Applying to Munk 2019, NPSIA, GSPIA, BSIA etc.

[GradSchoolWot]

3 minutes ago, eyeb said:

All these schools are top in their field (in Canada). Getting into grad school is an enough of an accomplishment and should not be diminished by the line of thinking that one is a lesser school:).  Also if it helps, my sister went to a 'nothing' school for her Masters and still landed her dream job :).

Trust me, you're preaching to the choir. I think it's just the idea of buyer's remorse, or 'the grass is greener on the other side' mindset. I'm sure at a certain level the school doesn't as much as other factors. I remember when I was applying to undergrad and I was debating between my Schulich, Queen's, and Ivey AEO offers and thinking what I chose would dictate my life. I ended up choosing political science instead after visiting those schools and just not feeling it, but I'm sure you can imagine my friends' reaction, and my parents' at the time.

Everything always works out in the end, eh?

[pokegenie]

1 hour ago, revalith said:

I had to reread this a few times. I assume you mean that across *both* years, TAing would've paid ~20k but is half for both years, with RA only one year?

No one I have seen has ever gotten more than ~26 or 27k from NPSIA (I've talked to many of them) so I would assume they made up the difference between that 'max' amount and what you got for the half-TA position in scholarships, didn't they? At the very least, that's what mine looks like: still comes out to 26k across all sources. Personally I'd rather have the shortfall made up in scholarships...

Also, Carleton does half-TAing positions all the time. Courses hire for 130 hours or 65 hours on a regular basis - I've been a TA several times here. Last semester I was on a TA team for a course where I was doing 130 hours but the NPSIA part of the team were only doing 65 hours. It's pretty common.

Do they give TAships once you start courses in the University? My funding is kind of underwhelming. I haven't received any TA or RA, considering I have no background can't complain. But all scholarships combined, I have 14k (available only for the first year, nothing on second year was included). So I was wondering if you can personally go and apply for a TA or RA once you finish a semester or two.

Edited March 5, 2019 by pokegenie

[wot]

Just now, pokegenie said:

Do they give TAships once you start courses in the University? My funding is kind of underwhelming. I haven't received any TA or RA, considering I have no background can't complain. But all scholarships combined, I have 14k. So I was wondering if you can personally go and apply for a TA or RA once you finish a semester or two.

Sorry to hear you didn't get the funding you had hoped for. However, even if you didn't get a guaranteed TA or RA position you can still apply if positions open in the fall! It's not guaranteed or anything, but it's a possibility. You don't even need to wait a semester to apply as long as positions are open

[pokegenie]

1 minute ago, wot said:

Sorry to hear you didn't get the funding you had hoped for. However, even if you didn't get a guaranteed TA or RA position you can still apply if positions open in the fall! It's not guaranteed or anything, but it's a possibility. You don't even need to wait a semester to apply as long as positions are open

Thanks a lot! That is what I was wondering. I have to complete prereq Econ courses too. And long distance from a different country is already draining my pockets lol. Have you accepted the offer?

[StefonDiggs14]

13 hours ago, RLNCC180 said:

Your stats sound solid to me! Those are some great extracurriculars.

I'm curious about your GPA calculation. How did you get 3.54 and 3.7 for 81.5%? I have a similar GPA and couldn't really find a reliable way to convert it to a 4.0 scale. What methods did you use? Thanks

Thanks!

Well, I gave each course a corresponding GPA, and then averaged those out. Reason for my low GPA but high average is because one of my courses ended up being a 74, and I got two high 70's (3.0, and 3.3), so it kind of skewed everything down. But I am unsure if they will just take my % average and then give that a GPA which would be a 3.7, but if they give each grade a GPA then average that, I end up with 3.54. 

 

Hope this helps

[KChiney]

Received an offer to BSIA's MIPP program last night! I was awarded the Graduate Fellowship at $15K and waiting for the formal offer. Also, still waiting on uOttawa 

Edited March 5, 2019 by KChiney

[wot]

2 hours ago, pokegenie said:

Thanks a lot! That is what I was wondering. I have to complete prereq Econ courses too. And long distance from a different country is already draining my pockets lol. Have you accepted the offer?

No, I haven't. Still waiting to hear back from a couple other programs but I'm not expecting any updates until after the NPSIA acceptance deadline so I may just have to accept for now.

