MPA/MPP Applications, Fall 2016 Start (Canada)

[Cdn19]

On 2016-03-07 at 3:13 PM, macroecon16 said:

Hey. I applied for the MPPA program, on the weekend my application status was "Recommended for assessment", but this morning it changed to being "Review in progress by Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs", then I didn't look at it again and I just received an email offering admission. So I don't know if mine changed to recommended for admission or not, but I do know that I heard pretty soon after it changed to being reviewed 

Same timeline for me except I got the letter the day after. Seems like a great program which I will be attending most likely given how tough U of T is to get in.

I hope U of T is swift with their letters this time so I can have some certainty and start planning.

Really happy though.

 

12 hours ago, allie22 said:

Hey guys,

So I have so far been accepted to SFU MPP and UVic MPA and I am really struggling to decide between the two. Does anyone know which program is better? They seem relatively comparable in terms of class sizes and coops. I like the UVic program a little better but I don't know how I feel about living on the island, and I know I love downtown Vancouver which is where the MPP program is located. Any thoughts would be appreciated

 

It depends how big the difference is in the programs. If it's minor then I would absolutely go with the University I like more. Downtown Vancouver is beautiful. You could try to analyze courses and consider fees as well.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Cdn19

[Mulcair's Beard]

On 3/9/2016 at 9:12 AM, JTMurray said:

Hey guys, I'm James, a first year MPP student at U of T. I was just thinking about how nerve racking it was last year around this time, and I just wanna tell you guys a few things if you're waiting on U of T: 

1. We found out March 6 for first round last year, but since the application deadline this year was a week later, I'm guessing the first round will probably go out next Monday.

2. If you're worrying about funding, don't freak out. I honestly wouldn't let that determine whether you pick another university over U of T. If you qualify for student loans, you will likely receive A LOT of grant money from UTAPS. They didn't really make that clear last year, and there was a lot of anxiety. My OSAP assessed need was $23,800, OSAP maxed out at 12,000, and UTAPs forked out $11,800. You don't have to pay that back. Also, if you already have loans, you'll probably have some of it forgiven by OSAP. I had $4000 forgiven last year. You'll also likely get a $3000 entrance scholarship. All-in all, if you're like me you'll only pay a couple grand out of pocket plus living expenses. The network that the University has with the public sector is amazing, and your job prospects out of this program will be well worth the investment. 

3. You have the ability to ask other schools that have accepted you if you can hold off on answering if the deadline for accepting is before the first round at U of T goes out. They're usually really nice, and it doesn't hurt to ask. 

Shoot me a message if you have any questions about the program, or you need someone to tell you it's all going to be ok. We have a tight-knit grad network here, and we're eager to help you out. 

Good luck!

That's true, but you're still paying out of pocket for tuition on top of living expenses. It seems like a lot of people from Carleton or other Ottawa schools are getting offers where they're essentially being paid to go to school. With tuition far less than UofT's MPP. In Ottawa. Where the Federal Government is based out of.

[JTMurray]

Just now, Mulcair's Beard said:

That's true, but you're still paying out of pocket for tuition on top of living expenses. It seems like a lot of people from Carleton or other Ottawa schools are getting offers where they're essentially being paid to go to school. With tuition far less than UofT's MPP. In Ottawa. Where the Federal Government is based out of.

This is true. Though consider that the U of T program includes a mandatory paid internship. Historically over 45% of us have done summer internships with the Ontario Public Sector so it really depends where you want to go. I'm working as a policy intern at the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services this summer and it's a real foot in the door to work for the OPS long-term. Especially since many of the Senior Policy Advisors and Managers that will be hiring you will have MPPs from U of T themselves, and the degree holds a lot of weight and provides a lot of networking opportunities in the public sector (many of the profs here are former ADMs, heads of the public service, and two of them are former Ontario premiers). 

I'm not getting paid or prompted to promote the program. I'm just giving you guys the advice that I wish someone had given me at this time last year. I have a colleague at Carleton, and one at UVic, and they both find their respective programs very valuable in their own rights so it's really up to you to decide what's best. I'm just saying if U of T is your first choice and you're worrying about the affordability, you should know it's not nearly as bad as you think.

