Applying to NPSIA for 2018

[limbsun]

@Chuupa Hey, I think the status remains "under evaluation" until you finally move to "Accepted." I checked an hour early before getting accepted and it said: "under evaluation." Good luck and I hope you'll hear good news in a few days/weeks.

Also, CONGRATS to all who have been accepted to NPSIA!!! I kinda regret not applying there lol

[sandradee]

also should mention that the email from that professor stated "you will receive your full funding offer and details from our Associate Director, Professor Jean Daudelin". So it sounds like its coming in an email and not in our portal like last years applicants.

[ah14]

16 hours ago, Sagnik_G said:

I'm an international student. I'm from India, how about you? 

My application status has been 'Under review by dept." for a week or so now but I haven't heard anything back by email yet so....kinda wondering, although I know they only JUST started handing out offers and I shouldn't be so impatient. 

I'm just wondering if international students get given offers later or at the same time as domestic students. 

Hey! I'm from Bangladesh! I'm wondering the same thing and thinking maybe I should call them and inquire. Similar to you, getting quite antsy about when they'll let us know. When did you submit your application? I completed it near to the deadline. I wonder in what order they're going through the applications. 

[Chuupa]

13 hours ago, limbsun said:

@Chuupa Hey, I think the status remains "under evaluation" until you finally move to "Accepted." I checked an hour early before getting accepted and it said: "under evaluation." Good luck and I hope you'll hear good news in a few days/weeks.

Also, CONGRATS to all who have been accepted to NPSIA!!! I kinda regret not applying there lol

Thank you for the info ! I hope so too,  didn't think it would be that stressful... 

I also regret not trying NPSIA in the end haha

Edited February 27, 2018 by Chuupa

[Npsia2018]

Hello everyone,

there seems to be a number of people wondering if NPSIA is processing applications in alphabetical order or in order of application date, so maybe my case will help clarify that.

I got an unofficial offer of admission with funding last week. My last name starts with R. I applied on the last day (31 jan). I am a domestic student.

Best of luck

Edited February 27, 2018 by Npsia2018

[spadeofhearts]

20 minutes ago, Npsia2018 said:

Hello everyone,

there seems to be a number of people wondering if NPSIA is processing applications in alphabetical order or in order of application date, so maybe my case will help clarify that.

I got an unofficial offer of admission with funding last week. My last name starts with R. I applied on the last day (31 jan). I am a domestic student.

Best of luck

Congrats on your offer - I'm a similar case in that I was offered admission with funding unofficially last week, and my last name starts with R. 

There's a chance that they sent out offers for certain programs within NPSIA first. I would be curious to know what your first choice was on the ranking sheet. 

[Npsia2018]

26 minutes ago, spadeofhearts said:

Congrats on your offer - I'm a similar case in that I was offered admission with funding unofficially last week, and my last name starts with R. 

There's a chance that they sent out offers for certain programs within NPSIA first. I would be curious to know what your first choice was on the ranking sheet. 

Thank you. Same to you.

Conflict analysis, followed by intel. Yours?

[spadeofhearts]

9 minutes ago, Npsia2018 said:

Thank you. Same to you.

Conflict analysis, followed by intel. Yours?

Thank you! That's Interesting.  Mine was intel followed by conflict analysis. 

[sunshine18]

43 minutes ago, spadeofhearts said:

Thank you! That's Interesting.  Mine was intel followed by conflict analysis. 

I was unoffically accepted and my first choice was IOGP

[LoopyLex]

19 hours ago, Hopeful2017 said:

Very likely! Everyone I know got their first choice.

Just wanted to add to this. I know a few people who ended up with their second choice. It does depend on how popular your first choice is that year. The intelligence stream last year was the most popular, and as a result some people got their second choice, which was usually security and defence. There's so much overlap though between a lot of the streams that don't be too worried if you don't get a specific designation or not. You only have to take 1.5 credits that fit in that field anyways (and the econ course), after that you're free to take whatever interests you. I don't know of anyone who didn't get at least their second choice though!

If I remember right, the field designations showed up on Carleton Central before getting official acceptance.

Edited February 27, 2018 by LoopyLex

[sandradee]

7 hours ago, Npsia2018 said:

Hello everyone,

there seems to be a number of people wondering if NPSIA is processing applications in alphabetical order or in order of application date, so maybe my case will help clarify that.

I got an unofficial offer of admission with funding last week. My last name starts with R. I applied on the last day (31 jan). I am a domestic student.

Best of luck

Received an offer last week. My last name starts with P, selected the IOGP specialisation, applied September 8th of 2017. 

[Sagnik_G]

7 hours ago, ah14 said:

Hey! I'm from Bangladesh! I'm wondering the same thing and thinking maybe I should call them and inquire. Similar to you, getting quite antsy about when they'll let us know. When did you submit your application? I completed it near to the deadline. I wonder in what order they're going through the applications. 

