Munk School, NPSIA and GPSIA 2021 Admissions

[oreilly001]

2 hours ago, h4ngp.t said:

I applied to both GPSIA and NPSIA and received rejection from both this week  Wondering if anyone who got accepted has any pointers as I'm considering re-applying next year.
I honestly don't know what I would need to do to improve my application:

- Was it because I did an undergrad not in Poli-Sci (I have a BCom)? I did take the mandatory Econs courses and have also taken some 1st and 2nd year Poli-sci courses as electives. My average from my undergrad is a B.

- I have 2-3 years work experience related to international development and global health.

- My letter of intent focused on what I wanted to do in my career, should I have focused on research instead?

I've reached out to NPSIA to see if I can get more details but none were provided, only that the program is very competitive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I got into GSPIA, still waiting on NPSIA but from what I've heard a lot of the decision comes down to your gpa in your final two years of undergrad. 

[Ilovegroundhogs]

@h4ngp.t hello, current NPSIA student here! If I had to guess it would be the GPA. From when I applied everyone was told that the program is very competitive, so much so that just having the minimum cut off (B+) is sometimes not enough. Most of the people in my cohort were in the A-range. 

[hopefulapp15]

7 hours ago, h4ngp.t said:

I applied to both GPSIA and NPSIA and received rejection from both this week   Wondering if anyone who got accepted has any pointers as I'm considering re-applying next year.
I honestly don't know what I would need to do to improve my application:

- Was it because I did an undergrad not in Poli-Sci (I have a BCom)? I did take the mandatory Econs courses and have also taken some 1st and 2nd year Poli-sci courses as electives. My average from my undergrad is a B.

- I have 2-3 years work experience related to international development and global health.

- My letter of intent focused on what I wanted to do in my career, should I have focused on research instead?

I've reached out to NPSIA to see if I can get more details but none were provided, only that the program is very competitive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hey! I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out for you this time around  I applied for Fall 2021 and was accepted, hopefully my experience can provide some useful insights.

I'll be graduating from undergrad at the end of the semester, so I have no prior long-term work experience. I have a very strong academic record (GPA of almost 3.9/4.00 when I applied) and some relevant internship experiences. I also worked on a supervised research project following one of those internships and was able to tie that into my letter of intent as a potential research interest (and my supervisor was one of my referees). My undergrad is a BA, double major in economics and international development — not the typical poli sci background, although I did take some poli courses during my degree. This is just my guess, but I think what ticked the admission committee's boxes is a combination of a strong GPA and a pretty well-defined research interest with internship experience to back it up. I'm also fluent in French and know my way around Spanish, but I don't know if that really matters. 

I hope all works out for you in the end, and props to you for already planning on re-applying (god knows the process is exhausting)!

Edited April 10, 2021 by hopefulapp15

[h4ngp.t]

1 hour ago, hopefulapp15 said:

Hey! I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out for you this time around  I applied for Fall 2021 and was accepted, hopefully my experience can provide some useful insights.

I'll be graduating from undergrad at the end of the semester, so I have no prior long-term work experience. I have a very strong academic record (GPA of almost 3.9/4.00 when I applied) and some relevant internship experiences. I also worked on a supervised research project following one of those internships and was able to tie that into my letter of intent as a potential research interest (and my supervisor was one of my referees). My undergrad is a BA, double major in economics and international development — not the typical poli sci background, although I did take some poli courses during my degree. This is just my guess, but I think what ticked the admission committee's boxes is a combination of a strong GPA and a pretty well-defined research interest with internship experience to back it up. I'm also fluent in French and know my way around Spanish, but I don't know if that really matters. 

I hope all works out for you in the end, and props to you for already planning on re-applying (god knows the process is exhausting)!

Thank you for sharing! This is really helpful information. Much appreciated!

[mhcarleton]

On 4/10/2021 at 10:15 AM, h4ngp.t said:

I applied to both GPSIA and NPSIA and received rejection from both this week  Wondering if anyone who got accepted has any pointers as I'm considering re-applying next year.
I honestly don't know what I would need to do to improve my application:

- Was it because I did an undergrad not in Poli-Sci (I have a BCom)? I did take the mandatory Econs courses and have also taken some 1st and 2nd year Poli-sci courses as electives. My average from my undergrad is a B.

- I have 2-3 years work experience related to international development and global health.

- My letter of intent focused on what I wanted to do in my career, should I have focused on research instead?

I've reached out to NPSIA to see if I can get more details but none were provided, only that the program is very competitive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hello!

First time poster here, I was thinking about posting my background anyways since I have a somewhat unconventional background for these programs too!

