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TakeruK

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Everything posted by TakeruK

  1. Just my opinion, but I like it. It is a lot like an email I wrote when applying to MSc programs 2 years ago and it got a favourable response so I hope that will work out for you too!
  2. I think it's very healthy to have these thoughts because a PhD is a very large commitment to make (financially, emotionally, and career-wise too!). It shows that you are giving careful consideration for a very important decision. Either way you decide, you can at least feel that you've thought about this thoroughly. One reason I am in a MSc program right now was because I could not be confident I could commit to a PhD program right out of undergrad. Also, in Canada, you have to do a MSc first anyways. Even when putting together my applications in the last months I was still having doubts. I could only write my SOPs on the "good" days where I felt confident about my PhD decision! Eventually, talking it out with my family, peers, and especially my spouse helped me make the decision. I know I do not want the "traditional" academic life where I complete a PhD, move from place to place looking for post-docs and then basically moving to whatever school offers me a tenure track position (if I can get one at all). My dream career is a tenure-track position in my research field, but the academic life terrifies me! But then I realised that's not the only route you can go after a PhD. My spouse and I agreed that in ~8-10 years from now (so after a PhD and 1-2 post docs), we WILL be living in our hometown. We want to raise our future children close to our family and we really enjoy the place we grew up in. I know it is very unlikely that I will be able to land a tenure-track position in my hometown but having a PhD would help me get a position at one of the many teaching colleges nearby (Only a MSc is required, but PhD helps and pays more). We also know that I might be able to get a position as semi-permanent research or teaching staff, which is fine by me. tl;dr: I was concerned that pursuing a PhD/an academic career would compromise on what my spouse and I want for our future family. But we felt better once I realised I could limit this effect by explicitly setting priorities: family first, career second, since I won't really need a good career without a family to provide for!
  3. I don't think it's unethical to omit information that is not specifically asked for. However, to avoid any chance that I get misinterpreted, I want to say that this information (previous schools/programs attended) is almost always directly asked for! So I do think this specific case is unethical, but omission of information in general is not always unethical. This post doesn't really apply to OP's situation, but I wanted to present some balance to the posts here that are, in my opinion, the opposite extreme. That said, even if you signed a digital signature saying that your application information is "COMPLETE" and "ACCURATE". I understood "complete" to mean "included everything asked for in the application", for example I didn't include my CV for the schools that did not request it. "Complete" does not mean it is my responsibility to think of every possible piece of information to attach. For example, in my SOP, I only wrote about my academic plans / goals for the future. I didn't include other goals that could/would impact my academic career, such as my plans to start a family while in a PhD and the fact that I am going to eventually move back to my hometown in about 10 years time, even if I have to leave academia to do it. In all of my applications, I indicated my intents for a career in academia, but during my PhD career, I will be doing things to ensure I am employable outside of academia as well. This probably doesn't apply in OP's case, since there is usually (but not always) a question that asks if you have ever withdrew from a graduate program before. The question about schools attended is almost always worded so that you must include every school you where you were ever enrolled in a degree-granting program, even for just 1 semester. Everyone above has already outlined all the risks of the OP continuing in the program. Don't forget about the non-academic consequences too (financial, family, legal, etc.) To answer OP's question though: In your case, I would consider two options: 1. Write to the graduate school, POI, department, etc. and let them know about your omissions. Explain your reasoning and why you realise now it was a mistake. I would probably start with your POI and department. 2. Give up on this school, forever. You could decline the offer, and apply again to different programs next year. This way, you don't have to tell them your mistake and as long as you don't apply to the same school ever, it's not likely anyone would find out (since it's not likely the school will remember the profiles of every applicant that declined their offer). Even if it is eventually found out, it's unlikely to impact your career since you didn't take advantage of your deceit. Although if you try to run for government office, this kind of information would be very scandalous! Option 1 gives you a chance to still attend your dream program, but it might be really unlikely they will still accept you, since you were dishonest in the first place. Even if they did, you will carry that reputation around forever. What will your references from your PhD program write about you in their LORs? Thus, if I was in this situation, and if I still wanted to go for a PhD program, I would take Option 2.
