2019-2020 Canadian Political Science thread

[Paulcg87]

10 hours ago, teathatisiced said:

Hi all. Little late to this GradCafe thing, but reading through the thread has been very helpful and you all give great advice (it's also heartening to see people panicking just as much as me)

I applied to the MA programs at York, U of T and McGill. Got accepted on March 2nd to York, and have been in contact with the department and MA coordinator, who have been super helpful. Got the email acceptance to U of T on the sixth of March, apparently the letter and official offer will show up in a day or two. McGill got back me to today after I sent them a message asking for an update; supposedly they're finalizing things tomorrow and will begin sending out letters. 

I also applied and was accepted to the MA program in Social and Political Thought at York, a really neat little program that was actually my first choice. I really wasn't expecting U of T to accept me, and they sent another email today letting me know they've nominated my SSHRC application, which is an amazing honor (I guess it makes sense though, as I'm hearing that U of T doesn't provide funding to MA students?). I don't get the results of that until April 1st unfortunately, which is after the deadline to get back to them. Both York Poli and SPT are also offering great funding. So I'm a little overwhelmed right now.

If anyone has any advice on... well, where to go, that would be really appreciated. I'm torn between York, which is super hip, has a bunch of profs I'd love to work with, and an intellectual atmosphere that would nourish the kind of work I want to do (political theory, studies of violence and racism), and U of T, which I feel would be better for my academic career going forward (I want to pursue a PhD in the States/Europe, publish articles/research and teach) and could potentially push me harder.

 Also, if anyone has any insight on York SPT, I'd love to hear it. Two close friends and mentors of mine are graduates of the program and rave about it, but I've found little-to-no posts on this website about the program and would be interested in hearing from anyone else who may have applied.

Okay, apologies for the gargantuan post! Good luck to all of you and thanks in advance for any advice you'd be willing to share ?

Hi. Your observations appear to be well informed, thoughtful and accurate, particularly with regard to York vs. UT. York is a great school and there's no one who could definitively say that going there will lessen your chances at PhD work in the US or publishing. What can be said based on fact is that UT does publish more and it is ranked higher in Canadian, US and overseas rankings, both overall and in polisci. We as Canadians love to point out that ranking doesn't matter in Canada; no one here really cares, and that's true. But ranking does matter in the USA and Europe; it is what it is. You need to decide between being happier in the short term at York versus having a name on your diploma/CV in the long term (for the rest of your life) that will mean more outside of Canada. 

Also keep in mind, if you do really well at York and you have a high amount of discipline and publish, you can largely make up for the lower ranking and lesser reputation versus UT. It's not a given and you'll need to work really hard, but it's achievable, and people from York do get accepted into US PhD programs. So, if York is really that much better of a fit and you know going into it that you're really going to need to stand out and work incredibly hard, go to York. If you're less willing to take this gamble and want more certainty, go to UT. It seems like you already understand the tradeoff and recognize that UT's culture is one of individualism, competition and a sink or swim mentality. Only you can decide what you are willing to do. 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Paulcg87

[GeminiSJG]

I got waitlisted by UOFT and MCGIll rejected me

[Paulcg87]

3 hours ago, GeminiSJG said:

I got waitlisted by UOFT and MCGIll rejected me

Hey, congratulations on getting waitlisted! It's better than a rejection and you've still got a fighting chance. I sincerely hope you get in. Good luck!

[dag17]

5 hours ago, GeminiSJG said:

I got waitlisted by UOFT and MCGIll rejected me

Where did you find out about McGill? I haven't heard back from them yet and nothing on the portal either.  ?

[GeminiSJG]

Just now, dag17 said:

Where did you find out about McGill? I haven't heard back from them yet and nothing on the portal either.  ?

Got an email today

[teathatisiced]

10 hours ago, Paulcg87 said:

Hi. Your observations appear to be well informed, thoughtful and accurate, particularly with regard to York vs. UT. York is a great school and there's no one who could definitively say that going there will lessen your chances at PhD work in the US or publishing. What can be said based on fact is that UT does publish more and it is ranked higher in Canadian, US and overseas rankings, both overall and in polisci. We as Canadians love to point out that ranking doesn't matter in Canada; no one here really cares, and that's true. But ranking does matter in the USA and Europe; it is what it is. You need to decide between being happier in the short term at York versus having a name on your diploma/CV in the long term (for the rest of your life) that will mean more outside of Canada. 

Also keep in mind, if you do really well at York and you have a high amount of discipline and publish, you can largely make up for the lower ranking and lesser reputation versus UT. It's not a given and you'll need to work really hard, but it's achievable, and people from York do get accepted into US PhD programs. So, if York is really that much better of a fit and you know going into it that you're really going to need to stand out and work incredibly hard, go to York. If you're less willing to take this gamble and want more certainty, go to UT. It seems like you already understand the tradeoff and recognize that UT's culture is one of individualism, competition and a sink or swim mentality. Only you can decide what you are willing to do. 

