Canadian schools (including York)

[Niels]

Any American students applying to Canadian polisci programs?

Do you get a sense that the world runs on a different logical axis up north?

My dealings with York University (Toronto) have been confusing, to say the least. However, I really like their political theorists (on paper).

Has anyone received word yet?

Does anyone have a sense of York's reputation?

[lenin333]

I go to U of T. York is the second fiddle to U of T here but I don't know that that matters in the grand scheme of things in Canada. First you probably are going for an MA so it doesn't matter what the school is as long as you are shooting for a PhD the year after. Admissions are slow. Funding is lower. Most MA's are not funded and if you are American - don't take loans!!!! - grad school here I think doesn't make sense. Only go if you are PhD stream. My experience has been mixed. Toronto is bankrupt - morally and financially - so it's not so cool when the city feels broken and soulless. Lots of the same types of stores: drugmarts, second-cups, starbucks, loblaws, and LCBOs. If you like to drink, Canada is not the place to do that. A 6 pack costs about 12 bucks. The exchange rate is worsening. Man... do I sound bitter?

[Niels]

Yes, I have heard York is broke. The only way I saw myself going there is if I got outside funding from NSF, Ford, or JCKF but those are a real crapshoot.

And yes, I'm going for the MA, but I am shooting to complete the PhD.

I also heard that York's polisci has 200-something GRADUATE students. I couldn't believe it. If this is true, what in gods name are they doing there?

Lastly, did you write a six-pack goes for $12 (Canadian, I presume) ? I am truly sorry.

Well, there goes my $85 application fee...(But I'm sure they can use the money).

[lenin333]

The departments are big... U of T is the largest Polisci dept. in N. America. Broke - maybe.

[Canadianpolsci]

Toronto's political science department is excellent. York's is so-so, even by Canadian standards. York is a second rate school. Be warned.

[xnormajeanx]

A 6 pack costs about 12 bucks. The exchange rate is worsening. Man... do I sound bitter?

heh that's what happens when the government owns the beer store.

[jenna1212]

Canada does have some good poli sci departments such as Toronto, UBC, McGill and Queen's. Although, these have nothing on their top American counterparts. Sorry to make a generalization here but it seems if you are interested in York, you are most likely left-of-centre in political orientation and if so Carleton University in Ottawa might be of interest to you.

[lenin333]

12 canadian dollars now comes to about 13 US dollars, so you ain't getting no deal there.

The Canucks are so creative that the stores that sell liquor go by the names Wine Shop and Beer Store. The best deal is usually a bottle of port wine. 11 bucks for cheap and hard port is better than anything else I have yet found. Canada would be great if the taxes weren't so damn high.

As for York, I agree. Left. But so is U of T as one of my friends continually finds teachers to support his statist crap.

[cc102]

Having obtained my MA at York and having been admitted to the PhD program for 2008, I just created an account here in light of some of these egregarious (or at least strange) misperceptions about the York department.

1. York is the second fiddle to U of T here

Really? According to...? I think it's important to remember that York and U of T generally attract wildly divergent sets of academics, and what's best for the person working on, say, senate reform is not necessarily going to be the same as what's best for someone doing work on, say, discourses of bordering and queer bodies. I was accepted at both York and U of T and chose York because of its ideological climate and reputation for producing exciting scholarship. I have numerous friends who turned down more lucrative financial offers from U of T to attend York for their PhD.

2. Finances.

York has adopted an egalitarian funding model, for ideological reasons. Each admitted student gets ~$11k for an 8 month GAship. The amount for PhD students is significantly higher (I think around 20k?) and this amount is offered to every admitted student. I'm not sure what U of T offers to PhD students, but they generally don't fund MA students at all.

[LizH]

Has anyone heard back from any Canadian PhD Poli Sci programs? I applied to Queen's, York and U of T. SO far nothing. I have a friend who was rejected from York (PhD Poli Sci) yesterday. I am starting to lose it......

[jenna1212]

York, UVic and Carleton are all considered to be very left-wing in my subfield (IR), with some minor exceptions. I am of course comparing these schools to their American counterparts.

