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

[Supa]

On 3/15/2017 at 3:12 PM, mchutchi said:

Nancy is a boss. I had heard rumors of a lady at GSPIA who is super nice and helpful and yes, friends, the rumors are true. If you phone in and Daniela answers, just hang up and keep trying until Nancy answers. And yeah, NPSIA has been top notch throughout this whole process. My theory is that this is the 1st year where everyone is starting to see NPSIA and GSPIA on equal footing and a whole lot of folks are even listing GSPIA as their top choice, so an increase in applications has probably thrown them a curve ball. In previous years it has probably just been Daniela in an office full of cobwebs quietly losing her mind getting 3 phone calls a week (which would explain some things) and then this year a 8.5 million people applied so they brought big Nancy in on contract to handle things but their online system just can't cope so its just been one huge technical glitch. It seems as if Daniela was able to process 2.5 applications back in early feb before things got crazy. 

Actually, I have heard from one of my professors that the grad department is not well organized and in a complete mess. I've been to the grad office at Uottawa and they told me they have been having technical difficulties, but still... they don't pick up phone calls on the regular, their response to emails don't answer the questions posed, and I've seen a bunch of posts on how applications have been mislabeled as incomplete when it is the opposite (this happened to me too). GPSIA can't be on equal footing with NPSIA if it's not on the ball like this. Therefore, I'm looking forward to doing my masters at a different school after I finish my undergrad here. 

Edited March 17, 2017 by Supa

[thebigcheese]

Congrats to those who were accepted into Munk! I was also accepted  I'll have to make some pro/con lists for UBC vs. UoT.

On another note, I was rejected from Oxford (but that's fine!).

[YYCapplicant]

7 hours ago, thebigcheese said:

Congrats to those who were accepted into Munk! I was also accepted  I'll have to make some pro/con lists for UBC vs. UoT.

On another note, I was rejected from Oxford (but that's fine!).

What program did you apply to at Oxford? I'm currently waiting on bated breath to hear either way.

[JV-K]

For those considering attending NPSIA MA Int Affairs, here's some information that I received from Tabbatha today (my questions in black, her responses in red):

1. Could you give me a rough estimate of the size of the cohort being admitted to Fall 2017? The cohort will be 100-115 students.

2. How do the TA-ships and RA-ships work? Do students have a say regarding for which classes they TA? What do TA-ships for master's students entail (leading seminars, marking...)? Do students have a say regarding for which professor they act as RA? RA positions have been decided based on your statement. TA positions will be decided by the faculty after you submit the TA profile. You will be paired up with a department or a position that uses the skills you have developed in your undergrad. This can be leading tutorials, marking, working in our resource room, working in one of the service areas that Carleton has (writing tutorial services as an example).

3. I saw in Carleton's terms and conditions of funding that "If you modify your admission program e.g. add a co-op designation (carleton.ca/cc/co-operative-education), then, your funding offer and how it is paid, may be affected.". Does this apply to my funding? I would like to be in co-op; I suppose that sign-up for that is in the Fall? This means that when you go on co-op,  your funding is limited. You can retain scholarships, but not TA or RA positions if you maintain FT status and pay FT fees. Most students will go to PT and move their funding to the next available term.  You will apply for co-op in Fall 2017 even though your first opportunity is Summer 2018.

[thebigcheese]

1 hour ago, YYCapplicant said:

What program did you apply to at Oxford? I'm currently waiting on bated breath to hear either way.

Ooh good luck!!  I applied for the Master of Public Policy; I received the rejection email yesterday. They received 762 applicants for 120 spots, so my hopes weren't too high haha

[thebigcheese]

Ahhhhhh! I was just accepted into LSE's MPA program

[PoliticalNerd2017]

Just got my offer from NPSIA and the funding was on the lower than I expected, but still grateful. I got a little over $8,000 vs. GSPIA offering me $12,000. Decisions, decisions.... Hopeful2017 raised some really good points about NPSIA perhaps being a better option because of the coursework option, the less intensive schedule (GSPIA states that we have to take four classes per semester for year 1) and the whole French class situation. Hmm lots to think about.

