Canadian school applicants

[AnonymousAcademic]

Hi all,

 

I just got an accaptance with a funding package from UAlberta in the Soc Phd program. At this point im not sure what a "competitive" funding offer might look like? My package consists of a total of 98k over 4 years (TA/RAships) plus 5k entrance (1st year only). Can anyone offer insight on this? I understand that most Phd progrmas will offer the TA/RAship which leaves just the 5k in additional awards in my case. Im super greatful for this but I would like to know how this weighs out comparatively.

 

Hey there, Congratulations on the offer from UAlberta! I'd say that this offer is pretty decent. I think it is fairly typical for good-standing graduate students to receive approximately 25k per year. If you apply for SSHRC and other national awards, you may increase your funding! I can only speak from my experience really, and for my M.Ed., I was offered just over 25k per academic year from the university I attend. This includes RA/TA positions, entrance scholarships and second year scholarships based on grades. I also applied to external organizations, such as SSHRC and CFUW, and won additional awards - the total amount of funding I received for my M.Ed. including external awards was over 70k. ...so my advice is to apply everywhere! ...and keep your grades up - UAlberta might offer second year scholarships or higher based on academic standing. Good luck!

 

Edited February 26, 2013 by AnonymousAcademic

[crimsoc]

Hey there, Congratulations on the offer from UAlberta! I'd say that this offer is pretty decent. I think it is fairly typical for good-standing graduate students to receive approximately 25k per year. If you apply for SSHRC and other national awards, you may increase your funding! I can only speak from my experience really, and for my M.Ed., I was offered just over 25k per academic year from the university I attend. This includes RA/TA positions, entrance scholarships and second year scholarships based on grades. I also applied to external organizations, such as SSHRC and CFUW, and won additional awards - the total amount of funding I received for my M.Ed. including external awards was over 70k. ...so my advice is to apply everywhere! ...and keep your grades up - UAlberta might offer second year scholarships or higher based on academic standing. Good luck!

 

Great! thanks for the heads up. I did apply for SSHRC but got rejected at the university. I will reapply next year though.

On another note - for those waiting for UToronto and UOttawa Phd Criminology, I contact both departments today asking about the admission timeframe. Ottawa U selection committee sits this week sometime and UToronto will be making the shortlist of applicants today with decisions made by NEXT wednesday. So, those applying to PHd Crim should hear back from these universities within 2-3 weeks.

[selecttext]

heard from U of T 99% certain that I am in

[crimsoc]

heard from U of T 99% certain that I am in

Good job! what program did you apply for?

[rmrda]

Just got accepted to Queen's University MPA program today! Exciting but I have to pay a deposit of $200 by March 8th. March 8th! I haven't heard from any of my other top choices and based on last year's grad cafe, I won't hear anything until mid-March. Such a waste of money if I get accepted later on into my program of choice (NPSIA at Carleton). 

[kdav]

I'm really only looking at Carleton for the NPSIA MA in International Affairs program, and they have said they intend to send out offers in mid- to late-March per the graduate administrator.

 

Carleton has a new system for graduate applications for Fall 2013 onwards, so I figured I'd try to benchmark a bit so far for anyone there (and if anyone can add to this - even better!).

 

On Carleton Central, my app status so far has changed from:

1. "Preliminary review required" (default on application) to

2. "Review in progress by department" (not sure if this review is the preliminary one to acknowledge that I have all documents or the actual assessment by the department) to

3. "Recommended for assessment" (once again, not sure if it's recommended for assessment by the department since it passed the preliminary review or the Faculty of Graduate Affairs as already reviewed by the department)

 

No communications to check from Carleton yet; I've just been obsessively checking.

 

Can anyone else provide more information on statuses?

 

I've noticed that from the results search, Carleton has so far begun to provide notice with regards to the Masters in Social Work, PhD in Public Policy, Masters in Political Economy and Masters in Economics programs.

