Canadian school applicants

[wstrngrl]

I got an acceptance email from Ryerson MPPA, with a $5000 scholarship. I will turn it down as I already accepted my ProCom offer. Good luck to everyone! 

[Gingersnaps]

Congrats wstrngrl!!! I hope to hear soon from Ryerson but I was warned it might be until May/June. I don't know if applying for the part-time program means I will hear much later from the University? At least there's always next year to apply.

[rmrda]

I forgot to post this on here but I declined my Queen's acceptance in the joint JD-MPA program. I had received $5000 for funding.
 

 

Good luck to all!

[gratas]

Just stumbled across this great thread. Wish I saw this earlier when I was waiting on multiple responses so I could share in your anxiety riddled days. Congratulations to all that have been accepted into programs. It must be a relief! I recently got an acceptance from Ryerson Urban Planning and on the same day got rejected from U of T Urban Planning. I was thrilled to have gotten in to the Ryerson program though - I've been hearing positive things about the program. What brought me to this thread are those that have gotten into the U of T MPP program, which is the last one I'm waiting on (and if somehow I get accepted, it will be an interesting decision to make). Congratulations to all who have! I'm wondering if there are folks still twiddling their thumbs waiting for a response for this program. I get the feeling, somehow, that a sizeable chunk of acceptances have been sent out to the MPP folks and there isn't much space left. Anxiety, hope, and denial is slowly transitioning to acceptance that this may be a lost-ish cause.

 

This is pretty funny...I was accepted to the U of T MPP program but rejected from U of T Urban Planning. We are opposites!

I guess grad school acceptances don't always make sense

[samwellltarly]

I got an acceptance email from Ryerson MPPA, with a $5000 scholarship. I will turn it down as I already accepted my ProCom offer. Good luck to everyone! 

 

Congrats again, wstrngrl, and thanks for opening a space for some of us other waiters! Also good to know that I probably can stop rushing home everyday to check the mailbox, since hopefully they're sending offers via email for all MPPA applicants.

[urbanista]

This is pretty funny...I was accepted to the U of T MPP program but rejected from U of T Urban Planning. We are opposites!

I guess grad school acceptances don't always make sense

lol technically i'm still waiting on the U of T MPP program but I have kinda given up hope and gotten myself into an urban planning headspace already (e.g. thinking of signing up for planners associations like OPPI to get things moving). Can I ask what attracted you to both degrees? Do you have specific interests in urban policy for instance? That's one of the things that drew me to the MPP program at least (in addition to the whole internship shabang etc. etc.). Also congratulations to you for getting in!

[urbanista]

This is pretty funny...I was accepted to the U of T MPP program but rejected from U of T Urban Planning. We are opposites!

I guess grad school acceptances don't always make sense

also, when did you receive your acceptance? I see from past grad cafe posts (or at least last year) acceptances went out all the way till mid April so I'm trying to retain a sliver of hope.

[foucaultmania]

I accepted the offer of York. This means that I won't go for McMaster's Political Science. So, there will be one more spot for the waiting visa students.

[samwellltarly]

I got an acceptance email from Ryerson MPPA, with a $5000 scholarship. I will turn it down as I already accepted my ProCom offer. Good luck to everyone! 

 

Wstrngrl, I was wondering if there was a deadline included in your admission offer for the MPPA program at Ryerson?  I hope that if there is deadline for offers that they would give applicants some time beyond the standard April 15th period considering that they are sending them out so late in the cycle.

[Goldensnitch905]

Just got rejected from UBC journalism. Really discouraged now Good luck to everyone else, hope you get good news soon!

[wstrngrl]

Wstrngrl, I was wondering if there was a deadline included in your admission offer for the MPPA program at Ryerson?  I hope that if there is deadline for offers that they would give applicants some time beyond the standard April 15th period considering that they are sending them out so late in the cycle.

Hey, no it didn't say. The official offer comes out next week so I think I'll hear then. April 15th would be really soon..

[WishfulThinker]

Is there anyone still waiting for their decision? I know I'm not getting accepted but this is starting to get ridiculous. Come on, UAlberta, just send the rejections already!!!!!

