wheatGrass

Thanks for this thread. My initial undergrad GPA is sub 3.0, but I took additional upper-level undergrad courses to bring it up, I have a near perfect MA GPA, and a strong application otherwse. I hope I'm as lucky as all of you.
I notice that most sub-3.0ers have a Masters... I think this may be key. At least one of the schools I applied to only requires at 3.0+ in the highest or most recent degree.

Thanks for this thread. My initial undergrad GPA is sub 3.0, but I took additional upper-level undergrad courses to bring it up, I have a near perfect MA GPA, and a strong application otherwse. I hope I'm as lucky as all of you.
I notice that most sub-3.0ers have a Masters... I think this may be key. At least one of the schools I applied to only requires at 3.0+ in the highest or most recent degree.

Thanks for this thread. My initial undergrad GPA is sub 3.0, but I took additional upper-level undergrad courses to bring it up, I have a near perfect MA GPA, and a strong application otherwse. I hope I'm as lucky as all of you.
I notice that most sub-3.0ers have a Masters... I think this may be key. At least one of the schools I applied to only requires at 3.0+ in the highest or most recent degree.

Thanks for this thread. My initial undergrad GPA is sub 3.0, but I took additional upper-level undergrad courses to bring it up, I have a near perfect MA GPA, and a strong application otherwse. I hope I'm as lucky as all of you.
I notice that most sub-3.0ers have a Masters... I think this may be key. At least one of the schools I applied to only requires at 3.0+ in the highest or most recent degree.

I dress simply, and for comfort and enjoyment. My personal style is "boho", I guess, if you had to term it as something - a lot of long flowy skirts, which I pair with simple colored tops, tunics, and sweaters; linen pants with peasant woven tops; maxi dresses worn with sweaters; tweed skirts and sweaters with boots in the winter; accessories are scarves, necklaces, earrings, occasionally rings, and hairsticks/other hairtoys (( have very long hair, which I always wear in an updo for work/school). I get complimented often on my appearance when I go to conferences, and have never had anyone say I look unprofessional - but at the same time, I am not and never have been a slacks and blazer or suit or business casual kind of gal, and I think dressing in a way that doesn't represent you makes you feel uncomfortable and fraudulent. You need to find a style that works with your view of who you are both as a student and as a person and, ultimately, as a professional teacher, if that's where you are going. It takes time, trial and error to cultivate a look that works for you across the board, but when you do figure it out, it gets very easy to maintain.

Received the letter in Vancouver yesterday. Got waitlisted at 16.8.

Not sure what that actually means. How could they get more funding? Is it dependent on Harper deciding to give more to the Social Sciences and Humanities? Because, yeah, that sounds likely.

Yea...if grad school doesn't work out, I already have a BS degree and can very quickly get a high paying engineering job locally, so...yea. Suicide is the coward's way out.

I updated my school after I started my program. I did post my plans to attend my current institution sometime in March/April, around the time I accepted the offer.

In general, I tried to keep the details of my app season off Facebook. I didn't want to announce every little thing to the world. In fact, I think that March/April status update was the first official mention of PhD applications that I made on FB.

Hey--
Not sure where you're applying, but in my experience, at many universities (in Canada) the childcare centers are amazing, and offer students and faculty first crack at the waiting list... and there's the problem. The waiting lists are insane. At U of T, for instance I think you need to sign up when you reach childrearing age to get a spot on the list. Well, maybe not that bad, but it can be hard.
Also, Ontario has full day kindergarten available (but not mandatory) and that can start when kids are as young as 3.5... I think they need to turn 4 by January first. They have a 'play based' curriculum--in my opinion it is a great thing. Not to mention free.
I'm not sure about other provinces though.
If you will need daycare you should apply for a subsidy pronto. The process is different in each city/province, but you can apply even if you are not sure you will be needing it because they don't finalize it until closer to the date needed. The waiting lists can be long, depending on the place.
Good luck.