[JTMurray]

Hey guys, don't tell anyone I told you, but rumour has it that U of T was finishing up acceptance decisions yesterday afternoon. There's a very very good chance you'll hear tomorrow. 

[theracon]

I just checked my U of T ROSI account and my status under 'Course Enrolment' has changed to 'invited' for the 2016-2017 Fall/Winter - Master of Public Policy. It also says 'Decision Made' on my admission application. Looking good so far!

[JTMurray]

1 minute ago, theracon said:

I just checked my U of T ROSI account and my status under 'Course Enrolment' has changed to 'invited' for the 2016-2017 Fall/Winter - Master of Public Policy. It also says 'Decision Made' on my admission application. Looking good so far!

Congrats! Invited means you'll be getting a very exciting e-mail later this afternoon. Can't wait to meet you in the fall!

[AlinaD]

1 hour ago, theracon said:

I just checked my U of T ROSI account and my status under 'Course Enrolment' has changed to 'invited' for the 2016-2017 Fall/Winter - Master of Public Policy. It also says 'Decision Made' on my admission application. Looking good so far!

Congrats!!! Are you a UofT student to begin with? I am not so i have no idea how to access my ROSI account 

[theracon]

7 minutes ago, AlinaD said:

Congrats!!! Are you a UofT student to begin with? I am not so i have no idea how to access my ROSI account 

Thanks! Yes, I did my undergrad at U of T (sorry I should have mentioned that). But your admissions application status should still have changed I think...

[JTMurray]

31 minutes ago, theracon said:

Thanks! Yes, I did my undergrad at U of T (sorry I should have mentioned that). But your admissions application status should still have changed I think...

They've phased out ROSI for new applicants, so if you didn't previously go to U of T you might get a 'not eligible' status on ROSI. Maybe try Acorn instead, which has replaced ROSI. You might see it under 'Enrol and Manage', but I'm not sure.

[applea]

Hey guys! Got my acceptance to U of T's MPP program this morning so check your emails! Only received 5k in funding, so I'll be declining their offer. Good luck  

[teedee]

Hello Everyone! So I got accepted to the MPP program - In the morning, my application status changed to  "decision made" and I received the admission package shortly after ( 3 hours) in the email. Good luck everyone! 

Edited March 14, 2016 by teedee

[allie22]

Just got my Toronto MPP offer to my email around 2:30 but my application status had been changed to "decision made" since early this morning! 

Good luck everyone

[U of T student]

Congrats to allie22, teedee, theracon for your acceptances!  Do you mind sharing your stats with us?

My status says under review and I'm really anxious. How do the different rounds of offers work? Do they send the offers out in batches for a round or all at once? As in those of you who have heard today, is that ALL of round one or a batch of round one? If anyone knows, this would be very helpful!

Good luck everyone and let me say how I love how supportive this forum is!!

[JTMurray]

6 minutes ago, U of T student said:

Congrats to allie22, teedee, theracon for your acceptances!  Do you mind sharing your stats with us?

My status says under review and I'm really anxious. How do the different rounds of offers work? Do they send the offers out in batches for a round or all at once? As in those of you who have heard today, is that ALL of round one or a batch of round one? If anyone knows, this would be very helpful!

Good luck everyone and let me say how I love how supportive this forum is!!

To answer your question, no that isn't all of the first round. Based on what I saw from last year's admissions, the first round went on basically all week. Don't be too worried if you don't get accepted right away. There were some really great people last year who didn't hear til the Thursday. There's also 80 spots in the cohort in case you guys were curious. Once the first round goes out, they'll wait to hear back from people so they know how many more spots they can open. A lot of people are (wrongfully) dissuaded by the price tag too, so admissions have been known to go well on into April. I even have a colleague who was let in in August. 

[U of T student]

2 minutes ago, JTMurray said:

To answer your question, no that isn't all of the first round. Based on what I saw from last year's admissions, the first round went on basically all week. Don't be too worried if you don't get accepted right away. There were some really great people last year who didn't hear til the Thursday. There's also 80 spots in the cohort in case you guys were curious. Once the first round goes out, they'll wait to hear back from people so they know how many more spots they can open. A lot of people are (wrongfully) dissuaded by the price tag too, so admissions have been known to go well on into April. I even have a colleague who was let in in August. 

