(Canada 2021) MPP/MPA Applications

[residenttomalito]

Just now, 1m26c4u said:

tbh i was really last minute about grad school so this is the only mpp(a) program I've applied to this round. What about you? any good news yet?

I applied to MPS @ Waterloo and MPPA at Carleton as well. No news yet, best of luck to you

[IM26C4U]

Just now, residenttomalito said:

I applied to MPS @ Waterloo and MPPA at Carleton as well. No news yet, best of luck to you

thank you! same to you!

[FMBY]

31 minutes ago, residenttomalito said:

Me 2 !!! Did you apply to Munk? 

Me too! Congrats on the person who got into Munk I was not expecting them to be sending offers so early, given they’re usually one of the last schools to send according to previous grad cafe threads. 
 

I’ve applied to Munk, Queens, York and Carleton; but have only heard back from York. Good luck to all and if anyone else hears back from Munk, please post it on the thread! 

[residenttomalito]

1 minute ago, FMBY said:

Me too! Congrats on the person who got into Munk I was not expecting them to be sending offers so early, given they’re usually one of the last schools to send according to previous grad cafe threads. 
 

I’ve applied to Munk, Queens, York and Carleton; but have only heard back from York. Good luck to all and if anyone else hears back from Munk, please post it on the thread! 

I have not heard of anyone else receiving an offer from Munk but perhaps they will notify us via email that they completed their first round. Congrats on York, and good luck on all your other applications!

[aj23]

49 minutes ago, residenttomalito said:

I applied to MPS @ Waterloo and MPPA at Carleton as well. No news yet, best of luck to you

I applied to Waterloo as well. I imagine we wont hear back till early/mid-March since the deadline to submit supporting documents was the 14th. 

Keep me posted if you hear anything from them. 

[scholarloading]

5 hours ago, residenttomalito said:

If you don't mind me asking, what were your stats ?

Hi! Yeah sure.

I graduated from a small liberal arts college in the States last year and now I work at a think tank in DC. My GPA is 4.0 and GRE is 324. Let me know if you have any specific qs!

Oh, also I got into the MGA program

[residenttomalito]

6 hours ago, aj23 said:

I applied to Waterloo as well. I imagine we wont hear back till early/mid-March since the deadline to submit supporting documents was the 14th. 

Keep me posted if you hear anything from them. 

Yes of course ! I'll reply to this if my status changes on the portals! GOOD LUCK 

[residenttomalito]

3 hours ago, scholarloading said:

Hi! Yeah sure.

I graduated from a small liberal arts college in the States last year and now I work at a think tank in DC. My GPA is 4.0 and GRE is 324. Let me know if you have any specific qs!

Oh, also I got into the MGA program

Nice congrats !! Did you apply to any other Canadian schools?

[scholarloading]

4 minutes ago, residenttomalito said:

Nice congrats !! Did you apply to any other Canadian schools?

Nope, just UofT!

[IM26C4U]

Does anyone have any tips for waiting it out lol (ie., accepted/rejection letters). it's only been a couple of weeks since applications were due but i still check my email 12 times a day 

[canadian02]

Anyone waiting to hear back from Mcgill, or have already heard back? Submitted mine last weekend and my status changed to "In Review" a few days ago. I know they review and give out acceptances/rejection on a rolling basis...  

And ditto the above poster, the waiting game is so painful because it's out of your control at this point!

[FMBY]

3 hours ago, 1m26c4u said:

Does anyone have any tips for waiting it out lol (ie., accepted/rejection letters). it's only been a couple of weeks since applications were due but i still check my email 12 times a day 

Haha can't offer any advice because i'm guilty of the same thing. Between this forum and the application portals, I feel like i'm refreshing something every hour. It doesn't look like we'll be hearing back this week, hoping for some news next week! Although looking at threads from previous years, Munk usually sends decisions within the first two weeks of March, so i'm not expecting to hear from them yet. Unless their MPP decision committee follows the MGA decision committee in sending decisions earlier this year, given one of the individuals on this forum said he received an acceptance for the MGA program. 

[mppmgaapplicant2018]

Folks, tonnes of incomplete/misinformation on here about Munk's MPP (re: cost, quality, internships, etc.). 

