hg1

I was accepted to UBC (PhD program) at the end of February, but I ended up declining the offer. Hopefully you hear from them shortly! Good luck.

Most schools (that I've applied to, anyway) provide a minimum funding package for PhD students, somewhere in the $20,000 range per year including a TA-ship (which usually makes up around $10,000). If you're a competitive applicant the guaranteed funding usually exceeds that. Some PhD students have external funding or extra fellowships on top of that, but certainly not all. The problem you'll have is that you'll be paying international fees and so most of that funding would go towards tuition. If you manage to become a permanent resident in Quebec, the fees drop enormously (even in comparison to other places in Canada), but my understanding is it isn't easy. You will definitely need to apply for some other fellowships or programs and you may find some really good funding (Vanier and also Trudeau are two options)! On the plus side, I think the cost of living (even in Montreal) is substantially lower than cities in Ontario. I hope that helps a bit!

I've never heard of a school rescinding a financial offer because of negotiation either. The only reasons I've heard are if your grades fall off in your last semester, you lied on your application, or you missed the response deadline (which is more common here in Canada because we don't have that April 15th standard). Perhaps it's happened, but I second the post above. Just be tactful.

There's no harm in trying. If you're a strong applicant, chances are they'll take you seriously. When I did my MA, the deadline was approaching for my top choice when I was still waiting on a funding package from another school. They were understanding and offered both more time and a more attractive financial package. In fact, in their admission letter they encourage students to get in touch if they receive better offers elsewhere. It won't necessarily work, but the worst you'll probably hear is 'no'.

"For anyone applying to UBC, the graduate secretary told me to ignore the application status on the website - she doesn't control that information. She also said decisions will be sent out sometime in March." Agreed. It's a UBC thing - they never update the page. Don't sweat it.

Apparently my university is quicker than others...I found out that I was passed on to the national Doctoral competition in mid-December! Congrats to all who have heard so far, and good luck to us all in the next round!

I can't claim to know much about musicology (I've done history and development studies), but feel free to PM me and send it along if you like. Perhaps when I'm finished writing a draft of my SoP (History PhD), you can take a look at it?

Many Canadian universities offer one-year MAs. Here it's the norm to do an MA before your PhD, so virtually every school offers it.