Andsowego

I'd suggest you ask a question such as, "Can you please tell me a little bit about the culture/climate of this university?" This kind of question is open-ended and non-accusatory, but it will still give you some things to consider in the answer you get. You'll either get a direct confirmation of your suspicians, or you'll get a stock, politically correct answer... or maybe something in the middle!

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that a TA doesn't do *some* independent teaching. I'm just saying that a TA isn't completely designing, delivering, evaluating, etc. the entire course as a regular prof would do. That's what a graduate teaching fellow does as the sole instructor. attrapereves, Since you've specified "graduate instructorship" it seems to me that you ARE going to be the sole instructor! It can be a daunting task, especially if you've had no teaching experience, but it's definitely do-able. Just make sure you get a lot of assistance ahead of time with the things you mentioned - syllabus creation, lesson planning, classroom management, etc. It's good to hear that you'll be taking a course to assist with the transition. eta: You should check out the "Teaching" thread further down the forum to connect with others who are in similar circs, and say hello in the "Education" thread (way, waaaaaay down the forum!) to connect with education experts - most of whom have a ton of teaching experience in all kinds of fields (see you there!)

I'll send you a PM.

If you suspect your prof is going to have a problem with the sunglasses (they might assume you're being disrespectful), just chat to the prof after class briefly near the start of the year and let them know that your eyes are sensitive.

Teaching assistant (aka: TA) usually refers to assisting a professor, not independently teaching a course. Usually those who are independently teaching courses are called "teaching fellows" or "adjuncts" or "sessionals" "teaching scholars" or something other than TA (terminology varies between schools). I've never heard the term TA being equated with independently teaching a course.

This isn't an "official" answer or anything, but it's my understanding that they're trying to scoop the best students they can as early as possible (e.g., the students with the best experience, best GPA, etc, and those that come with their own external funding). The schools who keep hitting the snooze alarm repeatedly are going to lose the best students! When I was admitted to my PhD program (that I'm currently in), I received the full offer in the first week of February (less than 2 weeks after the application deadline). By the time I heard from my second choice school, it was mid-March. They pretty much had NO chance of me accepting an offer. The only thing that would have lured me to the second choice at that point, was infinitely more funding (which didn't happen). They snoozed, they loooooosed. LOL. I suppose it worked in my favour, since the first choice school notified me first. I shudder to think about what would have happened if the second choice school notified me first! Tough decisions, indeed.

Surprisingly,

won't

I think it's okay, as long as you're transparent about it. There's nothing worse than meeting with two separate people, and them finding out without you having told them (b/c let's face it, people talk and will likely compare notes... e.g., "Oh, s/he met with YOU too? I didn't know that..."). In my own case, I actually met (via skype) with three different potentials at the university I eventually ended up at, and I made sure that each knew I was meeting with the others. Not to try to stir things up, but to genuinely try to figure out where my best research match was (not just with the person, but with their area of expertise). In one case, one of the potentials actually said to me something like, "you should also meet with so-and-so, since their work is really aligned with your career goals." It was a very good experience.

I'm also in Ontario (originally from BC), and everyone has pretty much covered everything I'd want to say. So, rather than add more to the conversation at this point, I'll just simply say *cough*-Canucks-*cough* and leave it at that. Oh, and Canada is rad. Just sayin'.

So many of these posts describe my context exactly. Done courses, done comp exams, done ethics clearance, doing most of my data collection this spring... hoping for Dr. Andsowego to be born in spring, 2013. I have found it sooooo hard to stay motivated at times! However, I've had some great advice: We're not meant to work 24/7 on academics. Life isn't like that, and even though it's hard to feel "good" about doing dishes, or reading for pleasure, or surfing the 'net, it's okay. Sometimes I think that as grad students (especially PhD-ers) we are programmed to feel guilty if we're not working ALL the time. It can become very disheartening, and really unhealthy - psychologically, emotionally, physically. What I found after my most recent unmotivated time period, is that my brain really needed the break. Staring at a 1000+ page book made me physically ill. I think the unmotivated slump was my body's way of telling me to CHILL OUT for a while.