  4. I think it's polite and in your own best interests to email the small school and ask for an extra week (or whatever time you need) to consider their offer because you are going to be visiting another school. When I had to do this in the past, I find that the school appreciates it if you gave a specific length of time (e.g. "I believe I would be ready to make a decision by XX date, after visiting schools YY and ZZ") instead of just asking for "more time". It doesn't take much time to ask for an extension and the worst they can really do is say no. If you just ignore their deadline, it would be rude, and they may think you are no longer interested in their program (since you won't even write them a short message!) so they could offer it to someone else. The April 15th thing is not a legal obligation, just a "guideline" so even though they say they will adhere to the document, they are under no obligations. Technically, if they were actually following that document, they should not have even asked you for a 3 week deadline and allowed you to wait until April 15th. Since they offered you a fellowship, they are probably interested in admitting you so they would probably be okay with waiting another week or two. It seems like smaller schools tend to ask their applicants to respond within a few weeks because they know that a large fraction of their accepted students actually only applied to their school as safety schools, and are likely to go somewhere else. So the deadline is probably a gentle reminder/encouragement to decline their offer if you already decided to go to another program. It's definitely a good idea to visit School #1 first, and it would be a reasonable thing to ask for a little more time.
  5. For one school I applied to, the committee split up the task of calling students between themselves but the person that was supposed to call me did not*, so eventually it got passed to another faculty member and I got the phone call. Fortunately, the phone call wasn't their only method of notification (got an official email with funding information too) so I was not really in "limbo". *(I know this because one of my friends is a current graduate student in that program and they were planning activities for the prospective student visits and thus knew the names of accepted students. So, because of the phone call delay, I actually first found out about the offer through Facebook message!!) Anyways, my point is that phone notifications might end up getting spread over a range of few days based on who is supposed to be calling you!
  6. My SOP was in almost this format. But one of my "research assistantships" is my Canadian MSc so I took that paragraph to explain that MSc and PhD programs are independent in Canada, and how I can use this experience to really hit the ground running in a PhD program. I also decided to go in chronological order. I did research work in 3 different topics in Physics/Astronomy and I wanted to explain why I did this. I'm in favour of this format (instead of putting research first) because I think the SOP is more an essay about why you are a good fit for their department/school, rather than a research proposal. Paragraph "VI" was the only one I tailored to each school and I portrayed my research interests differently so that it would match with 2-3 faculty members in the department. I tried to not "lock" myself into any one project by noting that I have current interests based on how much I enjoyed working on similar research in the past but I would definitely want to learn new skills in a PhD program as well. My goal of this paragraph was not to necessarily show that I am really interested in a particular project, but that I have thought about my future in research seriously and have smart goals for the next 4-5 years. All of the previous paragraphs were meant to demonstrate that my past successes and experience have prepared me to achieve these goals. Finally, I also decided not to put a research proposal first because if I was going to talk to the committee, I would start with an introduction of myself and background before talking about what I'd want to do next. I also couldn't think about how to talk about the future (research proposal) and then go back and talk about my past without awkward sentences to switch "timelines".
  7. It depends on your field? I would guess that in most academic fields, having at least 2 academic recommenders is a minimum. It also depends on who your employer is...if the job is something very related to your field, then it should be good, but if the job is unrelated, then your employer is already your "non academic" recommender. But having a sensei write a letter could be something that makes your application unique. This might work better for lower ranked schools that receive less applications though -- schools with hundreds of applicants to sift through might use this as an excuse to discard your application. Also, would your sensei be familiar with the style of an academic reference letter? Finally, even if you can submit 4 letters, most places say that all submitted letters will be treated with equal weight...so having a weaker (i.e. non academic) letter can bring down your the "average"/overall quality of your letters. Without further information, I would say you should choose between a letter from your employer or from your sensei. You can always write about the importance of martial arts in your Statement of Purpose and still get the same effect on the admission committee. I'd actually go with a letter from your sensei unless you have an impressive or related job!
  8. If you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to say why you can't visit...it could be an exam or something for all they know. But it's generally okay to tell them what other schools you are visiting too.... it's one of the most common questions you will get asked when you are there (by other visiting students, current students, and profs!). Telling them this information can't hurt you at all (they already accepted you) unless you do it in a way that comes off as bragging. Most people are just genuinely curious, some might want to gauge whether they think you will attend (but this doesn't hurt you), and it could actually help you since they know they will have to work hard to keep you from going to a competitor.
