Canofbeans

Eeesh sorry to hear that. One thing a lot of applicants do I think is put way to much emphasis on grades and not enough on all the other things. my average was pretty crappy (probably just over the minimum requirements) and I got in at 5 of the 6 programs I applied to. Anyways, one thing to consider, that is still possible, is maybe doing a graduate certificate in global governance? The only reason I mention is because uOttawa offers it and the deadline for admissions is in May so you would be able to apply for the Sept session and it`s only a 1 year program. Plus judging from your grades, you'll probably be fully funded too. Unless you just plan on working for a year, that also works.

I second that. Although I didn't think Alberta was a critical department, then again they do have R.B.J. Walker.. or is he at Vancouver now? Anyhow, York has a really strong critical department, McMaster and I would say Simon Fraser. uOttawa is also very critical, I think its IR department is quickly growing but the school as a whole in general is usually off the radar, but they have a few really strong professors that I think will be leaving their marks in a few years or so.

I wasn't devaluing a European degree, simply saying in terms of job prospects, many profs have discouraged me from completing a PhD in Europe, simpy because it's harder to get hired here. I would assume it's the same in Europe, were a European degree is probably mroe valued than a Canadian one. Obvioulsy that's not the only thing that comes into play when you are looking for a job anyways. It's not like you're not going to find a job if you have an amazing list of publications and experience but with a PhD from Cambridge or SciencePo. It's not impossible, some people do get hired here with those degrees, simply saying its more difficult, and to what extent that is true in the US, i'm not sure.

Many of those universities are actually highly ranked, Cornell and WUSTL are definitely top school for Polisci. So is Georgetown. Also in terms of future employment prospects in the academic field, this is advice I have received from professors here, is that a PhD from Europe (UK, Germany or France), or an Dphil is not highly viewed here. The training process at the PhD levels that students get in Europe differs a lot from the one you would receive in the US or Canada (there's less courses, work on methodology, less training on actual teaching etc.). So unless you plan on working in the UK, I would think about that. But again, I would also be hesitant on studying critical IR in the US, partially because even the constructivism that is developed there, is limited where some would argue that it's still falls in within a relatively positivist approach. The really critical work (postcolonial, postmodern or postructuralist IR) is fairly marginal there, from my perspective.

I would assume that most really critical IR is actually done over here in the UK and Europe in general, its not just a few scattered profs. Any reason why you wouldn't want to cross the pond? Employment prospects?

Also, in terms of schools you want to say away from. Chicago and NYU would def be on top of that list.

I am in the same boat as you are, actually, there is still some social construcvtivism being done in the states (see list above), I was particularly interested in John Hopkins. However, I'm not simply looking for social constructivist IR, I'm really interested in the critical IR including postructuralism, postcolonialism... I'm still debating whether I should stay in Canada (where a lot of that work is being done) or going to the U.S. Another option is finding specific profs you want to actually work with, unfortunately for me, they all seem to be in the UK, Australia or here. William Connolly and Siba Grovogui are interesting at JHP. I'm probably going to end up applying there.

Toronto sent out a batch of PhD acceptances last week around Monday. M.A are supposed to go out in early April.

I know of two people whom have gotten offers from Queens last week, on Monday I think. One of them was for the Ph.D. and the other is the M.A.

A bit of a Canadian perspective on this PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: Just regular, most universities here are not that different in ranking Major(s)/Minor(s): Political studies minor global studies. Undergrad GPA: Cumulative: 3.0, last twenty courses: 3.67 GRE: don't need it Any Special Courses: nope Letters of Recommendation: two full professors, one assistant Research Experience: Two Research assistantships, one in my field of interest. Teaching Experience: N/A Subfield/Research Interests: Critical IR/security studies, critical theory SOP: Pretty good, reviewed by a few professors and worked on it for quite a bit Other: none that I can think of. RESULTS: Acceptances($$ or no $$): McMaster: International relations (fully funded, tuition, TA and extra money). McMaster: Gobalization (funds included TA and Tuition). York Political science (10,000), Western (15,000). Waitlists: none Rejections: York: Social and Political Thought Pending: Ottawa Going to: McMaster IR Things I would do differently: I worked on my applications for about 8 months, freaked out, stressed mostly because of my low GPA. Although I don't know what I would have done differently, get better grades probably, it would have taken away all the stress and anxiety during the process. And I probably wouldn't have applied to schools like Western.