[poutinead]

4 hours ago, GradSchoolWot said:

Just basing it off talking to my friends who applied this year; most of them said they would be accepting Munk over NPSIA. So I wouldn't be surprised if they had more people this year, however idk if that would be their reason; they could have still done rolling, or first and second round. Also considering every school I applied to had a round around Feb 27 except Munk, this means that everyone has an offer that expires mid-March. If people are dead set on Munk, imagine how many people will rescind their acceptances to NPSIA, SIDGS, etc.

I'm curious...what are the implications/consequences of 'rescinding an acceptance'? (other than potentially burning that bridge)...are their legal/financial consequences? I am in a situation where a school has offered me admission and given me till the middle of the month to decide...but I've also applied to Munk and like others on this board been told no decision till the end of March..its a very difficult position to be in. 

[snowflake96]

Just now, poutinead said:

I'm curious...what are the implications/consequences of 'rescinding an acceptance'? (other than potentially burning that bridge)...are their legal/financial consequences? I am in a situation where a school has offered me admission and given me till the middle of the month to decide...but I've also applied to Munk and like others on this board been told no decision till the end of March..its a very difficult position to be in. 

I am in a similar position and I have been thinking of just accepting my offer because it was my second choice anyway. I have until the 19th to accept and it would be risky to hold off/reject it when there's no guarantee I would get into Munk. I hope they let us know before the end of the month, but if I don't hear anything from Munk by next week I am going to accept my offer to GSPIA. And if I get into Munk whenever they release acceptances I guess rescind GSPIA. I don't think there's any legal or financial consequences

[flip]

I still haven't heard back from NPSIA and GSPIA. I'm thinking they are waiting to see how many people decline their offers later in March before accepting more people? Or, could I randomly hear any day now? Thanks for the insight!

[GradSchoolWot]

5 minutes ago, poutinead said:

I'm curious...what are the implications/consequences of 'rescinding an acceptance'? (other than potentially burning that bridge)...are their legal/financial consequences? I am in a situation where a school has offered me admission and given me till the middle of the month to decide...but I've also applied to Munk and like others on this board been told no decision till the end of March..its a very difficult position to be in. 

Honestly no idea, but I can't imagine it's anything good.. Logically, the school you want wouldn't rescind the offer even if the school you rejected tells them (but even then, how would they know). But, I can also imagine that the world of IR/poli sci is quite small, and you would probably never get an admission to that school again (phd, etc), but that's just my guess. I wonder how often this happens?

I know a close friend of mine had an offer to a med school in the states and had to pay a deposit of a few grand, but said if she gets accepted to the top choice in Canada she would rescind and come here instead. She asked about the deposit, and that would be non-refundable. She told me it's not THAT uncommon in the med school world, but idk if that converts to the world of IR

[diplomaniac]

5 minutes ago, GradSchoolWot said:

Honestly no idea, but I can't imagine it's anything good.. Logically, the school you want wouldn't rescind the offer even if the school you rejected tells them (but even then, how would they know). But, I can also imagine that the world of IR/poli sci is quite small, and you would probably never get an admission to that school again (phd, etc), but that's just my guess. I wonder how often this happens?

I know a close friend of mine had an offer to a med school in the states and had to pay a deposit of a few grand, but said if she gets accepted to the top choice in Canada she would rescind and come here instead. She asked about the deposit, and that would be non-refundable. She told me it's not THAT uncommon in the med school world, but idk if that converts to the world of IR

I don’t think it matters for school, because admins will get to keep the deposit. 

It does, however, matter for jobs, especially in law. But for school, it doesn’t matter. I think it’s good because it keeps the waitlist moving 

[abibret]

4 hours ago, wot said:

Ah ok good to know, thanks! I TAed last semester as well and got more than the 65hr half-TAship so I was initially disappointed but makes sense if it's common practice. I wish they made it more clear if there is a 'max' amount because it just looks inconsistent on the funding package.

Another problem I have is that we have 21 days to accept/reject but I'm not expecting to hear back from my international applications until after 21 days. ?

One thing that you can try to do is see if they'll give you an extension on the deadline. Contact the school you've been accepted to and explain that you're still waiting to hear back from other schools you applied to. Sometimes this is a good negotiating tactic and they might spice up your funding offer if they really want you. I went to NPSIA, but when I was accepted to Balsillie, I told them I hadn't heard from NPSIA yet and was wondering if they'd give me an extension on the deadline. They did - and a few hours later, they had also dug up another scholarship for me. Granted, Balsillie's program is much smaller, but it could be worth a shot. Worst case, they say no.