  9. Most PhD programs will either pay for your tuition plus provide a decent living stipend, or pay you a big enough stipend to cover tuition and a living stipend. Some schools will provide enough funding to live quite comfortably even -- I know a guy with a $31,000/year stipend, given a tuition waiver (i.e. he doesn't have to pay it), plus an $18,000 signing bonus for the first year. I'm a first generation graduate student in my family so they were really confused about how the system work and thought I should get a job now instead of going into debt. But once I explained the need for graduate school as well as the funding situation, it made more sense to them. Both my family and I view graduate school as an apprenticeship -- where we're paid a modest living salary in order to learn from the best minds. Unfortunately, I have heard that graduate programs in the arts are not always as well funded so that may be a problem. But there are also many national fellowships that will pay a good stipend too. I would recommend you talk to some graduate students in the field at your current school and learn what it will be like for you and explain that to your family!
  10. I told my bank I was planning to move to the US in the Fall and they recommended that I open a US Dollar Chequing account with them (free). It gives you a slightly better exchange rate but you can't access this account while in the US. Instead, I plan to move some of my Canadian savings over to this account before I move, and as I need US funds, I will write myself a cheque from this account and deposit it in a bank account that I will open in the US. This allows me to transfer money without it having to leave Canada unless I need it, and at a good exchange rate. You should also ensure that you would have enough (or have access to someone who does) money in case your first paycheque doesn't clear for some reason. And maybe your new American bank would want to put a long hold (weeks+) on your incoming cheques at first too.
  11. Do you mean the Fulbright Foreign Student Award? I got a notice in January saying that my application has been forwarded to the next stage and that I won't hear from them again until April 15, where the final decisions will be announced.
  12. I also think it's polite, but probably unnecessary to thank them with a quick email reply. You will probably get a more personal email from profs soon though!
  13. I know someone on a J-1 visa who easily got a 3 year extension to stay in the US after his PhD to do a post-doc (which he is currently doing). After that, he will be affected by the home country return requirement though, and stay there (Canada) for 2 years before being able to apply for the H visas. I think in order to get that 3 year extension, you must have the post doc offer before your J1 expires (i.e. before you graduate with PhD).
  14. Cool! I guess Quebec works in a similar way as the French system then US Immigration has a "estimated visa time calculator" here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wait/wait_4638.html. When I put in Montreal, it says 2 days is the average wait time for an interview and 4 days for them to process it. However, it also says for a small number of applications, extra work may mean it takes up to 60 days! AND, as has happened to someone I know, you aren't allowed to inquire about the status of your application until 90 days have passed without hearing anything. Plus there is time required for the visa/passport to physically get back to you, I guess. Since we will have to attend the international student orientation at our future school, it is probably in our best interest to get the process started no later than 2 months before this orientation date. As Canadians though, we are allowed to simply visit the US without a visa, so maybe if we are having visa issues, we might still be able to "visit" the US until our visa is resolved and then exit the US and re-enter on our F1/J1 visas. Maybe they won't like this though.....but this is my backup plan if I run into troubles. Does anyone with experience know better?
  15. A Canadian friend who is in the US for school said that she had to start all over with her credit rating. So it might be the same for US citizens moving to Canada.
  16. The International Office at one of the schools told me that you cannot start the visa application process until 4 months before your program starts. So if it's a September program start, you won't be able to start until May anyways. So I think an early May marriage is OK. What province are you in? In BC, once you get the marriage license, you can get married the next day (and the license is only valid for 90 days)!
