Zencarrot

I'll most likely be heading to Western this year as well for their PhD program in I/O Psychology. Program atmosphere was phenomenal. I'm coming from Ottawa.

You might be in the same boat:

I called again on Friday and they told me that are not going to make/announce their decision until April 15th. Looks like we have some waiting to do.

Yeah they typically do. In my case, I also did a terminal master's in management because I was (and still am) considering going into a PhD in Business. I've been admitted to a few I/O programs so far, and even though my M.Sc. doesn't cover the full breadth of subject matter that an MA/MSc in I/O would, I am to be given advanced standing. I had a discussion with my potential supervisor about what I had taken and what their MA covers and we agreed that for any material I did not have enough knowledge of I could make it up - otherwise I was exempt from all MA coursework and the thesis. If you feel that your program has prepared you to directly pursue a PhD in I/O Psychology then talk to your supervisor and the program coordinator about it when you are admitted to a program. However if you do NOT have the requisite knowledge to be exempt from the MA, I would under no circumstances recommend trying to skip out on material you have missed just to go ahead with the program faster. However, the comprehensive exams that are to be taken in the PhD program should force you to fill in many of the knowledge gaps you may have anyway. They are administered to all students to ensure that everyone who graduates will possess the requisite knowledge in a wide variety of fields to be a successful scholar and/or practitioner. Hope that helps. Don't worry - your terminal Master's will not have been a waste of time even if you have to make up some extra course material.

Hi all, Just thought I'd start a thread to see if anyone had any information to share on the status of the Rotman PhD program. I noticed in the results section that some others have not heard back either. I called them on April 3rd and I was informed that no decisions have been made yet (I am applying for the OB/HRM stream). Does this not seem a bit absurd to anyone? I have a number of other offers that have acceptance deadlines which have already expired as of this week. Thankfully my second choice school has given me until mid April to make a decision but I am getting tired of waiting around. If anyone has any information to post about what's going on, feel free to respond. I will update when I hear anything as well. Both in this thread and in the results section.

It really depends on what you want to do when you're finished. Where you get your degree isn't going to matter THAT much if you are going to end up outside of academia anyway. Personally, I think that if you're going to dedicate 2-6 years of your life earning an MA/PhD, you'd be better off going to a school where you feel that you fit best. That means: a good fit with your supervisor, good student community, a city that you are comfortable living in, etc. What is most important in my opinion, is that you are mentored by your supervisor. The quality of the education you receive depends largely on what you put in to the program, and you're more likely to want to put more in if you have fruitful relationships with faculty and peers. Anyway, hope that helps. I really can't say much more without knowing what field you're in or your career goals. EDIT: I just noticed on the left that you're in history. I don't know too much about your field, but what I said about fitting with the school and the research interests/personality of your supervisor still stands.

I've been advised that yes, it is OK to negotiate for a better offer. However, regarding how to go about it eloquently, I'm at a loss. I doubt saying "School A gave me $28,000 a year in support for the first 4 years... think you can match it Quincy?" is gonna fly.

Done.

Hey Joe22c, Congrats dude - that's a good turnout. I was also accepted to both Waterloo and UWO under the supervision of Dr. Brown and Dr. Meyer, respectively. Are you planning to attend the open house at UWO on March 11th? Still waiting on 4 other applications here - mostly OB programs.

Apologies for raising this thread up from the dead, but I wanted to comment and echo Peterrr's response. I suspect others may be facing the same dilemma as the OP and this thread may be useful to them. Having applied to both I/O and OB programs this year I have done a lot of research comparing both kinds of programs and came to a similar conclusion as Peterrr. I/O is more flexible in terms of career prospects in the sense that you can pursue a career as a professor in a business school or psychology department, or pursue a career in industry. The scientist-practitioner model of teaching is what allows this flexibility. OB programs do not necessarily put an emphasis on basic research. OB by nature is an applied field and much of the research conducted by these scholars is done so with the intention of the results having practical implications. OB programs typically emphasize training students in research and sometimes teaching. There is little to no emphasis on training in tools that can be directly applied to industry, and there are typically no internships offered in industry in these programs. In general, I think that the topics researched by I/O and OB scholars overlaps substantially, (yes, some OB scholars do even focus on the "I" aspect of research), but the means of training PhD students differs substantially. I/O is not a dying field, it is a new and burgeoning one. There have been substantial developments in the field of I/O psychology that are extremely applicable to industry - I/O psychologists just haven't been very successful at convincing managers to use these tools. I realize this response likely does not help the OP in any way, but I hope it will answer questions that others may have.

M.Sc. student at Ottawa U here applying for PhD funding for next year. Received a letter from the university indicating that I was not forwarded on to SSHRC. Thus, if you haven't received an email yet - its not a good sign. Good luck to everyone who has applied!