 

Happy to shed light on the program in detail, if anyone is interested. Feel free to message me.

 

For reference - I'm an MPP graduate. I applied to Munk MPP, Munk MGA, and Queen's MPA. Went with Munk MPP in the end, and, like many of my colleagues, am glad to have chosen the school. 

[ncl]

23 hours ago, canadian02 said:

Anyone waiting to hear back from Mcgill, or have already heard back? Submitted mine last weekend and my status changed to "In Review" a few days ago. I know they review and give out acceptances/rejection on a rolling basis...  

And ditto the above poster, the waiting game is so painful because it's out of your control at this point!

Hey there! On Feb 1 I received the following from McGill:

The Admissions committee is in the process of reviewing the first 2 batches of completed applications.  We hope to send out our first batch offers by mid February.

I received my MPP offer yesterday - I applied early January :) 

Hoping this helps to ease some of the nerves! Best of luck to everyone!!

[TheZarosian]

3 hours ago, mppmgaapplicant2018 said:

Folks, tonnes of incomplete/misinformation on here about Munk's MPP (re: cost, quality, internships, etc.). 

 

Happy to shed light on the program in detail, if anyone is interested. Feel free to message me.

 

For reference - I'm an MPP graduate. I applied to Munk MPP, Munk MGA, and Queen's MPA. Went with Munk MPP in the end, and, like many of my colleagues, am glad to have chosen the school. 

I would be happy to hear some more details for sure -- it would shed some light into the analysis that I have done on the program in relation to other programs, and would add to anything I may have missed.

Cost: My understanding is that the MPP is double the cost of most MPPA style programs, with little to no funding. This is contrast to something like Carleton MPPA, which oftentimes comes with full or even more than full funding. Would this be the case or am I missing something?

Quality: My take on quality is the following: Does it get you a job? And does it get you one fast, with ample internship time and the ability to go into full-time employment quickly. I can't see how a 2 year program with only a 4 months discontinuous internship gets you that job, compared to other programs. Unless I am missing something here.

Internships: From my personal experience, at the Federal level, about 70 percent of students are either from Carleton or uOttawa. Waterloo's MPS makes up a good chunk of the rest, as the program Director has gone through leaps and bounds to establish strong connections. At the provincial level, I found that UofT tends to be more common, but is still eclipsed by Queen's.

 

 

 

[mppmgaapplicant2018]

1 hour ago, TheZarosian said:

I would be happy to hear some more details for sure -- it would shed some light into the analysis that I have done on the program in relation to other programs, and would add to anything I may have missed.

Cost: My understanding is that the MPP is double the cost of most MPPA style programs, with little to no funding. This is contrast to something like Carleton MPPA, which oftentimes comes with full or even more than full funding. Would this be the case or am I missing something?

Quality: My take on quality is the following: Does it get you a job? And does it get you one fast, with ample internship time and the ability to go into full-time employment quickly. I can't see how a 2 year program with only a 4 months discontinuous internship gets you that job, compared to other programs. Unless I am missing something here.

Internships: From my personal experience, at the Federal level, about 70 percent of students are either from Carleton or uOttawa. Waterloo's MPS makes up a good chunk of the rest, as the program Director has gone through leaps and bounds to establish strong connections. At the provincial level, I found that UofT tends to be more common, but is still eclipsed by Queen's.

 

 

 

Sure!

RE: Cost

Nobody pays the $40k amount. That's the sticker price. 

In totality, after accounting for internal needs-based funding offered from the program (all students who've applied to OSAP are automatically considered for this funding), scholarships in first and second year, and OSAP grants, the average student from my cohort owed between $15-20k over two years. Happy to give you a breakdown of the costs in detail via PM. 

Re: Quality

Our internship placements have been steady at 100% for a number of years. Several students from my cohort (and previous ones) had their internships extended on a part-time basis after commencing the second year of their studies (this is particularly true for those that get OPS gigs).  They also ended up being hired back full-time after the completion of their degree.

With respect to full-time jobs, we have an 85-90% job placement rate within the first 3-6 months of graduation. This trend has been true even during COVID. Many of my colleagues, including myself, had multiple full-time permanent offers with the public service before graduating. 

