Andsowego

Congrats! Awesome that you get to choose between two such amazing schools. First, I know absolutely nothing about Soc. programs, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. All things being equal (funding, supervisory fit, etc.), if I were going to choose between UofT and York, I'd choose York. It has a better sense of close-knit community, is more open to diversity and a wider worldview, and overall, I've heard a lot more positive stories of people's educational experiences at York than I have from UofT. Yes, UofT is an excellent university with a well-known name, but that doesn't mean it's the best fit for everyone. I've also seen this comparison (please, no one take offense, I'm just the messenger): York is to UofT, like Canada is to the USA (for better or worse, depending on your perspective).

I find it's usually a current grad student in department/university X that posts stuff about when admissions committees are meeting. At my own university, it's common knowledge in my department when the committee meets each year, and there is no rule about not sharing that info with outsiders!

Thanks! Sometimes living inside one's own head is enough to drive you crazy with paranoia!

This summer I've been offered the opportunity to teach at another university (not the one I'm currently attending) as an adjunct professor. Although it's an amazing opportunity, I'm feeling a little weird about teaching for the other school while I'm still enrolled at my current school. My supervisor supports me here, but I'm still wondering if I'm crossing some sort of unspoken professional boundary. Does anyone out there have any thoughts on this? (am I just being too concerned about the whole thing?)

How many slides in total?

This sounds like the job of an RA, and most RA's get paid $20-$25/hour (depending on the institution).

Re: the bolded part. Just out of curiosity, how do you know this? Aren't internal rankings supposed to be kept confidential?

Re: the bolded part. I absolutely agree. Unfortunately, that upward swing will do nothing to erase the 2.35 on their undergrad transcript, and as much as we all want to say that life experience and hard work count, universities still have academic standards tied to GPA achievement that can't be ignored. That's why I followed my comments up with (1) consider re-doing some courses; (2) perhaps do another bachelor's degree; or (3) contact the specific schools of interest and find out the hard facts to avoid setting yourself up for failure.

I'm going to be blunt here, because I don't believe in sugar-coating things when people genuinely ask for advice. I don't think that your question should be "what are my chances?" but instead, "should I be applying to grad school?" With your current GPA, I'd say, "no." Even if you do somehow find a school that will accept you with a 2.35 GPA, if you could only manage a 2.35 in undergrad you're likely going to fail out of grad school pretty quickly. If, on the other hand, you have extenuating circumstances that caused the low GPA (serious medical issues, or a history of documented dis/ability accommodations, etc...), then you might be able to build a case and be successful with the right support. But since you didn't mention anything along these lines in your initial post, I can only assume that the 2.35 was a result of either (1) not working hard enough, or (2) not really being suited to an academic track. If you have your heart set on grad school, you'd be much better off re-doing some courses to pull up your current GPA, or doing another Bachelor's degree altogether (maybe one that is better suited to future graduate study in international affairs). Sending out grad school applications with a 2.35 GPA is basically inviting rejection. You're setting yourself up to fail. [and as an aside... unless your mom is in the business of university admissions, you shouldn't be taking advice from her. Get on the phone to the universities you're really interested in, and find out the hard facts about what you have to do to improve your GPA and boost your future application chances]

All of the admissions requirements for the Master's Higher Ed program at UBC, can be found here: http://edst.educ.ubc...uture/how-apply This is the part that really stands out to me as being important: "As well as evaluating all components of your application, we must be convinced by the statement of intent that your academic interests are congruent with those of the department, that your background is adequate for graduate work in your area of interest, and that the department and university possess the necessary resources for you to complete the degree. An Educational Studies faculty member in your area of interest must be willing to become your adviser." I'd just like to add that UBC is an excellent university (I did one of my Bachelor's degrees there). I had a wonderful experience, and I'd highly recommend the university!

her

The first thing you'll need to do, is look at insurance regulations in the specific province you're moving to (each province is different). For example, in the province of BC, licensing and auto insurance is all through one government regulatory body (ICBC), but in the province of Ontario, auto insurance is privatized and you can select your rates/plan from whatever company you choose (e.g., Allstate, or others). edited to add: I see that all your university options are in Ontario, so you should start here http://www.ontario.c...dents/index.htm to find out about licensing (which IS done provincially), but when it comes to insuring a vehicle, your choices are private (Allstate et al).

