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I would like to provide some information regarding the reality of getting admitted to top 5 ranked Canadian graduate schools in the Computer Science Program. I work in the field and it appears to me that many applicants are not aware of some of the basic requirements to be admitted that are not overtly stated but definitely required. Unfortunately, I am unable to reveal my university or position as I wish to remain anonymous. Most of the time, you MUST have previous degree from a top school of your country, especially for students with a degree outside of Canada/USA/UK. This is extremely crucial for international students and unless you meet this requirement, it is extremely difficult to be admitted. For most countries, you will need to be in the top 5-10 universities in your country (excluding Canada/US/UK/India). For India, UK, and Canada you will generally need to be in the top 20 universities and for the US, top 50 may be considered, however, top 20 has a greater chance of being admitted. One of the first considerations of the reviewer is the school in which you graduated and how that school ranks in your country. To elaborate, having a degree from a top university is important because this is the only sure way to prove that you are performing well academically because the teaching standard and research caliber of top schools are widely recognized and can easily be compared top Canadian universities. It is impossible for each top Canadian university to understand the teaching, grading and research standard of hundreds of thousands of universities in the world, including many in a foreign language with public and private systems and most reviewers will not dig around for information regarding unknown institutions. For example, there are some universities that give a grade of 75% or above to only one in a few thousand students, whereas another university can have a graduating average of 3.7 GPA. With variations like these, unless you graduated from a top university in your country where the general grading trend and teaching quality is recognized by the Canadian school, your chances of admission are slim to none. Furthermore, the other reason a top university is important is that reviewers want to see reference letters from colleagues or faculty they know and value the opinions of. Since most top researchers in Computer Science meet in major conferences, presentations and events around the world, they are aware of each other’s work, reputation and standards when writing and reading reference letters. Most of these outstanding members of the academic community are also positioned in top schools coinciding with the reviewer’s search applications from top schools. The top Canadian graduate programs in Computer Science receive over 1000 and sometimes even over 2000 applications per year, with three reference letters per application this is an astronomical number of letters to read. Taking this number into account, while the content of reference letters matter, the respectability of the reference writer is arguably even more important. For example, a reviewer reading 100 applications a day would have to read 300 reference letters, 100 of them may indicate that the student is in the top 10% of their program. In the end, being top 10% may not mean anything because there are too many top 10%s and it does not indicate the quality of the student or education. Moreover, there have been examples where the same reference writer indicated that three different students from the same year and class were the number one student in their class. In cases like these, reviewers go back to looking at the top universities, since the caliber of education is known, and they may know the reference writers, therefore, ensuring the letter is reliable. If you believe that there are many exceptions to the rule, consider that the admission data from the previous year from one of the top Canadians schools: only TWO offers out of more than 100 offers made were outside of the guidelines above. Of course, an excellent statement, GPA, reference letters, GRE, and English proficiency are also required even from a top university. Moreover, other factors such as publications, conference experience, research projects and work experience, other achievements are also considered, however, if you do not meet the top university requirement, you will likely need astounding achievements in the other factors to even be considered for admission. The information provided refers to research Master’s and PhD programs in top Canadian universities and does not necessarily reflect industry targeted master’s programs in Computer Science. I am happy to answer any questions or clarify any points, feel free to contact me or respond to this post.

Hi, I have been corresponding with a potential supervisor from UCalgary and he gave me the go ahead to submit the application, also said he'd follow up on my application at the appropriate time. Since then I have submitted my application and relevant documents. Calgary recommends contacting a supervisor before applying so where do my admission chances stand now?Besides UCalgary I have applied in Carleton University only. Should I apply elsewhere just to be safe? I am so confused! Please suggest some universities which would be a sure shot for my profile. Details: Btech in CSE CGPA 8.28/10 GRE 308[155Q, 153V] AWA 4 TOEFL 110 One year+ Work experience Lots of community work Few extracurricular activities Good LORS and SOP

Is there anybody joining UCalgary this Fall?

I have been accepting to two programs (my first choice rejected me) which are very different and I am having a very difficult time deciding which is the best choice. Simon Fraser and Calgary have both accepted me and offered me similar funding. I'll outline the main differences below..SFU - Master of Resource Management (Planning)-$6500 funding plus opportunity for SSHRC and TAship money which would entirely cover tuition and more-accredited planning program-co-op option-Focus is on environmental planning and resource management-research opportunities for pipeline benefit sharing agreements with First Nations, implications of Great Bear Rainforest Agreement, etc-supervisor is head of the program and has done some extremely prominent research-only 1 elective-allows me to pursue a PhD in the future if I choose to-no studios-very little emphasis on urban and community planning- no GIS or computer modelling course required-in Vancouver (I would like to work in southern BC and I am from the Lower Mainland)-more job opportunities in provincial govCalgary - Master of Planning-$6000 funding which covers half of tuition. I do not think there are opportunities for SSHRC or TAships (I will email and confirm)-accredited planning program-no internship or co-op option, but i can always find my own summer student job-VERY well rounded curriculum with a focus on environmental design and community planning-4 studios and major project-mandatory technology elective plus 2 others-could not do a PhD after-in Calgary (which is not where I would like to settle)-more job opportunities in local govAbout me:I have a degree in forestry and have a summer of experience working in forestry and living in a very small town. I am taking part in a legislative internship program with the government for 6 months currently. I am interested in natural resource management, parks and regional planning, and community planning and development.If you are familiar with BC, I would ideally like to work in the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley/Island/Sunshine Coast/Okanagan. These are all areas with small urban centres and usually surrounded by forest and farmland and very much influenced by natural resource development and extraction. Ideally, I would like to work for a local government and they often would like you to be very familiar with municipal policies and community planning. I believe my 'dream' job would be to be a Parks Planner or Land Use Planner in one of these areas and also have broad enough experience to have input into community plans and development.SO my question is... Do you think it would be better to go to a school which places more emphasis on 'community planning' rather than resource management if I would like to work for a municipality? Or should I take all the experiences I would get with SFU, in a city I would like to live in, and cross my fingers I can find a co-op in a municipality? One other option I have been considering is going to SFU and if I have a hard time breaking into the municipalities, then take a graduate diploma in urban studies or applied planning... though that is more time and money..Thoughts??

Hi guys! I was wondering if any of you have gotten any feedback regarding your applications so far, especially from the ECE departments? Best regards!

Hi guys, has anyone applied for a graduate program in University of Calgary for spring 2016 ? Is it absolutely necessary to get a supervisor before admission decision are made for their research based masters ? Some other schools admit before u get to pick a supervisor.