wtncffts

This is an interesting 'which to choose' because it actually involves 2 different programs at the same school. This takes things like location off the table. Well, I don't know anything about these programs or about your interests or goals, but it seems to me the obvious difference between the two is one is more academic (MA econ), the other more professional (finance). Which one better fits what you want to do? I assume that an MA in economics is a prelude to a PhD in economics, whereas the MSc in finance, especially since it's within Sauder (school of business, right?) is followed by either an MBA or straight into the financial industry or the like. How do you conceive of yourself? On just the funding and program length alone, I'd go with the MA.

OK, that does seem generous. I'm still not sure about that amount, though. Does that include tuition waiver? I think what really matters is the cash in hand that they're offering, and if that $37,000 is basically all tuition, such that the $4,200 is all you actually have to live on, I'd say that that's probably not enough to go on without going into your savings.

I did my MA at a Canadian university (I'm Canadian), though not one of those two. I don't want to state where here; if you want to PM me, feel free. All MA programs will differ, though, so I don't know helpful I can be.

I think you can add it now. Just say something like "PhD Student, University of X, Commencing Fall 2011", or whatever nomenclature fits. As long as it's factual, I don't see why it wouldn't be permissible.

Since you're just finishing your degree, I'd just caution you to make sure that when you order the transcripts, they actually show completion and conferral of the degree. I know, obvious, but important. I just finished my MA, and the school sent an e-mail which informed me directly that my transcript now would show that the degree had been earned. Double-check.

As I replied earlier, I don't agree with much of the blog post. However, to repeat, I think some of it is a reaction to the perhaps overinflated hopes and dreams of prospective and actual grad students. These forums are manifest proof of it; I highly doubt there is a forum somewhere out there for prospective janitors to commiserate about the hopes and disappointments of the application process. Warranted or not, I think we've all applied to grad school because we think we're special in some way and can contribute to knowledge of ourselves and the world; most of us hope to become professional academics and tenured professors, which is an 'elevated' societal status. Some of us, I dare say, believe we're going to become famous or well-known, if not in the world, then at least in our fields. The 'downer' blogs seem to be trying to counter that overinflation of optimism.

Well, UNBC is a small school with, I believe, only a few graduate programs. It's also in a small city, so you won't get many (or any) users who aren't applicants but live in or are familiar with the place. Moreover, my perception is that users on the forums are disproportionately American or applying to American schools: while the population ratio is ~10:1, I'd say the ratio here might be 50:1 or even greater. That's only to be expected.

Yeah, I have to concur with the above replies in disagreeing with your points: 1) You're right to suggest that 'research ability', in a broad sense, should trump 'social skills', in a strict sense. Those 'objective' measures, however, can be very unreliable indicators. GRE, as we all know, doesn't test anything meaningful, or if it does, certainly not 'research ability'. GPA can vary heavily depending on the institution; even if it didn't, I don't think it's very indicative of research ability either. It shows your ability to do well within the pattern of undergrad courses, many of which aren't even in your field. Publications, I grant, pretty much directly evince research ability, but this also depends on the quality of the journal. 2) In terms of the SOP, as cranberry said, that "you have to know how to convince the reader, how to form the opinion you need through writing" is exactly what academia is. It has nothing to do with 'social skills', but skills of argumentation, reasoning, writing clearly and cogently, organization, etc. As others have said, "selling yourself" is also a crucial part of any job, whether it's a cover letter, statement of purpose, or interview. 3) I think you really overstate the LOR issue. You don't have to be best friends with your recommenders; you don't even have to be all that well acquainted personally. Granted, it might help; then again, it might cloud their judgment. All they have to know is enough to make educated guesses about your potential as a scholar. I hardly knew anything about my recommenders as people, and I certainly never was close to them socially. They knew my work, and drew conclusions from there. I think you also overstate the gullibility, as it were, of recommenders. Presumably, they're professionals: do you really think they're that easily swayed by your being nice, agreeing with them, and flattery? Now, undoubtedly this is sometimes the case; perhaps your experiences have led you to believe it. It has not been my experience, though, and I'd like to think it's not common. Moreover, as someone else said, recommenders, if they're profs, are uniquely positioned to comment on your academic potential. They've been through grad school and are working scholars. This is the only part of the application which has that quality. Your SOP, writing sample, interview, etc. are all your own doing (frankly, there's no guarantee that an applicant's SOP and writing sample are even his own). As I said, GPA is a cumulative measure of how you did on very particular measures; tests, exams, assignments, etc. The whole isn't just the sum of its parts. As everyone has said, social skills are important in academia and research, I dare say even more so in the sciences, where it seems your life is defined by labs and research teams, etc. It's always funny to me, as a non-scientist, to see the citation of a scientific article, with a dozen co-authors! In my field and in other humanities and social sciences, it's much more feasible that being a 'lone wolf', as it were, will get you where you want to go. In many areas, all you need to produce quality work is a brain, some books/sources, and something to write with/on. No social interaction required. Not so, I would say, in the sciences.

Well, since you have multiple acceptances, it'd be 'safe' to notify , say, half of them, and keep a few just in case. To be honest, though, I don't see any real cause for worry. You've gotten an official acceptance, and you've responded. If you're thinking that there was some kind of gigantic mistake or that they're suddenly going to rescind their acceptance for no reason, it's highly unlikely. If for some reason they really wanted to rescind, they could still do it regardless of you holding the acceptance letter.