Re: Internships

Of all the policy schools, our placement rates are probably the most balanced between federal, provincial, municipal, and the private/consulting sectors. From what I remember, our most recent stats had a 65-45% split between the provincial and federal PS, respectively. About 70% grads overall found jobs in the government (provincial, municipal, and federal), and the remaining in the private sector and non-for-profit. 
 

I'm not sure where you drew the statistical statement re: Queen's placements in the OPS, but here's something for reference:

When I was in my first year, out of the 90 Master-level co-op positions posted by the OPS (for a number of PP/PA schools - Ryerson, York, U of T, Queen's, Waterloo etc.), about 60% were populated by U of T alone. We've been considered a feeder school for the OPS for a number of years, particularly prior to the hiring freeze. Our diversified placements have become a more common trend in the last 3ish years.


I want to emphasize something for future applicants here - the vast majority of public policy programs will get you good paying jobs in the government. For me, I chose U of T's MPP program because of its strong emphasis on quantitative courses, renowned faculty (I've been taught by UN ambassadors, ex-Clerk's of the Privy Council, DM's of central agencies at the federal and provincial level, to name a few), and diverse placements. In light of these considerations, picking U of T was a no brainer for me, despite the $20k price tag (over two years). A cost-benefit analysis, in its truest form, would probably have to account for those intangible benefits too.

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by mppmgaapplicant2018

[mppmgaapplicant2018]

Apologies, just noticed a typo - the federal-provincial split was 45% - 55%, respectively

Edited February 21, 2021 by mppmgaapplicant2018

[Svalbardz]

Hello,

Thank you so much for those additional insights - Makes me even more impatient to know the results !

 

[TheZarosian]

10 hours ago, mppmgaapplicant2018 said:

Sure!

RE: Cost

Nobody pays the $40k amount. That's the sticker price. 

In totality, after accounting for internal needs-based funding offered from the program (all students who've applied to OSAP are automatically considered for this funding), scholarships in first and second year, and OSAP grants, the average student from my cohort owed between $15-20k over two years. Happy to give you a breakdown of the costs in detail via PM. 

Re: Quality

Our internship placements have been steady at 100% for a number of years. Several students from my cohort (and previous ones) had their internships extended on a part-time basis after commencing the second year of their studies (this is particularly true for those that get OPS gigs).  They also ended up being hired back full-time after the completion of their degree.

With respect to full-time jobs, we have an 85-90% job placement rate within the first 3-6 months of graduation. This trend has been true even during COVID. Many of my colleagues, including myself, had multiple full-time permanent offers with the public service before graduating. 

Re: Internships

Of all the policy schools, our placement rates are probably the most balanced between federal, provincial, municipal, and the private/consulting sectors. From what I remember, our most recent stats had a 65-45% split between the provincial and federal PS, respectively. About 70% grads overall found jobs in the government (provincial, municipal, and federal), and the remaining in the private sector and non-for-profit. 
 

I'm not sure where you drew the statistical statement re: Queen's placements in the OPS, but here's something for reference:

When I was in my first year, out of the 90 Master-level co-op positions posted by the OPS (for a number of PP/PA schools - Ryerson, York, U of T, Queen's, Waterloo etc.), about 60% were populated by U of T alone. We've been considered a feeder school for the OPS for a number of years, particularly prior to the hiring freeze. Our diversified placements have become a more common trend in the last 3ish years.


I want to emphasize something for future applicants here - the vast majority of public policy programs will get you good paying jobs in the government. For me, I chose U of T's MPP program because of its strong emphasis on quantitative courses, renowned faculty (I've been taught by UN ambassadors, ex-Clerk's of the Privy Council, DM's of central agencies at the federal and provincial level, to name a few), and diverse placements. In light of these considerations, picking U of T was a no brainer for me, despite the $20k price tag (over two years). A cost-benefit analysis, in its truest form, would probably have to account for those intangible benefits too.

 

Thanks for the additional info -- I think it is certainly good to keep this on a public forum as it lets everyone see the experiences of two different MPPA students.

I do agree that UofT has the best diversity in placements, especially within the private sector. Carleton tends to be primarily a federal government feeder and has weak circles elsewhere. An interesting thing to note on the Master's recruitment scheme by the OPS -- it's a very recent upbringing. Plenty of Managers still post individual postings on various job boards. For Waterloo, I recall something around 70+ separate OPS postings a term. But for sure, I cannot imagine the Carleton or UWaterloo graduate going to private sector/NGOs, or even municipalities that much.