 

Hope everyone is doing well, and that this build up isn't driving everyone TOO crazy!

 

Edited February 28, 2013 by kdav

[smarty06]

I got an email the other day from UBC saying I was being accepted as a candidate, pending review by the faculty of graduate studies. I was really shocked because based on what it said on the websites I wasn't expecting to hear from schools officially until at least the end of March. In the email they also said I needed to make a decision by March 18th. Is that early? I see above someone has a deadline of March 8th!! This seems like a big and unnecessary handicap to put on an already hard decision  It seems like they are putting a lot of pressure on me to say yes, without even informing me about potential funding.

 

I'm a little confused, and a little conflicted because I've been contacted by another university, but not officially. I talked to the director of the program I applied to at SFU who told me that they liked my application at that they were recommending me for admission. I know that this is not official, and it might even take a few weeks for everything to get processed if I am officially accepted. 

 

These are the top two school I wanted to get into and deciding on one is going to be very difficult. Now adding the fact that they appear to be operating on significantly different deadlines for accepting students I am even more stressed. I'm afraid to reject one before hearing the offer from the other and being able to come to a clear decision. 

 

Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated, I think I need to hear someone else's thoughts about this. 

 

This is all I've thought about for several days, and I just needed to get this out.

[selecttext]

if you have an offer, contact the poi or associate chair to request your status. let them know that you are asking because you have other offers.

[Rumcajs]

I'm really only looking at Carleton for the NPSIA MA in International Affairs program, and they have said they intend to send out offers in mid- to late-March per the graduate administrator.

 

Carleton has a new system for graduate applications for Fall 2013 onwards, so I figured I'd try to benchmark a bit so far for anyone there (and if anyone can add to this - even better!).

 

On Carleton Central, my app status so far has changed from:

1. "Preliminary review required" (default on application) to

2. "Review in progress by department" (not sure if this review is the preliminary one to acknowledge that I have all documents or the actual assessment by the department) to

3. "Recommended for assessment" (once again, not sure if it's recommended for assessment by the department since it passed the preliminary review or the Faculty of Graduate Affairs as already reviewed by the department)

 

No communications to check from Carleton yet; I've just been obsessively checking.

 

Can anyone else provide more information on statuses?

 

I've noticed that from the results search, Carleton has so far begun to provide notice with regards to the Masters in Social Work, PhD in Public Policy, Masters in Political Economy and Masters in Economics programs.

 

Hope everyone is doing well, and that this build up isn't driving everyone TOO crazy!

 

I am in the same boat! I posted a thread about it as well to see what others thought! It feels almost like a Seinfeld moment where George isnt sure how to take it!

[kdav]

Hahaha so true. What a sense of relief! Congrats, based on that other thread! Posting the link that was provided here too for others to reference: http://www1.carleton.ca/socialwork/2013/2013-14-msw-applicants-admissions-decisions

 

Hahaha, I had this overwhelming sense of relief when I saw that yesterday, but then was overthinking and questioning what it actually meant (if anything at all). Now it's (mostly until the official offer) just relief!

[AnonymousAcademic]

I'm hoping that recommended for assessment meaning is across the board, lol because then that means good things for me!!!!!

[ohsophia]

I'm hoping that recommended for assessment meaning is across the board, lol because then that means good things for me!!!!!

I don't know if it's universal for all programs, as my status has been recommended for assessment since mid-January, but this week it changed to "review in progress by department."  I'm applying for history though, so it might be different than your department. Just FYI, sorry if that's a downer! 

[kdav]

Hm, that's interesting!

 

Did yours change from Preliminary review required, to review in progress by department, to recommended for assessment and then back to review in progress by department then? ...Seems strange for them to progress while using a status already noted.

 

Good luck to all, either way!