Thanks so much... this really cleared some things up for me. Will hopefully be making my decision next week!

[Paulcg87]

1 minute ago, teathatisiced said:

Thanks so much... this really cleared some things up for me. Will hopefully be making my decision next week!

Absolutely no problem. If you end up at UT let me know, happy to help if you have additional questions. Best of luck to you!

[dag17]

On 3/9/2020 at 12:35 PM, dag17 said:

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation! I’m an international student so the tuition is really high in both cases. ? But definitely more for the MGA as you said!
My plan is to get a PhD from an American institution or UT, but because I’ll be coming straight out of my undergraduate, I’m more okay with keeping other options open, primarily think tank/international diplomacy jobs after a Masters. I’m still waiting to hear from UBC and McGill, and from what I know UBC gives funding to MA students. However, it would be helpful to know if UT MA Political Science students have a better chance of getting into the PhD program there. Would you know anything about that? Thanks again for your help. 

Thanks for your helpful response @Paulcg87. I'm sorry for bothering you again but I think this may have been lost in the posts so I wanted to bring it to your attention. I just wanted to know more about the MA Political Science program at UT and the kind of programs they go into and if many join the UT PhD program. The program is just one year long so my only concern is if it's going to be enough time to make connections before the PhD application deadlines in December. I really appreciate all your help! Thanks again.  

[mrsweasley]

On 3/3/2020 at 2:33 PM, Paulcg87 said:

Hi,
Let me jump right in. Regarding your reasons/points:

1. You are spot on about UT. They give little to no funding for master's students; strangely, this is the opposite of their PhD program, which is actually fairly well funded by Canadian standards. In fact, it would be fair to infer/surmise that the master's program tuition likely subsidizes at least some of the PhD program students. Average PhD award at UT is full tuition plus about $2k/month stipend, part of which is from TAing. This isn't amazing but it's on part with many US schools and better than a lot of Canadian programs. The downside of course is the cost of living in Toronto, but you face that whether you're at UT or elsewhere, and it's still slightly less than the cost of living in Vancouver. Also FYI, UT does have subsidized student housing that is relatively affordable compared to the rental market anywhere near the St George campus. 

2. That makes sense; I don’t have experience with the intricacies of the UT master’s program but I know with the PhD you are actually required to choose two subfields, including IR, Comparative, Canadian Politics, Public Policy, and Theory. 

3. That also makes sense. I also have no idea why it doesn’t have a thesis, though in UT’s case I’m not sure this is necessarily a huge issue because if you get into their PhD you still have another 5-6 years even if you did a 1-2 year master’s w/thesis beforehand. 

4/5. Fit is extremely important. You need to be happy with wherever you go and ultimately your quality of life is the single most important factor, but it’s also important to know the risks before you make a final decision.

UT does indeed have a reputation for being needlessly difficult and a massive department without a lot of tight knit supervision or relationships. Personally, I prefer this type of atmosphere to the hand holding, micromanagement and rigid structure of US-style PhD’s, which is why I did not stay on with my old department (MIT) for a PhD after my master’s degree. I definitely see the pros/cons with both models. In my case, I thrive under pressure and I prefer independence, flexibility and the autonomy to be able to do what I want without my supervisor or committee breathing down my back every week or two, which is extremely common in US (and to a lesser extent, Canadian) programs. 

I chose to come back to Canada for my PhD primarily because if I’m going to spend 5-6 years on another degree, I’d rather do it at home, but at UT specifically because of its reputation for hands-off autonomy. The almost universal theme at UT is that you either sink or you swim depending on your needs and abilities. This is harsh and it’s brutal and it can be ultra competitive and lonely and confusing, but for certain types of people (myself included), this is preferred. 

With all of this said, while I appreciate UT’s culture, the main reason I chose UT is because it’s one of only a few Canadian schools that regularly sends graduates to the US for Tenure Track (TT) and postdoc positions. UT is much stronger in theory than it is in IR so I have an uphill battle if I ever want to go back to the US to work after graduation, but at least it does happen. Personally, I’m really interested in doing a postdoc in the US and then doing either another postdoc or a TT position in Australia/NZ. I have a better chance of doing this at UT than at any other Canadian school and that is based on objective placement statistics, not rumour or perspective. Full stop. 

Don’t get me wrong: If you do a PhD at a non-top 3 in Canada, it’s still possible you’ll be able to work abroad in a postdoc/TT job. Anything is possible. But if you do the math and look at placement history at various programs, the statistics are strongly against you ever working outside of Canada in a postdoc/TT job if you do not go to a top-3 school. Some people who read this will hate me for saying it, but you can’t argue with the empirical evidence of placement statistics or the probability that this provides. 

