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Canadian Fall 2015 Applicant Thread


Mandy P.

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From the information that I received from my school, CGS-M will be announced April 1

 

They are always late and, unless things have changed, mail the results... using letters!

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SFU apparently sent out interview invites on the 8th, and I've heard nothing. I wish they'd just send out rejections if you're rejected and not leave people hanging (they're apparently a secondary shortlist so I might be on that, but I'm sick of not hearing).

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One thing about the process that has confused me at Ryerson- I'm wondering if anyone can provide some feedback.

 

My POI said that the recommendations will go in soon and I will hear within the next week. However, he said that the school creates a priority list of professors who are allowed to take students depending on funding. He said that he didn't make this list a few times previously, and doesn't have a grant this year. Also, there are newer faculty with funding who might make it before him. I find it weird that he be allowed to advertise as accepting students, interview a few of us, only to end up not being able to take anyone on.

 

Does that happen... ?

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One thing about the process that has confused me at Ryerson- I'm wondering if anyone can provide some feedback.

 

My POI said that the recommendations will go in soon and I will hear within the next week. However, he said that the school creates a priority list of professors who are allowed to take students depending on funding. He said that he didn't make this list a few times previously, and doesn't have a grant this year. Also, there are newer faculty with funding who might make it before him. I find it weird that he be allowed to advertise as accepting students, interview a few of us, only to end up not being able to take anyone on.

 

Does that happen... ?

 

I think this is what happened with my friend last year. She interviewed with a prof, that prof was willing to accept her into the clinical program, but then the committee would accept her for some reason? She was eventually accepted into the experimental program, but it was very odd all around.

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One thing about the process that has confused me at Ryerson- I'm wondering if anyone can provide some feedback.

My POI said that the recommendations will go in soon and I will hear within the next week. However, he said that the school creates a priority list of professors who are allowed to take students depending on funding. He said that he didn't make this list a few times previously, and doesn't have a grant this year. Also, there are newer faculty with funding who might make it before him. I find it weird that he be allowed to advertise as accepting students, interview a few of us, only to end up not being able to take anyone on.

Does that happen... ?

As a someone very familiar with the program, yes that happens. Essentially the program has funding for x number of students and profs with new labs or smaller labs that rely on departmental funding to a greater degree get priority.

It's a wierd system, but a friend of mine got into the clinical program but found out much later for that exact reason.

Edited by toastytoast
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As a someone very familiar with the program, yes that happens. Essentially the program has funding for x number of students and profs with new labs or smaller labs that rely on departmental funding to a greater degree get priority.

It's a wierd system, but a friend of mine got into the clinical program but found out much later for that exact reason.

 

Hm, well what about if the professors are able to secure their own funding outside of Ryerson? If they don't depend on Ryerson's funding for their students, is it fair to say that this wouldn't effect them? 

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One thing about the process that has confused me at Ryerson- I'm wondering if anyone can provide some feedback.

 

My POI said that the recommendations will go in soon and I will hear within the next week. However, he said that the school creates a priority list of professors who are allowed to take students depending on funding. He said that he didn't make this list a few times previously, and doesn't have a grant this year. Also, there are newer faculty with funding who might make it before him. I find it weird that he be allowed to advertise as accepting students, interview a few of us, only to end up not being able to take anyone on.

 

Does that happen... ?

 

As someone else said, this is absolutely true, and unfortunately funding is just one of several factors outside of your control. However, it's also true that if your POI hasn't had a new student in a few years or has few grad students currently in their lab, they may be a little higher on the list, but certainly funding is a big factor.

Edited by DeltaSkelta
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Hm, well what about if the professors are able to secure their own funding outside of Ryerson? If they don't depend on Ryerson's funding for their students, is it fair to say that this wouldn't effect them? 

 

As far as I know, though I could be wrong, if they have any kind of funding, it counts (I'm not sure the university even provides any in-house funding to faculty, actually). In order to get any type of funding, the faculty member must apply, which is obviously onerous and time consuming. The ones who take the time to do this and manage to secure the most money for their own research (and, by extension, that of their students) are the ones who are generally given new students, and are also generally the ones who raise the university's profile the most.

Edited by DeltaSkelta
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As far as I know, though I could be wrong, if they have any kind of funding, it counts (I'm not sure the university even provides any in-house funding to faculty, actually). In order to get any type of funding, the faculty member must apply, which is obviously onerous and time consuming. The ones who take the time to do this and manage to secure the most money for their own research (and, by extension, that of their students) are the ones who are generally given new students, and are also generally the ones who raise the university's profile the most.

That's true up to a point. There are definitely a few professors who manage to take a clinical student every year. But, that often has more to do with seniority/tenure than the ability to provide funding. Ultimately, they want to make sure that new labs and small labs are able to get enough bodies to be able to build funding capacity.