This was me... well, close.
And I've been accepted at top PhD programs with funding +.
This is what I did: I kept working, and took upper level undergrad courses in relevant areas. Then, once I had enough to have a 3.0+, I took a professional track masters program at a no-name university, while working part time. I got excellent marks. Then, I applied to an unfunded MA program at a decent but small university, got great marks, a few little scholarships and developed some excellent relationships with faculty. Then I applied for PhD programs.
Good luck, I think you can do it.
If you do some extra courses to pull up your GPA and you get less than A, then I agree with what andsowego said and you should re-evaluate.

If your friends don't understand, you need new friends. Most people who are not involved in applying for schools don't know what a big deal it is, so I doubt they will even care/notice that you didn't tell them.

In every conversation I've had with POIs, the conversation always gets around to lifestyle issues at the school/city in question... you know, how's the commute/transit situation, that kind of thing. This is when I'd bring it up, not necessarily in the "why do you want to be in our program" part of the interview

As others have already mentioned, it seems pretty clear that you've never visited York U, or Toronto, or even Ontario. Just FYI (since you seem to have no clue) York is one of the most multicultural, ethnically diverse universities in Canada. Students choose to go there specifically due to its reputation as an open-minded, culturally diverse, international community of learners. All you're doing in this thread, is making yourself look contextually uninformed about York and indeed, the cultural reality of living in Ontario, Canada.

In every conversation I've had with POIs, the conversation always gets around to lifestyle issues at the school/city in question... you know, how's the commute/transit situation, that kind of thing. This is when I'd bring it up, not necessarily in the "why do you want to be in our program" part of the interview

Zyzz--
There was no attempt on my part at "psychoanalysis." I did not ask any questions about your personal life, your interpersonal matrix, your relationships with your parents, your gender, your socio-economic class, or any other diagnostic question unrelated to the information you provided. (The point here is that before using a term, maybe you should know what that term entails. Or, at least, use the search button to get a better sense of those with whom you're communicating.)

On the contrary, in my reading of your OP I did you the courtesy of assuming that you are articulate enough to say what you mean. If you're going to get snide because you don't like it when people pick up what you put down, then maybe you shouldn't come to an internet BB and expect people to agree with you because you are neither wise nor introspective enough to figure out ways to solve your issue.

I don't doubt this, but my sense is that these fora could use some levity (and maybe even compassion!) along with the wonderful and serious advice that I've only been able to find here. Most of us keep a very anonymous profile here. My sig info alone would probably identify me with some digging, but I'm not posting anything on here I wouldn't say in real life, including all of the "spark and inexperience" (snark?) that comes from being a burnt-out, neurotic pre-academic.

Having some kind of experience helps. By the time I submitted my MS apps, I'd been working in my field full-time for a year and a half (with a peer-reviewed publication) and had taken four post-bachelor's non-degree classes in my field. And I had a well-above-average, though not outstanding, GRE score.

By the time I submitted my PhD apps, I'd been working full-time in my field for four and a half years, had a 3.5 MS GPA plus five non-degree classes before that, had four peer-reviewed publications (one as first author) a published abstract, and a poster presentation under my belt, and had an over-1500 quant + verbal GRE with a perfect writing score. And I have grant-writing experience through my jobs (which, unsurprisingly, a lot of PIs appreciate). And all that experience allowed me a very focused SOP and lots of options for strong letters of recommendation.

People with very low undergrad GPAs, for the most part, don't get into grad programs because they got lucky (well, they did, but not moreso than other applicants) and were selected before more-qualified applicants. They get in because they made themselves highly qualified in other ways.

Edited to fix typos.

I'm sorry for your rejection, but I think you're giving readers misleading information. I was accepted into the program you're referring to (UBC MA poli sci) and I am 21 and from Montreal. I see no reason why there would be an age/province bias. That would simply be to the detriment of the department, and I highly doubt that the acceptance committee would risk hindering their program based on arbitrary categories.

I don't think I've ever responded to someone's post in the way that I'm about to, but I really can't stay quiet this time.

I'm truly sorry you've had some rejections, but your post reeks of stereotyping, and prejudice, and bitterness on so many levels. If you keep getting rejected, I'd suggest you take a look at the weaknesses of your own applications instead of looking to blame everyone and everything else around you.