In my case, Carleton was definitely the no brainer. With a $46,000 funding package and only 8 months of actual full-time school, Carleton would have given me an estimated $60000 to $80000 additional net worth by the end of my degree, compared to UofT's MPP. 

This was calculated from the following assumptions.

• $23000 in income from funding package ($23,000 in tuition, $46,000 in funding)
• $17000 in savings from not having to pay UofT MPP's tuition (assuming UofT offers scholarships whittling the $45k down to $17k),
• $25,000 in additional wages (assuming UofT MPP is able to field 2 part-time internships in 2nd year, compared to an additional 1 full-time Co-op plus 1 4-month stint as a full-timer for Carleton's MPPA)
• $5000 in additional wages from accrued seniority re: union-mandated wage increases as well as a faster promotion progression timeline due to extra time worked.

Because I ended up securing full-time employment anyways right after my undergrad, the actual difference was closer to $100,000-120,000 additional net worth.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by TheZarosian

[mppmgaapplicant2018]

8 hours ago, TheZarosian said:

Thanks for the additional info -- I think it is certainly good to keep this on a public forum as it lets everyone see the experiences of two different MPPA students.

I do agree that UofT has the best diversity in placements, especially within the private sector. Carleton tends to be primarily a federal government feeder and has weak circles elsewhere. An interesting thing to note on the Master's recruitment scheme by the OPS -- it's a very recent upbringing. Plenty of Managers still post individual postings on various job boards. For Waterloo, I recall something around 70+ separate OPS postings a term. But for sure, I cannot imagine the Carleton or UWaterloo graduate going to private sector/NGOs, or even municipalities that much.

In my case, Carleton was definitely the no brainer. With a $46,000 funding package and only 8 months of actual full-time school, Carleton would have given me an estimated $60000 to $80000 additional net worth by the end of my degree, compared to UofT's MPP. 

This was calculated from the following assumptions.

• $23000 in income from funding package ($23,000 in tuition, $46,000 in funding)
• $17000 in savings from not having to pay UofT MPP's tuition (assuming UofT offers scholarships whittling the $45k down to $17k),
• $25,000 in additional wages (assuming UofT MPP is able to field 2 part-time internships in 2nd year, compared to an additional 1 full-time Co-op plus 1 4-month stint as a full-timer for Carleton's MPPA)
• $5000 in additional wages from accrued seniority re: union-mandated wage increases as well as a faster promotion progression timeline due to extra time worked.

Because I ended up securing full-time employment anyways right after my undergrad, the actual difference was closer to $100,000-120,000 additional net worth.

 

 

Very interesting!

Keeping the current/future applicants here in mind, I think it might be helpful if you could give them some sense of the costs/funding packages for the average/median student (if you're aware of the statistics). I doubt the funding packages are nearly as generous for every MPPA student. To give you all an example, a cubicle mate of mine (a Carleton MPPA student) from my co-op with the feds mentioned that he got no schollies or TA/RAships. He was paying the MPPA tuition at sticker which was $22k at the time. Conversely, a number of my colleagues from the MPP program graduated with a net positive balance because of second year scholarships, part-time government jobs in second year, and TA funding packages (of course, the net balance was not anywhere near the $60k-80k amount that you calculated). But these are anecdotes and only capture a few data points at best. The median/mean gives a better of the general trend.

On balance, though, I'm sure that Carleton students get much more in financial aid relative to most policy schools. Whether that aid - which will vary from one student to another - is sufficient to attend the school will be a subjective choice, based on a range of factors.

8 hours ago, TheZarosian said:

An interesting thing to note on the Master's recruitment scheme by the OPS -- it's a very recent upbringing. Plenty of Managers still post individual postings on various job boards. For Waterloo, I recall something around 70+ separate OPS postings a term. But for sure, I cannot imagine the Carleton or UWaterloo graduate going to private sector/NGOs, or even municipalities that much.

 

Absolutely. I discounted U of T's placements thorough private OPS postings, but we had about 20ish percent of our cohort recruited via that independent process too (the rest of the class had already found internships via Policy Innovation Hub's competitive Master-level Co-op Policy Program).