So I applied full-time Fall 2021to GSPIA, NPSIA, and Munk for context. I got accepted into NPSIA (generous funding) and Munk (no funding), and got rejected by GSPIA.

My background:

• Undergraduate Bachelor of Commerce graduating in April this year
• CGPA of 10.3/12 (and have gotten some worse grades in my last two years if that helps at all
• No international exchange or work experience
• Co-op at big 4 accounting firm
• Extensive volunteer experience in social entrepreneurship and cultural clubs
• Fluent in urdu and semi-fluent in arabic

In general, I thought I had a non-competitive application and was shocked to have gotten accepted in the first round to both UofT and Carleton. I think some factors that boosted my application were firstly I was lucky enough to have some great reference letters. One was from a prof I TA'd for and had studied under having completed her courses with an A and A+. She spoke to my academic abilities but also my team work and professional skills since I had served under her as a TA. Second was a prof I did a year-long seminar course with where we worked on starting a business in Tanzania that boosts women's health and addresses environmental concerns. I think they both played a major role in my application package since I don't have the traditional academic background.

Secondly, when I wrote my statement of intent I actually had put off for quite a while so I wouldn't say its my best piece of writing, but I focused on a couple of different aspects of why I would be a good candidate. Firstly I have lived in several countries in my life, so I spoke about that since I know these programs take an international focus. I also talked about why I studied business at the undergraduate level, and that although it may not be a social science they're usually looking for, a lot of the skills I gained could be beneficial to my graduate degree. Through those two points, I rounded out my letter on the third point about why I was applying to all the schools, which is that I believe they're major skill is building diverse and qualified cohorts. Although I admire them for many reasons, I focused on this point because I was then able to say that although they make look at my application and think it a bit unconventional, at the end of the day I have a unique academic background and international exposure that I believe could bring a very diverse perspective to their schools, and since they pride themselves on diversity, I believe I would be able to not only gain significantly from there programs but also have much to offer to the conversation. I spoke about my research interests briefly but since I knew I didn't have an extensive research background I more or less glossed over my interests. I knew I could focus on the diversity aspect because that's where I could speak to what exactly drew me to the schools and why I thought I would make a good fit.

WOAH sorry for the information overload but I hope this helps other students applying in the future who are worried about not having a polisci background. I'm really sorry about your rejection but I'd say don't let your BCom background discourage you from applying again!

Edited April 12, 2021 by mhcarleton

[Babban_D]

On 4/10/2021 at 10:15 AM, h4ngp.t said:

I applied to both GPSIA and NPSIA and received rejection from both this week  Wondering if anyone who got accepted has any pointers as I'm considering re-applying next year.
I honestly don't know what I would need to do to improve my application:

- Was it because I did an undergrad not in Poli-Sci (I have a BCom)? I did take the mandatory Econs courses and have also taken some 1st and 2nd year Poli-sci courses as electives. My average from my undergrad is a B.

- I have 2-3 years work experience related to international development and global health.

- My letter of intent focused on what I wanted to do in my career, should I have focused on research instead?

I've reached out to NPSIA to see if I can get more details but none were provided, only that the program is very competitive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hello h4ngp,

Just thought to share my perspective. I believe the GPA does play a good role and a few folks suggested that taking more qualifying courses and getting solid grades in them is a good option. I don't feel that BCom is the issue. Similarly, my statement of intent kind of focussed both on my career aspirations and research interest. That being said, from what I have been able to deduce is that not of lot of folks go for MRP/Thesis option in NPSIA, thus, focussing on research in SOP is not a sure shot way to make it competitive.

I guess being very clear in the end objective you want to achieve, and highlighting how your experience (or transferrable skills) will help you succeed is the key. Maybe taking a few qualifying courses and getting as high grade as possible in them is a good call or maybe gaining a bit more experience. As for me, I have ~10 years of work-ex in research, consulting, and a big 4 firm. My undergrad was absymal (50%), but then I did my master's where my GPA was A- and some solid recommendations. Happy to talk more via PM, if needed.

Best,

B_D

[acceptmepls]

6 hours ago, Ball_D said:

Hello h4ngp,

Just thought to share my perspective. I believe the GPA does play a good role and a few folks suggested that taking more qualifying courses and getting solid grades in them is a good option. I don't feel that BCom is the issue. Similarly, my statement of intent kind of focussed both on my career aspirations and research interest. That being said, from what I have been able to deduce is that not of lot of folks go for MRP/Thesis option in NPSIA, thus, focussing on research in SOP is not a sure shot way to make it competitive.

