Canadian Universities

[fritzlechat]

Hello all,

I'm just wondering if any of you have applied to Canadian English PhD programs and how you would compare them by strengths in different disciplines and the department as a whole.

Good luck in your applications!

[bookchica]

No information, but I would love to know the answer to your question. I applied to UBC and UVic last year and was rejected. Thought about McGill this year but decided to go All-American.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

Would love to know as well - Since I'm also looking into Canadian U's for next year (also UK), as well as a wider range of American U's.

If anyone answers this question, I would be immensely pleased

[amultitudeofdrops]

One of my undergraduate professors moved to Simon Fraser University just after I graduated. He's sort of my mentor, so when I got in touch with him to ask about grad school, he encouraged me to apply there. Apparently they're strongest in Restoration lit, cultural studies, contemporary poetry and poetics, Canadian lit (especially multicultural - including some postcolonial stuff) and American. Also, they're supposed to be pretty good in Victorian and the Victorian-to-modern transition. My professor mentioned that they are a young department, so they have several other good areas that wouldn't necessarily be evident from CVs (including medieval).

I'm attracted to the program because it's only one year, it's funded by TA-ships (teaching experience ftw!) and it's in Vancouver! They already have their course listings for the 2010-2011 school year posted on their website, and there seem to be quite a few good courses.

Anyway, I don't really know anything about other Canadian programs, but I hope the Simon Fraser info helps!

[fritzlechat]

I did my undergrad and MA at McGill. It's strong for Shakespeare and the Burney Centre is good. There's an ongoing Making Publics project. They've been trying to expand Cultural Studies for the past 8 years or so and it's doing quite well at the undergrad level and getting better at the MA. I think the MA program is great, one of the best anywhere -- I did the thesis option and TA-ed (leading conferences, grading, guest lectures) every semester, so I got a lot of experience. The PhD program has a research paper and defense in lieu of comprehensive exams. They don't have a lot of funding.

U of Toronto is generally regarded as fairly strong across the board since it's so big, but I hear horrible things about the comprehensive exams. It seems like a structured and traditional program. U of Alberta has been hiring aggressively and recruiting students with huge funding packages. As far as I know, it's a big program with a lot of professionalization (and you can teach sessionally while you're on the market). They just started a new PhD program; you don't teach the first year and if you get a SSHRC you don't teach until third or fourth year. I got accepted and am seriously considering it. U of Victoria seems interesting because they have an interdisciplinary program in Cultural, Social, and Political Thought, though I don't know anything about it apart from what's on the website. Dalhousie is small but it would be great to live in Halifax. I don't know much about Queen's, but it seems like a solid program. I didn't apply to Western Ontario because I heard that the Theory Centre isn't all it's cracked up to be. I don't know anything about UBC and didn't apply.

I applied to a bunch of Canadian and top American programs (long shots). Are Canadians applicants at a disadvantage at the American schools? I'm daunted by the numbers. Good luck to everyone!

[Simpleton]

I did my BA and MA at McGill and focused on theory and contemporary American literature. There are remarkable faculty members at Mcgill, but not enough funding or interdepartmental co-operation (the faculty is often rancorously divided over issues) to support doctoral study. As far as getting into top American programs, I have received admission to 2 top 5 programs this year, and 2 top 10, with a few more acceptances pending, so I would say McGill puts you in a pretty good spot. I would encourage anyone to go to McGill for Undergrad or their MA – Montreal is a magical city and there are many world-class scholars and, more importantly, pedagogues in English and Cultural Studies. They also seem to have a very good placement record in sending their MA students to top English programs outside of Canada. My appetences are by no means an exception, I know a lot of people who came out of McGill and are in top programs in the states. I think this testifies to the strength of the faculty and the students they attract.

