Masters: how many programs people apply for

[suziep100]

I am wondering how many graduate programs people apply as a back-up.

 

For grad degree, I am planning on pursuing graduate degree in U of Toronto, McGill, or Ivy league grad schools in the U.S.

 

Would these be relatively competitive to get in? As competitive as an in-province student getting into medical school?

 

Should I apply to several graduate programs or just apply for few? At the moemnt, I found several programs in different schools and I wonder whether I should narrow down my choices or stick with one.

[future_doc]

My sis, in another professional discipline, last year applied to 7 graduate one year programs in Europe, North America and Asia. Some rejected her, others accepted her and only then did she actually decide where she was going, although in the back of her mind, she did have a first choice (which accepted her, so her choice was easy). Hope this helps in determining how to go about the process.

[astrogirl]

The level of competitiveness is pretty variable, but in my field (astronomy/physics), typical acceptance rates are about 30%, but there can be a lot of spread in that. Ivy League schools might be more like 10% or less, and UofT and McGill are pretty competitive too. And you can always find a few schools that are trying to grow their program quickly that accept almost every decent applicant they get. It depends a lot on the department and the current climate there - if they have a lot of people that aren't graduating, they might go through some years where they accept fewer new students. And if you find a supervisor with a lot of external funding who really wants you, it will be easier to get in. If you're really set on the idea of doing a master's, I would say apply to at least 3-5 places (since you're looking at pretty competitive ones), and throw in at least one back-up school that's not very competitive. Grad school applications are generally not as involved or as expensive as med school application. And contacting potential supervisors to express interest really does help.

[Der Kaiser]

I have no desire to go to grad school. My backup is med in another country or play WoW for the rest of my life.

 

I truly wish I could actually just play WoW/some other RPG the rest of my life without feeling like ****. Is there a universe in which this is acceptable? I could even probably get into med school in a virtual world (although competition is getting tight there as well).

[preppy038]

I truly wish I could actually just play WoW/some other RPG the rest of my life without feeling like ****. Is there a universe in which this is acceptable? I could even probably get into med school in a virtual world (although competition is getting tight there as well).

 

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL i wonder what you're referring to as 'med school in a virtual world' that seems very tempting HAHAHAAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHH jkjkkjkjk

[NewfieMike]

I truly wish I could actually just play WoW/some other RPG the rest of my life without feeling like ****. Is there a universe in which this is acceptable? I could even probably get into med school in a virtual world (although competition is getting tight there as well).

 

Azeroth (10char)

[iicii]

I've applied for 5 at 4 different schools...my area is outside of experimental science...or science in general so I think the programs are pretty small...no clue on acceptance rates.

 

I am wondering how many graduate programs people apply as a back-up.

 

For grad degree, I am planning on pursuing graduate degree in U of Toronto, McGill, or Ivy league grad schools in the U.S.

 

Would these be relatively competitive to get in? As competitive as an in-province student getting into medical school?

 

Should I apply to several graduate programs or just apply for few? At the moemnt, I found several programs in different schools and I wonder whether I should narrow down my choices or stick with one.

[mymeddream]

It depends. I think if you meet the cutoff, have research experience, and have a supervisor beforehand, you are on track. Obviously, you need a backup plan but nevertheless, I doubt you need to apply to many.

 

I agree with ssd.....It really depends on the particular program you are interested in but as long as you meet the grade requirement (almost all grad programs look at the last two years and are not concerned with how good or bad you did in first year), have some research (not necessary but definitely helps), a strong letter of intent or statement of interest (you really need to be able to show the admissions committee why you want to do grad school.....are you genuinely interested in research or is it something you are doing as a backup for med school), good reference letters and a prof willing to be your supervisor....you should be fine. Some even bend the rules about the criteria if you have a prof willing to take you in and fund your research or if they see that a student holds potential in research.

 

I don't see a reason for applying to more than a couple of programs/schools. IMO...it is better to concentrate on a couple of good schools/programs you are interested in, contact potential supervisors and make sure that your application is as strong as it could be.

[Chicago Hopeless]

This is by no means a definitive way to determine likelihood of admittance, but if a grad program offers any guaranteed, in-house funding (MA, MSc or PhD), it will most certainly be extremely competitive. In my department, MA students get no funding, so they pretty much accept anyone who has the prerequisites and is willing to fork over the cash for tuition. PhDs in my department, however, get fully funded, and hence they admit far fewer of them.