If anyone wants to pm me their poi I might be able to gauge the likelihood of your acceptance getting kiboshed by the committee.

Also, in past years the Ryerson interview process has been left largely up to the professors. I know professors who have interviewed tens of applicants in a year, and others who have interviewed 2. The timeline also can vary by professor.

Edited by toastytoast
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As far as I know, though I could be wrong, if they have any kind of funding, it counts (I'm not sure the university even provides any in-house funding to faculty, actually). In order to get any type of funding, the faculty member must apply, which is obviously onerous and time consuming. The ones who take the time to do this and manage to secure the most money for their own research (and, by extension, that of their students) are the ones who are generally given new students, and are also generally the ones who raise the university's profile the most.

 

Thanks for your response. That makes me feel a bit better. I would imagine the university wouldn't bar a faculty member from funding a student if the university was unable to? It doesn't make sense to me. 

 

That's true up to a point. There are definitely a few professors who manage to take a clinical student every year. But, that often has more to do with seniority/tenure than the ability to provide funding. Ultimately, they want to make sure that new labs and small labs are able to get enough bodies to be able to build funding capacity.

If anyone wants to pm me their poi I might be able to gauge the likelihood of your acceptance getting kiboshed by the committee.

 

So are you saying then if a professor was willing to provide funding, Ryerson may still say no?

 

I also PMed you my POI :)

Edited by 3minutes
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Just to people who are applying to uOttawa, the process is the same as in Ryerson. I spoke extensively with my POI about this. She said that profs with seniority and profs with few grad students/smaller labs get ranked highly for a clinical student. She told me directly that she will be ranked highly to be able to get a student next year as she has seniority and only has 2 students.

So not only does the applicant have to be matched with their POI - the POI put their name first or second and the applicant put their POI first or second to be even looked at by the committee, they also have to have their POI ranked in up until x for them to get a student that year not to mention even if the applicant is matched AND the POI is ranked highly, the applicant ALSO has to be ranked up until x by the committee for them to get an offer. So keeping all this in mind its mind-blowing how difficult it is to get an acceptance.

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Just to people who are applying to uOttawa, the process is the same as in Ryerson. I spoke extensively with my POI about this. She said that profs with seniority and profs with few grad students/smaller labs get ranked highly for a clinical student. She told me directly that she will be ranked highly to be able to get a student next year as she has seniority and only has 2 students.

So not only does the applicant have to be matched with their POI - the POI put their name first or second and the applicant put their POI first or second to be even looked at by the committee, they also have to have their POI ranked in up until x for them to get a student that year not to mention even if the applicant is matched AND the POI is ranked highly, the applicant ALSO has to be ranked up until x by the committee for them to get an offer. So keeping all this in mind its mind-blowing how difficult it is to get an acceptance.

 

This really just blows my mind. I felt stupid thinking that all I had to do was to get the professor to say "Yes, I'll take you" when in fact it's much more than that. I'm not sure how this can encourage anyone during this process.

 

Thanks for the info Noor. 

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Just to people who are applying to uOttawa, the process is the same as in Ryerson. I spoke extensively with my POI about this. She said that profs with seniority and profs with few grad students/smaller labs get ranked highly for a clinical student. She told me directly that she will be ranked highly to be able to get a student next year as she has seniority and only has 2 students.

So not only does the applicant have to be matched with their POI - the POI put their name first or second and the applicant put their POI first or second to be even looked at by the committee, they also have to have their POI ranked in up until x for them to get a student that year not to mention even if the applicant is matched AND the POI is ranked highly, the applicant ALSO has to be ranked up until x by the committee for them to get an offer. So keeping all this in mind its mind-blowing how difficult it is to get an acceptance.

Wow.. That is a little ridiculous.. I don't understand why they can't figure out this priority list before a poi is allowed to say they are interested and can interview. It's making this process so much more worse for the students!

I'm hoping that the fact that my poi wasn't able to accept the past few years, has been with the program from before it started, and has students that are graduating out and looking for jobs this year helps me and him. It's a shame they put us through this...

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Wow.. That is a little ridiculous.. I don't understand why they can't figure out this priority list before a poi is allowed to say they are interested and can interview. It's making this process so much more worse for the students!

I'm hoping that the fact that my poi wasn't able to accept the past few years, has been with the program from before it started, and has students that are graduating out and looking for jobs this year helps me and him. It's a shame they put us through this...

They can, but it wouldn't be productive because priority profs don't always find a student they want to take. A prof that has priority can take a student, but if they don't find a good match, they don't have to take one.

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For the ones that applied for OISE. Are you applying for the OGS? The deadline is January 30th. 

 

I read the following and I am confused: http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/oise/Current_Students/Graduate_Student_Funding/Graduate_Funding_Package/Applying_for_External_Scholarships.html

 

I sent them an email, but no reply yet. :(

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