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I was able to hold off crying, until the moment it ended and walked away then burst out into tears as I left so he didn't see my reaction.

I agree, I was a bit wishy washy and unsure of what I wanted to do until recently. I don't necessarily think it would be an issue of recruitment since my school doesn't have people officially choose an advisor till 1 year is up, but I understand the frustration and disappoint that comes from me deciding to go elsewhere. Additionally, the time he will need to put in next year necessary to sway someone to choose him as a supervisor. I guess I just wasn't expecting such a negative response and had thought at the end he would still have my back for the decision. I was encouraged by every other professor to go to this school since it is a significantly higher ranked school and to get the opportunity to work with new people. I definitely do feel at fault since I had said it was one of my top choices until events happened that changed my mind and didn't properly communicate these feelings well enough given the distance. I guess, I just expected a bit more understanding in the end rather than so much frustration and disregard for my decisions and my reasons.

@ThousandsHardships and @thelionking thank you for your advice, unfortunately he wanted to talk about it and it ended up going really bad. Definitely cried after...feeling really regretful in how things ended and disappointed he wasn't okay with the decision.

Just to add on to what sonsofeasterly said, but the awards are not departmental. It is possible to get rejected from a school, but receive an award (I know people this has happened to but they were rejected before notice of the award). However, normally once you receive an award the university is definitely inclined to accept you since you become essentially free! I would send an email asking for an update as well as mentioning that you received the CGS. Very likely to be accepted in this case.

My department at my school has a copy of the waitlist and I was told a few months ago by my supervisor that if I didn't get it immediately to contact my department head and he would tell me where I stood. So your department may know, but once again at this point I think it varies greatly by university.

@thelionking yes you are essentially correct, except at my alma matter it would be a two year masters. Yes, he hopes I will remain and I wasn't sure which way I would go till I went to a school visit. "You have decided that you want to take a better offer at another school for your 1 year master's and you don't know how to break the news to him, You're also concerned about asking him for a reference for a PhD program in the near future because you will need to apply to PhD programs this fall which will begin in fall of 2018." Exactly the concern! The other school is offering me significantly more (more than 10K even with my alma matter's upped offer). Overall, it is a highly recognized school and since it is a shorter program will ensure I want to continue onto a PhD. I also really want to move for the first time and live on my own! That is true, I will reject the offer from the school on Monday. I just wanted to let him know ahead of time...I just feel so bad like I used him and all his effort in teaching me over the past 4 years. I honestly feel like I am betraying him by leaving

A lot of alternates move up! I got offered the award at all my schools and will obviously only accept 1, so 2 will be given to alternates! I have also been told you can ask where you are on the list as well so you can get an idea of whether you will end up getting funding in the end! Fingers crossed it works out!

Woot! Finally got into the website!

Same! Site keeps crashing...

It should be 12:00AM EST so less than 1.5 hours left!! Also to Adelaide9216, it is possible to be waitlisted!! For those that applied to multiple schools and reject offers then these will be re-distributed to students. However, I am not sure if it says whether you are waitlisted on the site or if you need to ask the university.

I received an offer to a school that is stronger than my alma matter and is providing way more funding. My professor is on sabbatical so the conversation for decision hasn't been very organic. We have done some Skype sessions, but that definitely isn't the same as to just popping by their office to talk. My professor really wants me to work with him and has put in so much time into me...I just know he will be angry and since I decided on doing the masters, I will need him as a reference for re-applying this fall. I have so much anxiety on writing him this email to let him know....I don't know what to say to soften the blow. I said months ago that my alma matter was top, but that was more anxiety talking (not wanting to move & change). Should I mention I will be applying to grad school again this fall? Or wait for time to cool off? I am just scared that I am going to get a very terse response back and end our relationship completely that he totally disregards everything I do and screw myself over for re-applying to grad school. I realize so many people are like "professors want you to go to better schools" but this isn't the feeling I have gotten from my supervisor (he has pushed attending my alma matter for my PhD and that it is totally fine to do all your schooling at one school-- even though everyone says it isn't). Does anyone have any advice on what I can write or do in this situation? Honestly, my fear over his response has been the one thing that makes me want to stay at my alma matter even though I would be unhappy to stay here.

This thread is referring to the masters level sshrc/nserc so i believe the notification process is also different from the doctoral. But it is specifically called the Research Portal on the govt of Canada website if you search it. However, given you didn't apply that way I don't think this is relevant to your application and you will likely get a response in the mail or email.

No I haven't....not sure if that is a good sign, bad sign, glitch in the system or a particular school that submitted early!