I think you should ask the school that question, every university has a different set of policies

I got my official offer from York today. Details on funding coming soon though

I received admissions to the M.A program "unofficially". I emailed the assistant asking for when I should be expecting a response, she noted that I was in and that official notifications would be sent out this week. Good luck to everyone else!

Also, some application forms actually ask you if you have been in touch with any faculty members at their university.

I don't think you should contact faculty with the intention of simply making yourself look better for the admissions committee. There are a lot of benefits of actually talking to faculty members before applying, this can be done by email, going to visit the university, calling or whichever. First, it helps develop a relationship between the student and a prospective supervisor, it can help you determine whether or not (1) you actually want to go to the school and (2) whether you want to work with the person. And I can say this from actual experience, I did get a faculty member (not on the admissions committee) mention me to other faculty members on the admissions committee after meeting him at a conference. Of course, I met this professor through one of my current professors that is well known in the field, so that obviously helps build your credibility. Talking to faculty members also helps you figure out what you want to do and why you want to do it which helps in building a good statement. I also don't think there is anything wrong with contacting multiple faculty members at the same university if they all have interests that are similar to yours. I spoke to a lot of people to get advice about applying to gardschool, and everyone said it's a great idea to get in touch with faculty members. Obviously, good grades, statement and GRE's and also key.

I just spoke to U of T, they said that decisions haven't been made yet, and that responses would be sent out in the beginning of April. That's pretty crazy and weird, that you got a different response

So I contacted the assistant of the department at York, decisions have been made and she told me I was accepted and that I should be receiving the official letter by the end of this week. YAY!. Biginternational, are you waiting on the M.A or the phd? If it's the M.A, I would suggest emailing Jlenya Sarra-De Meo (jsarra@yorku.ca), I'm guessing she would probably let you know if you're in or out, since the decisions are made. I guess the department itself doesn't actually send out individual emails.

Oh well, ok I totally misunderstood the first question. But I actually did spend a lot of time contacting faculty before applying and it really really does improve your odds of getting in (from my experience, I got into schools, I never imagined getting into because of my horrible grades in 1 and second year). Anyways, another important factor in your application is knowing what you want to do and research. You really need to think about what you want to study in detail and why this is important. Once you have that, you can identify interesting faculty, read some of their work (if you haven't already). Then you can simply email them, tell them your interesting in studying such and such and that you are particularly drawn to their work, and that you will be applying for gradschool at their department. You can also ask them if they'll be taking on graduate students in the upcoming years (sometimes they go on leave). The conversation goes off from there. I actually spoke with one professor for a bit, and at the second conversation he said that he receives a lot of emails from prospective grad students but that mine was different, because I knew what I wanted to do and research so I think that's key. You can start doing this around the end of summer or fall 2009 if you're applying for the 2010 cohort. I also found that another thing that really mattered was talking to your current profs, some that you feel comfortable talking to or may have common interests. It is quite possible that your prof already knows some of the other faculty members that you plan to work with or contact and in that case they can put in a good word for you ;-) or perhaps introduce you or something. My cumulative GPA was pretty crappy due to the fact that I didn't do so great in my 1.2 years, but I got in to most universities with a lot of funding, and I know that it was due to the fact that I was in touch with some of the faculty members and my statement of interest which was clear, concise and well written (although I spent about 3 months writing it).

Hmm, yes I have actually been wondering myself, I got in at the university I want to attend but I don't think the supervisor has actually been assigned or the courses I will be TAing either. There's the question of who i'm supposed to contact with regards to that stuff. I was thinking, I would email the professor I want work with and ask which courses he will be teaching so that I can apply to the T.A positions. I'm also wondering how early I should do this. I think it's a bit early now, I'm thinking I'll wait till May or June. Visiting is also another good idea, before you do, I think it may be a good idea to contact the faculty, ask them if the'll be around and free to meet.

The applications were forwarded to the department about a month ago, I called and inquired about it, so decisions should be made soon if they haven't already been done, but then they go back to the department which takes another bit of time. I am calling tomorrow to check and see if the decisions have been made, will keep you informed !

On their website, it says you should hear back towards the end of March, if they don't get back to me by then, I am going to email and ask. I need to accept or decline other offers I got.

I'm also still waiting on McGill and TO for the M.A. Also waiting on York, they seem to take forever.