I think if your record otherwise shows potential, there will be programs which will overlook the GPA, or at least weight it much less in admissions decisions, especially for an MA. The most important aspect, besides the research fit, is your ability to show that you have some sense of political science as a discipline and the capacities to become a productive scholar. BTW, I don't understand your timeline. You mean you want to apply in Fall 2013 for Fall 2014? If so, that's actually 3 years off: 11-12, 12-13, 13-14. If you meant applying for entry in Fall 2013, that's still 2 years off.

Oh, I agree with LJK that there's nothing wrong with waiting, and it's the smart thing to do; you don't have to 'give up'. But if you do only end up with that one acceptance, as I said, make the best of it. You're in; now it's up to you to do the work that proves you're 'grad school material'. I only got one acceptance as well, and though it'd have been nice to at least have options, I'm still absolutely confident in my abilities and potential, and am very excited to get going (granted, I do have an MA, so that bolsters my confidence). Once you're in, you're a grad student, same like the rest. Noone will care if you got one or twenty acceptances (it probably won't even ever come up).

Of course it doesn't mean you're not 'grad school material', whatever that means. You've been accepted to a graduate program; that says explicitly that you are grad school material. More than one acceptance won't make you more grad school material, and no acceptances doesn't mean you're not grad school material. Please, have confidence in yourself. Rejections, including from 'safety schools', come for all sorts of reasons, research fit being the most obvious.

You meant $3,700, right? Does that include tuition waiver? If that's the total amount of funding, it does seem pretty low. For an MA program, though, I think any funding is good.

If you really want actual advice, you're probably going to have to give us more information. I don't know anything about your field (and, to be honest, my immediate, instinctive reaction to the words "oil industry" is a cold shudder), but you'll have to consider and compare their funding offers, resources, fit and PoIs, as Arcadian said, and location. Since you say they're tied for first, I'm assuming the funding offers are roughly equivalent and both have all the resources for research you could ever need. It comes down, then, to who you want to work with and where you would rather live for 4+ years.

LJK is right, you should not accept the unfunded offer; rather, let them know of your interest in that school but that you can only accept if funded, and mention your other offer. There's no reason to accept the offer before you know about funding. Under no circumstances should you accept both offers intending to dump one of them later. It's against the spirit of the CGS resolution, could backfire, and is just plain unethical; moreover, it's patently unnecessary.

Judging from peoples' comments on this forum, it seems this is becoming more and more common. If it's a state university, there have probably been quite significant budget cuts overall. "tl;dr" stands for "too long; didn't read": basically internet speak for a summary of a long post. I googled it, as I'd never seen it before either.

Reading way too much into it, I think. In any case, all school administrations are bureaucratic.

I hate to say it, but it seems you really should consider broadening your interests a bit. I mean, if you're saying you're barely a good fit at a single university out of literally thousands, you must be working in an incredibly arcane or obscure intellectual niche. Even earning a PhD, you'd probably have a difficult time finding an academic position; you're also going to have a tough time with publishing and so on if the 'market' for your ideas is so tiny. Perhaps you're exaggerating or haven't looked hard enough to find compatible researchers; I hope so.

Not saying you're wrong, but how do you know this? The e-mail didn't seem to say anything about tuition being paid for TAs. It says the 'limited' financial support covers fees and NRT, but that's not dependent on being a TA. I think the OP would need to check on this.

I don't think they have any right to demand an answer to that. I would leave it blank, or perhaps communicate that you're still undecided.

Going from your descriptions, I would choose School A. To be honest, it doesn't seem like there's that much of a dilemma here. A is guaranteeing you full funding, seems to have a great departmental atmosphere, is highly ranked in the field, has a great location... There doesn't seem to be anything in B's favour, other than two more professors you want to work with, which I guess is a benefit but not a major one. Even without the location factor, A seems a better choice; with the location, A definitely does. It's not silly to think about such factors: if it's actually hard for you to imagine living there, that's not a good sign. Yes, location, quality of life, etc. do matter. If you're not happy, or at least comfortable, with where and how you live, it's almost always going to be detrimental to your work as a student and scholar.

Well, crazy is a pre-requisite for posting on these forums, but perhaps yours is dialed a little too high. You're on a waitlist, the only thing to do is... wait. I know, sounds silly. I can understand if you have other offers and need to know where you stand on this one because you have to make urgent decisions, but, unfortunately, you don't. It's best, then, to try to relax, and let the chips fall where they may.

Amen! Especially the last sentence: spot on. Although I do think that such blog posts are well-intentioned. I think the writers are trying to give open and honest advice about grad school from their own experiences. I think what they are reacting against is their perception that grad applicants are pollyanish and naive, and need a 'hard dose' of reality. Perhaps many do. I mean, this forum, especially during this period, is all about celebrating the triumph of acceptance and sharing the agony of rejection, and so it can sometimes seem like we're all hopelessly unrealistic, as though by being accepted to grad school we've 'made it'. But I think most of us do know how hard it will be, that half of us won't even finish our programs, that perhaps three-quarters of us won't find tenure-track positions, etc. That doesn't mean it won't be worth it. The whole question "Should you go to graduate school?" is really not meant to be answered by anyone but ourselves; certainly "short answer: no" doesn't do much good.

I honestly don't know what you could do other than provide as much evidence as possible (course syllabi, work done, etc.) from those courses. But if they don't bite, I'd suggest just taking the course. You never know what you might learn, and even if you've gone through a lot of most of the material, there may be different perspectives and it's always good to brush up on the 'basics'. I wouldn't consider it wasting time; it's not like taking that one course is going to affect when you finally get that degree five, six, or however many years from now. And if it's all stuff you've seen before, it shouldn't take up much time in terms of studying.

Yeah, that's most likely it. It'd have been nice if the OP mentioned that though...