[JV-K]

Just a note for everyone getting offers from Carleton, make sure that you look at the funding under "Statement of Standing: View/Accept/Decline Offer of Admission" instead of the "Awards and Funding" (which is only for 2017/18 and if you applied to several programs it mixes all the funding together in this section, so it's not clear what you'd actually get for any given program).

[Investigate311]

Have SPPG offers gone out?

Edited March 17, 2017 by Investigate311

[Hopeful2017]

20 minutes ago, PoliticalNerd2017 said:

Just got my offer from NPSIA and the funding was on the lower than I expected, but still grateful. I got a little over $8,000 vs. GSPIA offering me $12,000. Decisions, decisions.... Hopeful2017 raised some really good points about NPSIA perhaps being a better option because of the coursework option, the less intensive schedule (GSPIA states that we have to take four classes per semester for year 1) and the whole French class situation. Hmm lots to think about.

Congrats, still an amazing offer. I just think people need to be aware of the realities - coop is not guaranteed for GSPIA, a few months ago we all kind of thought GSPIA would have a better, more secured coop program but after feedback from students, that is NOT the case. Only a select few, who have very very top grades get coop. Since GSPIA you must take 4 courses, and master courses are very reading-heavy - you will have like no time for anything else. As much as doing econ in the summer sucks for NPSIA, i'd rather do that then deal with a French course at GSPIA later down the road - I'll have to learn econ anyways. 

Tabbatha told me their placement rates are nearly 100 percent per term. After creeping on LinkedIn, I see a lot of NPSIA coop student work experiences vs. GSPIA. 

Also, only having the option to take four electives out of the whole two year program kinda sucks compared to the wide range of courses you can choose from NPISA. 

Edited March 17, 2017 by Hopeful2017

[eschep]

4 minutes ago, Investigate311 said:

Have SPPG offers gone out?

I received an email on Tuesday with my offer. The only funding was a $3000 scholarship, I also read on another thread that they will no longer be eligible for UTAPS funding so I will be declining for NPSIA or Munk

)

[YellsHeah]

26 minutes ago, Investigate311 said:

Have SPPG offers gone out?

I also got an offer three days ago with 3k in funding and will probably be going for NPSIA instead.

[hopeful9]

My status on NPSIA just went back to under review by department and my specialization was updated... what does this mean??

Edited March 17, 2017 by hopeful9

[NPSIA grad]

20 minutes ago, hopeful9 said:

My status on NPSIA just went back to under review by department and my specialization was updated... what does this mean??

means you will prob get some good news very soon.

[DefeatistElitist]

I'm admittedly very biased here but I think the extra econ is prob a bonus for NPSIA, even if it isn't your thing, simply because of how useful it is. All policies cost money and everything in IR has an econ angle so having that extra bit of knowledge will only make you better at whatever job you wind up doing. 

[LuiAp]

I am torn between BSIA's MAGG and the MGA at Munk. The MAGG is fully funded and includes a fellowship and internship; on the other, the MGA has more professional coursework, inclusive of economics and financial management, in addition to its internship component—which leads me to think it provides better employment opportunities, which I am willing to sacrifice funding for. Thoughts? 

[nnsml]

2 minutes ago, LuiAp said:

I am torn between BSIA's MAGG and the MGA at Munk. The MAGG is fully funded and includes a fellowship and internship; on the other, the MGA has more professional coursework, inclusive of economics and financial management, in addition to its internship component—which leads me to think it provides better employment opportunities, which I am willing to sacrifice funding for. Thoughts? 

Full funding > No funding. Congrats on both acceptances! 

[Hopeful2017]

42 minutes ago, DefeatistElitist said:

I'm admittedly very biased here but I think the extra econ is prob a bonus for NPSIA, even if it isn't your thing, simply because of how useful it is. All policies cost money and everything in IR has an econ angle so having that extra bit of knowledge will only make you better at whatever job you wind up doing. 