If you do end up calling them, please let us know what they say! 

I completed my application sometime in late November or early Decemeber I think. 

[gemmi]

5 hours ago, LoopyLex said:

Just wanted to add to this. I know a few people who ended up with their second choice. It does depend on how popular your first choice is that year. The intelligence stream last year was the most popular, and as a result some people got their second choice, which was usually security and defence. There's so much overlap though between a lot of the streams that don't be too worried if you don't get a specific designation or not. You only have to take 1.5 credits that fit in that field anyways (and the econ course), after that you're free to take whatever interests you. I don't know of anyone who didn't get at least their second choice though!

If I remember right, the field designations showed up on Carleton Central before getting official acceptance.

Are you referring to the field designations that we selected on the preference forms?  I think am forgetting whether there was a place on the general application where we selected a specialization...

Am curious now whether on Carleton Central they will update that specialization for you when they are going through applications in order to place us in certain categories.. -I am one of those still praying that I hear back from the school soon.. ;(

[LoopyLex]

1 hour ago, gemmi said:

Are you referring to the field designations that we selected on the preference forms? 

Yep. Field designation, stream, specialization, etc. all mean the same thing. The form for ‘field designation’ should have been the only thing you filled out to indicate what you want to ‘specialize’ in at NPSIA.

Edited February 28, 2018 by LoopyLex

[gemmi]

52 minutes ago, LoopyLex said:

Yep. Field designation, stream, specialization, etc. all mean the same thing. The form for ‘field designation’ should have been the only thing you filled out to indicate what you want to ‘specialize’ in at NPSIA.

Thanks !loopylex.

So am curious...For those here that have gotten the unofficial emails has your specialization changed on Carleton Central now? 

@loopylex I know you mentioned above that in the past before the official acceptance Carleton central shows this change..but am curious to know if anyone here has seen the change happen already...or will they have to wait until the official acceptance....

 

[DCrSS]

I wish they would have just released all decisions on a certain mentioned date. It would have reduced the anxiety levels.

[Lucky_Tere]

On 2018-02-24 at 10:37 AM, LoopyLex said:

Nice to see they got invites out so early this year! Official offers with funding started rolling out anywhere from 1-2 weeks after the unofficial ones last year. Most of the TA/RA offers came out in the first batch I found, but there were some exceptions as always.

I’ll make a recommendation for those who are certain they’re coming to NPSIA: make up a class of 2020 Facebook group! We used that over the summer to connect with other students and find possible roommates. Helps make the move to Ottawa less daunting! It also becomes a great place when you start to share events and ask questions about class (and post memes about statistics...).

If anyone has questions about the program, classes, or about the city itself, please don’t hesitate to ask! Be seeing some of you in class next September.

Congrats those who got admitted. I am also very fortunate to get admitted to both NPSIA and GSPIA, so now I have to make a decision before the acceptance deadline for GSPIA. @LoopyLex Thank you for being available for us. I am wondering if you can tell me about access to co-op program at NPSIA. Does everyone there get access to the program or only top students get in? How does NPSIA select students for the co-op? Thank you

Edited February 28, 2018 by Lucky_Tere

[Delidas]

18 hours ago, Npsia2018 said:

Hello everyone,

there seems to be a number of people wondering if NPSIA is processing applications in alphabetical order or in order of application date, so maybe my case will help clarify that.

I got an unofficial offer of admission with funding last week. My last name starts with R. I applied on the last day (31 jan). I am a domestic student.

Best of luck

Received an offer last week, as well. Last name starts with 'M', my specialization pick was Conflict Analysis/Resolution, and I had everything submitted (including references) by November 26. 

[LoopyLex]

2 hours ago, Lucky_Tere said:

Congrats those who got admitted. I am also very fortunate to get admitted to both NPSIA and GSPIA, so now I have to make a decision before the acceptance deadline for GSPIA. @LoopyLex Thank you for being available for us. I am wondering if you can tell me about access to co-op program at NPSIA. Does everyone there get access to the program or only top students get in? How does NPSIA select students for the co-op? Thank you

Everyone who meets the requirements for co-op can do it. So I believe you have to have completed a set number of classes (1 credit worth for the first, 3 for the second) as well as the required quarter classes. For the second co-op you also have to have completed your econ requirement. You should be done all of these after your first two semesters, so most people do back to back co-ops over the summer and the fall. You also have to have good standing in the program.

Since everyone can apply to do co-op, the competition is pretty fierce, as most people come here because of co-op. It's up to each student to apply to jobs, go to interviews, etc. There's no guarantee you'll get a co-op, since it's up to students to put the effort in, but I believe the summer success rate is around 90-95%, and the fall and winter placements are at 100%. Hope that helps!