[thunderchunky]

I don't think those statuses are universal across programs. I applied at NPSIA. My status has gone through the following sequence:

 

preliminary review required (Jan)

review in progress by department (Feb 14)

recommended for assessment (Feb 27)

[AnonymousAcademic]

I don't know if it's universal for all programs, as my status has been recommended for assessment since mid-January, but this week it changed to "review in progress by department."  I'm applying for history though, so it might be different than your department. Just FYI, sorry if that's a downer! 

 

Nah, not a downer - I know this whole process is long. We all have random thoughts about what it all means until we finally get that decision....until then, I'm keeping my thoughts positive!  

[ohsophia]

Hm, that's interesting!

 

Did yours change from Preliminary review required, to review in progress by department, to recommended for assessment and then back to review in progress by department then? ...Seems strange for them to progress while using a status already noted.

 

Good luck to all, either way!

For me, it went preliminary review required, then recommended for assessment for more than a month, and finally now it's at review in progress by department.  I'm almost certain I didn't have review in progress before this, as I've been checking pretty obsessively!    It could just be that my department does things differently. 

 

Nah, not a downer - I know this whole process is long. We all have random thoughts about what it all means until we finally get that decision....until then, I'm keeping my thoughts positive!

Definitely!  These statuses are supposed to give us information, but instead they seem rather mysterious!  Positive thoughts are the way to go indeed, it keeps us sane during the long wait. 

[AnonymousAcademic]

My status went from:

 

Preliminary Review Required - from the time I started the application to after the deadline...

 

...then I didn't check the application for over 2 weeks (surprising, eh, haha)....

 

...then, when I did check it, it said Recommended for Assessment.

 

...and that's where it's at right now. 

[Nerd_For_Life]

Just received an acceptance email from York University, PhD program in Social Anthropology. Details of "a generous financial package" and official letter should arrive in the mail within two weeks! So stoked! Best possible supervision for me in all of North America XD

[crimsoc]

Just received an acceptance email from York University, PhD program in Social Anthropology. Details of "a generous financial package" and official letter should arrive in the mail within two weeks! So stoked! Best possible supervision for me in all of North America XD

Congratulations! Keeps us informed as to your funding package!

[Hshsjdjdj]

My status went from:

 

Preliminary Review Required - from the time I started the application to after the deadline...

 

...then I didn't check the application for over 2 weeks (surprising, eh, haha)....

 

...then, when I did check it, it said Recommended for Assessment.

 

...and that's where it's at right now. 

 

I didn't check for awhile and mine says recommended for assessment as well. Not sure what it said before that!

[foucaultmania]

Just received an acceptance email from York University, PhD program in Social Anthropology. Details of "a generous financial package" and official letter should arrive in the mail within two weeks! So stoked! Best possible supervision for me in all of North America XD

Congratulations! I am also waiting for York's PhD in Environmental Studies

 

Have you been nominated for a fellowship?

[Nerd_For_Life]

Congratulations! I am also waiting for York's PhD in Environmental Studies

 

Have you been nominated for a fellowship?

I won't find out any funding information until I get it in the mail, so we'll see. I'm more interested in guarenteed amounts of funding than potential amounts because I want an amount I can depend on and compare with UofT's funding package. I'm hoping for tuition and fees covered and then a stipend for living expenses so we'll see

[WishfulThinker]

Anyone know what's happening with UAlberta's CS admissions? WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!?!

[Mocca]

I just received my rejection from U of Saskatchewan for MPA , my first rejection, well my first anything actually. The letter said my grades weren't good enough as compared to the competition. Which is probably true. I have a 3.0, but I am an international student and that 3.0 is from the top, literally no.1 university here. But I guess that doesn't matter. Makes me wonder it would have been better if I had graduated from a relatively low standard university with a higher GPA .... trying to stay positive... it just wasn't meant to be... there is a bigger plan for me

[crimsoc]

Anyone know what's happening with UAlberta's CS admissions? WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!?!

Why not give them a call. Let them know you are hearing back from other schools. They will at the minimum give you a time frame. Good luck!

Edited March 1, 2013 by crimsoc