Thank you so much for your wisdom!!  My thought was that they tend to send the offers out to the most desirable candidates and if I don't hear back so fast, I'm not as competitive. I mean, all of you people are talented. I could message you my stats if you'd like. My anxiety is based on a rejection I got from another program at U of T, one that I'm not as passionate about though, so basically I'm scared of rejection, as I only applied to these two programs. 

[U of T student]

9 hours ago, applea said:

Hey guys! Got my acceptance to U of T's MPP program this morning so check your emails! Only received 5k in funding, so I'll be declining their offer. Good luck  

Sorry, didn't mean to exclude you from the congrats!! Thank you for your wishes and hope you get accepted or are accepting a program that provides you with generous funding, they are expensive!!  wish me luck as I hope to get my status adjusted to "decision made" 

[teedee]

Hello everyone! Sorry but I am kind of new to this and I don't know how to reply to posts. Thanks for the kind words and I wish everyone the best!  So here are my stats for those who may be interested. I was very anxious in the morning when my status changed to "decision made". I received the email at around 2:30 pm. 

- CGPA 3.78, Final two years: roughly 3.85. I was in York's Law and Society Program

- Currently completing my MA in Socio-Legal Studies and graduate diploma in justice system administration at York

- I don't have much work experience outside of academia. However, I was a TA for a third year law and society class, currently a research intern and I am working on a  large scale qualitative/ quantitative empirical legal research study.  I was a volunteer for a community legal clinic for the last two years. I was heavily involved in student leadership and social justice advocacy groups throughout undergrad. 

I honestly didn't think I would get in the program because I felt like I was "different" from the students in the program (MPP's view book). I am primarily interested in the administration of justice in our courts, justice policy, and access to justice for marginalized groups. 

Hope this helps! 

[AlinaD]

8 hours ago, teedee said:

Hello everyone! Sorry but I am kind of new to this and I don't know how to reply to posts. Thanks for the kind words and I wish everyone the best!  So here are my stats for those who may be interested. I was very anxious in the morning when my status changed to "decision made". I received the email at around 2:30 pm. 

- CGPA 3.78, Final two years: roughly 3.85. I was in York's Law and Society Program

- Currently completing my MA in Socio-Legal Studies and graduate diploma in justice system administration at York

- I don't have much work experience outside of academia. However, I was a TA for a third year law and society class, currently a research intern and I am working on a  large scale qualitative/ quantitative empirical legal research study.  I was a volunteer for a community legal clinic for the last two years. I was heavily involved in student leadership and social justice advocacy groups throughout undergrad. 

I honestly didn't think I would get in the program because I felt like I was "different" from the students in the program (MPP's view book). I am primarily interested in the administration of justice in our courts, justice policy, and access to justice for marginalized groups. 

Hope this helps! 

Hey! Thats awesome, I am in my 4th year law and society as well. Thus far my CGPA *over the 3 years* is 3.8

Don't have much work experience. I was a research assistant for my professor last year and was active in social justice groups as well. 

I am afraid that I wont get in because I am not as qualified as others, but we will see. 

Edited March 15, 2016 by AlinaD

[U of T student]

16 hours ago, teedee said:

Hello everyone! Sorry but I am kind of new to this and I don't know how to reply to posts. Thanks for the kind words and I wish everyone the best!  So here are my stats for those who may be interested. I was very anxious in the morning when my status changed to "decision made". I received the email at around 2:30 pm. 

- CGPA 3.78, Final two years: roughly 3.85. I was in York's Law and Society Program

- Currently completing my MA in Socio-Legal Studies and graduate diploma in justice system administration at York

- I don't have much work experience outside of academia. However, I was a TA for a third year law and society class, currently a research intern and I am working on a  large scale qualitative/ quantitative empirical legal research study.  I was a volunteer for a community legal clinic for the last two years. I was heavily involved in student leadership and social justice advocacy groups throughout undergrad. 

I honestly didn't think I would get in the program because I felt like I was "different" from the students in the program (MPP's view book). I am primarily interested in the administration of justice in our courts, justice policy, and access to justice for marginalized groups. 

Hope this helps! 