  17. In the sciences especially, the summer is seen as the time to really work on your thesis and research because you won't have courses or TA duties to attend to. Most students I talk to say they don't really begin their research until their first summer, and every fall/winter that they have classes, research tends to take a back seat. Most Canadian schools expect their students to pay fees for every semester until the final thesis has been submitted, and the only way to not pay fees is to formally withdraw from your program and then re-enrol later. This would only be recommended if you have to suspend your studies for a year or something for some reason! It is good that your fees at McGill get reduced after awhile, at my current school, we have to pay full fees even if we've finished all our courses and only using a minimum amount of resources with our research. Usually when a school quotes you tuition cost and fees, it is for the whole 12 month period, Sept to Sept., or per semester/term (so just multiply by 3). Also, sometimes you can switch to "part time status" and pay some fraction of the fees. Some students who run out of funding years and end up moving home to write their thesis may do this. Finally, almost all fellowships will require you to attend full time (and thus pay full fees) for the duration of the award/fellowship.
  18. Yay, I feel better about this every time I hear a Canadian has gone through it successfully! And I'm glad to hear that your wife's work permit was not difficult to get I should clarify that the information I got was that a "significant" portion of the money to cover the program must not be personal funds. But I haven't got a concrete upper limit on how much personal funds is allowed to be used? Maybe it's okay as long as it's less than 50%?
  19. Thanks purpledinosaur, that wiki page is amazing!!! Should have thought of that haha Unfortunately, when I looked up "standard deduction" on wiki, it says: "The standard deduction, as defined under United States tax law, is a dollar amount that non-itemizers may subtract from their income and is based upon filing status. It is available to US citizens and resident aliens (for tax purposes) who are individuals, married persons, and heads of household and increases every year. It is not available tononresident aliens residing in the United States." So, as holders of F1 or J1 visas, for the first 5.5 years in the US we won't have this standard deduction But at least I can add to my personal exemption since my wife will be a dependent at least for the first year. And if we can file as "married filing together", that increases the amount of tax I have to pay under the 10% bracket
  20. It turns out that non-residents *may* be treated differently. Non-residents who have less than 90% of their worldwide income coming from Canadian sources (e.g. this is likely to be true for the 2012 tax year since you are only in Canada for sept - dec, if you are starting this fall) are NOT eligible for any of the above tax credits! Also the basic exemption will be ~10800 for the 2012 tax year.
  21. It's called your "Basic Personal Amount". Here is the TD1, which is a form you fill out whenever you get a new job in Canada. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/td1/td1-12e.pdf. The website that links to this form is: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/td1/ In this form, you fill out each row and the total amount is your tax credits. Everyone is eligible for the top number (which has gone up to 10822* now; it rises every year) and if you qualify for the next ~12 rows, this will be more! Note that #5 is the educational credits I was mentioning before. (* note: for tax year 2012, which is probably what you want?) I just noticed that non-residents have to meet a certain requirement to be eligible for these tax credits! On the second page of the TD1, it basically says that as long as over 90% of your total worldwide income is from Canadian sources, you can claim Canadian tax credits. UBC residence is decent, "Marine Drive" is really nice, tall towers and usually 4 bedrooms sharing one kitchen and living room area. But you get a view of the whole campus through large glass windows. "Gage Towers" is older but also probably cheaper. I grew up in Vancouver so I didn't actually live on residence, I just commuted each day from home, but I've seen where my friends were living. It is important to note that in some residences, you will be kicked out for just under a week at the end of August because they need to "reset" all the residences for the new year. So be prepared for that! There is a grocery store that recently opened on campus at UBC (technically just south of campus) -- Save On Foods. It's pretty pricey though but you can use your bus pass to go into Vancouver proper to get groceries as well. I would guess that groceries for a month would cost about $150, but this would be highly dependent on you! If you get a cell phone, that's about $40-$50 a month for a basic phone. Other things such as paper, books, etc. would cost the same in Vancouver as anywhere else. 650/month inclusive for residence could be pretty good, at least for your first year. You can probably get something cheaper off campus if you find someone to share with and then you would only have 1 roommate and have more control over who it is. Your bus pass is included in your fees so you don't have to worry about extra costs for commuting (just extra time!). I also know some UBC grad students work on campus in one of the many student-run businesses in the Student Union Building. Also, I don't know if it's big in your field, but tutoring is often a popular side-job that many grad students do. The usual rate is somewhere between $30 to $40 an hour. Finally, for times when you are short on cash, there is a food bank run by the student society (AMS) that provides a bag of food to students 5 times a year. In addition, there is a organic/vegan food place in the student union building that gives you free lunches about once a week if you bring your own tupperware.