Edited February 11, 2010 by Simpleton

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

I did my BA and MA at McGill and focused on theory and contemporary American literature. There are remarkable faculty members at Mcgill, but not enough funding or interdepartmental co-operation (the faculty is often rancorously divided over issues) to support doctoral study. As far as getting into top American programs, I have received admission to 2 top 5 programs this year, and 2 top 10, with a few more acceptances pending, so I would say McGill puts you in a pretty good spot. I would encourage anyone to go to McGill for Undergrad or their MA – Montreal is a magical city and there are many world-class scholars and, more importantly, pedagogues in English and Cultural Studies. They also seem to have a very good placement record in sending their MA students to top English programs outside of Canada. My appetences are by no means an exception, I know a lot of people who came out of McGill and are in top programs in the states. I think this testifies to the strength of the faculty and the students they attract.

Are McGills' MAs funded? (could be an interesting backup option...)

[Simpleton]

Not funded in the traditional sense. Canadians often go on SSRC grants which are plentiful and not overly competitive. Others support themselves with TA and RA'ships. Montreal is also a very cheap city to live in.

[divinemg]

Are McGills' MAs funded? (could be an interesting backup option...)

I applied to University of Toronto and considered McGill. Ultimately, I dropped it due to the lack of funding. It seems extremely difficult to pick up the grants/fellowships another user mentioned if you are not Canadian (or have not lived there for at least a year). McGill does, however, have a really great program--very interdisciplinary and collaborative, from what I have heard.

[Soccah123]

U of A - English and Film studies for Cultural Studies and Critical Theory (Imre Szeman just moved there)

McMaster - Cultural Studies, espec. poco stuff.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

Not funded in the traditional sense. Canadians often go on SSRC grants which are plentiful and not overly competitive. Others support themselves with TA and RA'ships. Montreal is also a very cheap city to live in.

I applied to University of Toronto and considered McGill. Ultimately, I dropped it due to the lack of funding. It seems extremely difficult to pick up the grants/fellowships another user mentioned if you are not Canadian (or have not lived there for at least a year). McGill does, however, have a really great program--very interdisciplinary and collaborative, from what I have heard.

Thanks for the info - I'll keep it in mind. As a non-Canadian, I'm not sure what my chances are for funding there, but I'm looking into all options for next year anyhow. I'm not really interested in pursuing a terminal MA - so I'm really hoping that I get in to a program I love next year (funding goes without saying. I still owe money from my undergrad loans...)

[dithering]

In terms of general reputation, Toronto and McGill are the highest ranked in Canada. Depending on your area of interest, Western, Queen's, Alberta and UBC are not far behind. I'm not sure about McMaster. I was advised against applying to Dalhousie, although the professor did not clarify why. Apparently though Dalhousie has the very best scholarship in Canada.

I did my undergrad at Toronto, I'd say it's main strengths are Medieval (although there is the Centre for Medieval Studies, separate from the English department), Early Modern (amazing faculty) and there are emerging strengths in postcolonialism. I found the Specialist program to be pretty rigorous and had some difficulty covering all my breadth requirements, due to my severe disliking of 18th/19th century literature. That said, I believe the school is much stronger in "period" literature than schools like University of Alberta in particular, which seems to have very little period coursework for graduate courses. Expect no funding for an MA and a teaching assistanceship for PhD students (I believe its around 12,000.00). The TAs at my school were somewhat disgruntled and constantly on strike, however.

UBC's faculty is a really interesting mix of scholars in emerging fields. It has a reputation of being strongly Marxist/feminist but this may just be a Torontonian bias towards the West coast. In researching faculty members for my application, I had a hard time finding a great "fit" to my current interests (postcolonialism) but I was constantly writing down the names of profs anyhow because their research seemed really cool.

U of Alberta seems to have a wonderful program. I got a warm acceptance from the Graduate Coordinator and a couple of emails from faculty. Everything was really personally and engaging. Their graduate courses this year are a really neat blend of film studies, print culture/book history, cultural studies (as noted earlier Imre Szeman just arrived), postcolonial/transcultural theory, Victorian lit and 20th century lit (with a Canadian bias in many cases). It is very generous with funding, as noted earlier. It was also ranked well above Western and just below UBC this year, I believe. 54 on the world survey I think? So it's definitely emerging as a top Canadian school.

[jay.gatz]

@dithering: have you heard anything from UBC? It's the only school I'm still waiting to hear from.

[dithering]

@dithering: have you heard anything from UBC? It's the only school I'm still waiting to hear from.