I guess being very clear in the end objective you want to achieve, and highlighting how your experience (or transferrable skills) will help you succeed is the key. Maybe taking a few qualifying courses and getting as high grade as possible in them is a good call or maybe gaining a bit more experience. As for me, I have ~10 years of work-ex in research, consulting, and a big 4 firm. My undergrad was absymal (50%), but then I did my master's where my GPA was A- and some solid recommendations. Happy to talk more via PM, if needed.

Best,

B_D

Just to expand on this: I wrote the first draft of my Statement of Intent focusing on the prestige of NPSIA and my future career goals (liberal internationalism, "golden age of Canadian foreign policy," you get the picture). I showed it to a few friends - beyond a few grammatical changes, no major revisions needed, in their eyes. I showed it to one of my academic references - a change or two, but no major changes. I felt great about what I wrote and thought I was a shoo-in. 

Well, I showed my statement to my other reference, who sent me back comments with no fewer than four paragraphs needing to be deleted, and the remainder being scratched heavily. We worked on my statement together afterwards, but his main advice was: NPSIA is a research school, so focus on research, and the skillset you have that would lead to strong research. Think of your statement as if you were applying to a research position: what experience do you have that will make you a strong candidate, and what drives you to want to attend the school?

Here is a brief outline of my Statement:

P.1.: introduction/personal background 

P.2.: research experience #1 (fourth-year research paper I wrote)

P.3.: research experience #2 (third-year research paper)

P.4.: professional experience (identify the skills you have gained here that would serve you well)

P.5.: objectives (what courses do you want to take? Be specific, down to the course code. What do you hope to accomplish at school? I.e. internships)

P.6.: conclusion (here, I expanded on future career goals briefly)

I don't think a weak statement would keep an otherwise strong applicant from being accepted, but I do believe a statement where you present yourself as an asset to the school can significantly boost your application. My GPA was not phenomenal, nor do I have international experience. I truly believe aligning my statement with the school's interests, and making my statement about the work itself, made my case much stronger. 

Hopefully this helps, OP!

[Babban_D]

37 minutes ago, acceptmepls said:

Just to expand on this: I wrote the first draft of my Statement of Intent focusing on the prestige of NPSIA and my future career goals (liberal internationalism, "golden age of Canadian foreign policy," you get the picture). I showed it to a few friends - beyond a few grammatical changes, no major revisions needed, in their eyes. I showed it to one of my academic references - a change or two, but no major changes. I felt great about what I wrote and thought I was a shoo-in. 

Well, I showed my statement to my other reference, who sent me back comments with no fewer than four paragraphs needing to be deleted, and the remainder being scratched heavily. We worked on my statement together afterwards, but his main advice was: NPSIA is a research school, so focus on research, and the skillset you have that would lead to strong research. Think of your statement as if you were applying to a research position: what experience do you have that will make you a strong candidate, and what drives you to want to attend the school?

Here is a brief outline of my Statement:

P.1.: introduction/personal background 

P.2.: research experience #1 (fourth-year research paper I wrote)

P.3.: research experience #2 (third-year research paper)

P.4.: professional experience (identify the skills you have gained here that would serve you well)

P.5.: objectives (what courses do you want to take? Be specific, down to the course code. What do you hope to accomplish at school? I.e. internships)

P.6.: conclusion (here, I expanded on future career goals briefly)

I don't think a weak statement would keep an otherwise strong applicant from being accepted, but I do believe a statement where you present yourself as an asset to the school can significantly boost your application. My GPA was not phenomenal, nor do I have international experience. I truly believe aligning my statement with the school's interests, and making my statement about the work itself, made my case much stronger. 

Hopefully this helps, OP!

This is very similar to the process I went through as well and indeed, you have summed it up very well! One thing I wanted to add for OP and highlight the value NPSIA places on grades, was a coversation I had with a very senior member of the administration. During the conversation I was told that, ".. your CGPA is an A-, which would put you in a good position to gain admission. While it also depends on the pool of applicants but your chances of getting in are good."

I hope it help, OP. It may also be worthwhile to reach out to the admin team around June/July as I guess they would have a bit more time to discuss the application and steps one can take to strengthen it. I reached out to a couple of programs and they were fairly helpful and supportive. Please feel free to PM for anything, if needed.

[Yellbell]

2 hours ago, Ball_D said:

This is very similar to the process I went through as well and indeed, you have summed it up very well! One thing I wanted to add for OP and highlight the value NPSIA places on grades, was a coversation I had with a very senior member of the administration. During the conversation I was told that, ".. your CGPA is an A-, which would put you in a good position to gain admission. While it also depends on the pool of applicants but your chances of getting in are good."