 

Also, tuition for international students is considerably higher than it is for Canadians, yet there are a tremendous amount of Americans in my department. Sometimes, it really is all about the $$$...

 

My personal advice to you is to only apply at a school that you would be absolutely willing to attend. Don't just apply to an Ivy league school because you'd like to go to an Ivy league school. Are there faculty there that you want to work with? Have you looked into course selection, research projects currently underway, etc. All this is to say that you just need to make an educated decision, and only apply to the schools you really want to attend.

[suziep100]

Hi all

thanks for the advice.

At the moment, I am interested in several areas, and I finally narrowed down to three. The programs I am applying to are 1) MPH programs 2) Biomedical Engineering and 3) Science Journalism. I didn't choose the schools because of the prestige of the university, but rather that I found their curriculum to be interesting and I especially liked the short duration of the program. For 1) and 3), these are one-year masters program, so I thought I could finish these programs in one year and then apply to schools that looks favorably on grad degrees, i.e. U of Toronto.

 

I am still debating over MPH programs, because at first I thought this was an interesting short program with better job perspectives (if med doesn't work out), so I am going to read more about this and make up my mind asap.

 

Regarding GPA, my 2nd and 3rd year GPA is not as good as 1st year. I had a very strong 1st year, extremely poor 2nd year, and then slightly better 3rd year(not as good as 1st year). This year's GPA should be better than 3rd year, but not as high as my 1st year GPA. With my cGPA/best 2 years, I have average GPA for in-province students enrolling in their home med schools. In 2nd and 3rd year, I did exceptionally poorly in certain courses, so if apply U of T wGPA, it is around 3.86ish (up to 3rd year; after my degree it should be~3.89ish).

 

It seems like most people think of grad degree as 2 year reseach-based programs. If I do a 1 year graduate biomedical engineering or journalism (there were few in U.S. Ivy schools), and during that time I finish a thesis and gain grad degree-related experiences, like working in a hospital related to grad projects, would I still be at a disadvantage compared to people who did basic biology-based 2 year masters degree? I have heard of stories where people could not finish their thesis even after 2 years of working in a biology masters and so their work ended up badly, whereas some people in this forum seemed to perfectly finish 1 year masters degree, have high productivity/thesis within their 1 year program and then get accepted into med school.

 

In U of T website, they are saying that they will evaluate individual grad applicants in relation to their program. Does this mean U of T will compare students with 1 year masters degree and compare groups of students with 2 years masters degree?

[future_doc]

I have no experience whatsoever to help you but my gut says to do a one year program and get in another cycle if necessary. I am sure those who have taken Masters Programs and entered med will give you better guidance.

[charmer08]

If I'm applying in my 4th year, will grad schools look at both the semesters of my 4th year?

[astrogirl]

Charmer - that depends on when their deadline is. Most of the time it's between January and March, so they would just see your first semester grades. But some schools have deadlines in November/December, so they won't see any of your 4th year grades (that's more common in the States than in Canada). And there are a few schools with summer deadlines, so they would see all of your 4th year grades. They usually want you to send in your transcripts after you finish the year to prove that you graduated, but they've probably already made their decision by then, and they won't change it unless you flunked out or something. But it is important to keep your grades up if you want to apply for an NSERC or something similar.

 

Also, if anyone reading this is thinking about applying in the States, make sure you look into GRE requirements early. If you need to take the general test, you can take it pretty much whenever (you schedule an appointment to do it, and it's computer-adaptive, so it's different for everyone and they don't have set days and times for it), but if you need to do a subject test, they are only offered three times a year (October, November, and April, usually). And I don't know how it is for every subject, but the physics GRE is actually really hard and most American students spend up to a year prepping for it, and a lot of Canadian students don't realize what a big deal it is and I've seen a lot of them sign up for it at the last minute and then bomb it because they thought they didn't need to study, or miss the sign-up deadline because they didn't really think about it and then not be able to apply to the schools they wanted. Just a heads-up for anyone who's thinking about a master's in the States. I just heard from a friend yesterday who majorly screwed herself over by not thinking about this.

[lost__in__space]

Applied to 7 labs in about 5 different disciplines/programs. Was accepted into 6/7 labs. I'm a nerd, I know....I didn't know what I wanted to do so I interviewed everywhere.....my program was pretty competitive, but because I had a high GPA and brought my own funding, they welcomed me with open arms.