Not a peep yet. Based on previous years particularly for MAs I think it's mid-March although many didn't hear until much later.

[cellophile]

For those of you who are U.S. citizens considering the MA programs at McGill, don't forget about the option of applying for a Fulbright grant. I've applied for one to study history, and the professors at McGill were really great about writing me recommendations to secure an affiliation with them (even though I hadn't even applied or been accepted). I've recently gotten my letter of admission, though, and have also made it through round one of fulbright. I'm not sure that I can go if I don't get the grant, but if I do, funding will work out perfectly!

[woolfie]

Does anyone know anything about Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's? They have funding for TAships and seem not too competitive and there deadline has not passed yet. I didn't apply to many MAs and am thinking about a last minute application there.

Also, does anyone have any insight on being an International student in Canada, specifically from the US? How hard would it be for my partner to get a work permit/move there, etc? I'm afraid I'm incredibly naive about international travel/work/study, I've never really been out of the country.

[Clawsworth]

Also, does anyone have any insight on being an International student in Canada, specifically from the US? How hard would it be for my partner to get a work permit/move there, etc? I'm afraid I'm incredibly naive about international travel/work/study, I've never really been out of the country.

Hi, I'm studying at a Canadian university as a US citizen. I know some people who brought their partners along, and they all say that getting a work permit was an easy process. Canada takes a very liberal approach to counting partners as common-law, even if they're unmarried (I think if you've lived together for at least a year than your partner will count as common-law). Here is the website that will explain it in greater detail. As for finding work, both of the partners of the US students I know found work easily and are happy with their salaries.

My husband and I have been here for almost 7 months now (we're both grad students at the same university) and we're pretty adjusted to life here now. It was, admittedly, a stressful process changing over our bank accounts, drivers licenses, etc. over to Canadian equivalents, and we also had some funding problems as international students. However, all of our initial difficulties have been solved now and we're very happy here. I'm actually surprised at the number of US citizens in my program!

[crutch]

Does anyone know anything about McMaster? I applied there because they have a professor in my field. I've enjoyed the articles she has written, so thought it was worth it to apply. However, I'd like a little more information about the school. Is it reputable?

[againstourfaces]

For those interested in applying to phD programs in Canada I would say just apply to Toronto. If you want a well paying job (or a paying job/or a job) coming out of your degree it's wise to stick with U of T. As a Canadian, I know that Americans seem to focus on McGill, but as far as I know their English program is nothing special. I am currently a U of T student.

[againstourfaces]

Does anyone know anything about McMaster? I applied there because they have a professor in my field. I've enjoyed the articles she has written, so thought it was worth it to apply. However, I'd like a little more information about the school. Is it reputable?

No.

[Aristotle11]

For those interested in applying to phD programs in Canada I would say just apply to Toronto. If you want a well paying job (or a paying job/or a job) coming out of your degree it's wise to stick with U of T. As a Canadian, I know that Americans seem to focus on McGill, but as far as I know their English program is nothing special. I am currently a U of T student.

I'd have to agree. McGill seems to ride on its reputation in this area, I think unfairly so.

[crutch]

No.

Haha, well thanks for the reply. I suppose I should've checked the school out a bit more before spending the application money, postage money, etc. Oh well, I considered them a "safety" school from the start, so, if what you say is true, I hope to have many other options on the table (Lord knows I may not have any options on the table in a few months!).

[againstourfaces]

Haha, well thanks for the reply. I suppose I should've checked the school out a bit more before spending the application money, postage money, etc. Oh well, I considered them a "safety" school from the start, so, if what you say is true, I hope to have many other options on the table (Lord knows I may not have any options on the table in a few months!).

Yeah, sorry if the response was curt. I'm sure if you applied there for an MA program and you got in and went it would be enjoyable. It's fairly small and probably relaxed and probably rewarding in it's own way. I just wouldn't stay there for a phD. Best of luck...

[againstourfaces]

I'd have to agree. McGill seems to ride on its reputation in this area, I think unfairly so.

Yeah. The McGill thing baffles me. I've heard UBC has a really good program but I've never looked into it.