Canadian Political Science Application Thread 2018-2019

[brownie_z]

Thank you @DefeatistElitist and @PBandMachiajelly! You're making my decision more difficult haha I'm choosing between Northwestern and McGill (gave up on Harvard and UofT since it seems they both rolled out acceptances but I haven't heard anything from either). Academically, I'm leaning towards Northwestern more, but I would love to live in Montréal  

[PBandMachiajelly]

45 minutes ago, brownie_z said:

Thank you @DefeatistElitist and @PBandMachiajelly! You're making my decision more difficult haha I'm choosing between Northwestern and McGill (gave up on Harvard and UofT since it seems they both rolled out acceptances but I haven't heard anything from either). Academically, I'm leaning towards Northwestern more, but I would love to live in Montréal  

Do you have any chance of doing visits? It would almost certainly give you a better sense of where you'd want to live. In any event whichever one you choose will be great - they're both great schools.

[JoshL]

12 hours ago, szeyuyuyu said:

Anybody know if it is okay to ask UOT of application results? Since I got 2 deadlines to meet in early March. UoT is my dream school though....

Their first round of offers is already out. And I think their decision on the second batch is based on first round's response (decline or accept). But it is always no harm to ask them.

[Dwar]

hey all, I have a question about qualifications for admissions. 

So it seems like for non-American PhD programs they mostly expect an MA degree or graduate work prior to applying to the PhD programs. I have emailed some of the Canadian programs and have seen in FAQ's in other ones that while it often isn't a requirement, an MA degree is sort of an expectation. 

So my question to all of you wonderful Canadians is this, have any of you gotten accepted to a PhD program in one of the big three (UBC, UofT, McGill) without prior grad work?

if so, would you mind sharing any sort of research experience you have? I am really really interested in programs at both UBC and McGill but they seem insanely competitive and I am assuming that applying without an MA degree would put me at a disadvantage, but I want to see if its even possible. 

For context by the time I graduate I will have completed one and a half years of independent research (3 semesters) and will have presented at three undergrad research conferences. I am wondering if this is enough experience to compensate for a lack of an MA degree.   

[DefeatistElitist]

In case anyone is applying to McMaster (PhD), I've been told the department has made their decisions and is waiting on the university to approve. Offers should be out in a couple days.

[Irish.Coffee]

Hi there! congrats to those admitted.

I'm just gonna answer some of the questions about the program at Uoft real quick in case it helps (this is my personal view):

Departmental culture: The professors are truly amazing, same goes for the administrative staff. Historically, the department was more historical institutionalist and focused on books, which I believe is still true today, but there is also a lot of high quality quant work. There are potlucks every year for every field, with both students and professors which are super fun as well as beginning and end of term parties, and it is very easy to make friends in the department. The atmosphere betwee students is not competitive and students support and help each other.

The stipend is obviously very low considering you have to live in Toronto, which is super expensive. However, if you are eligible to apply for scholarships, this can be of great help. Also, it is usually possible to get extra TAships if wanted. Students that do not come in with a scholarship do start TAing year one, but usually for a big intro class with a TA coordinator, so most of the material is just given to you (not much prep). There are a lot of extra funds, especially for conferences. I think you get somewhere around 500$ every year for CPSA and another 300-500 for another conference (again every year), plus some other sources of funding (student union, etc.). There are also funds for fieldwork.

I think they usually take about 25 students each year. I don't know whether there are quotas for each subfield, but I would imagine so.

 

Overall, I think it is a truly great program with a lot of resources.

[szeyuyuyu]

27 minutes ago, Irish.Coffee said:

Hi there! congrats to those admitted.

I'm just gonna answer some of the questions about the program at Uoft real quick in case it helps (this is my personal view):

Departmental culture: The professors are truly amazing, same goes for the administrative staff. Historically, the department was more historical institutionalist and focused on books, which I believe is still true today, but there is also a lot of high quality quant work. There are potlucks every year for every field, with both students and professors which are super fun as well as beginning and end of term parties, and it is very easy to make friends in the department. The atmosphere betwee students is not competitive and students support and help each other.

The stipend is obviously very low considering you have to live in Toronto, which is super expensive. However, if you are eligible to apply for scholarships, this can be of great help. Also, it is usually possible to get extra TAships if wanted. Students that do not come in with a scholarship do start TAing year one, but usually for a big intro class with a TA coordinator, so most of the material is just given to you (not much prep). There are a lot of extra funds, especially for conferences. I think you get somewhere around 500$ every year for CPSA and another 300-500 for another conference (again every year), plus some other sources of funding (student union, etc.). There are also funds for fieldwork.

