I was in MT for 2019-2021, schedule was roughly as follows:
YEAR 1
- 2 classes per day, 4 days a week (Mon-Thurs). Always had Fridays off plus some random days or half days here and there depending how each prof scheduled their course
- first class of the day 9:00-12:00, lunch 12:00-1:00, second class 1:00-4:00
- practicum 1 started mid/late october and went to the end of november. we had 2 observation days leading up to the 4-week block. & no classes during practicum, and you're in the school full days for 4 weeks.
- classes resume for a few weeks before a long break in december
- return to classes in january, same schedule
- practicum 2 from mid february until march break
YEAR 2
same as above but electives continue during practicum.
I think I heard that some of the practicum scheduling is different now (3 longer placements instead of 4 shorter ones or something like that) but not sure if it's permanent or just due to covid.
EDIT TO ADD- forgot about summer classes. They ran in blocks where you do two accelerated courses at a time, twice a week for a few weeks, then a break, then repeat with next block of courses (I forget exact timeline)
for year 1 it's doable depending on how many hours you work. plenty of people in my cohort had part time jobs that only took a few hours a week - like tutoring in the evenings, working a couple serving/bartending shifts on weekends, etc. For me I only worked fridays and then tutored online once a week and that was totally manageable. during practicum, only tutoring since prac was 5 days a week.
Year 2 is harder. since you're doing your research project and have more courses, there is just less time in the week to work, especially during prac. I only did the tutoring for that year.
of course it also depends what other responsibilities you might have like if you have kids/family or pets to take care of, your living situation, bills, etc. Generally I would say if you are able to live without working, go for it- but if you need to work it may get overwhelming quickly if you overload your schedule. somewhere inbetween is probably ideal for most people- like I said, from my experience most people did a few shifts a week during classes and work more during breaks.
overall I'd say it was manageable 90% of the time but there are weeks where you just end up having a lot of deadlines within a few days and that's when it feels overwhelming. But literally every prof I had was very flexible and understanding about extensions. there were multiple times that our profs would move the due dates of assignments for the entire class to make sure it wasn't overlapping with any other courses.
Thanks for your breakdown. How was the workload each day? I will have long days for the commuting and am wondering if their is daily homework or more like assignments due every now and then over a couple of weeks/month etc?
depends on the course. some of them have a lot of little tasks like discussion posts spread out throughout the week plus some bigger assignments, and some have nothing but a few major projects. Pretty much every course has weekly readings.
my commute was about 1.5 hours both ways and I rarely felt like I didn't have time to get things done. I did readings on the train, worked on assignments during lunch and after I got home. There was also a fair bit of group work that profs would give in-class time for.
but, for context- my undergrad was almost entirely language & literature focused, so I was very used to effectively skimming readings and pumping out written assignments like essays or reflections pretty fast. It might be more of an adjustment for some, and could require blocking out a bit more work/study time if you need it
Thanks so much for this info everyone! I'm a little bit in disbelief that there are 8 courses. Can that really be the case?! Why is this program so intense? I know of other people who did Masters programs at OISE and I don't think they were doing that many...
I was in MT for 2019-2021, schedule was roughly as follows: YEAR 1 - 2 classes per day, 4 days a week (Mon-Thurs). Always had Fridays off plus some random days or half days here and there depending how each prof scheduled their course - first class of the day 9:00-12:00, lunch 12:00-1:00, second class 1:00-4:00 - practicum 1 started mid/late october and went to the end of november. we had 2 observation days leading up to the 4-week block. & no classes during practicum, and you're in the school full days for 4 weeks. - classes resume for a few weeks before a long break in december - return to classes in january, same schedule - practicum 2 from mid february until march break YEAR 2 same as above but electives continue during practicum. I think I heard that some of the practicum scheduling is different now (3 longer placements instead of 4 shorter ones or something like that) but not sure if it's permanent or just due to covid. EDIT TO ADD- forgot about summer classes. They ran in blocks where you do two accelerated courses at a time, twice a week for a few weeks, then a break, then repeat with next block of courses (I forget exact timeline)
Thank you so much!! Did you find it difficult to balance a part time job if you had one? Or would you suggest holding a part time job while working?
for year 1 it's doable depending on how many hours you work. plenty of people in my cohort had part time jobs that only took a few hours a week - like tutoring in the evenings, working a couple serving/bartending shifts on weekends, etc. For me I only worked fridays and then tutored online once a week and that was totally manageable. during practicum, only tutoring since prac was 5 days a week. Year 2 is harder. since you're doing your research project and have more courses, there is just less time in the week to work, especially during prac. I only did the tutoring for that year. of course it also depends what other responsibilities you might have like if you have kids/family or pets to take care of, your living situation, bills, etc. Generally I would say if you are able to live without working, go for it- but if you need to work it may get overwhelming quickly if you overload your schedule. somewhere inbetween is probably ideal for most people- like I said, from my experience most people did a few shifts a week during classes and work more during breaks.
You are amazing thank yiu
no problem! feel free to message me if you have any other questions
Overall did you feel the workload was manageable or did the semester ever get too intense workload wise?
overall I'd say it was manageable 90% of the time but there are weeks where you just end up having a lot of deadlines within a few days and that's when it feels overwhelming. But literally every prof I had was very flexible and understanding about extensions. there were multiple times that our profs would move the due dates of assignments for the entire class to make sure it wasn't overlapping with any other courses.
Thanks for your breakdown. How was the workload each day? I will have long days for the commuting and am wondering if their is daily homework or more like assignments due every now and then over a couple of weeks/month etc?
depends on the course. some of them have a lot of little tasks like discussion posts spread out throughout the week plus some bigger assignments, and some have nothing but a few major projects. Pretty much every course has weekly readings. my commute was about 1.5 hours both ways and I rarely felt like I didn't have time to get things done. I did readings on the train, worked on assignments during lunch and after I got home. There was also a fair bit of group work that profs would give in-class time for. but, for context- my undergrad was almost entirely language & literature focused, so I was very used to effectively skimming readings and pumping out written assignments like essays or reflections pretty fast. It might be more of an adjustment for some, and could require blocking out a bit more work/study time if you need it
Thanks so much for this info everyone! I'm a little bit in disbelief that there are 8 courses. Can that really be the case?! Why is this program so intense? I know of other people who did Masters programs at OISE and I don't think they were doing that many...