Also, I'm not an expert on GPSIA, but I believe they require you to take a class in French, whereas NPSIA just requires you to have 'proficiency' in a second language of your choice. NPSIA seems to have a bit more of an interest in economics/stats (GPSIA requires you to take a more general econ, while NPSIA makes you take an econ class specific to your field designation). There's also no requirement in NPSIA to do a major research paper like there is in GPSIA, but you still can choose to do a research paper as well as co-op. Don't know if that helps you with making a decision!

[Darda18]

@LoopyLex Thank you fro answering our questions!

For those who are not accepted in the first round, would the department let us know where we are in the process if we call in, maybe our position on the waiting list?

I've been accepted to GSPIA with funding but have been stuck on "Recommended for Assessment" for over a month now, although I see that the online status isn't too accurate. I still haven't decided where I'll go, and got an extension on accepting my GSPIA offer, just worried about past horror stories of only hearing back in May/July.

[sunshine18]

44 minutes ago, LoopyLex said:

Everyone who meets the requirements for co-op can do it. So I believe you have to have completed a set number of classes (1 credit worth for the first, 3 for the second) as well as the required quarter classes. For the second co-op you also have to have completed your econ requirement. You should be done all of these after your first two semesters, so most people do back to back co-ops over the summer and the fall. You also have to have good standing in the program.

Since everyone can apply to do co-op, the competition is pretty fierce, as most people come here because of co-op. It's up to each student to apply to jobs, go to interviews, etc. There's no guarantee you'll get a co-op, since it's up to students to put the effort in, but I believe the summer success rate is around 90-95%, and the fall and winter placements are at 100%. Hope that helps!

Also, I'm not an expert on GPSIA, but I believe they require you to take a class in French, whereas NPSIA just requires you to have 'proficiency' in a second language of your choice. NPSIA seems to have a bit more of an interest in economics/stats (GPSIA requires you to take a more general econ, while NPSIA makes you take an econ class specific to your field designation). There's also no requirement in NPSIA to do a major research paper like there is in GPSIA, but you still can choose to do a research paper as well as co-op. Don't know if that helps you with making a decision!

For those that are not strong in their second language, what do they usually do to strengthen it in order to pass the language test? also, do you only have 1 chance to pass it?

[Sagnik_G]

8 minutes ago, sunshine18 said:

For those that are not strong in their second language, what do they usually do to strengthen it in order to pass the language test? also, do you only have 1 chance to pass it?

I can just provide a bit of information on this regard based on a brief interaction with the ;Language Co-ordinator at NPSIA a while back.

I had told her I was fluent in two Indian languages and a beginner in French, but was interested in capitalizing on my French. She recommended if that was the case I could take one or two of the courses offered by the French Dept. at Carleton. So, maybe if you're not strong in a second language, you could go down that route i.e. take a few extra language courses in whatever language you want to get a second language proficiency in whether French or something else. 

[spadeofhearts]

4 minutes ago, Sagnik_G said:

I can just provide a bit of information on this regard based on a brief interaction with the ;Language Co-ordinator at NPSIA a while back.

I had told her I was fluent in two Indian languages and a beginner in French, but was interested in capitalizing on my French. She recommended if that was the case I could take one or two of the courses offered by the French Dept. at Carleton. So, maybe if you're not strong in a second language, you could go down that route i.e. take a few extra language courses in whatever language you want to get a second language proficiency in whether French or something else. 

I also am weak in my second language, at what level do they expect your fluency to be at? Obviously, I want to be bilingual but it'd be stressful to try and achieve full fluency in 2 years while studying.  

[Sagnik_G]

6 minutes ago, spadeofhearts said:

I also am weak in my second language, at what level do they expect your fluency to be at? Obviously, I want to be bilingual but it'd be stressful to try and achieve full fluency in 2 years while studying.  

I agree, even though French is easier to learn than certain languages, it's unlikely to achieve full fluency in 2 years while pursuing a whole Intl. Affairs degree. I'm not exactly sure what they expect the level of fluency to be is, perhaps some of the people who are already in right now will be able to answer that better. If I had to guess though, I'd say perhaps Intermediate to Upper Intermediate maybe. 

[spadeofhearts]

5 minutes ago, Sagnik_G said:

I agree, even though French is easier to learn than certain languages, it's unlikely to achieve full fluency in 2 years while pursuing a whole Intl. Affairs degree. I'm not exactly sure what they expect the level of fluency to be is, perhaps some of the people who are already in right now will be able to answer that better. If I had to guess though, I'd say perhaps Intermediate to Upper Intermediate maybe. 

Intermediate/Upper Intermediate would be way more manageable. I'm currently taking French classes and my goal is to improve as much as I can before September, but man, I'm really wishing I paid attention in class back in HS right now.