Applying to Munk 2017 - also NPSIA, GSPIA, BSIA etc

[YYCapplicant]

Well, if nothing else this process has taught me that patience is not a virtue I possess in great quantity... Best of luck everyone!

[Nupur11]

2 minutes ago, YYCapplicant said:

Well, if nothing else this process has taught me that patience is not a virtue I possess in great quantity... Best of luck everyone!

Hahahahahahah me too. 

[NPSIA grad]

NPSIA just informed me over the phone that they "hope to have information sent out by the end of next week"

[Hopeful2017]

14 minutes ago, mchutchi said:

NPSIA just informed me over the phone that they "hope to have information sent out by the end of next week"

good lord

[Kaspara]

14 minutes ago, mchutchi said:

NPSIA just informed me over the phone that they "hope to have information sent out by the end of next week"

ughh... will this never end?

[TofinoGal]

Hi all. I just found this forum a couple days ago and am feeling similarly nervous so I thought I'd join in. I'm piping in here kind of late but here are my stats:

- BA Honors Poli Sci at Western

- L2 GPA: 3.7, CGPA 3.1 (had some health issues that I've documented in my app)

- LSAT 165

- Some policy experience during undergrad - I worked with an org that lobbied for reforms to the postsecondary education system and I co-authored a policy paper

Was accepted to UBC MPPGA last week and am now anxiously waiting to hear from Munk, UofT, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Best of luck to everyone and excited to see how things pan out!

[Kaspara]

3 minutes ago, TofinoGal said:

Hi all. I just found this forum a couple days ago and am feeling similarly nervous so I thought I'd join in. I'm piping in here kind of late but here are my stats:

- BA Honors Poli Sci at Western

- L2 GPA: 3.7, CGPA 3.1 (had some health issues that I've documented in my app)

- LSAT 165

- Some policy experience during undergrad - I worked with an org that lobbied for reforms to the postsecondary education system and I co-authored a policy paper

Was accepted to UBC MPPGA last week and am now anxiously waiting to hear from Munk, UofT, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Best of luck to everyone and excited to see how things pan out!

Hey Tofino!

Congrats on getting into UBC! I can't speak to other programs, but I am really familiar with the Munk process (I go to U of T and attended a lot of info sessions). The fact that you have some experience and a solid final year GPA is really good. Your CGPA may drag you down a bit, since they told me that competitive applicants typically have an A-, but maybe Munk puts more stock in the final year GPA. I hope you get a response soon though, I know the wait is killer!

[TofinoGal]

9 minutes ago, Kaspara said:

Hey Tofino!

Congrats on getting into UBC! I can't speak to other programs, but I am really familiar with the Munk process (I go to U of T and attended a lot of info sessions). The fact that you have some experience and a solid final year GPA is really good. Your CGPA may drag you down a bit, since they told me that competitive applicants typically have an A-, but maybe Munk puts more stock in the final year GPA. I hope you get a response soon though, I know the wait is killer!

 

Thanks so much! I haven't heard much about the program and it doesn't seem like the school has strong connections within the field, but it's still a good option. And yeah, my CPGA is a blemish I'm pretty concerned about. I've also applied to complete my Masters in Poli Sci thinking I could add some credentials to my app and re-apply to Munk if this year doesn't work out. Thanks for the insight and best of luck to you as well!

[Investigate311]

28 minutes ago, TofinoGal said:

Hi all. I just found this forum a couple days ago and am feeling similarly nervous so I thought I'd join in. I'm piping in here kind of late but here are my stats:

- BA Honors Poli Sci at Western

- L2 GPA: 3.7, CGPA 3.1 (had some health issues that I've documented in my app)

- LSAT 165

- Some policy experience during undergrad - I worked with an org that lobbied for reforms to the postsecondary education system and I co-authored a policy paper

Was accepted to UBC MPPGA last week and am now anxiously waiting to hear from Munk, UofT, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Best of luck to everyone and excited to see how things pan out!

Hey, I was curious as to if you got any funding from the MPPGA? I was going to apply but thought it was a bit of a cash cow program for being such a new school at UBC.

[TofinoGal]

1 minute ago, Investigate311 said:

Hey, I was curious as to if you got any funding from the MPPGA? I was going to apply but thought it was a bit of a cash cow program for being such a new school at UBC.

I haven't received the official letter yet, only the email saying I've been accepted and will receive more detailed correspondence within the next week. Hopefully there will be an offer of funding in there. I agree, it's super expensive for a new program, and especially when you factor in the cost of living in Vancouver. 

[Duplified]

So the MPPA applications look like they have moved along! I think this means we will get letters of acceptance and funding offers very soon! @Hopeful2017

[Hopeful2017]

39 minutes ago, Duplified said:

So the MPPA applications look like they have moved along! I think this means we will get letters of acceptance and funding offers very soon! @Hopeful2017

 

CONGRATS!

