marxram

Just got mine in the snail mail today ( was wondering why no email came)... 15000 for 5 semesters, as AH YES noted, seems standard. The funding does not seem to be that great, at least for the MA people.

Nope for the MA.

Lol, I didn't mean to sound... arrogant, sorry . I am going to sfu cmns which is in my hometown and my undergrad program, and I really like it there and the faculty. York is super tempting though, especially in toronto!

AH Yes!, haha, congrats! So you got in. I haven't received an email either, but I saw your post, and got accepted as well (just today the status changed). Almost a shame to turn it down, York looks rad(ical). Once I get the email I will share the funding info.

Exactly, it's not something you hear much. One of my referees told me that it doesn't matter if you have a top GPA, as long as someone cannot recognize you or is willing to work with you, it will be to no avail. Congrats on McMaster, I tried applying there (loved their split between the Media and Cmns sides of the same coin), but they refused to take my application, no honours BA (I am just too tired of undergrad to do one), but perhaps that's only what they said to me... either way, congrats. My funding for SFU is solid (without going into details), I should be able to get by. Ottawa just sent me their funding offer today, a bit better than SFU's (I got a good scholarship in addition to the department regular funding), but still not worth it compared to SFU. Besides, as pretty as Ottawa can be, compared to Van, it'd be a bit boring (no offense, Ottawians!) . York, we will see, eh. To the people talking about UBC above. I have tons of friends from there, and many are international or from out of province, and the general belief is that UBC is now trying to attract more and more international students to help with funding (with the exorbitant fees they have to pay) as well as to diversify their student base. Some programs, though, such as Med. are a bit more locally targeted (they severely give preference to BC students)... again, this is all just from the students there, who knows if they are right.

Well, I am glad I got into SFU, because Carleton was my 2nd choice (but my application wasn't as strong, I did not contact POIs ahead of time, and I was just exhausted from all the other applications so I didn't customize my LOI). At Ottawa, I contacted a POI and "sold" him my research proposal, so that seems to have paid off. At SFU, since it's my undergrad, I had several strong recommendations as well as my research really fitting into line with some of the faculty's interests, so I think the lesson learned here (for my eventual PhD applications) is contact the POI, research the research culture of the university, and customize the proposal. I am interested to see what York/Ryerson Cm/Cult MA has to say, they were my #3 (not that it matters)! Anyway, heard anything from your end yet? I know you are waiting on the York/Ryerson, so that should be out in a week... good luck, it sounds like the program to be in for Cmns in eastern canada, lot of SFU faculty did their PhDs or MAs there and they are usually really solid.

Carleton Communication MA let me know today, rejected (first rejection, but doesn't feel that bad mainly because I got into the program I wanted already). Good luck to all the rest out there.

Ottawa Cmns MA sent me an offer on Saturday, in case anyone applied there. @Ah Yes! - got into SFU, my top choice for cmns.

Oh, if anyone is on the Calgary MA cmns/cult waitlist, I just accepted an offer from my top school (got in today), so I will be releasing that spot. I think someone wrote on the survey they were waiting as #1 on Calgary's waitlist...

Another MA applicant here! Anyone have any idea on how the York program would compare to the Calgary MA in Cmns and Cult? I got an offer there, and my deadline is at the end of March, but I don't want to accept or decline before I know what York has to say. I am looking for people's experiences and/or second hand knowledge (I mean, ok, I am killing time here, but it's nice to speculate ahead of time). Anyway, yeah, myfile... checked that every day - forcing myself to stop now! Any other people applied to any other MA Cmns programs in Canada (not to hijack thread) - any info?

That really sucks, especially after that tense wait!!! Perhaps this year the competition was particularly high again, are you planning to try next year as well?

This is very helpful as well. I am not sure what the practices are at that uni, I will check into it, and consult with the grad secretary, s/he might be better able to advise me on, exactly as you say, those "practices". My main concern was I am not sure why they picked this person in the first place, since we are so different in focus, but perhaps it is as you say, simply a distribution of workload! That is very helpful, thanks a lot!

Ok, that makes perfect sense. I have to wait on my other schools (to see if I get any offers), but eventually if I accept this one I can just explain the situation to her. It does clearly specify "interim" and given my proposal was very specific in one field, I am assuming they are aware of what my general interests are and have selected her simply as an available interim option until I find someone more suited. But I think the problem was I was looking at it still in terms of personal relationships, rather than as you say, business. Cheers!

Hey all, I am applying in the Canadian social sciences field, and I got an offer from a good university, but the interim supervisor they assigned me is working in a completely different field from mine, i.e. focusing on aspects of my field that I know nothing about and have no interest in. This is a MA program. I know it is ok to find a new one (supervisor) for your permanent supervisor, but can you advise me as to how common this is, whether it is ok to do so (issues of politeness) and whether it is likely that another supervisor might take me under their wing. Cheers, M

Ok, thanks for the heads up. Yeah, taking opportunities makes sense, and I think at all the bigger schools there are a few. I already got into Calgary so I will still prefer that to York - not to whip out rankings, but as you said, York tends to do more badly in the prof-to-student ratios and other important things like that... I think the only hard choice will be Carleton, if I get in. Everyone seems to really like it, their journalism is really famous (I assume the cmns program is very good along those lines) and one of my profs whom I really like is from there and she said it was excellent. Well, one more month to wait!