University of Toronto iSchool

[Spzr]

7 minutes ago, frannyt said:

@Legacy23 As someone who was born and raised in Montreal, I can confirm it will be much more difficult finding a job if you do not speak French (though not entirely impossible). Probably depends on the company though and how much you are dealing with public or other Montreal companies.  

 

@Spzr hey! I'll also be attending the meet and greet (: are you currently living in toronto? Any recommendations on decent living areas? I've started my apartment hunting.

 

Did anyone else apply to archives and records management or culture and technology? Those are the two streams I'm following!! 

That's great! Yes I'm in Toronto, I recently moved downtown near Yonge-Dundas Square and I love it. It's a convenient walk to the iSchool and close to everything. Anywhere within walking distance of the downtown U of T campus will be a nice, safe neighbourhood. Rent downtown is pretty expensive though, if you don't mind a 30-45 min commute renting outside the downtown core would be more affordable. 

[myrmidonqueen]

4 hours ago, Legacy23 said:

I sent them a couple of follow ups and got similar replies, which is why I am a bit paranoid about the admit at Mcgill. Anyway, I was considering McGill as my first choice too , but it turns out the companies there prefer people who are bilingual since Montreal is essentially french-dominant. Is that true?

Ugh, McGill is sending my anxiety through the roof, but so is U of T. I also applied to Ottawa as my "safety" school so hopefully they come through for me... and I have no idea, honestly. But the Montreal program is in English so I don't think that's really an issue!

[myrmidonqueen]

Just out of curiosity, for those accepted, what are your stats? What's your GPA like and did you have any work experience? I mean I haven't technically gotten a rejection yet but at this point, the silence makes me feel like I'm not getting in. 

[frannyt]

@gabiaconetti dont worry!! They definitely havent gone over all the applicantions yet (especially considering the final deadline is a month away!!). Did you email the department?? They answer pretty quickly and will at least tell you if you have been reviewed yet or not! At least thats what they did for me... What concentrations did you apply to? I know some are way more popular than others (based on the info day I went to) so those might be taking longer to sort through. 

Honestly, my CGPA is pretty low. Only a 3.2 (I addressed this in my letter of intent though). My last two years are about a 3.65 so I really put emphasis on that. Because I knew my CGPA was so low I loaded up my cv last year. Volunteered at museums, volunteered with online transcription work, and did field school this summer working with old documents. 

 

Dont give up! I think its still early in the review process...

[myrmidonqueen]

7 minutes ago, frannyt said:

@gabiaconetti dont worry!! They definitely havent gone over all the applicantions yet (especially considering the final deadline is a month away!!). Did you email the department?? They answer pretty quickly and will at least tell you if you have been reviewed yet or not! At least thats what they did for me... What concentrations did you apply to? I know some are way more popular than others (based on the info day I went to) so those might be taking longer to sort through. 

Honestly, my CGPA is pretty low. Only a 3.2 (I addressed this in my letter of intent though). My last two years are about a 3.65 so I really put emphasis on that. Because I knew my CGPA was so low I loaded up my cv last year. Volunteered at museums, volunteered with online transcription work, and did field school this summer working with old documents. 

 

Dont give up! I think its still early in the review process...

Thanks for the reply!  I emailed them a few days after the March 3rd "deadline" and Carol told me that my application was still being reviewed... and I applied to the archives and records management concentration!

Damn, that was really good on your part. I found it absolutely impossible to get work experience anywhere, I applied to a bunch of museums and only JUST got a volunteer position at McCord. I did some fieldwork last summer but it was in archaeology so I don't know how relevant that it, but we had a bit cataloging component so I figured that was maybe at least looking at. I'm on the warpath looking for internships and emailing people now just in case I don't get in this cycle. I want my cv to be loaded up. 

[frannyt]

@gabiaconetti No problem! I volunteered at the McCord museum last summer! I definitely get that... I sent out emails to like every museum in Montreal possible until finally a small privately owned museum emailed me back and I did some really good work with them. Sounds like you still have some good experience under your belt. Archaeology I believe is definitely relevant. I basically only took archaeology classes at McGill and focused on that in my letter of intent. 

Carol is also the one who responded to me. At least she didn't give you bad news! On the bright side, I think the latest you'll hear back from UofT is late April I think? I'm sure they'll be sending out more answers these next few weeks! 

[myrmidonqueen]

15 minutes ago, frannyt said:

@gabiaconetti No problem! I volunteered at the McCord museum last summer! I definitely get that... I sent out emails to like every museum in Montreal possible until finally a small privately owned museum emailed me back and I did some really good work with them. Sounds like you still have some good experience under your belt. Archaeology I believe is definitely relevant. I basically only took archaeology classes at McGill and focused on that in my letter of intent. 

