Canadian Political Science Programs- Fall 2017 cycle

[ZJxk]

1 hour ago, mstama123 said:

Yes, I got my funding package email late last night (10pm EST). Also within the funding package it has details about their placement record for the last 10 years in TT and post-doctoral fellowships.

On a separate note, does anyone know anything about the Ontario Trillium Scholarship for International Doctoral Students? 

Congrats on the OTS nomination! You maybe have already seen this page, https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/currentstudents/Pages/Gov-Funded-Awards.aspx, but it looks like UofT can award about 15 scholarships per year. There's contact info at the bottom for someone who might be able to answer more of your questions, but yeah, it's a safe bet that a chunk would go towards international student tuition costs.  

Given it doesn't seem to be available elsewhere, would you be willing to share UofT's placement record info that they included in the offer letter?

[mstama123]

41 minutes ago, ZJxk said:

Given it doesn't seem to be available elsewhere, would you be willing to share UofT's placement record info that they included in the offer letter?

Yes absolutely! I'm lifting this info word-for-word directly from the letter.

"A sampling of recent academic placements (within the past 10 years) is as follows:

Tenure Track Positions: University of Alberta, Arizona State University, University of British Columba, Brock University, University of California-Santa Cruz, Cardiff University, University of Cincinnati, Cornell University, Dalhousie University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, McGill University, University of Moncton, University of Montreal, University of Northern Illionois, Ohio University, University of Oklahoma, University of Ottawa, University of Oxford, University of Toronto, Wesleyan University, University of Western Ontario, York University

Post-Doctoral Fellowships: University of Alberta, University of California-Berkeley, Carleton University, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Harvard University, Hebrew University, London School of Economics, University of Ottawa, University of Oxford, Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Princeton University, University of South Carolina, University of Toronto, Yale University."

[rjkingston]

10 hours ago, Dwar, Dog Lord of Waw said:

Hi all, lurker here. Accepted by Queen's (back in Feb) and Toronto (on March 3) for MA. Queen's is offering full funding; no funding at Toronto as far as I can tell (wasn't shortlisted for the SSHRC CGS-M). Still waiting on McGill and UBC. Good luck to everyone!

P.S. Has anyone applying to UBC heard from Dr. Quirk a second time concerning the status of their CGS-M? I heard from him back in Feb, but nothing since.

I also heard from him in February but nothing since (or anything from UBC, for that matter).

[ZJxk]

@mstama123 Great, thanks for sharing! 

[somuchtoread]

22 hours ago, _Dreamer_ said:

Did anyone get the funding details from UofT?

Yes, I got the official letter late on Friday. In absolutely terms, the funding is better than other schools but it includes tuition which is double of most universities. So what you get in your hand is quite a bit less than what other universities are offering. I have 2 other offers that are considerably better than what Toronto is offering. Not sure what to do now since as it stands, Toronto is my first choice but you can barely survive on what they're offering :S
 

Edited March 11, 2017 by Pahi

[_Dreamer_]

@Pahi I'm on the same position. I'll probably accept but it doesn't feel very effective (academically speaking) to spend so mush of our time worrying about money and applying to any possible scholarship. Unfortunately this is how it works at UofT and that is why their average completion is at 7 years. It's kind of crazy if you think that their standard package is below the poverty line (20k for Toronto). Many students end up taking more TA and RAships but they don't have time to take the courses they need/want or do their research. It's a great program though and provides great opportunities to those who are active.   

[somuchtoread]

16 hours ago, _Dreamer_ said:

@Pahi I'm on the same position. I'll probably accept but it doesn't feel very effective (academically speaking) to spend so mush of our time worrying about money and applying to any possible scholarship. Unfortunately this is how it works at UofT and that is why their average completion is at 7 years. It's kind of crazy if you think that their standard package is below the poverty line (20k for Toronto). Many students end up taking more TA and RAships but they don't have time to take the courses they need/want or do their research. It's a great program though and provides great opportunities to those who are active.   

Certainly! A financial offer like that doesn't really offer much "peace of mind" which arguably, is so important when you're planning to dedicate many years of your life to an intense program and actually try and excel in it. Alas! The things you'd do to follow your passion  Are you a current U of T Masters student? Could you please share some more details about the program, especially for PhD students. Thanks a lot! 

[_Dreamer_]

@Pahi experiences really depend on the subfield, supervisor, and personality of each student (some say that gender also matters). I've heard everything from terrible to amazing. I know that doesn't help much so I would suggest to find PhD students who work/have worked with your potential supervisor and ask about their experiences.

[rjkingston]

Can anyone speak to the lack of individual supervision at the MA level for U of T? Does the department/program compensate for this in any way?

[guest56436]

7 minutes ago, rjkingston said:

Can anyone speak to the lack of individual supervision at the MA level for U of T? Does the department/program compensate for this in any way?

U of T's MA program is essentially take a few classes, pay some money, and get out. 

[_Dreamer_]

3 hours ago, rjkingston said:

Can anyone speak to the lack of individual supervision at the MA level for U of T? Does the department/program compensate for this in any way?

