Expert: Keith Patton - 1/26/2012

Question
QUESTION: Hello Sir !. My name is Ali Raza and I am a student of BS Geology from Pakistan. I have applied for admission  (University of Toronto, Canada)in MS Sequence Stratigraphy. Sir I have been requested to write a "proposed Plan of Study" but I have no clue or idea how to go about it and that I have to submit it within a week. Can you please guide me about the "Proposed Plan of Study " when I am applying for admission  in MS Sequence Stratigraphy whose duration is 2 years and includes a Research Thesis as well.

ANSWER: Maria:

This is pretty simple.  I looked at their website.  If you are applying for the Developing Nations fellowship, there are a few requirements that are different than a general application.

I will assume you are applying for general admission to the program.


A Proposed Study plan is a listing of what you plan to take each semester to complete both the required course of study, e.g. electives and your thesis work.  You have to know what area of study you plan to choose.  In your case it is Sequence stratigraphy.  So, look at the listing of courses that apply to that specialty and list them in the order in which you plan to take them.

http://www.geology.utoronto.ca/students/graduate-students-1/graduate-course-list

For instance, if you need to write a thesis, you should take and are required to take the first four classes, so put them on your schedule when theya re available.  Seminars, Research, Research presentation, and All course Research.  Next you need to decide which and how many if required you need to take from the second list, Cross-listed courses.  Then do the same for the others.  You will need to speak or correspond with someone in the department to find out how many credit hours semester you need to take, and which courses are highly recommended that you take for sequence stratigraphy.  It looks like the sequence stratigraphy focus is a field work based program so you need to find out how that works into your classroom time.  For instance, when I was in graduate school I scheduled laboratory work in my schedule just like a class, I had lab time scheduled three times a week and got credit for it just like a regular class.  That way, the professor knew when I would be available and was there to give me guidance.  I did spend more time in the lab than that, but it was considered core time for scheduling purposes.

If you are applying for the developing nations fellowship, be mindful that you need to include a one page statement of intent that outlines your plans for work or study in your developing nation AFTER graduation.  So they want to know how with the completion of your degree, you plan to help and benefit your country. e.g. start an environmental consulting company to clean up environmental problems, work in your national oil company to help increase energy self sufficiency...and so on..



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much Sir. Your response was very helpful. On last thing that I would like to ask is that What possible reasons would you recommend that I should mention for studying Sequence Stratigraphy especially University of Toronto, Canada, apart from the reasons that more research opportunities and more facilities are available. Can I mention that not much facilities are available in my country Pakistan therefore I chose UoT Canada. Secondly Mr Andrew Miall, who is one of the pioneer for Sequence Stratigraphy studies and has done a lot of work in this realm is going to be my Supervisor in future if I am offered admission ,so I want make some very solid reasons for choosing choosing Sequence Stratigraphy from UoT  Canada. Can you please facilitate me further in establishing the reasons for choosing to complete my Maters in Sequence Stratigraphy from UoT Canada.

Answer
Ali:

The reasons you mention sound good. Stating something about the facilities, the curriculum and the professor is good.  It shows that you have done your homework in researching where you want to go.  If you can mention more specifics on Dr. Maill's research and why it is of interest to you, that might be good too.

A little flattery goes a long way so don't over do it.  

You might also mention the cultural aspects of Toronto and how it will enrich your life outside of school.