fadedgrey Posted March 19, 2013 Posted March 19, 2013 Does anyone know about a potential open house/program information night for NPSIA? I'm going up on my own to check out the campus as I have to make a decision pretty soon (I have a deadline by which I have to let UofT know of my decision with regards to the MGA) but I'd really like to speak some NPSIA students, faculty.
Blake091 Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) My status went from "Preliminary Review Required" to "Review in Progress by Department" to "Recommended for Assessment" where it hung out for a number of weeks. After yesterday's e-mail, it still said "Recommended for Assessment" and we were advised that it would only change again when FGPA was processing, which since it has since changed back to "Review in Progress by Department", I'm assuming is happening...! This is consistent with what the School of Social Work had posted as the status progressions: http://www1.carleton.ca/socialwork/2013/2013-14-msw-applicants-admissions-decisions Apparently the last step after this one is "Recommended for Admission", which is when we get the official offer and funding details. Soon! @Blake091 - A friend is doing international security and intelligence and loves the stream. @thunderchunky - I don't think that we can change clusters after we're admitted, because the department assigns us to the cluster they feel most appropriate with our backgrounds, is my understanding. That being said, very few things are ever truly set in stone! Thats really good to hear! I don't know anyone thats been in that stream before so I'm glad its getting some good reviews haha Edited March 20, 2013 by Blake091
Rumcajs Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 I forgot to mention in my earlier post but congratulations to everyone who got into NPSIA! Would you be so kind if you are 100 percent sure that its your final choice withdraw your application at GSPIA so others including myself can have a better chance :D No pressure. jkh26 1
Cybercollector Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 Odd, even though I was accepted, mine is still recommended for assessment. I'll see next week. Congrats everyone!
nomadic_joe Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 Does anyone know about a potential open house/program information night for NPSIA? I'm going up on my own to check out the campus as I have to make a decision pretty soon (I have a deadline by which I have to let UofT know of my decision with regards to the MGA) but I'd really like to speak some NPSIA students, faculty. I am a current student at NPSIA and I don't think that they are having an official open house/program information night but I could be wrong. With that said, I am more than happy to answer questions about the school, program, faculty etc. either on here, via pm or in person if you want to grab a coffee/lunch when you come to visit. Just let me know and congrats on your acceptance, it's an amazing school! Blake091 1
Rumcajs Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 Do you guys/gals think it would it be too late to contact a POI at GSPIA? (Since results wont be offered until early April)
Cybercollector Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 I am a current student at NPSIA and I don't think that they are having an official open house/program information night but I could be wrong. With that said, I am more than happy to answer questions about the school, program, faculty etc. either on here, via pm or in person if you want to grab a coffee/lunch when you come to visit. Just let me know and congrats on your acceptance, it's an amazing school! Hello, Any advice for all of us? I would like to hit the ground running . Thank you! -CC
thunderchunky Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 Do you guys/gals think it would it be too late to contact a POI at GSPIA? (Since results wont be offered until early April) I don't know... you can't very well change your statement of interest at this point. Are you attending the open house tomorrow?