You go to the post you want to reply to and click quote  Thank you so much for sharing and providing an insight as to what they are looking for. The TA, research intern and qualitative quantitative skills made it an awesome application I think, in addition to your amazing gpa. This was very helpful! Thank you and I'm glad you're going to be able to pursue those career goals upon admission!! 

8 hours ago, AlinaD said:

Hey! Thats awesome, I am in my 4th year law and society as well. Thus far my CGPA *over the 3 years* is 3.8

Don't have much work experience. I was a research assistant for my professor last year and was active in social justice groups as well. 

I am afraid that I wont get in because I am not as qualified as others, but we will see. 

Alina, I also have not been notified so I know how you feel! With your GPA and extracurriculars (the research assistant), I am sure you would get in. Your application is really great on its own merits!!  According to JTMurray, first round acceptances go on for the week and some have heard on Thursday, so let's hope we both get in this round!! 

In terms of my own stats, I have a 3.92 cGPA at U of T. I have volunteered at a constituency office as a data entry worker working with qualitative and quantitative data for two years, phone reception talking with constituents and inputting their policy concerns onto the database and I am currently volunteering for an advisory group where I have been gaining knowledge on budgetary spending and the policy process. I sent in my letter of intent for a professor to look at and she made one suggestion and said that the letter looked really good. I have not had my status as ''decision made'' so I do not know what they would think of me. Lol I have been driving my friends, family and colleagues crazy with all this grad school talk and I'm glad I have found a community that is understanding of these feelings

[almondmilk44]

Hi everyone. Just about 40 minutes ago I got a templated email from Anita telling me I was waitlisted. I want to see if anyone else recieved it as well? 

congratulations to those who made it in, and best of luck to those still waiting. 

[U of T student]

18 minutes ago, almondmilk44 said:

Hi everyone. Just about 40 minutes ago I got a templated email from Anita telling me I was waitlisted. I want to see if anyone else recieved it as well? 

congratulations to those who made it in, and best of luck to those still waiting. 

Hello, I went on my email and I have not received it. Are we talking about U of T SPPG or a different school?

[almondmilk44]

44 minutes ago, U of T student said:

Hello, I went on my email and I have not received it. Are we talking about U of T SPPG or a different school?

Hey, yes sorry SPPG. I got an email from Anita who is the Director of MPP Program at UofT. 

I tried calling in today and they were really reluctant to disclose any information (number of acceptances given out, timelines, etc). 

However being asked on the waitlist makes me think that they sent out all of their first round applications yesterday.

Thoughts? 

[U of T student]

47 minutes ago, almondmilk44 said:

Hey, yes sorry SPPG. I got an email from Anita who is the Director of MPP Program at UofT. 

I tried calling in today and they were really reluctant to disclose any information (number of acceptances given out, timelines, etc). 

However being asked on the waitlist makes me think that they sent out all of their first round applications yesterday.

Thoughts? 

Did it say on SGS that a decision was made? 

I thought that they send out the first offers, wait a bit to hear back from them and then send out the second offers in April and do that until the class is full, then they notify people on what their status is waitlist or rejection?

JTMurray said that their first round last year went for a week and some heard on Thursday.

Perhaps them telling you that you're on a waitlist means that you're one of those shortlisted candidates who has a tentative position if the first offers don't accept (suggesting that you're in the second round of applicants), whereas I have my status as "under review"? :/

Good luck *hugs*

Edited March 16, 2016 by U of T student

[JTMurray]

Hey guys, it's entirely possible that that was the entire first round. Could have been that they just had issues last year. I'm not the admissions committee, so my word isn't gospel. 

That being said, being on a waitlist, or being still under review means that there's still hope for you. You all seem to have really impressive qualifications so take solace in that my friends. 

 

[U of T student]

2 minutes ago, JTMurray said:

Hey guys, it's entirely possible that that was the entire first round. Could have been that they just had issues last year. I'm not the admissions committee, so my word isn't gospel. 

That being said, being on a waitlist, or being still under review means that there's still hope for you. You all seem to have really impressive qualifications so take solace in that my friends. 

 

Sorry, I only referred to you because you would know more about this than I do lol, based on your experience. Thank you!! If you have some more insights, please do share, it is much appreciated