It really depends on the student. The department doesn't provide any help other than a year-long course for writing the MRP, which is kind of useless since everyone has a different topic. Having that said, professors are willing to work with you and guide you if you go to their office (even if you don't take any course with them). This is also a great way to build some connections with profs and have a stronger PhD application if that's something you'd consider.

[somuchtoread]

Any news from those on the waitlist? Any final decisions?

[PolTheorist]

@Pahi With regards to U of T funding, did you forward them your competitive offers from other schools? I did this and they bumped my package up significantly. So I've accepted U of T's offer

 

[somuchtoread]

6 minutes ago, PolTheorist said:

@Pahi With regards to U of T funding, did you forward them your competitive offers from other schools? I did this and they bumped my package up significantly. So I've accepted U of T's offer

 

As a matter of fact, I did! My McGill package was a lot more competitive. I also sent them U of A's which was equally as good but they didn't even mention it once..hahaha. They have informally agreed to hiking it up to match McGill's but I'm waiting for them to re-send the official letter before I accept. 

[boruchan93]

I received 3 results in a span of an hour. It's the most stressful thing ever. I was waitlisted by Alberta which was a bit unexpected. They said they will contact me around April again. I also received an unofficial offer from Carleton. The catch is that the offer is unfunded so I don't really know what to think about it. I will be sending a long mail filled with questions about future funding to them.

[rimbaldienne]

FYI, McGill is sending acceptance for the MA 

[somuchtoread]

On 3/17/2017 at 8:09 PM, boruchan93 said:

I received 3 results in a span of an hour. It's the most stressful thing ever. I was waitlisted by Alberta which was a bit unexpected. They said they will contact me around April again. I also received an unofficial offer from Carleton. The catch is that the offer is unfunded so I don't really know what to think about it. I will be sending a long mail filled with questions about future funding to them.

I will let Alberta know tomorrow that I'm declining so hopefully that frees up a spot for you! Strange that Carleton hasn't offered funding. I was under the impression that all Canadian PhDs are funded. 

[boruchan93]

6 hours ago, Pahi said:

I will let Alberta know tomorrow that I'm declining so hopefully that frees up a spot for you! Strange that Carleton hasn't offered funding. I was under the impression that all Canadian PhDs are funded. 

E-mail said that funding is limited for international students. I will follow up with an e-mail asking about possible future or external funding as well as TA and RA opportunities. 

[somuchtoread]

8 hours ago, boruchan93 said:

E-mail said that funding is limited for international students. I will follow up with an e-mail asking about possible future or external funding as well as TA and RA opportunities. 

oh ok..good luck with that. I just declined the U of A offer. 

[bonnszai]

Hi folks, I was wondering if any of you know anything about McGill's PSCI department's deferral policies. I was accepted to the MA program and while I do want to attend, other circumstances might make ideal to wait a year. 

 

[steve3020]

Has anyone applied to York's Social and Political Thought programme? I'm guessing when you guys talk about York, you mean their politics department. I'm on the waitlist for MA in SPTH so I'd like to know if anyone who got an offer will be declining. 

Also I'm wondering how waitlist works in Canada. For my waitlists at American institutions I can't do much apart from waiting until 15 April, but what about this one??

Edited March 29, 2017 by steve3020

[qeta]

5 hours ago, bonnszai said:

Hi folks, I was wondering if any of you know anything about McGill's PSCI department's deferral policies. I was accepted to the MA program and while I do want to attend, other circumstances might make ideal to wait a year. 

 

I believe the deadline to submit all relevant document for a deferral request is July 1. (I had thought about deferring because I had a research job offer.) You should get in touch with Tara Alward ASAP.

[magicsana]

Got an acceptance from McMaster's MA program with full funding, but will be declining. 

[bushboy]

Wait-listed by McGill. Was hoping for funding but that's not going to happen now I guess. If you're going to decline McGill (Pol. Sci. M.A) please do so soon to give the rest of us a fighting chance. Also applied to Waterloo's Balsillie School of International Affairs for the Masters in Global Governance (MAGG) - and no response from there.

It's usually a long shot in North American top schools for African students but wasn't expecting this so late into offer season. 

Background: Merit LL.M from top 5 UK university + 2nd Upper B.A in International Relations (3.4/4.0) + 3 years relevant work experience (foreign policy, public policy) etc.

[qeta]

11 hours ago, bushboy said:

Wait-listed by McGill. Was hoping for funding but that's not going to happen now I guess. If you're going to decline McGill (Pol. Sci. M.A) please do so soon to give the rest of us a fighting chance. Also applied to Waterloo's Balsillie School of International Affairs for the Masters in Global Governance (MAGG) - and no response from there.

It's usually a long shot in North American top schools for African students but wasn't expecting this so late into offer season. 

Background: Merit LL.M from top 5 UK university + 2nd Upper B.A in International Relations (3.4/4.0) + 3 years relevant work experience (foreign policy, public policy) etc.

I would say that McGill basically always has TA-ships to offer and it is easy to pick up extra grading/ research assistant/ invigilator work. Montreal is a cheap city, so it's livable if you do this but not super fun. I was able to live in my own apartment in the Plateau for the first year by doing a full-time TA-ship, some research work, and grading for a couple of courses and got a fellowship to tide me over during the second. Good luck!

Edited April 4, 2017 by qeta