Application asking for "Future Plans"

[Loimographia]

I'm curious what others think: the University of Toronto's medieval department, rather than asking for a statement of purpose, asks you to fill out a questionairre that asks for your plans after you receive your MA. I've answered that my ultimate goal is to work in academia... But that answer seems so obvious and, quite frankly, flimsy (it takes a mere two sentences to explain), that I added an addendum stating that with the current state of employment prospects, I'm willing to admit that I'd also be happy building other marketable skills, such as archival or museum and preservation studies. Do others think it wise to include this, or should I just stick with "I want to be a professor, obviously!"

[LLajax]

I have zero claim to greater knowledge or insight, but in my opinion, it seems like a fairly good call. I think it shows you know what you're getting into and that you've given the whole situation a lot of forethought. Haha, I would't have thought to add the addendum (because I'm not as good at thinking ahead?), so I think maybe it shows that you've got a good head on your shoulders.

Again though, that's just my opinion as a fellow applicant!

[simone von c]

Loimographia, I believe they want to determine if you plan to take a terminal MA, which one can do at U of T, or if you want to continue on to a PhD at U of T or elsewhere.

[Safferz]

Perhaps develop what you mean by 'work in academia' -- that you'd like to do research, make contributions to your field, teach, etc. And since it's an MA program, you'd also want to add that you plan to continue on to a PhD program.

[Loimographia]

Well I start off the answer by saying I plan to continue on to a PhD, so I've got that covered, along with mentioning a desire to both continue research and teach But I agree it's a good idea to address contributions to the field, and possibly flesh out broad long-term research goals. Thanks for the suggestion!

[crater21]

Does your application go to the History department or the Medieval Studies department, or both?

I'm applying for the History PhD, and my application specifically asks for a Statement of Purpose (500 words).

Incidentally, have other Toronto applicants felt that this statement of purpose is different from those at American universities? It seems to me that this one requires a more thorough "research proposal" rather than a general statement of your background and motivations for wanting to do graduate study in history. Is that just my sense?

[Loimographia]

I agree that toronto's statement of purpose is different than American universities, which I suspect is because, from what I can tell, Canadian universities are a funny blend of the American and UK systems. That is, they take the UK system's separate MA/PhD thing, but give PhD students US-length time (and thus probably focus a little more on teaching than the more research-focused, quicker UK system). So I get the impression they are more like the UK in their SOP styles: research focused, rather than motivation focused.

I app'd to their medieval studies department rather than their History dept., largely because it's a terminal MA. I want my PhD in history because I've heard it's generally much more difficult to get a TT job with a medieval studies PhD because departments think you'll be "too focused" to teach a broad selection of classes, but that doesn't hold true for if you have an MST MA. And yeah, the History app requires a statement of purpose but the MST dept instead has this bizarre questionairre that clearly guides you away from the more american style by asking pointed questions: "What course/work have you done in medieval studies? What work/research do you want to do at Toronto?" It basically meant I had to completely rewrite a SOP, rather than tailoring my primary one to the school.

Unfortunately, the fact that all my other applications were history departments nearly led me to make the awful mistake of submitting the wrong writing sample. The history department wanted a 3000 word paper (8 pages, ugh!) while MST wanted 10-20 pages. I edited and uploaded a 3k version before realizing it was the wrong one and had to call the department to get them to remove it and let me submit another. By far, Toronto's application has been the worst I've dealt with. And don't get me started on how the letters of reference work! ugh.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Loimographia

[crater21]

Yeah, I agree. Toronto's application has been the worst! It drove all my references crazy because it would not send them a notification saying that their letter had been uploaded.

For writing sample, it has asked for 6,000 words, which is not bad, but still a pain to cut down to. And, yeah, I had to write the SoP from scratch because the ones I submitted to American schools were unusable.

Good luck with yours!

[remenis]

I applied to the MA in medieval studies at Toronto too and it was definitely a pretty weird application! I had the most trouble with this last question as well - I was pretty straightforward in saying that I plan to apply to phd programs afterwards but saying that only took up a tiny amount of space compared to how much I wrote for the other questions. I tried to elaborate about why I want this education and career but even though this question makes sense going last chronologically it still made me feel like i was ending my SOP on such a strange note.

And i also had major uploading problems with their app - I uploaded my transcript wrong and then had to contact the school to get them to reset that part so I could upload it again.

[DBP]

I had a similar question on one my applications and decided to justify how I've already been preparing for a career in academia (teaching experiences, developing networking skills). Then I cited some of the professional development programs at the university that would help me prepare like "I intend to enrol in workshops offered by XXX to develop my XXX skills".

Best of luck!