RosamundReage

I would seriously consider option number one because of the funding, the small supportive program and that your SO is willing to move. I have recently had the same thoughts about choosing an interdisciplinary program and have been told by respected professors that it will not make a difference as long as I publish, go to conferences and do interesting work. These profs say all PHDs in humanities are problematic because there just are not a lot of jobs out there period and it is best to follow the funding (which a lot of interdisciplinary programs have). Even though option one is interdisciplinary it sounds like you will have a great opportunity to do new and exciting work being that it is a small program, and it sounds like you will be able to build a name for yourself there more so than at a large program that won't guarantee funding/be as supportive.

I would absolutely never take out such a big loan for an MA in Art History, unless you have a guaranteed job to go to after your MA. I really do not see the point of doing graduate degrees in the humanities unless you have funding, because it is very unlikely you will be able to pay off the loans right after you graduate. I would contact the schools financial office to see about options. You can also email your POI and ask them if they have/know of any RA/TAships you could apply for next year.

Actually this is a good point, Canadian school usually only look at the last two years of study not the whole 4 years. So make sure to calculate your GPA using only the last two years.

In Canada many universities guarantee funding for all graduate students and there is usually only 1-2 spots for international candidates, so it would be very unlikely to get in with a 3.0 average. Even for Canadian students your average would be too low for schools that guarantee funding, because you would not qualify for external scholarships. Some schools like UofT have large masters programs that do not guarantee funding and because you are an international student who has to pay a lot in tuition, you may have a shot. Even though Canadian students do not have to take the GRE, these programs will often look at it for international students, so that is another plus. The UK has even more "cash-cow" masters programs at well known universities like LSE. Again because you are an international student and have to pay more in tuition you have a shot at acceptance. I had a friend who had a 3.3 GPA and got into LSE (and actually UofT). This person went to LSE and is now in a ton of debt, so you have to be aware that because of your low GPA you will probably have to pay a lot for your degree if you go to Canada or the UK. I am not sure how scholarships work in the US and if GRE scores count towards scholarships, this would probably be something to look into.

I am not in engineering, so do not have a ton of knowledge on what is the best school, but I always advise people to go to the school that will incur the least amount of debt and one that be likely to help you get a job afterward. ASU actually has a very well respected department that does postgraduate job placements and they claim to give students in the MSE program up to 30,000 a year fellowships. If you have a professor at either Florida or ASU that you would like to work with I would strongly advise going where the money is and not going into huge amounts of debt for a masters degree.

I am confused Frozencake you said earlier on this thread that you did not get in? Also, you need to have an MA to even apply for the PHD program so I am not sure how you could be admitted straight out of an undergraduate program.

Yes, things like this do happen and your best bet is to contact the program director NEOMFA and tell her/him that you received an acceptance letter and than a rejection and this has placed you in a precarious situation because you were very excited about attending the program. I would ask for a face to face meeting to discuss the issue and how you could get conflicting responses. Because they have not emailed you back I would call them first thing and book an appointment. Legally if you received an actual letter of acceptance they are very much in the wrong, but be very polite and explain that you had already made plans to attend the program and are now under undue stress because of the conflicting responses. While you need to maintain professionalism you will also need to convey that you are upset because of the position this has placed you in.

I would highly recommend doing a 2 year program as it gives you the time explore your research developments and gives you the opportunity for professional development. I am so glad I did a 2 year program as I had amazing opportunities to develop a great research project and I was also able to go to conferences, get published and apply for and get prestigious scholarships. None of my friends who did a one year program were able to have half the opportunities that I did and did their masters on "autopilot" without getting much out of it. If you do a one year program be prepared to not have very much time to work on your thesis as you will have to take courses while researching in most programs. Unless you are absolutely certain of your research goals and have already been published/gone to conferences I would recommend doing a two year in order to hone your skills and boost your resume for a PHD.

This is a really interesting topic and something I have been thinking about. Many people have told me that grad school is actually a fairly good time to have a baby (post-coursework and post-comps) since you do a lot of work from home during this period in most PHD programs. Since the OP is finishing her masters it may or may not be a good time depending on coursework/thesis demands. I had a question about mat leave and grad school. In Canada employers have to give you a year of maternity or paternity leave, do universities have to follow this rule?