I hope it help, OP. It may also be worthwhile to reach out to the admin team around June/July as I guess they would have a bit more time to discuss the application and steps one can take to strengthen it. I reached out to a couple of programs and they were fairly helpful and supportive. Please feel free to PM for anything, if needed.

Did you accept all the schools first and reject later? I'm having a tough time deciding between Carleton's MPPA and Queens MPA. Have you settled on a school?

[Babban_D]

22 minutes ago, Yellbell said:

Did you accept all the schools first and reject later? I'm having a tough time deciding between Carleton's MPPA and Queens MPA. Have you settled on a school?

Hi Yellbell, I rejected Queen's and Waterloo fairly early on. They were kind of my back-up school. I also recently declined MPPA. However, if I were to choose between MPA and MPPA, I would have gone to MPPA. My reasons being:

• Ottawa - A city both me and my partner love! I am a Queen's alumnus and even my references from the school suggested picking up schools in Ottawa, given it is the center for feds and all things policy.
• Co-op - While Queen's technically has a co-op program, the one at MPPA is a lot more formalized and one of their biggest strength. It is the biggest attraction for me.
• Course Selection - While most of the courses at MPPA are mandatory (a bit limited elective options), MPPA courses are a bit more elaborate.
• Funding - I recieved a very solid funding from MPPA and I guess the school usually gives all applicants some funding, thus, the less money one spends for a great quality education, the better! I hope this all helps -- happy to chat more via PM if it works well.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Ball_D

[skibum]

Hi everyone, accepted my offer for the MGA at Munk for the fall. Is anyone else doing the same? Would love to connect with people!

[h4ngp.t]

 

On 4/12/2021 at 10:06 PM, Ball_D said:

This is very similar to the process I went through as well and indeed, you have summed it up very well! One thing I wanted to add for OP and highlight the value NPSIA places on grades, was a coversation I had with a very senior member of the administration. During the conversation I was told that, ".. your CGPA is an A-, which would put you in a good position to gain admission. While it also depends on the pool of applicants but your chances of getting in are good."

I hope it help, OP. It may also be worthwhile to reach out to the admin team around June/July as I guess they would have a bit more time to discuss the application and steps one can take to strengthen it. I reached out to a couple of programs and they were fairly helpful and supportive. Please feel free to PM for anything, if needed.

Thank you all! This is super helpful!

[oreilly001]

Not sure if this is helpful to anyone but I have been at "recommended for assessment" for NPSIA for ages and finally reached out to Lauren to see where I was at in the process and she replied with this:

"Thanks for your email. At this time, your application has been reviewed by the admissions committee and has not been selected as part of our first round of offers. Your application is currently being held for consideration for our second round of offers, which will be distributed on a rolling basis starting at the end of this month and going out throughout the spring (and possibly into the summer). All final admission decisions will be made no later than August 31^st. Unfortunately, due to the competitiveness of the program it’s difficult to provide a more exact timeline."

So if anyone is at the same stage or wants to check if they are being held for second round offers I suggest emailing.

For reference my GPA is 10.45/12, Polisci undergrad finishing this year, no relevant work experience. 

Edited April 15, 2021 by oreilly001

[ggkk_the_game]

23 hours ago, skibum said:

Hi everyone, accepted my offer for the MGA at Munk for the fall. Is anyone else doing the same? Would love to connect with people!

Hi I too will be joining Munk this fall ! Would love to connect ! DM me ! 

[canadiangradapplicant2021]

To anyone still waiting to hear back from NPSIA, I highly recommend emailing them. I finally did today, expecting that I had been waitlisted/rejected, and they informed me that I'd been accepted and that I would receive an official acceptance letter in the next week or so. I'm surprised that it's taking this long for first-round offers to go out, but this does mean that there's potentially good news in store for those still waiting. 

[AspiringNPSIAN]

22 hours ago, canadiangradapplicant2021 said:

To anyone still waiting to hear back from NPSIA, I highly recommend emailing them. I finally did today, expecting that I had been waitlisted/rejected, and they informed me that I'd been accepted and that I would receive an official acceptance letter in the next week or so. I'm surprised that it's taking this long for first-round offers to go out, but this does mean that there's potentially good news in store for those still waiting. 

Thanks for this!

