surefire
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Liquirizia reacted to a post in a topic:
What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?
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morningstars reacted to a post in a topic:
Meeting with a Potential Advisor - Is this an interview?
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Unreasonable decisions and lack of transparency
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Favorite Rejection Quotes from the Results Page
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Favorite Rejection Quotes from the Results Page
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NeilM reacted to a post in a topic:
What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?
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Favorite Rejection Quotes from the Results Page
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What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?
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Favorite Rejection Quotes from the Results Page
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What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?
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Hi there @chillipimien27! Welcome to U of T! Depends on what you mean by a 'better area'. Are you talking about convenience, given the location of your department? Or like, an area that is quiet or, alternatively, really active and vibrant? Or are you just referring to an area that is maybe affordable or where there are lots of rentals (there actually aren't lots of areas like that in Toronto these days, and it fluctuates based on whether or not you want to live alone)? Feel free to respond or PM me if you want to get more explicit with your criteria and I can maybe make some recomme
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Comps - how did you do it
surefire replied to ConcentricCarl's topic in Coursework, Advising, and Exams
FWIW, it sounds like you've got a good plan and a good sense of how to deliver on his expectations (talking to other students can be hard when you're feeling impostery but it's a smart move). I've written two comps, with 6 different committee members total, and part of the studying work is meeting with them and getting a good read on their expectations and then doing the work to deliver on them. I've had members that liked specificity, members that liked 'big picture' stuff, and one committee member who said that he thought that grad students played it too safe on comps and he'd be open to a c -
Hi everyone! Preemptive welcome to U of T! I just wanted to reach out and offer myself up as a resource; I'm in my 5th year as a PhD student at U of T and a Union steward for CUPE 3902 (the local that you would have membership in if you're doing any TA work) and I like helping out the new recruits where possible, just as kind senior grad students in my program once helped me out! Feel free to tag me in questions or PM me and I'll respond to the best of my abilities! Congrats and welcome!
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Oh right! The SPT conversation! I remember that now! Congrats on your admit, lol! I was in Socio-Legal Studies at York. The bursaries don't amount to oodles of money in the MA, maybe a couple hundred bucks, but I don't think that's 'arbitrary'. It's not really enough to count on as part of your budget, but it's enough to provide opportunities that you wouldn't have otherwise (I went to some conferences in my MA thanks to some bursary money, and there's no way I would've been able to afford that otherwise). The bursaries are easy money, once you figure them out. The bursaries in my PhD hav
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Hi there! I'd like to extend a pre-emptive welcome to Toronto! I did my MA at York and am currently doing my PhD at U of T, so I'm familiar with living on those funding packages! I didn't get into any debt at either (though I'm domestic, so my situation is a bit different). I've always lived with room-mates and my partner, which has cut my costs regarding rent and food quite a bit (my partner and I spend about $100-$150/week on groceries). I usually recommend that people coming from outside the city to grad studies here try to get into designated grad housing at either institution, b
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"Are you going to another PhD program?"
surefire replied to LAS22's topic in The April 15th is this week! Freak-out forum.
I agree with @TakeruK. No harm in telling them, no need to reiterate what a difficult decision it was. Departments like to keep tabs on what programs they lose competitive students to and they sometimes amend recruitment efforts accordingly. You'd be doing them a solid by providing them with this info. Keep it short and sweet, thank them again for the opportunity, and fret no more! -
surefire reacted to a post in a topic:
Professor too lenient on students
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I'm not in your field either, but I did my social science MA at York and am currently doing my social science PhD at U of T. When you say you want to do your PhD 'somewhere awesome', do you have somewhere in mind? I would suggest maybe touching base with the grad secretaries in the respective departments to ask if they have any placement stats about their MA cohorts (they might not, not all departments keep track of this, in which case it might be good to ask to be put in touch with alumni for anecdotes, or to find a list of alumni on the website and Google a few to find out where they we
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surefire reacted to a post in a topic:
Fall 2017 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread
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surefire reacted to a post in a topic:
Fall 2017 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread
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Fall 2017 Acceptances/Interviews/Rejections Thread
surefire replied to csot's topic in Sociology Forum
Recruitment has been set for March 24th, so I imagine first-round picks will hear imminently, if they haven't already. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you get in and have questions. (you too @bbbfan). Good luck! -
Hi there and welcome! First, the GradCafe has a great little primer regarding asking about your 'chances'. This often boils down to fit, more than strictly numbers. I will say that that appears to be a solid average and a shaky first year or two often isn't too bad if you're displaying an 'upward trend', which it sounds like you are/did. Second, I would encourage you to read the recent Conference Board of Canada report regarding where Canadian PhDs are employed. It doesn't give a discipline-by-discipline breakdown (so, can't ascertain where sociologists specifically end up), but you
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Sociology MA/PhD Program - Quant Background
surefire replied to AgumonIsAPokemon's topic in Sociology Forum
No problem! Sorry for the delayed response, I was stuck in a marking frenzy for a few weeks there! Glad that some of that is helpful. Feel free to send me a PM if you'd like! I'm more of a qual versus quant sociologist, and I'm a domestic student rather than international, but I'll advise to the best of my abilities! Best of luck! -
Sociology MA/PhD Program - Quant Background
surefire replied to AgumonIsAPokemon's topic in Sociology Forum
Hi! I'm currently in the Soc PhD program at U of T. I don't think not having any specifically quant courses from undergrad should discourage you, nor do I really think that you'll necessarily be made to take some undergrad stats (we mandate an MA stats and a PhD stats, if you go on to the PhD program, so you get ample training at the grad level). We have taken exceptional applicants from other undergrad disciplines, provided that they displayed strong sociological thinking in their statement/letters/sample etc;. But there are a few caveats: -The MA is funded and international st -
Welcome! I'm a domestic (Canadian) student. I'm not in your area but feel free to PM or something if I can be of help.
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*Raises hand* I've been a grad student at U of T since 2012. I gather you'll be joining our ranks in the fall? If so: congrats and lemme know if I can be of help!
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surefire reacted to a post in a topic:
Annoying things early grad students do?
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Yes! In total agreement! I've spoken to a lot of prospective and incoming students and it can be cringe-inducing when, for example, you tell students that the average time to completion in your program is 6+ years and they nod and say "That's nice, Imma do it in 4!". Also annoying: people that are dicks to the departmental grad secretaries/admins. Not only is this generally uncouth and unkind, it's very short-sighted - you want these people on your side, for sure. Yelling at admins because you're frustrated by institutional bureaucracy or whathaveyou = very unwise. My departmental admins
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@timhorton I'm currently in the PhD program in Sociology at U of T. Feel free to pm me if you want to correspond! I'd echo what was said above regarding thinking about your dream job and also WHERE you want to work. I wanted to go to grad school in Canada and I want to work in Canada and that combined with my research interests led me to go with U of T. I don't work in migration but we have a huge number of faculty members and many are accomplished in that area. But it's all about 'fit', so give that primacy in your apps.