[modesteffect]

Canada’s IR scholars were asked which three doctoral programs in Canada they would recommend for an academic career either in political science or international relations:

 

 

The big three remain quite dominant, each listed at a far greater rate than the others. These three programs are generally the most “American” in terms of outlooks, methodology and past hiring practices — more quantitative, less focused on “critical” security studies, and more willing to hire Americans. The rest were mentioned by four percent of the respondents or less in 2018.

(To be clear, some of the institutions, such as the Carleton and Ottawa entries, like last time, may refer to multiple programs, as respondents usually did not distinguish between political science, international affairs and other programs. For the rankings, the survey did not prompt respondents about names of programs — they filled in whatever answers they chose. I then combined the answers for those places where there is more than one program. For PhDs, some schools in Canada have multiple programs, so we listed by school. For MA programs, most programs have distinctive names that respondents listed.)

We did ask new questions about what IR scholars are telling students who are thinking of applying for PhD programs. Fifty-four percent would encourage only the “very best students” to pursue a PhD, 13 percent would encourage students not to pursue a PhD, and 29 percent would neither encourage nor discourage. Four percent would choose otherwise. Definitely not a very encouraging environment, which shows that professors are well aware that the pursuit of an academic position in IR these days is quite difficult. When asked if they would recommend students pursue a PhD in the United States rather than in Canada, 39 percent said yes, 25 percent said no, and the rest were uncertain. This is interesting given the somewhat widely held beliefthat having an American PhD makes one more competitive.

Like last time, the survey also asked Canada’s IR scholars which MA programs they would recommend for those seeking a career in policy. Again, the results did not change much:

[modesteffect]

Finally, the survey asked Canada’s IR scholars to rank the top three think tanks in Canada. They were not prompted by definitions or specifications of think tanks.

 

 

The Frasier Institute was mentioned more than twice as much in 2018 as it was in 2014, as was the C.D. Howe Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The Canadian Global Affairs Institute was mentioned about as frequently as last time (despite changing its name from the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute). The Centre for International Governance Innovation (the publisher of this site) is now ranked second but was mentioned much less frequently. The Canadian International Council was mentioned far less, about as third as often as last time. As a result, there is more consensus about which think tanks are in the top five, but no single think tank stands out that much among the top five. The North-South Institute dropped off, of course, as its funding was killed as the first survey was out in the field.

[poutinead]

52 minutes ago, GradSchoolWot said:

Honestly no idea, but I can't imagine it's anything good.. Logically, the school you want wouldn't rescind the offer even if the school you rejected tells them (but even then, how would they know). But, I can also imagine that the world of IR/poli sci is quite small, and you would probably never get an admission to that school again (phd, etc), but that's just my guess. I wonder how often this happens?

I know a close friend of mine had an offer to a med school in the states and had to pay a deposit of a few grand, but said if she gets accepted to the top choice in Canada she would rescind and come here instead. She asked about the deposit, and that would be non-refundable. She told me it's not THAT uncommon in the med school world, but idk if that converts to the world of IR

I emailed Munk and was basically told late March to early April for admission decisions...and then curiously was advised to ask the school whose deadline is the 15th if they were either flexible or if there was a penalty if I canceled by acceptance...I'm pulling my hair out over this...because as someone mentioned in an another post..its a small world (IR/poli sci) ..what if I accept, then ditch ..then 2-3 years later apply for a Phd?..how good does that look?? ...there aren't THAT many schools in Canada...if this was the US, sure...you have 20 top flight universities you can afford to upset...here ..not so much

[snowflake96]

13 minutes ago, poutinead said:

I emailed Munk and was basically told late March to early April for admission decisions...and then curiously was advised to ask the school whose deadline is the 15th if they were either flexible or if there was a penalty if I canceled by acceptance...I'm pulling my hair out over this...because as someone mentioned in an another post..its a small world (IR/poli sci) ..what if I accept, then ditch ..then 2-3 years later apply for a Phd?..how good does that look?? ...there aren't THAT many schools in Canada...if this was the US, sure...you have 20 top flight universities you can afford to upset...here ..not so much

I'm still hoping that they give out offers earlier than late March/early April. Part of me thinks maybe they'll feel slight pressure to release acceptances earlier then what they said in the emails because they know a lot of students have to respond to other schools as soon as possible. Or maybe I'm being too optimistic lol.

