Waiting it Out on Canadian Universities - 2012

[DustSNK]

That's a really great story! What part of New York were you traveling from to visit her? My bf lives around Albany

Wow, it's great that you've grown so fond of this country. If I moved over there, I'd definitely miss this place, but I find that there are a lot of perks in the States as well.

I'm from Long Island (host of the now horrid hockey team NY islanders . When I applied last year I was still on Long Island which is 9 1/2 hours from the GTA. After getting the rejections, I knew I had to make up for past undergrad mistakes and go back to school again. A month after getting my last rejection letter, I literally found an apartment online in Buffalo (where I am now), having NEVER been here before in my life and moved. It's not bad, it only takes me 90 mins to get to the GTA and Canadian customs are always amazing. The pain in the ass is coming back into America, it's as if they punish you for ever leaving haha. Albany is fun! My best friend did his UG there and I visited all the time. There are a lot of nice things about the states, esp upsate. Cheep food,gas,housing. I like the different products you can get at say a Loblaws that you can't find in the states, but when I saw a 2 lt of pepsi was 2+$ my jaw dropped What is your major? Albany is a GREAT school I like it a lot.

Edited February 29, 2012 by DustSNK

[bronco]

Rejected yesterday from McGill History MA . Canadian

[Syrah]

guys, i'm scared to check the admissions website for U of T. is it usually up-to-date?

Not at all. I was accepted 2 weeks ago and it still says under review.

[CrayolaBee]

guys, i'm scared to check the admissions website for U of T. is it usually up-to-date?

Like Syrah said, nope. I got my offer on Monday (for Master of Information) and it says mine is under review as well.

I'm supposed to get a funding decision by mid-March. Then I get the fun job of choosing between two very different schools...eep. I'm just happy to have a future, though!

[abc123xtc]

I have been accepted at 3 universities, but none of their websites have been updated.

[electrochoc]

Got a phone acceptance this morning. That makes for 3 acceptances and still waiting on one offer. Can't wait to have enough information to be able to make a decision.

[mcdonaad]

@sabb -- where have you been accepted and for what programs?

[electrochoc]

@sabb -- where have you been accepted and for what programs?

Carleton - Political Science

Carleton - Sociology

York - Political Science

Still waiting on York's Social and Political Thought PhD program. I can only relocate between Ottawa and Toronto, so I tried to make the best I can out of applications.

[mcdonaad]

Makes sense. I applied to Ryerson's Policy Studies PhD program and am still waiting. Congrats on the acceptances! Where are you leaning?

[electrochoc]

Thanks. I'm sure you will hear soon. First two weeks of March seem to be standard for offers in the social sciences.

I was leaning towards Sociology at Carleton (good funding and great program structure), but York's Pols funding offer just blew me away. We'll see. This will not be an easy decision to make.

[talific]

Hi sabb, who did you hear from at Carleton? The DGS? I was told by my POI (in psychology) back in Feb that she agreed to supervise me and that I just had to be approved by the DGS. Was that the phone call you received this morning? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just anxious to hear back.

[electrochoc]

Hi sabb, who did you hear from at Carleton? The DGS? I was told by my POI (in psychology) back in Feb that she agreed to supervise me and that I just had to be approved by the DGS. Was that the phone call you received this morning? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just anxious to hear back.

Hi Talific, in the case of Pols I got an e-mail from the graduate assistant first, then an official e-mail offer from the FGPA (how Carleton calls its DGS) with the funding offer a couple of days later. For Soci I got the FGPA e-mail right away.

It really depends on when the committee meets and sends the names and recommendations down to the FGPA, and then there's about a 2 or 3-day delay after that till you get the e-mail.

[talific]

Ah, okay. Confusing. My POI contacted me around Feb 9... but I have no idea when the committee met - perhaps they hadn't yet. I guess I will just have to (try to) be patient. Thanks for the info

[electrochoc]

@talific

when I applied for an MA at Queens, my POI there contacted me in January but I didn't get the offer till March because the offer has to go through the committee one way or another. So there's no need to worry, if the POI says you're in, you're pretty much in, you just have to wait for them to add some dollar signs to it

[LOLCat]

I just found out I was accepted to UBC's iSchool for the dual MA program in Archival Studies/MLIS. Super excited, but they don't give you much time to make a decision.

[rio-ne-ru]

Applied to Western Ontario MA program for the second time. Last year, I went into the wait-list but didn't get it. Man, I am so nervous.....

[abc123xtc]

I'm freaking out a little -- UVic just sent me an official letter (it was unofficial before), and they want a decision by March 15th. I'm still waiting on one school! D:

Well, technically, they want to know if I intend to accept the offer. There's a difference between that and a final decision right?