nomadic_joe Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 Hello, Any advice for all of us? I would like to hit the ground running . Thank you! -CC You mean just general advice? That's tough... what do you want to know about? Academic life, social life, practical aspects? If you give some more specifics that would be helpful for me. I think another student posted this already but the NPSIA Student Association has a blog: npsiasa.wordpress.com, and there is also an academic blog as well npsia.wordpress.com. These may help with answering your questions. I will talk to the other students and try to put together a series on how to prepare for NPSIA or something similar for the summer. For now honestly my instinct is to say relax and enjoy your summer - you are in now, no need to fret! I suppose if you wanted to be super keen you could look up the past syllabi for the classes you are going to take and do readings ahead of time. This may be problematic though, as instructors (and thus assigned readings) change and if you read things now, by the time you need to recall the details for class you will have forgotten most of it. More practically I would say try to get a feel for which classes you want to take and when they post the schedule for next year choose them and be prepared to register early, as some classes fill up quickly and you may not get a spot if you wait too long. Also start thinking about where you want to live in Ottawa; I recommend, in this order 1) Centretown near Elgin, 2) Byward market area and 3) the Glebe/South Ottawa. If you have more specific questions just let me know
Blake091 Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 You mean just general advice? That's tough... what do you want to know about? Academic life, social life, practical aspects? If you give some more specifics that would be helpful for me. I think another student posted this already but the NPSIA Student Association has a blog: npsiasa.wordpress.com, and there is also an academic blog as well npsia.wordpress.com. These may help with answering your questions. I will talk to the other students and try to put together a series on how to prepare for NPSIA or something similar for the summer. For now honestly my instinct is to say relax and enjoy your summer - you are in now, no need to fret! I suppose if you wanted to be super keen you could look up the past syllabi for the classes you are going to take and do readings ahead of time. This may be problematic though, as instructors (and thus assigned readings) change and if you read things now, by the time you need to recall the details for class you will have forgotten most of it. More practically I would say try to get a feel for which classes you want to take and when they post the schedule for next year choose them and be prepared to register early, as some classes fill up quickly and you may not get a spot if you wait too long. Also start thinking about where you want to live in Ottawa; I recommend, in this order 1) Centretown near Elgin, 2) Byward market area and 3) the Glebe/South Ottawa. If you have more specific questions just let me know @nomadic_joe I was wondering if you knew roughly how many students are admitted to 1. the MA program & 2. Each cluster in the MA Thanks!
kdav Posted March 21, 2013 Author Posted March 21, 2013 @nomadic_joe, are the past syllabi posted anywhere accessible? I tried looking for some just to get an idea of course load and requirements, but it doesn't appear that they're posted anywhere that non-students can access. A more specific question: I'm planning currently to do the coursework option and complete the program in a year. Do you think it would be worth it to do a course in the summer, or should I just jump into it in the Fall, full steam ahead? RE: places to live, I'm also going to suggest Hintonburg and Little Italy for reasonably priced properties that are easy to get to Carleton from in cute, active locations (close to bike paths, cool art scenes, good food and drink, OTrain, etc.).
thunderchunky Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) I would love to know more about co-op. I heard that admission to GSPIA's co-op program is based solely on undergrad GPA. Is this the case at NPSIA? How competitive is it to the get into the co-op program? What do you have to do to stay in once you get in? Are job placements relatively easy to get? Edited March 21, 2013 by thunderchunky
thunderchunky Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) Just now got this email from GSPIA: Dear applicant, We are very pleased to have received your application for the Public and International Affairs Program and we hope that you will take advantage of the upcoming Graduate Studies Open House this Friday (22 March) to come visit us. As part of the Open House, you are invited to drop by our Faculty Lounge on the 6th floor of the Faculty Social Sciences building at any time in between 11 am and 2 pm. In the Faculty Lounge you will find some of the professors teaching at the Graduate School while other professors indicated they would be happy to speak with you in their office. We hope you take the opportunity to see us on Friday: we would be happy to help you with any thoughts and enquiries you may have. Coffee and cookies will be served. You can find more information on the activities organized for you by clicking on this link: http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=4456. Looking forward to meeting you, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Edited March 21, 2013 by thunderchunky
