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Waiting it Out on Canadian Universities - 2012


NoMoreABD

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I only know what is up for a sociology program, so don't take what I say as the word of God. I'm an American applying to only Ontario Universities. Being an international app in Ontario is NUTTY NUTTY NUTTY insane. Most programs only admit 2, yes two, international students. They typically do not admit students they can not give funding to. So, literally you are fighting for two spots. The funding? For sociology the highest I have seen it has been at like 15k$ a year that is a combo of department funding and TAships. Average tuition cost for a MA in one year is around 16k+$ a year. Not too much funding for international students, but you can apply for various scholarships. No FASFA or something like that for us >_<

Thank you for your help.... So... we are not able to apply for FAFSA domestically and use the resources for an international education? That's kind of annoying.

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I posted elsewhere on this but I'll post again. US citizens looking at Canadian universities need to make sure they will be able to cross the border in time. Things like medical conditions, lack of funding, criminal records, passports/province certificates etc., may make you ineligible to cross the border when the time comes. Canada is pretty strict..make sure you have all your ducks in a row.

What the hell does this mean, lol? Please expand on your wisdom... this is the first time I am hearing about this....

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Thank you for your help.... So... we are not able to apply for FAFSA domestically and use the resources for an international education? That's kind of annoying.

What the hell does this mean, lol? Please expand on your wisdom... this is the first time I am hearing about this....

Yeaaaa it is a real bitch getting into a Canadian school, but much more worth it in my opinion. Do not feel bad though about the funding. FASFA does not tie over into graduate studies, so you can't even get it if you were to apply to an American school. The big problem I have seen is that as international students from America, it is hard to compete with others and you are put into a special pool when the departments needs to decide who to pick (again all I know is Sociology programs). Like our BA degree is the = of Canadian Honors degree, at least on paper. What hurts us American applicants in this situation is that we don't have to do an honor thesis for many programs in the arts. Take a British applicant, they have to do an honor thesis which then they could submit for publication and do a conference on. It is VERYYYYYY hard to compete with an applicant like that where to do that in the states, you have to go that extra mile. My back story, I went to a community college then to university. I was only at my university for 3 semesters (minus summer courses and study abroad). I didn't get a chance to get close to professors or take time to write a big paper that could be published. Just a heads up, if you haven't already done those things that make you stand out and show you are serious I would if applications don't go your way this time around.

Now for the scary warning that was said about getting into Canada lol. It is true, drastic but very true. I have a friend who had a ticket for whatever is below a DUI in California. Happened years ago, he was really stupid and young. I wanted him to come visit me and my fiance but he was told he wont be allowed into the country, just for a visit! Even if you have speeding tickets, it could create problems driving into the country or around it. They take it seriously. Also you have to prove you have enough money for your studies. I think you need about 25-30k in a bank account before you apply. That is a big deal for a lot of people to have that much. What you can do is if you get accepted and apply for the visa,you can get one of your parents to sponsor you and then show their copies of bank account and work stubs. Also if you get a funding package, make sure you also get it in writing and you can factor that in as well.

All in all it is worth it in my opinion. Lots of hoops but to live and study in Ontario I think it is fine to do all that. PM me is you have any questions, I have been researching this for the last year >_<

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Does anyone know what the funding process looks like for international students in Canada??

I feel like someone probably addressed this, but for the U of T Anthro program - if you're international and you don't come with funding, you're not getting in. Unfortunately, that's the way it is right now. Sorry. Might be different for different programs, but they're just not giving money to foreign students.

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I got an email from a prof with acceptance a few weeks ago for the PhD Anthro program at U of T. It's the only school I applied for so happy I got in. Good luck to everyone! Although, I get the sense that luck has nothing to do with it....this is my second time applying, so take that with a grain of salt.

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I got an email from a prof with acceptance a few weeks ago for the PhD Anthro program at U of T. It's the only school I applied for so happy I got in. Good luck to everyone! Although, I get the sense that luck has nothing to do with it....this is my second time applying, so take that with a grain of salt.