May is the norm for notification. They always start by indicating April, and then as April approaches, they change it to May and the torturous waiting continues. I'm just glad we know now that notifications won't happen until May. Last year was a fiasco.

magma.

and

If you were actually convicted, then Canada will view it as a crime and it's highly likely that they will refuse your request for a student visa. You should consult the details on the Citizenship and Immigration Gov't of Canada site, which says in order to be eligible for a student visa... You must be a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record and not be a risk to the security of Canada. You may have to provide a police certificate. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/study-who.asp I'm not sure if there are exceptions to this, so you should just call them directly and ask, and also call the International Student Centre at your prospective uni and ask them too (I'm sure they've encountered this same issue before). Your question can probably be definitively answered in one or two well-placed phonecalls.

beards!

I grew up there, and it's definitely a "city" now. I think the population (including all the 'burbs) is around 300,000.

Bottom line: All scholarships must be reported on your annual tax return. How much you are actually taxed (or if at all), and/or if you qualify for the scholarship exemption will be determined accordingly based on which province you're located in. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p105/p105-11e.pdf

Contrary to urban legend, scholarships in Canada ARE considered income and are taxed accordingly: http://www.cra-arc.g...s/menu-eng.html Don't worry though, you're likely going to be in such a low tax bracket, that you'll get a lot of the tax (if not all of it) back as a refund when you file. To use myself as an example: I've completed two Bachelor's degrees, a Master's and now I'm in the 3rd year of a PhD (all done in Canada), and I've NEVER had a year where I didn't get a refund or break even with my taxes as a full-time student.

Hi Christa, Even if your stipend is taxable, you'll still be in a very low tax bracket which means that when you file your taxes, you'll get a refund of everything you paid (or if you didn't have tax deducted throughout the year automatically, it means that you'll still be in a low enough tax bracket with your income being offset by your tuition amount, that you won't have to pay anything out). As for living off campus vs. on campus in Vancouver, I've done both, and it really comes down to whether or not you want a roommate, how much space you need in order to stay sane, AND what insitution you'll be attending. (UBC? SFU? other?). I'm not going to lie, rental prices in Vancouver are expensive! (I believe statistically - and anecdotally - it's the most expensive city in Canada to live in). With a roommate, you can do it a lot cheaper, but you might be better off living on campus. One of major benefits to living on campus is that you won't need a car, but one of the major downfalls to living on campus is the noise. It might not have been annoying as an undergrad, but trust me... as a grad student, the less noise you have to put up with, the better! Feel free to PM me if you want more institution-specific or area-of-city-specific advice. eta: for details on whether or not scholarships/awards/bursaries/other are taxable in Canada, you should go here (Revenue Canada site... make sure you don't just rely on anecdotal advice, which - including mine - might not be 100% accurate!): http://www.cra-arc.g...s/menu-eng.html

Batman,

yellow

I've done a TON of transcription work (mostly one-on-one interviews... I try to avoid transcribing other people's focus groups due to needing to retain my sanity). Tips: First, get a foot pedal. It does speed things up when you are free to only type with your hands (rather than hitting "hot" keys which are irritating). Second, use an audio program for the files. I use "ExpressScribe" which can be downloaded for free, is foot-pedal friendly, and has all the features of being able to change volume and speed, etc. (http://www.nch.com.a...ribe/index.html) Third, the estimate that the person gave you for time IS unreasonable. Here's my breakdown for transcribing a one-on-one interview that is of the highest quality (e.g., no accents, no interruptions, and no background noise): 10 minutes of "real" time = 45 minutes to transcribe accurately (and I'm "fast"). So, a 60 minute interview will take at least 4.5 hours to transcribe (given the excellent quality I described above). If there's background noise (e.g., food court fiasco!), or interruptions, or unfamiliar/odd speech (for whatever reason - dialect, accent, mumbling, cutting each other off, etc), then your time will get longer and longer and longer. And if there are more actors involved than just one-on-one, you can expect the time to grow even more. And finally, *always* ask the person you're working for to (1) provide you with an interview script (e.g., their list of questions, or their guide, or whatever they used), and (2) always meet with them first to discuss their notation expectations (e.g., do they want every single um and ah transcribed verbatim? or do they want certain punctuation used for certain speech idioms?). Honestly, transcription work is a great way to make money, but only if you are VERY patient and detail-oriented, and if the person you're working for is fully aware of the time it takes to do a transcription properly. eta: I know you didn't mention the hourly rate you're getting, but I hope they're paying you well!

Whoah.... your university gave you an exact date? That's wild! Mine unfortunately only said, "...SSHRC will announce the results early in the spring and will contact you directly with the results." I've never heard of a March 31st date before! That's early in comparision with previous years. I wonder where your university got that info from? It does seem odd that they'd give out a random date.