raise cain

I'm at about 36K after my Masters. I was at nearly 40K after my undergrad but then worked for three years and payed off as much as I could because I hate having debts. Am taking out a student loan again during my Masters (which I have now placed in GICs) since I won't have to repay it for at least 4 years (I'm starting a PhD in the fall) or more. I plan to take student loans during my PhD if possible and also invest them so I have some extra savings when I'm done and have to pay off the huge chunk. I wish I did that with portions of my student loan in undergrad, something I am now helping my brother do. This way, a little bit of interest accrues and you didn't spend ALL the loan money. I came from a poor family so in 1st year when I got all that money even though I was working a good job, I blew it all, because they make it seem like magic money - I had never seen so much money until that point. It's so unfortunate, but much of my cohort did the same. There's not enough financial education for students in high school and during undergrad that could help alleviate some of these problems. I bet if I was just a tiny bit more clever I wouldn't have had my loans as high as I did. Not to mention in Canada, student loans accrue DAILY once you've graduated. Not sure how it is in the USA.

I received the OGS but alas I will be declining as I've accepted to do my doctorate outside the province. I'm in "Humanities". I just checked yesterday, so I don't know how long it had been up. Congrats to all to received it and a bummer to me, because I didn't get SSHRC. Can I still put a declined OGS on my CV?

Oh wow that's huge! The other program I was considering only accepted three of us!

Living in Toronto. Did not get the SSHRC. I assumed I wouldn't get it but I didn't think my score would be so low. - I was applying for a 1st year PhD - was passed on from my university - I was ineligible to even apply for the OGS/SSHRC for my MA because of my undergrad grades - what weight do these have still? - at the time of application I only had two national conference panels with a professor and no adjudicated awards or published papers (all of which I have beefed up substantially since then) - 4.56 MA GPA - although I had one letter from a very high-ranked professor, my other two letters were from a non-tenured supervisor and another Associate Prof who I believe wrote a glowing letter, but probably not in the way the other two did I guess I have to break the news to my department now. Hangs head.

Oh that's fantastic. I guess we might be in some of the same classes. Do you know how many doctoral students they let in this year? It seems like a fairly large program...

Would love to know what qualifies such an incredible score! Congrats to everyone so far.

I'm in Toronto too and no news here.

Congrats Falen !!! I think you are the same Falen in ComCult yes?

I thought you were in the Joint Communication PhD? I already have a supervisor and job and all that lined up. =)

It would be great to move our conversation to the "Concordia" section I started and no one replied to As you seem to know Concordia well and I'm moving from Toronto.

I will be at Concordia for the Joint Communication PhD, with the Creation, Design & Practices stream. I see you are already there! I guess I should change my info as that was before I decided on a school.

<3 That is exactly what is going through my head right now... oh Debord...

The anticipation is driving me wild!

Haha! This is true. I definitely feel like a star (still!), but I don't have an MA SSHRC by my side because my undergrad was atrocious so therefore I was unable to apply. I guess that's what I meant. =)

I wasn't eligible to apply for the MA SSHRC. I hope that doesn't my hinder my chances at the PhD SSHRC too much, although I've heard First Year PhD SSHRC's are incredibly difficult to obtain unless you're a star. Is this true?

The wait is too intense, even though I know I have, like, .000005% of getting it because I've heard that MA's applying for the PhD SSHRC that have never held a SSHRC rarely ever get them.

York is a great graduate school and takes care of its grads generously. I had two doctoral offers from two different programs and I said no because I am already doing my MA here, and have lived in Toronto for twenty years and want to move on. Any questions on how to navigate York, I'll be happy to help.

Accepted my Concordia Communication PhD Relocating from Toronto to Montreal