My advice to you is to go to York. You sound like you would be happy there and your reasons for going there are great. If after getting a taste of polisci grad school at York, you decide you still want to pursue a PhD, you should apply to the top 3 here and also consider US programs because they do vary from their Canadian counterparts. The best way I can describe it is that US programs emphasize quant analysis and methodology significantly more than Canadian, British or Australian political science programs. This is why I got my master’s degree in the US; I wanted a quant/methodological background that you will not get enough of in any Canadian program, whether it’s a masters or a PhD. I have that background now so I don’t have any reservations about going into a Canadian PhD that will be weaker on the quant side of things (and trust me, UT is probably the strongest quant/methodology polisci PhD in Canada), but if you do 100% of your education in Canada and don’t get this kind of a background, you will also be limiting yourself in external job markets that value at least some quant/methodology background or experience. Especially in the US, because TT jobs require you to supervisor and mentor students in quant heavy programs and if you don’t have that experience, you’ll be at a disadvantage. 

Cheers, you're a huge help! I'm going to save all of your info should I ever pursue a PhD later. Appreciate the very lengthy response. I haven't received a response from Toronto anyway, and the York deadline to accept is tomorrow, so I believe I'll accept York. 

[mrsweasley]

23 hours ago, GeminiSJG said:

I got waitlisted by UOFT and MCGIll rejected me

Do you mind my asking how you know you've been waitlisted? My portal still just says "under review" so I thought I might be waitlisted, given they haven't rejected me. Could be wrong though.

[Paulcg87]

11 hours ago, dag17 said:

Thanks for your helpful response @Paulcg87. I'm sorry for bothering you again but I think this may have been lost in the posts so I wanted to bring it to your attention. I just wanted to know more about the MA Political Science program at UT and the kind of programs they go into and if many join the UT PhD program. The program is just one year long so my only concern is if it's going to be enough time to make connections before the PhD application deadlines in December. I really appreciate all your help! Thanks again.  

@dag17 no bother at all. The best way I can answer your question is by asking what your plans/goals are after your master's degree? Do you have a specific school or country you want to get your PhD in? I ask because the answer matters. Most of the English speaking world outside of the USA typically offers a 1-year master's degree for polisci, including most Canadian universities and British institutions like Oxford/Cambridge.

The fact that UT's polisci MA degree is one year is not unusual for a commonwealth/anglosphere country. Even in the USA, it just depends on the school. Some still have a two-year polisci master's degree, for others it's a year. I did a one year thesis-based master's in polisci at an American school and I don't think I was disadvantaged in the job market or in PhD admissions compared to my American friends who got their masters degrees from two-year programs. I appreciate what you're saying about trying to make connections though I think this is an issue with most one-year master's degrees.

The only potential issue really with the UT polisci master's degree is that it is rarely (if ever) funded. It's just a fact that the department doesn't fund the master's degree. With that said, tuition in Canada is significantly cheaper than it is in the USA; for Canadian students, an entire year's tuition in the UT polisci MA program is about $7,800 CAD ($5,700 USD), which is cheaper than a lot of US community/junior colleges. Cost of living in Toronto is high but there is graduate student housing available that is affordable. Given that you are a foreign student, your tuition will be higher but still significantly less than at most major US schools. 

Unfortunately, I can't tell you your chances of getting into the UT PhD program specifically if you do the UT master's degree. It seems to be much more dependent on finding an advisor/supervisor who is a good fit, your existing grades and EC's, etc... What you really need to know going into this is that UT only admits a limited number of international students into the polisci PhD program each year. Strong preference is given to Canadian citizens/permanent residents and approximately 2/3 of PhD spots each year are allocated to Canadians and the rest to foreign students. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by Paulcg87

[GeminiSJG]

12 minutes ago, mrsweasley said:

Do you mind my asking how you know you've been waitlisted? My portal still just says "under review" so I thought I might be waitlisted, given they haven't rejected me. Could be wrong though.

Louis told me in an email

[juh523]

Got rejection from mcgill, but I was expecting it due to the way my GPA converted. Still waiting for Carleton and UBC, anyone heard anything? 

[dag17]

3 hours ago, juh523 said:

Got rejection from mcgill, but I was expecting it due to the way my GPA converted. Still waiting for Carleton and UBC, anyone heard anything? 

Nothing from UBC yet! Good luck!

[GeminiSJG]

5 hours ago, juh523 said:

Got rejection from mcgill, but I was expecting it due to the way my GPA converted. Still waiting for Carleton and UBC, anyone heard anything? 

Waiting on Carleton Too

[Pusat94]

Any words from Simon Fraser?