[Lanie]

Is there anyone still waiting for their decision? I know I'm not getting accepted but this is starting to get ridiculous. Come on, UAlberta, just send the rejections already!!!!!

I'm waiting on western.

[samwellltarly]

Hey, no it didn't say. The official offer comes out next week so I think I'll hear then. April 15th would be really soon..

 

Thanks for your response You've been such a great help

[H2T]

Hey, I just wanted to post some information for all those who applied for an MPP at the University of Toronto. Anita e-mailed me back today and let me know that they will be sending out many more offers next week.

 

Good luck to all!

[calmflare]

This is somewhat ridiculous. York University's PhD programme in Gender, Feminist and Women's Studies still hasn't gotten back to me with their decision, has not replied to e-mails, does not respond to calls etc. I have to respond to Harvard by the 15th. If York doesn't get back to me by then, I'd have wasted my application money, and wasted time that I could have spent on the visa process and settling housing.

[foucaultmania]

This is somewhat ridiculous. York University's PhD programme in Gender, Feminist and Women's Studies still hasn't gotten back to me with their decision, has not replied to e-mails, does not respond to calls etc. I have to respond to Harvard by the 15th. If York doesn't get back to me by then, I'd have wasted my application money, and wasted time that I could have spent on the visa process and settling housing.

 

If there is a POI that you are in touch, you may send her/him an e-mail. 

[Lanie]

This is somewhat ridiculous. York University's PhD programme in Gender, Feminist and Women's Studies still hasn't gotten back to me with their decision, has not replied to e-mails, does not respond to calls etc. I have to respond to Harvard by the 15th. If York doesn't get back to me by then, I'd have wasted my application money, and wasted time that I could have spent on the visa process and settling housing.

Don't wait on them. I waited until OCTOBER for a final decision. Their apps were due in December right? Not ok.

[urbanista]

Hey, I just wanted to post some information for all those who applied for an MPP at the University of Toronto. Anita e-mailed me back today and let me know that they will be sending out many more offers next week.

 

Good luck to all!

H2T, thanks so much for the updates. very good of you to take the initiative and check out what's going on. Very much appreciated

[calmflare]

If there is a POI that you are in touch, you may send her/him an e-mail. 

I did not get in touch with a POI...

 

Don't wait on them. I waited until OCTOBER for a final decision. Their apps were due in December right? Not ok.

October?! That's crazy! I'll send them a long e-mail about it soon, wouldn't want to be working in a university/department that's so unresponsive and doesn't uncommunicative if I get accepted either. All the best with your apps!

[lifeforest]

Anyone here applied the Master of Management Analytics at Queen's?

[RosamundReage]

I did not get in touch with a POI...

 

October?! That's crazy! I'll send them a long e-mail about it soon, wouldn't want to be working in a university/department that's so unresponsive and doesn't uncommunicative if I get accepted either. All the best with your apps!

 

FYI most programs at York only let in one international student because they have to guarantee full funding for 6 years. Most PHD programs at York have sent out there first round of offers and they are most likely waiting to hear back from the first round before they respond to you.

[calmflare]

FYI most programs at York only let in one international student because they have to guarantee full funding for 6 years. Most PHD programs at York have sent out there first round of offers and they are most likely waiting to hear back from the first round before they respond to you.

Indeed. It certainly is not okay to completely stonewall applicants. There are other schools with generous funding packages who communicate effectively with prospective students. York doesn't have an e-mail address for the admissions department (thereby forcing you to call with any enquiries, which is especially difficult for international students who work full time on the other part of the planet since there's the time difference and the difficulty of making these international calls and all), the department does not seem to respond to e-mails and its telephone line never seems to be attended to, there has been no communication as to the status of the application or even follow-up information about the university/department, they took weeks to update applications (which was rather stressful as my documents were still stated as "not received" weeks after the deadline even though I sent it earlier, and, of course, I couldn't verify because they never picked up the phone). Though York has some really good programs, it certainly has a lot to learn in terms of treating and retaining potential research students, and judging from what I've been reading in forums, there is a lot of frustration directed at the university. This entire experience has made me wonder -- would I continue to be ignored and treated as invisible if I gain admission? Would I be happy in a place that does not seem to anticipate or understand the concerns of applicants? The other universities to which I've applied over the years (and there were many) were all not like this.

