Canadian MS program fundings and evaluations

[SheldonCopper]

Hi all,

I was away from academia for several years and now I want to go back to academia to study statistics in depth. My ultimate goal is to get a Ph.D. degree in statistics(in the United States, ideally). So I could either apply for Ph.D. directly or apply for Master's program and prepare myself for Ph.D. programs. And I found that many Canadian schools provide fundings for international masters students in math and statistics. Right now, I am considering Mcgill, Toronto, UBC, Waterloo. My questions are

1. Are these schools generous in fundings? Or do they only subsidize partial amount of tuition and living expenses?

2. Are these programs well recognized among top Ph.D. programs in the United States or other English speaking countries?

3. Would these programs beneficial in future Ph.D. work? (I have heard many statistics MS programs are terminal and based on the course requirement, I honestly can't really tell if it is terminal or not)

4. If these programs are not beneficial, should I go for masters in mathematics?   

Thanks!

 

Edited October 30, 2017 by SheldonCopper

[statfan]

The fundings should be enough to cover your tuition and living costs. These programs are all well-known in the States, and they are different from masters in the States in that they are research-based rather than course-based. The class size is much smaller than that of masters in the States, so professors tend to care more about their students. The master and phd courses are held together rather than separately in the States, so you will also have chance to take several phd courses of your interests.With that said, it is more competitive for you to get into these programs, but once you get in, you will be able to gain meaningful research experience, which will help substantially when you apply to phd later. Unlike course-based masters in the States, which won't help a lot when you apply to phd.