 

 

Love this! As much as I'm dreading econ, I do think it will give beneficial skills to put on a resume / it is important to understand in general. 

Edited March 18, 2017 by Hopeful2017

[Hopeful2017]

38 minutes ago, LuiAp said:

I am torn between BSIA's MAGG and the MGA at Munk. The MAGG is fully funded and includes a fellowship and internship; on the other, the MGA has more professional coursework, inclusive of economics and financial management, in addition to its internship component—which leads me to think it provides better employment opportunities, which I am willing to sacrifice funding for. Thoughts? 

 

As much as I think Munk looks like a great school, I think your employment opportunities will be just as good with the MAGG - especially when you don't have a large student loan hanging over you, as you try and look for jobs/internships/new exciting opportunities. My tip is to go on linkedin and search students at both programs and see what they're up to. 

Personally, attending Munk would require me to take out a lot of loans - which would affect what internship I take ( could you afford to work for another four months unpaid?) After graduation, will those loans from Munk affect where I look for a job, etc? 

[LuiAp]

13 minutes ago, Hopeful2017 said:

As much as I think Munk looks like a great school, I think your employment opportunities will be just as good with the MAGG - especially when you don't have a large student loan hanging over you, as you try and look for jobs/internships/new exciting opportunities. My tip is to go on linkedin and search students at both programs and see what they're up to. 

Personally, attending Munk would require me to take out a lot of loans - which would affect what internship I take ( could you afford to work for another four months unpaid?) After graduation, will those loans from Munk affect where I look for a job, etc? 

Thanks for your response! As I understand it, Munk seeks to prepare its grads for employment abroad, and to increase those rates as a long-term goal. This attracts me given the work I wish to pursue. What is more, I think that I would be generally dissatisfied without the quantitative skills garnered with the MGA, and would seek those out in some way shape or form after the MAGG anyway-- which increases the overall opportunity cost. Finally, the program is extremely innovative and they review its core components every few years (hence why they added "Financial Management for Global Organizations), which ensures that you, as a student, are as presentable as possible, professionally and academically. 

49 minutes ago, nnsml said:

Full funding > No funding. Congrats on both acceptances! 

Thanks! And absolutely, I agree it is important to weigh this properly. 

[unblinkingbleb]

1 hour ago, Hopeful2017 said:

Love this! As much as I'm dreading econ, I do think it will give beneficial skills to put on a resume / it is important to understand in general. 

Is anybody else planning to do it through Athabasca online over the summer? I hate that its a thing I have to try to squeeze into my summer but I definitely don't want to be stuck overloading in September

[DefeatistElitist]

17 minutes ago, unblinkingbleb said:

Is anybody else planning to do it through Athabasca online over the summer? I hate that its a thing I have to try to squeeze into my summer but I definitely don't want to be stuck overloading in September

I think you have to do it over the summer if you need both. I got an e-mail the other day clarifying that Carleton DOES NOT offer both in the Fall and that trying to even squeeze one in with the masters workload is a bad idea.

[Hopeful2017]

29 minutes ago, unblinkingbleb said:

Is anybody else planning to do it through Athabasca online over the summer? I hate that its a thing I have to try to squeeze into my summer but I definitely don't want to be stuck overloading in September

 

I'm going to do it probably through Carleton over the summer! Either that or uOttawa. 

[hopeful9]

Does anyone know what the specialization at NPSIA requirements are? Are you forced to take classes within your specialization? If you choose a thesis option, does your supervisor have to be within your specialization?

Edited March 18, 2017 by hopeful9

[DefeatistElitist]

3 minutes ago, hopeful9 said:

Does anyone know what the specialization at NPSIA requirements are? Are you forced to take classes within your specialization? If you choose a thesis option, does your supervisor have to be within your specialization?

You have to take your specialisations designated economics course, as well as 3 additional courses. I believe the thesis/MRP count as one course for the purpose of the 1.5 credits necessary.