[dag17]

On 3/12/2020 at 8:03 PM, juh523 said:

Got rejection from mcgill, but I was expecting it due to the way my GPA converted. Still waiting for Carleton and UBC, anyone heard anything? 

Just heard from UBC today! Accepted.  Good luck to you! 

[dag17]

Anyone have any thoughts on MA UT vs UBC vs McGill? UBC is giving me more funding but UT is definitely better ranked. Thanks!

[Paulcg87]

12 hours ago, dag17 said:

Anyone have any thoughts on MA UT vs UBC vs McGill? UBC is giving me more funding but UT is definitely better ranked. Thanks!

All three are great schools. UBC is a much better location for quality of life (weather, obviously!) but the cost of living is as high or higher than UT. If it's not a large amount of money, I'd go with UT. If it's a significant difference in money (say, half of tuition versus full tuition), go to UBC. I don't know your personal savings or resources but both Van and Toronto are so expensive that it's not worth going into significant debt for either, in my opinion. 

[GeminiSJG]

Got rejected by Carleton. Is there any hope for me? I applied to 5 schools and got rejected by 3/5 of them.

Waiting on UOFT and Waterloo

Edited March 18, 2020 by GeminiSJG

[juh523]

On the wait list for Uvic! Had to email the department to ask, no word from Carleton or UBC yet. 

[sulkingaround]

Hey everyone - in this time hope you are all staying safe and healthy. I know it's stressful waiting on application results, especially considering the current situation. Please take care of yourselves during this time. 

I've been waiting on and nervous about UBC. Anyone who was accepted receive their letter yet? 

Also, for those of you who applied to SSHRC, I just received a letter advising that SSHRC results will be deferred/rescheduled to a different deadline due to COVID-19. 

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by sulkingaround

[GeminiSJG]

Got rejected by Waterloo

UOFT is my last hope and I've been waitlisted

[ibukinoya]

Hi friends! 

I am happy to report that I have received offers of admission from both UBC and U of T for my MA in Political Science. 

For a bit of background, I am heavily focused on East Asian politics, and will be conducting research on Japanese electoral politics and constitutional politics. I have been offered significant funding from UBC, but nothing from U of T (which I have heard is the norm). I was not expecting to be put in this situation, so picking between these two universities has stumped me. UBC will be a better overall living experience, with more residence options and funding, but I have heard that the academic caliber of U of T, especially in political science, is significant. Also, U of T has offered me a combined Master's specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies, which would be incredibly interesting and useful to my research. 

My long term goal is to eventually get into a PhD program. I would like to maximize my chances, so my natural first choice was U of T. After speaking to my professors, however, they have suggested to me that the U of T name will matter less to future admissions than the research, grades, and publications that I produce. If this is the case, I may be a more successful student at UBC, especially since many have pointed out that it is "the gateway to Asia". 

Does anyone have any advice in picking between these two programs? 

[dag17]

5 hours ago, ibukinoya said:

Hi friends! 

I am happy to report that I have received offers of admission from both UBC and U of T for my MA in Political Science. 

For a bit of background, I am heavily focused on East Asian politics, and will be conducting research on Japanese electoral politics and constitutional politics. I have been offered significant funding from UBC, but nothing from U of T (which I have heard is the norm). I was not expecting to be put in this situation, so picking between these two universities has stumped me. UBC will be a better overall living experience, with more residence options and funding, but I have heard that the academic caliber of U of T, especially in political science, is significant. Also, U of T has offered me a combined Master's specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies, which would be incredibly interesting and useful to my research. 

My long term goal is to eventually get into a PhD program. I would like to maximize my chances, so my natural first choice was U of T. After speaking to my professors, however, they have suggested to me that the U of T name will matter less to future admissions than the research, grades, and publications that I produce. If this is the case, I may be a more successful student at UBC, especially since many have pointed out that it is "the gateway to Asia". 

Does anyone have any advice in picking between these two programs? 

Hi! I'm in a similar situation. Funnily enough, my undergrad minor was in Japanese studies and I'm actually going to graduate from the University of Tokyo this fall. Deciding between the two schools has been tough for me as well, I'm not planning on continuing with doing Japanese politics and want to move towards Migration. However, the funding situation is the same for me and coming in as an international student is even more expensive! 
I spoke to a few professors who advised me that the program fit etc. is important but for an M.A. the funding is also an important aspect especially if you're looking to go into a PhD program and don't want significant debt. I also thought that the TA opportunity at UBC would be helpful experience for the future.

I'm still trying to get in touch with a professor from UBC (spoke to one at McGill which I'm considering too and was impressed) but the overall financial package at UBC is definitely great. Additionally, if it helps, some of my Todai professors who are from both UofT and UBC said their reputations are comparable, but UBC might definitely be better at Asian politics because of the connections they have. Hope this helps! Although, of course, we're on the same boat. Maybe we'll be classmates!