Originally Posted by Kathy2

Does anyone know how many students are actually accepted compared to how many students apply to grad school?
I know it differs with every program and every school, but I'm curious about my chances.
I'm in Political Science

What grad school are you interested in?

Here are a couple of links that may show what you need:
- Med School
http://www.ouac.on.ca/news/medappstats.html

- Law School
http://www.ouac.on.ca/news/lawappstats.html

Those two are easier to find considering the application system is amalgamated. For other programs, you're going to have to refer to specific grad schools for their statistics.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

Does anyone know how many students are actually accepted compared to how many students apply to grad school?
I know it differs with every program and every school, but I'm curious about my chances.
I'm in Political Science

One of the programs I applied to last year accepted nine and had a wait-list of two. There were 250 applicants. One of the schools I'm applying to for next year accepted only two this year because the rest didn't meet the requirements (either their GPA wasn't high enough or didnt' have the courses they needed). They're supposed to have two others start in January

Generally trends (from what I have been told) are about 10-20% of applicants are accepted. Most programs accept less than 20 (25 at a high end) MA students a year.

The number of applicants in recent years (last five or so) has also gone up quite a bit.

Originally Posted by Kevin S

So, Grad Schools, more specifically McMaster, only check 3rd and 4th year marks?

Like Danielle pointed out, this depends on the specific program.

I applied to M.Sc Math at Mac, and they looked at my CA, as well as only my final year Math courses. Conversely, I applied to M.Sc Math at U of T and they considered all 4 years.

It definitely depends.

Originally Posted by lorend

One of the programs I applied to last year accepted nine and had a wait-list of two. There were 250 applicants. One of the schools I'm applying to for next year accepted only two this year because the rest didn't meet the requirements (either their GPA wasn't high enough or didnt' have the courses they needed). They're supposed to have two others start in January

Generally trends (from what I have been told) are about 10-20% of applicants are accepted. Most programs accept less than 20 (25 at a high end) MA students a year.

The number of applicants in recent years (last five or so) has also gone up quite a bit.

Wow.. that really sucks :(
I'll try and apply anyway but I didn't know the odds were that low. I thought it would have been like 80% of applicants got accepted.

Originally Posted by myoozik

Your GPA (though a main consideration) is actually just a step in the door. The supplementary application will often beef up and make you stand out from other "12's". Many students spend their entire time in university working on their 12 GPA, but end up not making it into grad school because their answer to what sets them apart from other applicants is only "I study all the time!"

Extra-curriculars and non-academic experience are equally important.

Great point! I think regardless of grad schools and supplementary applications, everyone should join groups and volunteer. Extra-curricular activities broaden your horizons and allow you to explore things you wouldn’t get to in your academic classes. As corny as it sounds, I really think they make you into a better, well-rounded person.

But in regards to grad schools, do all of them look at extra-curricular activities? I heard that different grad schools weigh extra-curricular activities differently. In particular, I was told that (for the most part) it is super important to have a lot of extra-curricular activities if you want to get accepted into Mac and Queens, but if you are thinking of going to UfT, non-academic activities arent really considered. Just curious....is there any truth to this?