[Niels]

Having obtained my MA at York and having been admitted to the PhD program for 2008, I just created an account here in light of some of these egregarious (or at least totally weird!) misperceptions about the York department.

Thanks for your insights. However, I have a couple questions/comments about York.

While financing may be guaranteed for Canadian students, I was told that financing for international students (including Americans like me) is extraordinarily difficult to get from the department (It is also very difficult to get an offer of admission as an intl. student, they say).

What attracted me to York is that the polisci department

[Niels]

ps: I've heard nothing from York yet about admission or funding. But according to the York student (presumably) who posted above, notices can come as late as the second week in April (!).

pps: Is Toronto an "expensive city" for Americans these days? Aside from the exchange rate issue, how does the city rate generally in expenses (rent, groceries, transport, etc.)?

Is it New York-expensive? Or less so, like Chicago-expensive? Or "cheap" like Philadelphia or Baltimore?

[xnormajeanx]

I'd say Toronto's more expensive than Chicago but not as expensive as NY.

[lenin333]

A grande latte goes for about 4.40 canadian. A gallon of milk is 5.50 normally. A monthly metro pass is 109 CAD. All you can eat Korean is about 14 bucks. To reiterate a beer goes for 12 bucks per six pack and a pint at a bar is 5 minimum. Mind you the exchange rate looks to get worse in the near future, not better.

Americans beware.

Also, U of T is hands down more recognized than York. Would I want to convince an American program that a York PhD is as good as U of T? No. I think if you want to stay in Canada, then York is fine. But, caveat emptor.

[lenin333]

http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2006/ARWU2006_TopAmer.htm

Search Canada on that page and you will not even find York.

[silencio1982]

Interesting rankings, Lenin...

I did find more Canadian unis (including York) on the Times Higher Education (UK rankings). Of particular interest to us might be the Social Science Rankings:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/h ... peCode=150

Of course, I could find problems with just about any rankings system, and I have never attended school in Canada, so I am not very familiar with the reputations of the various schools.

[jenna1212]

Placement prospects for Canadian PhDs in the US are dismal, generally. Further, the American market is rather narrow and limited with regards to critical IR theory as it is. However, a York PhD will probably land you a good placement in Canada.

[cc102]

,

[cc102]

Oh, and I just noticed that I missed some replies that followed re: acceptance timelines, cost of living, and reputation.

I already received my acceptance, and it was dated on March 6th (at which point my status on yorku.ca/myfile was also changed to reflect this). This is EARLY for York, and as I said I do know that they usually admit in several batches, taking applicants from the waitlist. I think last year the first PhD applicants heard back around April 10th?

Cost of living in Toronto is expensive by Canadian standards, not sure how it compares to the US. Rent downtown is about $700-$800 for a bachelor apartment, about $900-$1000 for a 1 bedroom.

As far as reputation, no one is arguing that York is generally considered to be the "Harvard of the North" or whatever, but it's astonishing to see this common adherence to such a narrow and quasi-statistical interpretation of what "reputation" encompasses and entails. Are there more people who have heard of U of T than York? Probably. Does that have anything to do with the quality of individual departments comprising the universities, much less sub-specialties within them? No! I mean, if a program is highly ranked for having ten world-renowned scholars who work on the US conservative movement and I want to study migrant workers from Guatemala, their general high ranking doesn't change the program's non-suitability and lack of good reputation in the far more important matter of my particular area of study. U of T is fantastic for some areas of political science, but that doesn't make it a better or more reputable program for everyone!

[lenin333]

nazi.

there, that should end this dispute. next topic.

[LizH]

Got waitlisted at York. Anyone heard from Queen's or U of T?

[lenin333]

U of T's PhD committee is meeting on the 24th of this month. Asked the secretary personally.

[jenna1212]

Has anyone heard anything from McGill yet?!....I was accepted to UBC ages ago; what's the deal with McGill? any info?

[dudemaster]

Having been accepted to McGill for both a BA and an MA let me tell you they take forever and are usually the last Canadian school you will hear from on any matter other than Concordia who are slightly worse. So yes I'm still waiting on McGill and also heard from UBC like 6 weeks ago. WTF?