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by mppmgaapplicant2018

[SergeantSuckDown]

Anyone want to "chance me" for Queen's MPA? Undergrad in Political Science at McMaster, cGPA: 76% L2: 83%. I would say I have very strong EC's which I mentioned in my personal statement... penny for your thoughts!

[thevibe]

anyone heard from Ryerson yet??

waiting here anxiously! best of luck everyone!

[DunnS]

Hi All  

I work full-time in Toronto so my options for programs were a bit limited in terms of part-time programs, so I applied to both York's MPPAL and Ryerson's program on part-time basis.

I was accepted to the MPPAL back in late January, and have accepted my offer as it was first preferred choice (overall better program and much more impressive alumni list). I haven't heard from Ryerson but the Admin had said earliest they will reach out is end of February.  

I thought I would provide my stats as a thank you to all those who provided theirs in years past on here, hope it helps someone else out! 

Education:

HBA in Speech & Language Science (cGPA: 3.33, 2yrGPA: 3.67) - I made deans list 4th year and had some extenuating circumstances which I noted in my letter that impacted my grades in first and second year.

Post-Grad Certificate in Public Admin to be conferred June 2021 (cGPA: 3.83, completed PT while working). Completed a survey assignment at part of a course that related to my work place, my research from the survey ended up being presented to senior management.

Work: Worked at a crown agency for 6 years (summer student to contact centre representative to an office administrator to my current role as a workforce analyst)

Volunteer/Leadership Experience: Note-Taker (undergrad), VP of HR Students Offering Support (undergrad for 1 year), Pan Am/Parapan Ambassador, Toronto Distress Line Volunteer & Trainer

References: two profs from post-grad who were really supportive and my manager

Overall I kept my resume short, total of 1.5ish pages with only 2-3 points for each work experience and 1 line for volunteer. For my education portion, I did specify major research poster assignments, any scholarships, and related research accomplishments (i.e. my above survey presentation to senior management). I also put both cumulative GPA and Final 2 year GPA.

Edited February 23, 2021 by DunnS
Forgot to add reference info!

[IM26C4U]

21 minutes ago, DunnS said:

Hi All  

I work full-time in Toronto so my options for programs were a bit limited in terms of part-time programs, so I applied to both York's MPPAL and Ryerson's program on part-time basis.

I was accepted to the MPPAL back in late January, and have accepted my offer as it was first preferred choice (overall better program and much more impressive alumni list). I haven't heard from Ryerson but the Admin had said earliest they will reach out is end of February.  

I thought I would provide my stats as a thank you to all those who provided theirs in years past on here, hope it helps someone else out! 

Education:

HBA in Speech & Language Science (cGPA: 3.33, 2yrGPA: 3.67) - I made deans list 4th year and had some extenuating circumstances which I noted in my letter that impacted my grades in first and second year.

Post-Grad Certificate in Public Admin to be conferred June 2021 (cGPA: 3.83, completed PT while working). Completed a survey assignment at part of a course that related to my work place, my research from the survey ended up being presented to senior management.

Work: Worked at a crown agency for 6 years (summer student to contact centre representative to an office administrator to my current role as a workforce analyst)

Volunteer/Leadership Experience: Note-Taker (undergrad), VP of HR Students Offering Support (undergrad for 1 year), Pan Am/Parapan Ambassador, Toronto Distress Line Volunteer & Trainer

Overall I kept my resume short, total of 1.5ish pages with only 2-3 points for each work experience and 1 line for volunteer. For my education portion, I did specify major research poster assignments, any scholarships, and related research accomplishments (i.e. my above survey presentation to senior management). I also put both cumulative GPA and Final 2 year GPA.

congratulations and thanks a lot for sharing! must be nice to get in this early tho lol i keep refreshing my email like my life depends on it 

[DunnS]

11 minutes ago, 1m26c4u said:

congratulations and thanks a lot for sharing! must be nice to get in this early tho lol i keep refreshing my email like my life depends on it 

Thank you, I was in shock when Jas (admin) called to tell me I was accepted to the program, I actually asked her if she was sure that it wasn't a mistake ?‍♀️

Good luck with your applications!!