Congrats!!! Care to share any of your stats? Like what you did during your BA & MA? Ya know, GPA - publishing - conference talks- ect.

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Hey everyone,

I just have a quick question. I applied for a PhD in Information Studies at U of T and I've heard nothing back from them (they haven't even requested an interview). At this point should I start assuming the worst? Or do some departments just let you know what their ultimate decision was?

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Hey everyone,

I just have a quick question. I applied for a PhD in Information Studies at U of T and I've heard nothing back from them (they haven't even requested an interview). At this point should I start assuming the worst? Or do some departments just let you know what their ultimate decision was?

Hey history_reader!

I was accepted to U of T on Friday sans interview! The acceptance was the first and only thing that I've heard from them since submitting my app! Keep the faith; there is no abandon-all-hope-ye-who-enter-late-February-with-no-correspondence rule! xxoo

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Hi Aerobe,

How long did you have to respond to their offer? Was there a deadline by which you were required to respond?

I'm not sure yet! I've just received the e-mail with the funding details, and the official offer has yet to come in the mail. I'll post when I know!

Edited by Aerobe
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My friends that applied to schools have already heard back and I am sitting here with nothing. Why do some Canadian schools notify way earlier than others?

This isn't an "official" answer or anything, but it's my understanding that they're trying to scoop the best students they can as early as possible (e.g., the students with the best experience, best GPA, etc, and those that come with their own external funding). The schools who keep hitting the snooze alarm repeatedly are going to lose the best students! When I was admitted to my PhD program (that I'm currently in), I received the full offer in the first week of February (less than 2 weeks after the application deadline). By the time I heard from my second choice school, it was mid-March. They pretty much had NO chance of me accepting an offer. The only thing that would have lured me to the second choice at that point, was infinitely more funding (which didn't happen). They snoozed, they loooooosed. LOL. I suppose it worked in my favour, since the first choice school notified me first. I shudder to think about what would have happened if the second choice school notified me first! Tough decisions, indeed.

Edited by Andsowego
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This isn't an "official" answer or anything, but it's my understanding that they're trying to scoop the best students they can as early as possible (e.g., the students with the best experience, best GPA, etc, and those that come with their own external funding). The schools who keep hitting the snooze alarm repeatedly are going to lose the best students! When I was admitted to my PhD program (that I'm currently in), I received the full offer in the first week of February (less than 2 weeks after the application deadline). By the time I heard from my second choice school, it was mid-March. They pretty much had NO chance of me accepting an offer. The only thing that would have lured me to the second choice at that point, was infinitely more funding (which didn't happen). They snoozed, they loooooosed. LOL. I suppose it worked in my favour, since the first choice school notified me first. I shudder to think about what would have happened if the second choice school notified me first! Tough decisions, indeed.

Yeah I totally agree with this - they're emailing their first choices, and getting a sense if they'll accept. This way they can lock them in early, or release them early. That way in March, they can move down their list. To be honest, it doesn't really matter when you get contacted. It's nice when it's early, but 5 years after your PhD, who remembers these things....

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I'm not sure yet! I've just received the e-mail with the funding details, and the official offer has yet to come in the mail. I'll post when I know!

Thanks! I am worried because I got waitlisted for one of the programs. If I know the date by which Mac requires accepted students to respond to the offers, it'll kinda help me figure things out for myself.

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Hi everyone.

I don't suppose anybody has heard from poli sci at UBC or UVic, or philosophy at SFU?

I'm waiting on Anthro at Uvic.. and it's killing me. I got an acceptance from Trent today (and it was nice to read some positive things up in the thread) but I'm not sure about moving all the way out to Ontario. It's so far away!

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I've seen the waitlist status being said a bit. Have those of you waitlisted gotten your status update from a university email, or did you call to find out?

Edited by DustSNK
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