AnonymousAcademic

Oh geez.. sorry to be repetitive!

CONGRATULATIONS! Sooooo jealous! You are the first that I am aware of to hear from Carleton for any program! I keep checking my carleton central HOPING for it to be changed. What was the status changed to? Offer of Admission? I'm just curious.

I get asked all the time when will I hear, and although I have heard back from one so far (wait-listed), I haven't told the majority of my family or my in-laws that decision or that I have applied out of town. My husband and I just had our first baby in September, and if I got in out of town, we'd be moving a 2days drive away. I'm waiting to find out if I get in before I tell others, ESPECIALLY my mother-in-law, that I've applied out of town. She would flip out on me for sure. I can just imagine what she'd say if I told her I applied out of town... I think I'd get every response listed here! Good luck to everyone!

This is my background/stats.... At the local college, I completed the Legal Assistant Certification, took some legal courses and completed the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario Diploma. I worked full-time as a Law Clerk while completing my diploma and during my undergraduate studies. I was concurrently registered at the local college and university, finishing my Law Clerks Diploma while in undergrad. I also completed my four-year HBA, double major, in three years. My Undergraduate GPA: Gerontology, 3.58; Women's Studies, 3.62; overall, 3.50 (I think this is pretty good since I fast-tracked my degree, was working on my Law Clerks Diploma and worked full-time). My Graduate Studies GPA: 3.90 (what a difference, eh!) I am a research assistant (since May 2011), a graduate assistant (since September 2011). I hold two national awards (one is SSHRC and one national fellowship) and five university scholarships. My M.Ed. thesis is under examination right now - I will graduate in June 2013. Good luck to everyone!

My status went from: Preliminary Review Required - from the time I started the application to after the deadline... ...then I didn't check the application for over 2 weeks (surprising, eh, haha).... ...then, when I did check it, it said Recommended for Assessment. ...and that's where it's at right now.

Nah, not a downer - I know this whole process is long. We all have random thoughts about what it all means until we finally get that decision....until then, I'm keeping my thoughts positive!

I'm hoping that recommended for assessment meaning is across the board, lol because then that means good things for me!!!!!

I have checked my status so many times online, that it asked me to reset my pin! LOL

Hey there, Congratulations on the offer from UAlberta! I'd say that this offer is pretty decent. I think it is fairly typical for good-standing graduate students to receive approximately 25k per year. If you apply for SSHRC and other national awards, you may increase your funding! I can only speak from my experience really, and for my M.Ed., I was offered just over 25k per academic year from the university I attend. This includes RA/TA positions, entrance scholarships and second year scholarships based on grades. I also applied to external organizations, such as SSHRC and CFUW, and won additional awards - the total amount of funding I received for my M.Ed. including external awards was over 70k. ...so my advice is to apply everywhere! ...and keep your grades up - UAlberta might offer second year scholarships or higher based on academic standing. Good luck!

I'm still waiting to hear from Carleton re: PhD, but from what I can tell, offers don't go out until mid-March.

Congratulations! I keep checking Carleton Central like mad. I know they send emails, but it's fun to push buttons! lol

Here is my story... When I finished high school, I didn't want to go to university, so I enrolled in the local college in online learning courses - I completed the Legal Assistant Certification, took some legal courses and started the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario Diploma Program in September 2007. All of these programs were influenced by my high school co-op where I worked for a law firm. In October 2007, I obtained full-time employment as a Law Clerk. My initial goal was to go to law school... eventually... I approached the junior lawyers I was working for and asked if it would be alright to attend university and still work. The two lawyers let me re-arrange my working schedule with my academic schedule. I bounced around full-time employment - it was difficult! I started the HBA program in January 2008. I applied literally 2 days before Christmas holidays to start the first week in January, so I had no scholarships. I believe that if I would have waited the extra 9 months, I would have obtained scholarships since my high school and college GPA were well above 85%. I got married in June 2008, four months after starting university. I ended my working relationship with my full-time employer in May 2010, but worked part-time at a different firm as a Law Clerk until February 2011. I attended university and college at the same time. I graduated from the Law Clerks Diploma Program in December 2010 and I graduated First Class Standing with a double major in Gerontology and Women's Studies in May 2011. In September 2011, I started the M.Ed. program at the same university. This time though, I was lucky. I have been a research assistant since May 2011 and I have been a graduate assistant since September 2011. I hold two national awards (one federal scholarship and one national fellowship) and four university scholarships. My M.Ed. thesis is under examination right now - I will graduate in June 2013. My hubby and I had our first baby in September 2012... and here I am applying to a PhD in Legal Studies. We joke about when I am eventually done a PhD, what will I do... I have jobs in mind, but I say hrmmm.... law school?? lol

Here are my tips - I have learned some from working as an RA - seeing how my professors write too.... pretty interesting. Gather all the quotes/notes you have made - organize them into headings, then put them together.... once that is done, second round.... add in your words, edit the quotes - of course, cite, cite, cite! No plagiarizing! That's just the tip of it... then once you are on a roll and right into action, keep writing. Write, write, write. I wrote my entire thesis in about 7 months - my first full draft, that is - it's 133 pages long. Of course, that isn't including the time it takes for interviews/transcribing.... It all seems like a blur to me. I wrote in the wee hours of the morning when I literally was too tired to notice how much I had gotten done, lol. I seem to do that a lot - write in the early hours. I almost always have headphones on while writing too. I block out the music, but as long as they are on, it helps me relax. Another tip, which has already been mentioned, is to talk out your issue - i.e. I would just describe what I was trying to write to one of my friends, but while i was talking to her about it, I would type too. It made it a lot easier. Talk to family too - my Mom and spouse, whether they liked it or not, probably know my topic as well as I do, lol. My thesis has been approved by my supervisor and has been with my committee member for over 3wks now. I anticipate I will get it back this week with comments/changes. Once I edit it, it will be onto its 3rd examiner, and then the 4th... then graduation! I can't wait to graduate June 1 with a M.Ed.! Good luck to everyone writing a thesis.