I'm going to put the issue of whether you should actively try to engage these students aside--you clearly want them to pay attention to what you're showing them on the projector and feel like it is worth some effort to encourage this.
Could you just ask them to turn off their monitors while you're speaking/demonstrating? It should be pretty easy for you to see who isn't complying, especially in a darkened room. I did this when I taught younger people in computer labs and it worked really well.

Hey there,
I am applying to the MEd program in Adult education and community development program at University of Toronto for fall 2011.
Is anybody out there applying to this or OISE at all? Would love to know if anybody heard back yet... I've bitten all my nails off!

Coming from someone in a totally unrelated field and noting that I have not even begun my first semester of graduate school yet, I have to say that I would let sleeping dogs lie.

Even if the amount of conflict from letting your advisor know would be minimal, it still seems a tad unnecessary since you've done all the appropriate legwork to fill in Prof Bob. Hopefully he will read that article and make changes to his lecture from this point on as needed, and saving the details may possibly spare some hurt feelings.

EDIT: Unless it is actually vital your classmates learn this information. If that information is hugely important to their future success, then of course someone needs to be made aware that IMPORTANT THINGS are not being fully covered.

Why not look at the Institute of Education in London? It is one of the world's top grad schools in education. It is ranked higher than Cambridge and Oxford in the field of education.

These programs may interest you:

http://www.ioe.ac.uk...MM9_TLH9IM.html

http://www.ioe.ac.uk...MM9_HPE9IM.html

http://www.ioe.ac.uk...MM9_LLL9IM.html

http://www.ioe.ac.uk...asters/102.html

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!

DustSNK! I feel as though this is a teaching moment!
My MA institution took good care of me on the funding package front, no argument there!

I want to emphasize the difference that the bursary-snagging made, and the effort involved therein. This uni ranked very well nationally for provision of scholarships/bursaries; this is information that you can find out before you accept an offer, if you do some research. I never EXPECTED (i.e. budgeted with the assumption of) bursary windfall outside of my guarnteed funding (and I would advise others to do the same), BUT, I figured that these funding provisions were indicative of strong student support and this factored into my decision to attend.

The thing about the scholarships is, that while many are merit-based and context-specific, the BEST thing that you can do for yourself is get bloody organized and apply to everything! There are bursaries and scholarships for BOTH your department and for grad students in general and you need to be your own advocate to find out about them, and then apply for them right away!

I think that students underutilize these because it is difficult to by hyper-aware of these opportunities and to feel WORTHY of them when they are in the midst of one of the more stressful, time-consuming and humbling periods, entrance into grad school!

So, yeah, three things then, if you'd like to replicate my experience:

- The timelines can be sucky, adjust and act accordingly. Some deadlines for apps are in September, when maybe you are only a week or two into your studies... some are in the summer, before classes even start! No one will prod you to remember, figure out the timelines, write it all down and don't let them slip by! Also, many bursary applications take MONTHS to process and get back to you, don't be discouraged by that. I found that it was helpful to my mindset if I always had at least one bursary app that was "out there" and "under review".

- Any amount of money is worth it! That 6K I told you about? It was comprised of about dozen awards, most in the $200 range (some merit, some financial need, some just general). Grad school can kind of put your fiscal perspective out of whack. This is extra discouraging for applicantions that seem to want a lot, when you're feeling like you don't have a lot to give ("This bursary wants 2 hours of my life AND and essay for a shot at $150, F that noise, $150 MIGHT get me a textbook and a pizza..."). Don't fall for it! It's still worth it! As you do more apps, you become more adept at it. It takes less time overall and your essays become more persuasive (and your success rate climbs)! As well, you can start tacking merit-based stuff on your CV! Grant writing is a required skill for long-term stays or careers in academia, here you have a chance to cultivate it!

- Use bursary/scholarship money to get more bursary/scholarship money! Here's a winning strategy that I found while entrenched in these applications: Apply to all of the bursaries/scholarships -> get one -> use money to buy nice blouse and attend academic conference -> get re-imbursed for conference by Department/Graduate Association -> apply anything extra to living expenses -> incorporate conference experience into current CV and bursary/scholarship app -> apply to all of the bursaries/scholarships... and repeat!

HTH! There's money out there, go and get it!