Edited March 3, 2012 by abc123xtc

[philosogator]

I'm freaking out a little -- UVic just sent me an official letter (it was unofficial before), and they want a decision by March 15th. I'm still waiting on one school! D:

Well, technically, they want to know if I intend to accept the offer. There's a difference between that and a final decision right?

I am just finishing my undergrad at UVic -- as a general warning, our graduate students are not sufficiently funded. The GSS has been posting leaflets all over campus all year protesting the fact that funding for grad students at UVic is below tuition and cost of living expenses by a decent amount. I suggest that (unless you have a SSHRC) you ask some polite, but probing questions of the department about funding opportunities. UVic is a wonderful school and Victoria is a beautiful city (I'm typing this from my girlfriend's suite in Fernwood), but you really should be aware that money will be tight for you should you accept the offer of admission.

And on a side note, I've officially accepted SFU's offer of admission for an MA in philosophy over Dal/Waterloo/Alberta. Just got a (very polite) rejection letter from U of T's PhD program today.

[abc123xtc]

I am just finishing my undergrad at UVic -- as a general warning, our graduate students are not sufficiently funded. The GSS has been posting leaflets all over campus all year protesting the fact that funding for grad students at UVic is below tuition and cost of living expenses by a decent amount. I suggest that (unless you have a SSHRC) you ask some polite, but probing questions of the department about funding opportunities. UVic is a wonderful school and Victoria is a beautiful city (I'm typing this from my girlfriend's suite in Fernwood), but you really should be aware that money will be tight for you should you accept the offer of admission.

Thanks for the head's up.

To be honest, the funding was higher than I expected considering their website says that do not give more than $12k/year for M.A. students -- I was offered $14k. They also gave me a brief outline of funding opportunities. I will probably accept because it's the best fit for me in terms of location, cost (it is the best offer I have had thus far), and research. Basically, I am being offered $14k with the chance of receiving more funding from other sources. I can deal with that.

Also, congrats on SFU!

[JElliott]

Heard yesterday from Memorial's Folkore PhD program -- unofficial acceptance. Since my response from Calgary was a waitlisting, I'm still one down with three responses to go, ha. But it's a lot less scary with an acceptance on board!

Edited March 3, 2012 by JElliott

[eaglespirit0]

So after being rejected from most of the schools I applied to, I received an interview request from my top school, University of British Columbia, for a PhD in Anthropology.

I had an interview with my POI from U-BC's Anthropology department -- has anyone else heard? Someone on the results survey indicated they were waitlisted for the Masters Program, and, I was wondering if they were here on the forum? I'm also wondering if anyone knows if Canadian schools generally fund their MA and PhD students from different pools of money, or, is it usually up to the Department to decide how many MA vs. PhD students they accept?

I had a really difficult time gauging how the interview went -- for some odd reason, I had mildly hoped that within hours of the interview, I would have received an acceptance (haha, one can only hope!). Many of the interview questions dealt with my language ability and talking about the challenges of doing fieldwork in a place that is very under-studied (there's only three people in my field who are currently conducting research here, and only one is past the post-doc level). She kept on emphasizing that I would be criticized as an outsider in the part of the world I want to study, as it is a topic she has written a lot about in her articles. When we were finished, she said she was going to "report back to the committee" that she had talked to me and said If I had any other questions, specifically about funding, that the DGS would be able to answer them for me.

I don't know -- I was sort of hoping for a more firm feeling about my chances, and am just feeling ambiguous about it. I would think if there was a good chance I was getting in, I would know. On the other hand, she would not have reached out to have this contact with me if there was not a chance at all. I suppose it's just suffering through the emotions of the moment? Haha.

Hope this helps anyone waiting to hear .... anything!

[shohan03]

Just got an email today from McGill University:

"I am very pleased to inform you that you have been selected to receive a McGill Engineering Doctoral Award (MEDA), ..."

I'm so happy.

[STG]

I just found out I was accepted to UBC's iSchool for the dual MA program in Archival Studies/MLIS. Super excited, but they don't give you much time to make a decision.

I haven't heard anything yet

Not confident.................

[RKS]

Just got an email today from McGill University:

"I am very pleased to inform you that you have been selected to receive a McGill Engineering Doctoral Award (MEDA), ..."

I'm so happy.

Congrats

[foucaultmania]

Carleton - Political Science

Carleton - Sociology

York - Political Science

Still waiting on York's Social and Political Thought PhD program. I can only relocate between Ottawa and Toronto, so I tried to make the best I can out of applications.

York - Political Science? Is that MA? Because the committee has not come together yet for evaluating the applications for PhD...