[Hopeful2017]

Just wanted to say a thank you to everyone on this forum!! I hope I get to meet at least some of you in person at school in the fall and this forum has helped ease my nerves so much!  Loving the little sense of community we got here 

[justapersonwhochangednames]

11 minutes ago, Hopeful2017 said:

Just wanted to say a thank you to everyone on this forum!! I hope I get to meet at least some of you in person at school in the fall and this forum has helped ease my nerves so much!  Loving the little sense of community we got here 

Aww I'm glad this thread has helped! 

[Duplified]

2 hours ago, Hopeful2017 said:

CONGRATS!

Thanks  Im getting pretty excited over here and am crossing my fingers for a funding package. Hopefully your status has changed as well. If not I'm sure it will change in the next day or two They are probably just working their way through all of the applicants from our program (and all of the others haha) mine changed right before their office closed around 4:20 EST. Also, the little community we have going here is fantastic! It has made the wait so much better, and I really hope the best for every single one of us! We definitely set a record for the largest number of posts before the bulk of offers started to come in! 

[Hopeful2017]

38 minutes ago, Duplified said:

Thanks  Im getting pretty excited over here and am crossing my fingers for a funding package. Hopefully your status has changed as well. If not I'm sure it will change in the next day or two They are probably just working their way through all of the applicants from our program (and all of the others haha) mine changed right before their office closed around 4:20 EST. Also, the little community we have going here is fantastic! It has made the wait so much better, and I really hope the best for every single one of us! We definitely set a record for the largest number of posts before the bulk of offers started to come in! 

 

Do you think we will get our offers this week? When I talked to Phil last he said offers should go out this week. 

[Duplified]

29 minutes ago, Hopeful2017 said:

Do you think we will get our offers this week? When I talked to Phil last he said offers should go out this week. 

My finance had her status change a few days ago to "Review in progress by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs" and got the offer a day later. So I would imagine so  

[Hopeful2017]

1 minute ago, Duplified said:

My finance had her status change a few days ago to "Review in progress by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs" and got the offer a day later. So I would imagine so  

 

You guys applied to same programs?! Haha that's so awesome - dynamic couple 

[Duplified]

No haha very very different! Master of Neuroscience! But same schools  

Edited March 7, 2017 by Duplified

[PoliticalNerd2017]

4 hours ago, Hopeful2017 said:

Just wanted to say a thank you to everyone on this forum!! I hope I get to meet at least some of you in person at school in the fall and this forum has helped ease my nerves so much!  Loving the little sense of community we got here 

Omg I was just thinking this! I really hope we connect at whatever school any of us choose. This forum and the common nerves we all have makes for a kind of bonding lol. Wishing everyone good luck!!!

[PoliticalNerd2017]

5 hours ago, Duplified said:

So the MPPA applications look like they have moved along! I think this means we will get letters of acceptance and funding offers very soon! @Hopeful2017

Congrats!!!! Hoping things happen this week.  

[thebigcheese]

7 hours ago, TofinoGal said:

I haven't received the official letter yet, only the email saying I've been accepted and will receive more detailed correspondence within the next week. Hopefully there will be an offer of funding in there. I agree, it's super expensive for a new program, and especially when you factor in the cost of living in Vancouver. 

I've been accepted too! I haven't heard anything about funding either, but hopefully we get something

[TofinoGal]

21 minutes ago, thebigcheese said:

I've been accepted too! I haven't heard anything about funding either, but hopefully we get something

Ah, congrats! Hopefully we'll hear something this week!

Where else have you applied and what are your thoughts on UBC's program? I'm a bit concerned about how new it is, the course offerings and that the program website mentions basically nothing about internships. On the other hand, I like that the 2016 class has only 25 students and I hope that means that the profs and admin are pretty accessible.

[thebigcheese]

2 hours ago, TofinoGal said:

Ah, congrats! Hopefully we'll hear something this week!

Where else have you applied and what are your thoughts on UBC's program? I'm a bit concerned about how new it is, the course offerings and that the program website mentions basically nothing about internships. On the other hand, I like that the 2016 class has only 25 students and I hope that means that the profs and admin are pretty accessible.

I also applied to Munk, Oxford, LSE and King's College London (the last three were just long shots).

I had the same concerns about how new the MPPGA is, but UBC is well-recognized and it looks like there is the option for co-op. I was going to email the admin to see if they could clarify what type of placements are available, but from what I can see from LinkedIn (I was a bit curious what current students were up to...), students have worked at the Centre for Southeast Asia Research, ‎Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, and Inter-American Development Bank. I am not too familiar with these organizations, but they seem like decent positions? I like the idea of the Global Policy Project (GPP) too, but I haven't heard anything about it.

I also saw that last year's cohort was fairly small, which I thought was an advantage. However, I wonder if that is the same for next year's cohort or if they accepted more students this time.

As for the courses, others have mentioned that they may not have very much substance, but if they have decent co-op positions and GPP partners, it may still be worth it?

It's a tough call...I agree that it is a pretty expensive program!

[NPSIA grad]

What are the specific conditions for GSPIA in terms of economic requirements?