I agree with the "choose funding" side. It seems crazy to me to go into debt to the tune of 5 or even 6 figures for a graduate degree, especially a MA! In the humanities this is pretty much guaranteeing you will be paying off your students loans for at least the next decade. This may be a Canadian/American difference but I would never consider a program that would make me pay tuition, and probably wouldn't even consider a program that didn't offer to pay my living expenses through scholarships/TA positions. It is already hard enough to live off of the $15-20,000 most grad programs here offer to pay you that I just could't imagine not even getting that. That being said prestige should always be a factor in your decisions, but you can still bolster your resume even more by going to conferences and getting published which may be more doable without the financial stress. But definitely email Chicago and ask them if there is any possibility of getting financial help and or a TAship (and make sure to mention your other offer).

Usually after admittance final transcripts are not a big deal. From my recollection I got into my MA program in early March and was probably sent an email in May to get my final transcripts submitted in the next month or so. I am sure if you get in and are on vacation they would not care if you email them that you will have the transcripts sent when you get back; however, if you know you are admitted before you leave you may as well just do a transcript request so you don't have to worry about it. Even though you are on the waitlist it may be a good idea to send them your final transcrpts anyway to show improvement and some programs apprciate the effort to show that you are still interested. It wont hurt ask them if there is anything else they need to make you a stronger candidate, and there are a lot of posts on the waitlist discussion threads that talk about sending updated transcripts and writing samples.

I actually think your email sounds good and would send it. You can also contact your POI, maybe CC her/him on the email to the program director?

While I agree that generally your GPA would not meet the cutoff for most grad programs, I would like to point out that many European schools admit a lot of international students because of the fees they can charge. This is especially true at the MA level and I have a friend that got into a top school in the UK with a B average right out of undergrad. While your GPA is low, your work experience is definitely an asset, especially as it is in the same field you want to study. If you have some publications and conference presentations during your employment then I would say this would demonstrate an aptitude for graduate study and would urge you to contact some schools for more information. As others have mentioned you could take some non-degree grad courses but definitely contact the schools first describing your work accomplishments and that you were not a very strong student 7 years ago as they may tell you that your GPA is not a big factor.

Yes, PHD programs do look for indicators of professional development as a means to weed out candidates as most people will have high GPAs and GRE scores. If you already have a publication from undergrad I wouldn't worry too much, but do try to apply for conferences. It is really easy to rework a course paper for a conference, so should't take up too much time. Also try to get the conference to publish your paper and you kill two birds with one stone!

I do not think a reduced course load will be noticed much by admissions committees as they just tend to look at the final GPA. I have to differ from the above post and say the GPAs do matter in the sense that most programs have a cutoffs (usually -A to +b, but I do agree that research potential is very important. If I were you I would try to get a research position from one of your professors to bolster my application.

It may not be what you want to hear but your GPA is of the upmost importance if you want to get into grad school. A C is actually a pretty big deal as many schools will automatically discard applications of anyone with lower than an A- maybe B+ average. You will also be precluded from most scholarships if you average is lower than an A-. I agree with Sigaba and blankstate to try to take the course on a pass/fail option or just audit the course. I have audited courses at both the grad and undergrad level and I find it almost more satisfying as you do not need to be stressed out by grades.

I would email SVA telling them about your other offer and see if they can give you some funding. You could also ask your POI at SVA if she/he knows of any RA positions to further offset the costs. If SVA is unwilling to give you any funding I would not advise becoming so in debt for grad school. Actually either option seems to require more debt than I would ever advise. I guess you have to ask yourself if you see the MFA from either school giving you the earning potential to pay off these loans quickly.

I agree with the OP that your posts in this thread have been pretty negative. I don't think the OP was trying to get advice to send "handwritten scented cards" as you suggested in the last post, but to get some advice of what to say to POIs from a rejected program. I think it is bad advice to tell someone that a professor that they have been in contact and accepted them to work with will not want to hear from them. As we all know grad school is extremely competitive and often professors in a program will only pick one or two students that they would like to work with and will suggest them for admittance. Professors often spend a significant amount of time fighting for certain students and it would be unwise to not send an email thanking them for their support and telling them of your final decision.