I sure hope the recommended for assessment is a good sign. I will be devastated if it turns out I am rejected. The deadline for CarletonU was Feb.1... I'm guessing I won't hear anything until March/April - it is agonizing! I still check the website about 5x a day hoping it'll change to Accepted or something positive. I'm not sure how many people they accept and I think my credentials are good for admission! I don't even know what type of competition I'm looking at...there aren't any stats to compare online. As an added bonus, I am soooo glad that my Masters thesis supervisor is well-known at Carleton - maybe that'll help me! No, I haven't contacted the university to inquire about the wait-list. What I can do is ask my committee member - she is on the admissions committee. I'll wait until after she is done examining my Masters thesis though (woohoo - examination #2 of 4!).

I'm in the same boat too - almost every week my spouse and I are discussing the "what ifs"... What if I get accepted... What happens if I get rejected... What if, what if, what if...

I can't help but check my app status at Carleton every day - multiple times a day - hoping that "recommended for assessment" will turn into "accepted" - argh! frustrating! I don't like this waiting game - my spouse and I are wondering what's going to happen, because he'd leave his job and we'd move if I got in. Fingers crossed! Congrats to everyone who has received an acceptance already! I'm jealous! lol

I'm wait-listed for a PhD in Education. Was told in the letter that they would contact me January 31.... it is now February 13 and I am still waiting... This isn't first choice though - first choice I am "recommended for assessment" - a glimpse of hope!

I'd say about a week or so... When I was wait-listed, I didn't find out until a week after because the university sent snail-mail, rather than an e-mail. Good luck!

I applied to three PhD programs in Canada - I think that MUN is the worst process for individuals applying to the PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies. I have emailed multiple professors there as POI and only one responded. It is the prospective student's responsibility to have 3 faculty sign on as supervisors before they will accept you. I didn't apply to the PhD in Education even though I will have a M.Ed. because I do not have professional teaching experience. I did, however, apply to interdisciplinary studies because I have legal experience and my proposed topic encompasses law, education and women's studies. Nevertheless, I feel hopeless that my MUN app will be complete. Oh well. I also applied to Carleton University for the PhD in Legal Studies. Thus far, my app status is "Recommended for Assessment". Here's to hoping - Carleton is my top choice. My other application was to the PhD Program in Education at Lakehead University. I'm wait-listed there because I haven't yet graduated from my M.Ed. - I think that process of acceptance isn't fair - In my opinion, just because you are done your masters degree doesn't necessarily make you a better applicant. Just my two cents. C'mon Carleton!

I was 24 when I started my M.Ed. in 2011. I graduate June 1; turn 26 June 3 ...and hopefully start the PhD Program in Legal Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON, CAN in September. Fingers crossed!

I applied to Carleton University in Ottawa, ON, Canada for a PhD in Legal Studies and my app status is "Recommended for Assessment". I'm on the waiting list for the PhD in Education at Lakehead University. Woohoo, the glorious waiting game! I only applied to 2 schools - might write the GRE and apply next year to schools in the US. I'm not in a hurry to complete a PhD, lol. Good luck to you all.

Hi there, I am in the same boat - sort of. I have been in communication with a potential PhD Supervisor for about 4 months now. We have spoken over the phone once and have e-mailed many times. This past week, I had an appointment for a meet and greet (I live over 12 hours away, and my spouse and I drove to the university). Well, the morning we left (which was the day before the meeting), I received an e-mail advising that they weren't going to be at the university, but if I could simply meet them Sunday or Monday. I had advised that it was impossible because my husband took 2 days off of work so we could drive there (we also had a family function going on the same weekend, but was 4 hours closer to where we lived). I even emailed the moment we arrived in the city, thinking that they would be around that evening and might be interested in meeting... but no response to any of my emails. I had this appointment booked for over 2 months, and it was even confirmed the week before. The e-mail from them advising that they weren't going to be at the university sounded like "it's Friday, I don't want to be there, I want to enjoy a longer weekend"...no mention of "I am really apologetic, an emergency has come up, etc. etc." I haven't been able to find any negative reviews about this professor from graduate students; however, on ratemyprofessor there are multiple negative reviews from undergraduate students who are mostly in first year. I'm not sure what to do. I really like the university that this professor works at, and no other professor at this university will take on my project because the legal aspects are beyond their expertise. This professor has even agreed to fund my research, and has discussed other funding with me. I am applying at my home university as well for the PhD program; however, I am really disappointed that this professor basically blew me off. I'm not sure if I should still apply to this university. Does anyone have any suggestions? AnonymousAcademic