSPIA is with their networking and co-op opportunities (and how successful their students are with finding placements), I won't comment on which one is better than the other. But I would say, that despite COVID, there's still quite a lot of co-op opportunities that have been posted for this upcoming summer term for NPSIA students. There are networking opportunities that Carleton's co-op office holds, but most of them are with private companies. Since most NPSIA students are looking for positions with the government, they are not really relevant to us (and the government doesn't really hold networking sessions for the policy analyst positions that we usually apply for). I hope this answers your questions, but let me know if you have any more!

Hi everyone! I'm currently a student at NPSIA (started in Fall 2020), so let me know if you have any questions about the program. I am happy to share my experiences with the application/acceptance process and the program in general. I remember checking this forum regularly last year around this time since I was also super stressed about getting in/not getting in and the responses from current students really helped quell my anxiety (so here I am paying it forward haha).