nomadic_joe Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 @nomadic_joe, are the past syllabi posted anywhere accessible? I tried looking for some just to get an idea of course load and requirements, but it doesn't appear that they're posted anywhere that non-students can access. A more specific question: I'm planning currently to do the coursework option and complete the program in a year. Do you think it would be worth it to do a course in the summer, or should I just jump into it in the Fall, full steam ahead? RE: places to live, I'm also going to suggest Hintonburg and Little Italy for reasonably priced properties that are easy to get to Carleton from in cute, active locations (close to bike paths, cool art scenes, good food and drink, OTrain, etc.). No you are right they are not posted in a central location. You have to be resourceful and use your google skills to find them, and not all will be available, however I have found the ones for most of my course before starting. Try googling the course number and for a specific filetype (eg. INAF5001 filetype:pdf; or filetype:doc) other key words would be the course name, instructor, etc. I don't know what the policy is on summer admissions, I have never met anyone who did what you describe above, and I don't know that they would let you (you have been admitted for fall 2013, not summer 2013) - check with the department though. If you plan on doing 4 courses a semester don't plan on working part-time. I know people who have done it and you won't have time. Also you have to get special permission to do that, the max course load is 3 courses per semester. kdav 1
nomadic_joe Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) I would love to know more about co-op. I heard that admission to GSPIA's co-op program is based solely on undergrad GPA. Is this the case at NPSIA? How competitive is it to the get into the co-op program? What do you have to do to stay in once you get in? Are job placements relatively easy to get? I am not sure exactly how they determine admission to the co-op program and I don't know if that information is publicly available. From what I understand the main criteria is your marks in your first semester at NPSIA. I don't know anyone who was refused admission to co-op but then again I don't think people go around bragging about that. I do know friends at OttawaU that were denied though so perhaps it is more stringent there. Once you are "in" you just pay the fee to stay in and keep your grades up as far as I know. Honestly the main competition comes when actually applying to jobs and interviewing. Your fellow NPSIA students are extremely experienced and accomplished so it can be tough to compete; with that said, on the whole people are very supportive and encouraging of each other, the student body is active and (at least in our year) have great rapport. You would have to contact the co-op office to get details on numbers of applicants who get jobs and do not (I am not in co-op as I am a PhD student so my knowledge here is limited - maybe another NPSIA student who is in the program can comment?). Edited March 21, 2013 by nomadic_joe
Skip Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) The cohort is roughly 80 per year - with around 10-15 people per cluster - so you really do become quite tight-knit with people in your cluster. That being said, you need not be restricted to your cluster. For coop, I think almost everyone is eligible provided you meet the minimum average - which I don't believe is that stringent. Your main impediment to an actual coop job is the competition for jobs - much easier to get a coop in the fall and winter than in the summer because the competition in the summer is much higher. That being said, NPSIA students are seen to be highly qualified so you may get an advantage there (plus a large percentage of people working at DFAIT or CIDA are NPSIA grads so you might also get a bump there). Edited March 21, 2013 by Skip Blake091 1
kdav Posted March 21, 2013 Author Posted March 21, 2013 Thanks for the quick response, @nomadic_joe! I'll try those search tips for sure. I'm not planning on working part-time while in school (except for as a TA, if I'm able to do that. I've TA'd before as well, and am familiar with the time commitments, so am not worried about that). I don't even know that I'd want to take a summer course with how busy I get in my current job haha, but it was just something to play around with! RE: overloading courses, I understand that the MA/JD students do that as par for the course, and I overloaded through a number of semesters in my undergrad while working 20-25hrs a week (not TAing, obviously haha), so I figure that if I'm not working, it should be doable. I'll look into it! While I'm very excited to go back to school, I don't want to go back for another full two years after having been in the workforce for the last three!
thunderchunky Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 Thank you! What about international exchanges? Any feedback on those? How is the availability of study space on campus? Do you spend most of your time on campus or do you only come in for classes? I heard that there would be a new graduate student study area in the library this year? How is that coming along? Skip, what is your cluster again? I would love some feedback specifically on the political economy cluster.
kdav Posted March 21, 2013 Author Posted March 21, 2013 There's always a number of different study spaces available on campus, and how much time is spent there tends to vary by student, I find. Some love to do all their work on campus, and others prefer working from home or coffee shops where possible. It's often easier to facilitate group meetings on campus. Departments usually have their own graduate study space available too, which I believe NPSIA does in the beautiful new River building. The library is still under construction right now, but current estimates have it done around August 2013, and it's been extensively renovated to provide about double the prior study area and natural light (the whole front is all glass). I was on campus earlier this week to participate in an accounting panel for the business school actually, and it's quite beautiful!