It is completely normal for a PhD student in Canada to have to pay tuition (domestic students included in that). Not all PhD offers include a tuition waiver (e.g., as a domestic student, my own tuition was only covered for the first of four years). But, your overall offer amount from McGill looks like a pretty good deal. As an aside... something else that caught my eye... you put "international student" in quotations, as if that somehow isn't the case. As an American, you ARE an international student in Canada. It's unfortunate that your high level of tuition will reflect that, but it's reality! (and as a final aside... Congrats on the offer in general from McGill! It's regarded as one of the top universities in Canada, arguably the hardest school to get into, which I'm sure you know since you applied there!).

Best. Sentence. Ever.

MoleMocha - Good luck on your prezzie! I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes. And just to add my two cents... I echo what others have said. Start by having a well thought out conversation with the Suspect about your concerns with her feedback style. Any good prof will take the time to really listen and be proactive in how they work with you in the future. Focus on facts in the conversation, not feelings. This is extremely important in my opinion. Facts can't usually be denied. Feelings can be completely disregarded. Start with an objective discussion, and see what happens. If it continues to be a problem in the long term, and you feel that you've exhausted your constructive approach with the Suspect, then (and only then) would I recommend going over the Suspect's head and having a conversation with whomever is next up the food chain in your department. Also, as much as it emotionally helps to vent with other grad students, tread lightly. This stuff can come back to bite your a** hard if you say too much to the wrong people.

Good call, imho, especially since you already have an MEd (and since there's no guarantee that Stanford would allow you to eventually progress into their PhD). Doing a second master's would be pointless and unnecessarily expensive. It's hard to give up the "dream" of the Ivy though, isn't it? I went through some similar institution vs. institution decision-making when I initially started my PhD (and in addition, had a long, drawn out debate with myself about PhD vs. EdD that nearly drove the people around me crazy!). What I've learned after having been a PhD nut for a while now, is that it really is more important that the research program and supervisor are good "fits" rather than what the name of the insitution is (or isn't!).

I was in my first year of the PhD. I totally see what you're saying about AERA in particular though, since their deadline for submissions is usually June/July, and if you don't know at that point if you're even going to be in a program, it's tricky. The deadline for CSSE submissions is usually in the fall (Oct/Nov), so it's easier to submit since you're already in a program, and have a supervisor to support your work, etc.

Waterloo is actually do-able for me (I didn't go to CSSE last year in NB due to the cost of flights) so I'll be there! I'm in Ontario, so the travel won't involve a flight this time. I'm presenting one individual paper. I did attend/present at CSSE the year before last (at Concordia in Montreal), and it was a good experience overall. I'm really looking forward to the conference this year!

Ou... SCÉÉ: Allez-vous? http://www.csse-scee.ca/congres/

If I'm understanding correctly, you're essentially trying to decide between a master's from a higher-ranked uni, and a doctorate from a lower-ranked uni (yes?). If that's the case, I think your decision has to be based on what your long-term career goals look like. If you want to teach/work in a university, you're likely going to need to be called Doctor Hitomimay. If you don't want to teach/work in a university, then you might be better off giving up being called Doctor in favour of a more highly respected institutional name.

Since there's already a thread for AERA, I thought I'd start one for CSSE. Who's with me? http://www.csse-scee.ca/conference/

Frogs

My two cents - It matters if you expect your prof to write a reference letter for you at the end of his/her course. As much as we say it doesn't matter, personal appearance does make a difference (whether we're aware of it or not). If one of my students wore sweatpants every day to class and looked like they literally just rolled out of bed, it would make a difference in how I perceive them. The best advice I give my own students about this (4th/5th year UG's), is for them to think of every day in class like it's a job interview. Not that they have to show up in a full suit and tie to every class, but that they need to look & act professional enough (in addition to submitting high quality work) so that it doesn't distract from their learning process or their eventual career path. However, I do acknowledge that this may vary from field to field. Generally speaking, I'm in Education, where it's fiercely competitive for good, long-term teaching jobs, and every little bit of professional edge matters. The same advice can be applied at the graduate level: if I'm working with prof's everyday who could potentially be my future colleagues, why wouldn't I want to make the best impression possible?

without

painted

Same here, and yes, it's totally normal (I was on the panic-train last year, too!).