I think they usually take about 25 students each year. I don't know whether there are quotas for each subfield, but I would imagine so.

 

Overall, I think it is a truly great program with a lot of resources.

Thank you so much, keep my fingercoxxxx for uoft haha

[PolisciappDZ]

If no answer from UofT by now, does that mean it's a refusal? International applicant for IR. Congrats to all 

[pluto88]

Hi all,

First time posting here. I applied to McGill, Ryerson, McMaster, UOttawa, Carleton, and York for M.A. Political Science - subfield, Comp Politics although mixed with IR (Security Studies).

So far I've only heard back from York, and that was mid-February. They have offered funding.

I spoke to McGill Grad and they told me they haven't sent out decisions yet - they said their adcomm is meeting mid-March, with answers sent out late March. The exception is those whol applied for external funding. I can't tell how accurate this is. 

If I accept at York, does that have consequences? Could I later withdraw?

Edit: Was also contacted by UOttawa Grad Program Director for a quick interview, which had a French component. Has anyone else been contacted?

Edited March 7, 2019 by pluto88

[JoshL]

14 hours ago, PolisciappDZ said:

If no answer from UofT by now, does that mean it's a refusal? International applicant for IR. Congrats to all 

No, that does not mean a refusal. They sent out the first round funding offer last week and they have two weeks to recline/accept. U of T will decide their second batch based on first-round response.

[PBandMachiajelly]

2 hours ago, JoshL said:

No, that does not mean a refusal. They sent out the first round funding offer last week and they have two weeks to recline/accept. U of T will decide their second batch based on first-round response.

Did you get an offer? Where are you getting this information from?

[JoshL]

15 hours ago, PBandMachiajelly said:

Did you get an offer? Where are you getting this information from?

"they sent out the first round funding offer last week"

- I got this info from the gradcafe result page and my friend who got the U of T offer

"they have two weeks to recline/accept"

- I got this info from my friend's this-year offer letter and previous personal offer info

"U of T will decide ... response."

- I got his info from the gradcafe thread and previous communication with UofT regarding the offer of previous year

Hope it helps.

[PBandMachiajelly]

8 minutes ago, JoshL said:

"they sent out the first round funding offer last week"

- I got this info from the gradcafe result page and my friend who got the U of T offer

"they have two weeks to recline/accept"

- I got this info from my friend's this-year offer letter and previous personal offer info

"U of T will decide ... response."

- I got his info from the gradcafe thread and previous communication with UofT regarding the offer of previous year

Hope it helps.

It does. Thanks!

[brownie_z]

I just declined my offer at McGill. I don't know if they have waitlists, but if anyone is waitlisted, I hope this helps. I declined as soon as I made a decision.

Best of luck to everyone!!

[DefeatistElitist]

Heard back from my last school and it's looking like I'll be accepting U of T :D If anyone else is going PM me!

[as2472]

I'm in the final decision process now and UBC is in my final two. If you have an offer and think you might be going there or know current PhD students there, I'd love to hear your/their thoughts!

[DefeatistElitist]

Don't forget that funding is often negotiable! Like any salary. I just had a school agree to match U of T's offer after initially offering me substantially less funding, so my decision is suddenly much harder...

[aka09]

For McGill applicants: faculty members met today to make final M.A. admissions decisions, so you should hear quite soon.

[in praxis]

15 hours ago, aka09 said:

For McGill applicants: faculty members met today to make final M.A. admissions decisions, so you should hear quite soon.

Thanks for this!

[pluto88]

16 hours ago, aka09 said:

For McGill applicants: faculty members met today to make final M.A. admissions decisions, so you should hear quite soon.

Thanks! Has anybody's application status changed? Mine still says "submitted".

[Ptheory]

1 hour ago, pluto88 said:

Thanks! Has anybody's application status changed? Mine still says "submitted".

Mine changed to "in review" 10 minutes ago, with a message that I'd been accepted and to expect an official letter with funding information in due course.

[pluto88]

1 hour ago, Ptheory said:

Mine changed to "in review" 10 minutes ago, with a message that I'd been accepted and to expect an official letter with funding information in due course.

Congrats!! 

[juliakate]

Congrats to the McGill MA admits!! Looks like we are STILL waiting on UBC, dear lord i’m dying over here.

[juliakate]

anybody receive UBC MA admits?

[Ptheory]

15 hours ago, juliakate said:

anybody receive UBC MA admits?

Not yet. Looks like last year they came out today, so here's hoping!