Skip Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 Thank you! What about international exchanges? Any feedback on those? How is the availability of study space on campus? Do you spend most of your time on campus or do you only come in for classes? I heard that there would be a new graduate student study area in the library this year? How is that coming along? Skip, what is your cluster again? I would love some feedback specifically on the political economy cluster. I will actually be going to the Paris School of International Affairs (Sciences Po) in January, so there are tons of options. There are a lot of grad programs run through the Carleton exchange office: http://www1.carleton.ca/isso/ NPSIA also has some of their own exchange programs, but the availabilities vary year by year. NPSIA is on the fifth floor of the brand new River building (we are actually the first full time students there). It is named so because it over looks the river - a great view! We have the beautiful 'Resource Centre' - it's basically our own private library and lounge - with access to a rooftop veranda. They have some boardrooms in there for group work and some individual cubbies, and couches. It's a really great spot and no one has ever complained about lack of study space. There is also a Timmys in the building, which is key. I'm in the GPE cluster - PM me if you want more info!
kdav Posted March 21, 2013 Author Posted March 21, 2013 Wow, a semester at Sciences Po? That'd be amazing! NPSIA only really lists two schools in DC and Japan on their approved exchange list, so I didn't think they often approved other exchanges. Congratulations!
thunderchunky Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 Coooool! Sciences Po! I will be pm'ing you shortly! I will actually be going to the Paris School of International Affairs (Sciences Po) in January, so there are tons of options. There are a lot of grad programs run through the Carleton exchange office: http://www1.carleton.ca/isso/ NPSIA also has some of their own exchange programs, but the availabilities vary year by year. NPSIA is on the fifth floor of the brand new River building (we are actually the first full time students there). It is named so because it over looks the river - a great view! We have the beautiful 'Resource Centre' - it's basically our own private library and lounge - with access to a rooftop veranda. They have some boardrooms in there for group work and some individual cubbies, and couches. It's a really great spot and no one has ever complained about lack of study space. There is also a Timmys in the building, which is key. I'm in the GPE cluster - PM me if you want more info!
jkh26 Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 I went to Sciences Po on exchange for a year during my undergrad and loved it! You'll have a great time. I just went back for a visit this January. If you have questions about living in Paris or Sciences Po let me know! I will actually be going to the Paris School of International Affairs (Sciences Po) in January, so there are tons of options. There are a lot of grad programs run through the Carleton exchange office: http://www1.carleton.ca/isso/ NPSIA also has some of their own exchange programs, but the availabilities vary year by year. NPSIA is on the fifth floor of the brand new River building (we are actually the first full time students there). It is named so because it over looks the river - a great view! We have the beautiful 'Resource Centre' - it's basically our own private library and lounge - with access to a rooftop veranda. They have some boardrooms in there for group work and some individual cubbies, and couches. It's a really great spot and no one has ever complained about lack of study space. There is also a Timmys in the building, which is key. I'm in the GPE cluster - PM me if you want more info!
kdav Posted March 21, 2013 Author Posted March 21, 2013 Since I check Carleton Central compulsively to see what the admission offer details are, I noticed another change that some of you may have, too! In the "Application Details" tab, I now have a specialization allocated (International Development Policy - ...not sure that that's a cluster. Did they take my top two and combine International Dimensions of Development and International Trade Policy?). It may be of interest if that's happened to any of the rest of you, too! Here's hoping the official offer details come out soon haha... I want to know what my standard of living is going to be for the next year!
Blake091 Posted March 21, 2013 Posted March 21, 2013 Since I check Carleton Central compulsively to see what the admission offer details are, I noticed another change that some of you may have, too! In the "Application Details" tab, I now have a specialization allocated (International Development Policy - ...not sure that that's a cluster. Did they take my top two and combine International Dimensions of Development and International Trade Policy?). It may be of interest if that's happened to any of the rest of you, too! Here's hoping the official offer details come out soon haha... I want to know what my standard of living is going to be for the next year! Mine now says: "Development Projects and Planning" Which I find confusing haha. I really hope they send out the official things by tonight
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