Oh well.

Edited April 7, 2013 by calmflare

[foucaultmania]

Indeed. It certainly is not okay to completely stonewall applicants. There are other schools with generous funding packages who communicate effectively with prospective students. York doesn't have an e-mail address for the admissions department (thereby forcing you to call with any enquiries, which is especially difficult for international students who work full time on the other part of the planet since there's the time difference and the difficulty of making these international calls and all), the department does not seem to respond to e-mails and its telephone line never seems to be attended to, there has been no communication as to the status of the application or even follow-up information about the university/department, they took weeks to update applications (which was rather stressful as my documents were still stated as "not received" weeks after the deadline even though I sent it earlier, and, of course, I couldn't verify because they never picked up the phone). Though York has some really good programs, it certainly has a lot to learn in terms of treating and retaining potential research students, and judging from what I've been reading in forums, there is a lot of frustration directed at the university. This entire experience has made me wonder -- would I continue to be ignored and treated as invisible if I gain admission? Would I be happy in a place that does not seem to anticipate or understand the concerns of applicants? The other universities to which I've applied over the years (and there were many) were all not like this.

Oh well.

 

Actually, I applied two programs at York. You are right that the admissions office of the university is really a mass. In most cases, it is impossible to contact them, essentially it is very difficult for international applicants. 

 

However, for both of the programmes that I applied, I could say that they replied all of my e-mails. And PhD program coordinators in Environmental Studies and in Social and Political Thought sent very sincere answers to my e-mails. Indeed, PhD coordinator in Environmental Studies is a very helpful person and I asked him several questions during whole application process. The case for Social and Political Thought is different. I had never contacted the program coordinator. However, in the late March, I asked him the situation of applications. 10 days later, he sent me an e-mail and said that the committee met on the previous day, and my application was waitlisted. 

 

So, there could be two possibilities in your case. The first one, the committee has not decided on your file yet. The second one, they are waiting for an international student scholarship (like Trillium). They should contact you in the coming weeks. But, it is better to contact some professors with whom you would like to work.

 

There is a professor called Anna M. Agathangelou in the program. She is a very helpful person, you may send her an e-mail and ask "Dear Professor, I applied for the PhD programme in ..................... and I am still waiting for a decision. Do you know anything about the final decisions of the committee? I would very happy to be in touch with you in the process." I hope this will work. 

Edited April 7, 2013 by foucaultmania

[calmflare]

Actually, I applied two programs at York. You are right that the admissions office of the university is really a mass. In most cases, it is impossible to contact them, essentially it is very difficult for international applicants.

However, for both of the programmes that I applied, I could say that they replied all of my e-mails. And PhD program coordinators in Environmental Studies and in Social and Political Thought sent very sincere answers to my e-mails. Indeed, PhD coordinator in Environmental Studies is a very helpful person and I asked him several questions during whole application process. The case for Social and Political Thought is different. I had never contacted the program coordinator. However, in the late March, I asked him the situation of applications. 10 days later, he sent me an e-mail and said that the committee met on the previous day, and my application was waitlisted.

So, there could be two possibilities in your case. The first one, the committee has not decided on your file yet. The second one, they are waiting for an international student scholarship (like Trillium). They should contact you in the coming weeks. But, it is better to contact some professors with whom you would like to work.

There is a professor called Anna M. Agathangelou in the program. She is a very helpful person, you may send her an e-mail and ask "Dear Professor, I applied for the PhD programme in ..................... and I am still waiting for a decision. Do you know anything about the final decisions of the committee? I would very happy to be in touch with you in the process." I hope this will work.

Hey! Thanks for that, it has been very useful. Thing is, I don't have weeks, and hence I just made my decision to attend another university, so that I can get the visa/housing/relocation processes started. I really appreciate you (and the others) for taking the time to listen and respond...

Edited April 7, 2013 by calmflare