Carol is also the one who responded to me. At least she didn't give you bad news! On the bright side, I think the latest you'll hear back from UofT is late April I think? I'm sure they'll be sending out more answers these next few weeks! 

Haha you totally feel my struggle then! You've been really encouraging, thank you for your kind words  hopefully I'll get a positive answer from ANYWHERE soon!

[Legacy23]

18 hours ago, M.gooseberry said:

hey! May I ask what's your rational for an early consideration? I emailed them asking if I could get the result before last Wednesday because I had to decide whether to take my second choice offer, the women (Andrea) was very kind and she forwarded my email to the admissions committee, but I think they simply ignored it....

Hey, I did exactly the same thing. I requested them to consider my application earlier cause i'll be considering offers from other colleges accordingly. They forwarded my email to the admissions committee and they got back within a week or so with the acceptance. 
You would probably want to follow up with Andrea next week in case you don't hear back 

[Legacy23]

15 hours ago, frannyt said:

@Legacy23 As someone who was born and raised in Montreal, I can confirm it will be much more difficult finding a job if you do not speak French (though not entirely impossible). Probably depends on the company though and how much you are dealing with public or other Montreal companies.  

 

@Spzr hey! I'll also be attending the meet and greet (: are you currently living in toronto? Any recommendations on decent living areas? I've started my apartment hunting.

 

Did anyone else apply to archives and records management or culture and technology? Those are the two streams I'm following!! 

@Spzr Are you guys planning on staying on campus or are you renting an apartment outside? I was thinking of going with the former in the first sem, and then move out next sem. I'll be coming to Toronto some time in August. What do you guys suggest? 

[Legacy23]

14 hours ago, gabiaconetti said:

Just out of curiosity, for those accepted, what are your stats? What's your GPA like and did you have any work experience? I mean I haven't technically gotten a rejection yet but at this point, the silence makes me feel like I'm not getting in. 

Thanks for the help. I did a bit of research at my end , and I think I am gonna go with UofT . I really suck at learning a new language and it'd suck to not get a job after masters cause of the language criteria haha so yeah.

And for the stats - I had a 4.0 GPA in my undergrad and close to 1 year experience as a Consultant. But I have some friends who got acceptance with a much lower gpa and no experience, cause their SOP was pretty good (atleast that's what they say). One of my friends got a reject from UofT last year , but got admitted to UT,Austin. So you never really know what is it that they consider.

Have you tried reaching out to the admissions counselor (Andrea). She is quite helpful and almost always replies on the same day. Let me know if you need her email address.

[Legacy23]

16 hours ago, frannyt said:

@Legacy23 As someone who was born and raised in Montreal, I can confirm it will be much more difficult finding a job if you do not speak French (though not entirely impossible). Probably depends on the company though and how much you are dealing with public or other Montreal companies.  

 

@Spzr hey! I'll also be attending the meet and greet (: are you currently living in toronto? Any recommendations on decent living areas? I've started my apartment hunting.

 

Did anyone else apply to archives and records management or culture and technology? Those are the two streams I'm following!! 

Thanks! I have read tons of threads and talked to several people but I really don't understand why people only look for jobs in the city where they have done their masters from? you could always apply for jobs in toronto after studying at McGill. Is it cause of the networking aspects ?

[myrmidonqueen]

5 hours ago, Legacy23 said:

Thanks for the help. I did a bit of research at my end , and I think I am gonna go with UofT . I really suck at learning a new language and it'd suck to not get a job after masters cause of the language criteria haha so yeah.

And for the stats - I had a 4.0 GPA in my undergrad and close to 1 year experience as a Consultant. But I have some friends who got acceptance with a much lower gpa and no experience, cause their SOP was pretty good (atleast that's what they say). One of my friends got a reject from UofT last year , but got admitted to UT,Austin. So you never really know what is it that they consider.

Have you tried reaching out to the admissions counselor (Andrea). She is quite helpful and almost always replies on the same day. Let me know if you need her email address.

Hey! Thanks for your input

I have her email from that time she contacted us to let us know we'd receive our answers around March 3rd, but I emailed Carol a couple of weeks ago to inquire about when I could expect an answer and she nicely responded that I'm still under review, so I don't want to hassle them too much! I'll give a couple of weeks and if I don't hear anything then I'll think of contacting them again. Thanks again!

[frannyt]

@Legacy I would assume its because of networking aspects as you say, but I agree there is nothing stopping you from applying for jobs in Toronto after studying at McGill!! I'm also going to be moving to Toronto in August. I want to find a place where I can stay the full 2 years (not down to move more than once hahah). So I'm looking for something in the downtown area, 20 mins max away from school. Where are you moving from?? 

[Spzr]

7 hours ago, Legacy23 said:

@Spzr Are you guys planning on staying on campus or are you renting an apartment outside? I was thinking of going with the former in the first sem, and then move out next sem. I'll be coming to Toronto some time in August. What do you guys suggest? 