Edited March 5, 2019 by snowflake96

[poutinead]

6 minutes ago, snowflake96 said:

I'm still hoping that they give out offers earlier than late March/early April. Part of me thinks maybe they'll feel slight pressure to release acceptances earlier then what they said in the emails because they know a lot of students have to respond to other schools as soon as possible. Or maybe I'm being too optimistic lol.

I am not sure what's causing the delay...last year decisions were sent out March 9th...so to say 'end of March' seems odd. Was it the glitch over the video essay? Did they really get that many more applicants this year? I guess its pointless to speculate.  And I am not sure if a university like UofT (biggest in Canada) feels pressure for anything...

[snowflake96]

Just now, poutinead said:

I am not sure what's causing the delay...last year decisions were sent out March 9th...so to say 'end of March' seems odd. Was it the glitch over the video essay? Did they really get that many more applicants this year? I guess its pointless to speculate.  And I am not sure if a university like UofT (biggest in Canada) feels pressure for anything...

Yeah, its a really inconvenient time to start rolling out offers of admission. If I remember correctly from the open house Munk receives 500+ applications a year. Now combine that with the fact that they added a video component. Maybe the video component has slowed down the process? I'm trying not to speculate too much otherwise it will drive me nuts. All we can do is keep waiting.

[diplomaniac]

28 minutes ago, poutinead said:

I emailed Munk and was basically told late March to early April for admission decisions...and then curiously was advised to ask the school whose deadline is the 15th if they were either flexible or if there was a penalty if I canceled by acceptance...I'm pulling my hair out over this...because as someone mentioned in an another post..its a small world (IR/poli sci) ..what if I accept, then ditch ..then 2-3 years later apply for a Phd?..how good does that look?? ...there aren't THAT many schools in Canada...if this was the US, sure...you have 20 top flight universities you can afford to upset...here ..not so much

First, really nothing to be worried about. Yes, please ask the schools you’ve been accepted to to extend your deadline. They’re are accommodating about this. There was another post on here that said that they had asked  Balsillie to extend their admission deadline, Balsillie said yes and even gave that person more funding because the school wanted them. 

Second, say you accept a school’s offer and MUNK accepts you. You tell school A you rescind their offer, then worst scenario is you  lose your deposit. 

Third, admission committee gets hundreds of admission documents they have to sift through. It’s highly likely they won’t remember you. 

Fourth, profs we’re students they know what a good oppruntity is.

Fifth, the only time this will be an issue is if you accept a job, leave that job a week later to accept another job in a similar field. That’s a big no-no, especially in a niche profession like Law.

sixth, making a decision and rejecting offers to a school you don’t want to go allows for the wait list to keep moving. You may lose your deposits, but another student may take your spot who wants to go there. 

[eyeb]

@pokegenie @revalith @chloe123 If you dont mind me asking what area are your specializations  (anyone else that has been accepted please feel free to respond) ?

[wot]

1 minute ago, eyeb said:

@pokegenie @revalith @chloe123 If you dont mind me asking what area are your specializations  (anyone else that has been accepted please feel free to respond) ?

I was accepted to Diplomacy and Foreign Policy. 

[lily22]

18 minutes ago, snowflake96 said:

Yeah, its a really inconvenient time to start rolling out offers of admission. If I remember correctly from the open house Munk receives 500+ applications a year. Now combine that with the fact that they added a video component. Maybe the video component has slowed down the process? I'm trying not to speculate too much otherwise it will drive me nuts. All we can do is keep waiting.

That's super frustrating considering they have pushed back the deadline every year. Two years ago it was in February, then it was in mid-March, and now end of March or early April? That's way too late...

[snowflake96]

7 minutes ago, lily22 said:

That's super frustrating considering they have pushed back the deadline every year. Two years ago it was in February, then it was in mid-March, and now end of March or early April? That's way too late...

Yeah, it's super frustrating. Like I said before, I still hope that we start to hear back sooner rather than later, but it's something beyond anybody's control other than the admissions team. I also feel like due to the new video component, the application/decision process this year is a lot more stringent and highly selective than before.

Edited March 5, 2019 by snowflake96

[iageek]

Will be declining my acceptance to NPSIA and $14k in funding, I hope this clears up a spot and funding for those of you whose top choice is NPSIA.

Edited March 5, 2019 by iageek