Part I What is a Master’s Degree? DIFFERENCES FROM UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES Fewer courses each semester Courses more independently driven Much more.

Graduate Studies Workshop

Social Welfare and Social Development

2014By NJB/CDT/Litalien/Patriquin/Chen

Part IWhat is a Master’s

Degree?

DIFFERENCES FROM UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

Fewer courses each semester

Courses more independently driven

Much more reading and writing

You choose classes, professors, supervisors, and committees

All aspects of graduate programs, from application to completion, assume that you take the initiative.

TYPES OF PROGRAMMES

Format 1: Coursework only

Format 2: Coursework plus major paper or project

Format 3: Coursework plus Masters’ Thesis

A few programmes – in any of the forms listed above – may require “qualifying examinations” or “comprehensive examinations.”

Tips when applying for an MA

MA applications and scholarship applications are due early in the autumn.

You should decide which programs you want to apply to during the summer following your third year of undergraduate studies.

Please give your professors at least two weeks to prepare your letters of reference.

Part IIWhy should you do an

M.A.?

Why should you do an M.A.?

1) Financial advantage (earn more money)

2) Better job opportunities

3) Lower unemployment rate

4) You can get university funding to do an MA ($2000-$10,000/year)

5) You may also pay for your MA by becoming a research assistant or a teaching assistant

Incentives

more people earn undergraduate degrees

a master’s degree: increasingly useful in distinguishing candidates with university education

smarter than most

dedicated enough to set your sights on a tough goal and attain it

MA: a prerequisite to a PhD program

IncentivesSalaries

College graduate

Bachelor Master’s Doctoral

 $35,000    $45,000 $60,000 $65,000

The median annual earnings among those who were working full time in 2007

In sum, earn $15,000 more a year with an MA. It is a huge income gap

Incentives

Many MA degree’s take two years full-time

Some MA degrees can take only one year to complete

Part IIIHow can I afford to do

this?

FUNDING POSSIBILITIES

Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS)

Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS)

1) Awards = each university gives them individually + sets their own deadlines

2) Apply for an OGS to each of the universities you are interested to attend

3) Graduate Studies Office at eligible Ontario Institutions will be responsible for administering the OGS Program

4) At Nipissing: Sarah Clermont is the Research and Graduate Studies Coordinator (F307): [email protected]

Funding - Canada

Qualifying Canadian universities receive a Canada Graduate Scholarships Master’s Program (CGS M) allocation.

Allocation indicates the number of students to whom they can award scholarships

Allocations are divided by broad fields of study: 1) health, 2) natural sciences and/or 3) engineering and 4) social sciences and/or humanities

Funding - Canada

The CGS M Program supports 2,500 students every year.

Financial support in all disciplines

Administered jointly by Canada’s three federal granting agencies:

1) CIHR -Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship

2) NSERC - Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship

3) Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship

FUNDING POSSIBILITIES - Links

Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master’s Program (CGS M) (September-December): 1) CIHR –

Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

2) NSERC – Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship

3) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) – Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships

4) Canada Graduate Scholarship – Michael Smith Foreign Study Program

OTHERFUNDING POSSIBILITIES

University & Programme Scholarships

Teaching Assistantships

Research Assistantships

You can pay for your MA!

Where Should I Go?*

*listed MA programs are not exhaustive

Social Work

Wilfrid Laurier University (MSW)

York University (MSW)

University of British Columbia (Advanced MSW or Foundation MSW)

University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) MSW

University of Calgary (MSW)

University of Victoria (MSW)

University of Windsor (MSW)

Dalhousie University (MSW)

University of Regina (MSW)

Sociology

University of Windsor (Ontario)

University of Lethbridge (Alberta)

Memorial University (Newfoundland)

Political Science

York University (Ontario)

Queen’s University (Ontario) 12 months

University of Western Ontario (Ontario) 12 months

Wilfrid Laurier (Ontario)

McMaster University (Ontario) 12 months

Brock University (Ontario)

Social and Political Thought

York University (Ontario) 2 years

Acadia University (Nova Scotia) 2 years

University of Regina (Saskatchewan) 2 years

Public Administration

Ryerson University (Ontario)

Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia) – 1 to 4 years

Carleton University (Ontario)

McMaster and University of Guelph (Ontario)

International development and

Global Studies (IDS) University of Ottawa (Ontario) $16,500 guaranteed

University of Waterloo (Ontario) 16 months

University of Waterloo (second degree)

McGill University (Québec)

Saint Mary’s University (Nova Scotia)

Guelph University (Ontario)

Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia)

Indigenous/Native Studies

Trent University (Ontario)

Queen’s University (Ontario)

University of Toronto (Ontario)

University of Manitoba (Manitoba)

University of Winnipeg (Manitoba)

University of Victoria (British Columbia)

University of Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan)

Women’s/Gender Studies

Queen’s University (Ontario) $14,000

Lakehead University (Ontario)

Carleton University (Ontario)

McMaster University (Ontario)

Simon Fraser (British Columbia)

University of Ottawa (Ontario)

Interdisciplinary MAs

Political Economy (Carleton University)

Work & Society (McMaster University)

Community Development (MACD) (University of Victoria)

Social Justice and Equity Studies (Brock University)

Social Justice and Community Engagement (Wilfrid Laurier)

Philanthropy and Non-Profit Leadership (MPNL) (Carleton)

Part VFall Graduate Studies

Workshop

Fall Graduate Studies Workshop

The following topics will be covered: The Application Process

Statement of Purpose

Letter of Reference

Sample of Written Work

Thank You!