Also, the following was posted on NPSIA's MA Admissions page. I think this means the first round of offers are still going out?:

"The deadline to be considered for first-round offers and funding opportunities was January 31, 2021, and at this time all first-round offers have been extended. We will continue to send out second-round offers throughout the spring and summer months on a rolling basis until August 31, 2021, if space remains in the program. Applications to the MA and MA/JD program are currently still being accepted for possible second round consideration."

https://carleton.ca/npsia/program-hub/ma-program/ma-admissions/

So for all those still waiting, hoping to hear good news soon!

[CoffeeTimez]

Was anyone admitted to the NPSIA PhD program for Fall 2021?

 

 

[russnation]

They entered in my specialization today! And my status has changed from “Recommended for Assessment” to “Review in Progress By Department”. Hoping this is a good sign! 

[SAC21]

Hi guys! I was accepted to NPSIA (IIA) last week and thought I’d share my stats/application progression for the next group of applicants I applied as part-time and only to NPSIA as I’m pretty settled in Ottawa.

Stats:

Undergrad at Carleton in policy, with an honours research essay.

10/12 cGPA over my last two years. I took the ECON requirement back when it was ECON1000 and got a very mediocre B, but I did take Development Econ as an upper year course and got an A+, which I’m sure helped. I’ve also already completed the language requirement with FREN1100.

2 years of federal government work experience as a student, 1 of those years was at GAC. Now working full-time in government, which is why I applied as part-time.

No relevant extracurricular/volunteer experience to speak of, so this was definitely a weak point of my application.

I had pretty good references. One was from the prof who supervised my HRE, the second was from a prof who I was in a small seminar class with.

I should note that I have a fairly typical academic profile for NPSIA. Most of my undergrad courses were across PSCI/ECON/LAWS/INAF.

Application:

I was stuck in Preliminary Review Required for months after applying in early December. Finally progressed to Review in progress by department then Recommended for Assessment in the last week of March.

I was contacted by admin last week to clarify if I was eligible for the part-time program since I didn’t really explain why in my application. Once I explained why (I’m currently working full-time in a relevant role, but want to gain more policy skills) I got an informal acceptance I could never find info on the part-time program in past year’s forums, so I would say to anyone applying as part-time: you should definitely take some time to explain why in your statement so you don’t end up in the same nerve-wracking position as me! It definitely slowed my application down. My application in Central pretty much immediately updated to Review in progress by department alongside my first choice specialization. This week it moved to Review in progress by Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs, before receiving my formal acceptance.

Good luck to everyone still waiting! I hope you get good news soon. As someone who did their undergrad at Carleton and has been living in Ottawa for 5 years, I’d be happy to answer questions about the city/campus/best places to live/current rental situation in the city/etc. for anyone making the move in September!

[AspiringNPSIAN]

On 4/21/2021 at 6:05 PM, russnation said:

They entered in my specialization today! And my status has changed from “Recommended for Assessment” to “Review in Progress By Department”. Hoping this is a good sign! 

That's exactly what happened to me about 2 weeks ago and I received my offer this week, so should be a good sign!

[centralMex]

Has anyone here ever successfully deferred their successful NPSIA admission by a year? I was accepted for September 2022 (I applied for the joint JD-MA) and I'm considering deferring both the MA and JD due to some health and financial issues that came up this year.

I'll naturally contact the school next week to discuss it with the administration, but I was curious if anyone had any experience they could share.

[hopefulapp15]

Hi everyone! Quick question — has anyone who has accepted their admission offer receive any e-mail communication from NPSIA? I've yet to receive anything. 

[dingbat]

On 5/1/2021 at 12:04 PM, hopefulapp15 said:

Hi everyone! Quick question — has anyone who has accepted their admission offer receive any e-mail communication from NPSIA? I've yet to receive anything. 

I received an email this morning titled "Welcome to NPSIA and Q&A Invitation." It's just informing us of "planning two Q&A sessions to address questions regarding Next Steps, Registration, and the Fall term." You've probably received it as well

[E-O]

On 4/30/2021 at 5:13 PM, centralMex said:

Has anyone here ever successfully deferred their successful NPSIA admission by a year? I was accepted for September 2022 (I applied for the joint JD-MA) and I'm considering deferring both the MA and JD due to some health and financial issues that came up this year.

I'll naturally contact the school next week to discuss it with the administration, but I was curious if anyone had any experience they could share.

I asked NPSIA to defer and they said they don't do deferrals and I have to reapply next year!

[Hedonism]

Hi everyone, trying to revive this thread from the dead!

I'm looking for people to talk to who are also attending NPSIA this fall. I'm taking the International Economic Policy stream. Its always nice to have friends in the program before you even start.

Please feel free to message me privately if you'd like to become friends!