Has anyone heard anything about funding yet?

I agree that a simpIe email to the program as a whole is all that is required, but think it is definitely a good idea to email all the POIs and to tell them that unfortunately you will be declining the offer. I would thank them for their time and mention that you really wanted to work with them and hope to see them at conferences. It may not be completely necessary, but it is good to build connections in academia no matter what some of the other posters have said. These people may be on a hiring committee or in a program you would like to do a post-doc, so it always good to follow up and thank them.

Yes, Vancouver is pretty expensive I think even more expensive than Toronto by some counts. Big American cities like NYC still cost a lot more to live in though. I know in my program international students all have lucrative TAships, but we also all have guaranteed funding. Professional degrees can be tricky because they may not feed an undergrad program that needs TAs, but I think the school will probably try to work with you if are accepted. You could also contact any professors you would like to work with and see if they have research positions available. Good Luck!

Of course you will be welcomed in Canada. While no country is perfect one of the tenets of Canadian society in multiculturalism and overt racism that is often found in our neighbours to the south is not tolerated and often criminal as hate speech/propaganda is outlawed. Even though it is wikipedia this article describes how hate speech is prosecuted in Canada unlike the US (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_Canada) Universities in Canada charge more for international students because they do not get funding from the government not because of racism (sort of explained above). Even though they do charge more it is not as much as American schools and you can see on here many American students come to Canada to save money. I am not sure where you are getting your information but I think it is rather unlikely that an American school will charge you less. You should also see about scholarships for international students, there are quite a few. There is a lot of misinformation on this thread regarding international students in Canada and I would do some more research before I would believe it.

The reason that York does not review the files together is because the funding structure is different for the different pools. York guarantees funding for all of its graduate students, which is very different from say schools like UofT or McGill or most American schools who make a lot of money from international student fees. In order to fund every student York relies on funding from the government that is set aside for Canadian/perminant residents and they also only admit students who have possibilities of bringing in funding (most scholarships like SSHRC require you to be at least a permanent resident of Canada). The funding changes year to year and most programs at York only can offer admission to 6 Canadian/ permanent residents + 1-2 international students because they cover all the cost of tuition and provide employment through TA jobs. Most financial offers at the PHD level are at least $20,000 guaranteed funding for 6 years- $120,000 total, so it is a big financial commitment for the university to take on an international student who will most likely not provide much outside funding. Considering York has one of the most multi-ethnic student bodies as it is ridiculous to say in is xenophobic based on the amount of international students admitted (and they do also admit a lot of international students at the undergraduate level). Canadian citizens and permanent residents are multi-ethinic and many perminant residents have been in Canada for a very short period of time and are in the same pool of candidates that have been in Canada for generations. Just because York does not let as many international students because they do not want to gouge graduate students out of money is not an indicator of xenephobia. Do you really think the universities that admit tons of international students and charge them $40,000-50,000 a year are doing it for altruistic purposes?

I would definitely let them know about the other offer and ask the department about the possibility of getting a TAship. Maybe email the program directly and your POI asking about the possibility of getting a TA/RAship for next year and not just the financial aid office. Are you planning on doing a PHD? Because if you are just doing a masters you will have to consider if you will be able to get a high enough paying job after you graduate that will pay off such a big loan, even if it is Harvard (though congrats and yes you should still probably go).

Frozencake I would not count yourself out just yet. Yes, a few emails have gone out but we do not know if all offers have been received yet. Email is notoriously dubious when applying to grad school and sometimes a letter will just show up in your mailbox. These offers are also the first round and some people may reject them (especially because they were sent out so late). This was an immensely competitive year for comcult on the York side and I believe they received almost 90 applications for 8 spots so do not feel bad! I would call York in the next couple days for an update on your application and if you were not one of the few who were sent first round offers I would ask if my application could be sent over to the ryerson side. Far fewer people applied to Ryerson and many of the top rejected York candidates will be sent over there so you still have a good shot of getting in even if you do not get in on the York side. You can even try contacting the ryerson GPD to ask if you application can be sent over. Please do not feel bad even if you do not get in as I said it is so competitive right now. If you want to try again next year try to build a closer bond with your potential supervisor and even try to get a LOR from them.