I'm renting an apartment outside, I'm a 20-30 min walk to campus. Either option is fine since you're still downtown and close to everything, but like @frannyt I personally prefer to stay in the same place for the full two years since moving is such a hassle.

I'm wondering if anyone here also applied for TALint?

[frannyt]

1 hour ago, Spzr said:

I'm renting an apartment outside, I'm a 20-30 min walk to campus. Either option is fine since you're still downtown and close to everything, but like @frannyt I personally prefer to stay in the same place for the full two years since moving is such a hassle.

I'm wondering if anyone here also applied for TALint?

@Spzr I also applied for TALint. Mind you, I havent heard anything since I submitted my CV and cover letter for the maximum three positions... I also know there are only like 8 positions for what I'm assuming is a lot of applicants. I didn't think i'd have much of a shot. Have you heard anything? 

[Spzr]

34 minutes ago, frannyt said:

@Spzr I also applied for TALint. Mind you, I havent heard anything since I submitted my CV and cover letter for the maximum three positions... I also know there are only like 8 positions for what I'm assuming is a lot of applicants. I didn't think i'd have much of a shot. Have you heard anything? 

I haven't heard a thing since submitting my cv/cover letters either. I'm getting discouraged too since I don't really have much relevant experience. I know I'll need a part-time job when school starts but I'm debating if I should look for something in information management even if it doesn't pay well just to have the experience in my resume, or if I should look for decent paying work that may not be relevant to my studies at all but pays the bills. 

[frannyt]

2 hours ago, Spzr said:

I haven't heard a thing since submitting my cv/cover letters either. I'm getting discouraged too since I don't really have much relevant experience. I know I'll need a part-time job when school starts but I'm debating if I should look for something in information management even if it doesn't pay well just to have the experience in my resume, or if I should look for decent paying work that may not be relevant to my studies at all but pays the bills. 

Have you considered applying to the co-op option? Its two full semesters a year (winter and summer) of paid work. Usually full time! If I don't hear anything about the TALint program, I will try and apply to that. I dont know what your concentration is, but I know they have a lot more opportunities for ISD and UXD students. I also saw on their library website that they have quite a few library work positions outside of the TALint program it seems so I might try for that too. I totally get it. Toronto is expensive so I definitely want a job thats worthwhile. 

[stdenis]

Hey guys I also got accepted! Got the mail yesterday but no emails. Just wondering do we have any discussion groups create? If yes plz add me in! 

 

[frannyt]

6 hours ago, stdenis said:

Hey guys I also got accepted! Got the mail yesterday but no emails. Just wondering do we have any discussion groups create? If yes plz add me in! 

 

hey! You're also coming from Montreal? Which Uni?! And which concentration are you going into? No discussion groups yet... (or at least that I am aware of). Someone did talk about starting a whatsapp group on the results page for UofT though. Haven't see anything else. 

[stdenis]

4 minutes ago, frannyt said:

hey! You're also coming from Montreal? Which Uni?! And which concentration are you going into? No discussion groups yet... (or at least that I am aware of). Someone did talk about starting a whatsapp group on the results page for UofT though. Haven't see anything else. 

Hey! I'm from McGill!! I think I chose for KMIM when I applied.

[frannyt]

2 minutes ago, stdenis said:

Hey! I'm from McGill!! I think I chose for KMIM when I applied.

Im also coming from McGill!! What are you studying right now?? 

[Legacy23]

@frannyt Being an international student , the difference in Mcgill and UofT's tuition is about 30,000 $. Which is why I am trying to figure out if UofT's worth the extra 30k. Which concentrations are you guys planning on taking? I'll probably go for a double concentration ISD and KMIM. Also, I don't remember choosing the concentrations while applying ? 

@Spzr Thanks. I am yet to figure out the residential scenario. This is just too much effort haha 

Edited March 22, 2017 by Legacy23

[Spzr]

@frannyt I'm considering the internship option and think I'll also apply for it if I don't hear from TALint. I was speaking to a friend who is an alumni of the MI who says students are often offered employment after graduation from the company they interned with, which sounds pretty amazing. 

As for concentrations, I applied to ISD and KMIM. 

[frannyt]

@Legacy23 wow didn't realize the difference in prize was so significant. I applied for Archives and Records Management and Culture and Technology. I had to say which concentrations I was planning on following when I applied. You can check on the admission application page - should show on the application summary). 

@Spzr yeah I'll honestly take anything I can get with hopes of a job offer after!! 

[stdenis]

On 3/21/2017 at 10:27 PM, frannyt said:

Im also coming from McGill!! What are you studying right now?? 

Hi!! I'm studying psychology! My undergrad degree is quite different from master programs I applied, so to be honest I'm not sure if that's the right ones for me (including this one haha)