  22. From what I've heard, European PhD programs usually require a Masters degree. European undergraduate degrees are also often a 5 year BS + MS equivalent. So if you only have a 4 year BS from North America, usually that does not qualify you for graduate studies in Europe -- you need to do a 1-2 year MS program somewhere first! So, unless you've applied to a European school, we can probably be safe from this happening! But that story is absolutely terrifying, and it's definitely the school's fault -- how can you accept someone, give them a scholarship and then take it all back 2 weeks before the program starts! ahhh!
  23. Hi, You should expect to pay pretty much no taxes on your stipend, unless you are making a ton of money! See my post in this thread: for some example numbers. Rent in Vancouver is pretty expensive! Recently, Vancouver was "upgraded" to the #1 most expensive city to live in North America, edging out LA (http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vancouver+North+America+most+expensive+city/6150752/story.html) You probably would want to share to cut costs. I did my undergrad there, but I lived at home. From looking at rent prices when I was there, I noticed that rent is about $1000/month for a 1 bedroom place. So sharing is probably the best way to survive with your budget! At UBC, living on campus is definitely not much cheaper. Thunderbird residences at UBC are nice 1-bedroom townhouses and it costs about $900/month. These are meant for grad students. I think you can also live in dorm-style residences for a bit less. (If you are going to UBC).
  24. I haven't found anything that says, when it comes to Educational Tax Credits, that International students are treated differently than Canadian citizens. Income from RAships and TAships are considered normal income, as if you worked at McDonalds or something and that is fully taxable. You get a "T4" tax slip for these sources of income. Income from Scholarships, Fellowships, or other Awards are no longer considered taxable income (as of tax year 2010), as long as certain requirements are met -- most importantly: you are considered a full time student. For these sources of income, you get a "T4A" tax slip. Source for this information: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p105/p105-e.html#P120_8332, which says: "The total amount of the award that is received by you as a student with respect to your enrolment in a program that entitles you to claim the full-time education amount qualifies for the scholarship exemption and is not reported as income on your tax return." If you are a part time student, then, basically, only the portion of the award equal to your tuition + $500 is tax free. In addition, you are also allowed the following tax credits (from my 2010 tax return): (also see source: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns300-350/323/dctn-eng.html) $1 of tax credit for every $1 you pay in tuition. $400/month of tax credit for "living expenses" for every month you are registered as a full time student (some smaller amount if part time) $65/month of tax credit for "textbooks" for every month you are registered as a full time student ($20 if part time) $1 of tax credit for every $1 you pay in public transit passes (only if you buy monthly passes or through your student fees) You also get tax credit for moving expenses, but this is complicated to quantify. And, everyone gets about $9800 of tax free income as a basic exemption. So, lets say you pay $5000 in tuition and fees, and your program is 12 months full time, you will get $5000 + 12*$400 + 12*$65 + $9800 = 20380 of tax credits. This means that unless you make more than $20380, you won't pay ANY tax. You may actually qualify for other tax credits as well. And, the education tax credits (i.e. all of the above except for the $9800 basic exemption) are non-refundable credits (i.e. if you make less than this, you don't get money back) BUT they will carry over to future years (so if you graduate and end up working in Canada, it's extra tax credits for you!). In addition, you may transfer up to $5000 in educational tax credit to a spouse or parent who is making enough money to have to pay taxes. Note: These numbers are for the FEDERAL taxes only. You also have to pay PROVINCIAL taxes, but they are calculated separately, with their own tax credit system etc. It's basically a repeat of what you do for federal taxes with slightly different numbers (for example in Ontario you get $481/month for living expenses instead of $400) but the end result is the same! For most students, we never make enough money to have to pay tax and we graduate with a hefty amount of tax credits All this is assuming that international students get the same credits but there's nothing I've seen that says otherwise.
  25. Good luck!! Another thing to add to a lot of things others have already said: There are sometimes confidential peer support groups for students in these situations. Usually they are run by the Graduate School or, more likely, the Graduate Student Society/Association/whatever you have. They could be a good source for venting frustrations as well as getting tips on how to handle things, and sometimes even to get someone on your side if you end up having a confrontation.
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