Hmm thats tricky. It could just mean you were nominated by the department, but then it goes to another stage beyond the department. At my school, in step 1 you have to be nominated by the department -- they get to choose a fixed number of students applications to nominate, then it goes to the next stage where you are basically in a pile with people across many disciplines (within your choice of SSHRC v NSERC groups). At least that it what my supervisor said our school does for CGS-M. However, you could always email them back and ask for clarification! Puts you out of the misery of waiting 2 more weeks and wondering what they meant!

Yeah, I sent the one masters offer and the PhD offer to another masters program. I guess I should have just sent the masters offer since that alone topped their offer. Definitely see now it now as the wrong move, but I am truly considering the masters over the PhD since I didn't apply to many schools this year (got psyched out thinking I wasn't competitive enough since I heard so many 'horror' stories) so I feel if I do a masters, especially at this school which is higher ranked than my current school, that if I reapply next year I would do even better and have more competitive offers.

A good source if you know how to use latex is their poster templates: http://www.latextemplates.com/cat/conference-posters. Even if you don't know how to use latex it might still be good indicator for layouts! This is what I used exclusively for my posters and were commonly used in the STEM fields at my school.

In my case I am wondering what reasonable debt would be. I luckily do not have any undergrad debt. However, I believe to sustain myself I would need to add an additional 5k per year with my PhD offer so that would likely end up being $25K over the course of the program. I am having a hard time justifying this much debt since you never know what the job market will be like once graduating...though I realize it may not seem like a lot to some, especially those who took out undergrad loans, given that I worked hard to have no debt in my undergrad it is extremely hard for me to consider the idea of taking on debt.

I wish I saw this a bit earlier, but I sent both offers to a school and was basically told no additional funding would be possible despite having an offer that dominates theirs by 4K. To me, this does seem like a lot since that would essentially cover moving costs. Was a bit confusing since prior I received multiple emails from the school stating I was the top applicant and that they would anything possible to address any concerns I would have for not attending. Their response to no funding was that the department at the moment was overextended with offers. They may be able to offer a small scholarship but not guaranteed at the moment. I am just a bit confused I wasn't offered an additional entrance scholarship given it is one of the top schools. Or is this the norm? I guess I am just confused given they even said to notify the school if you had a better competing offer, but it seems like there was no point. I can understand that the department could be overextended, but honestly quite shocked given the tone of previous emails.

I have 2 masters offers, a 1 year and a 2 year and debating between both. That is what is making me debate between the two offers is that in the 1 year my application doesn't change when I re-apply but the 2 year just feels like such a long addition to my education. Yeah, my PhD is quite underfunded compared to the cost of living in my opinion. I actually got equal to more funding for my masters offers and they are in a cheaper location. However, the offer I received seems like the standard offer for that school but I don't have another PhD offer to negotiate the amount

I am in a very similar situation as you! Except Canada instead of Europe. Having a ridiculously hard time coming to a conclusion, so anyone's input on this would be greatly appreciated! Additionally, my biggest fear is the additional years means being older when graduating from a PhD as well as asking my references to be my reference again in 6 months. However, barely surviving and depleting all my savings + possible debt is a very hard pill to swallow.

First of all, you still have plenty of time to prepare for the GRE! If you are finding the math portion difficult, I would recommend possibly getting a math student in the department as a tutor? Best advice is do as many problems as you can! Don't worry about the professors rejecting to write a LoR, that is still months away! Instead, focus on building your relationships with them, staying in touch etc. Similarly, the fear of grad school is so far in advance. Focus on what you do have control over! Build your application over the next few months, especially in areas you identify as weak. I would also recommend have a practical back up plan should things not work out-- whether this be applying for jobs in the winter for graduation etc. Most of all, don't focus too much on what you can't change. Focus on what you can do and stay positive!

I have received 3 offers so far. 1 for a PhD and 2 for masters (not sure if it makes a difference, but I am applying directly from undergrad) The first question I have is that if I am not sold on which school I want to attend quite yet, is it awful to ask for higher funding to a school if it is possible I don't end up choosing the university? On the flip side, finances do affect my decision so if they can't offer higher funding I might not attend. The second issue is I have actually been offered higher funding for my masters offers than my PhD (one school was very generous in their funding)! However, does it look ridiculous to ask for a higher funding to the PhD school by sending them the offer from the masters school? Problem with the PhD school is they have like tiered funding meaning I get paid better in year 1 but the amount given declines each year. The other thing is the cost of living at the PhD is much higher than my other offers so it is barely livable the amount. Edit: Third question if I sent my offer of PhD admission to one of the university's I am actually considering over the PhD, do you believe that is a good bargaining power for higher funding or is sending the higher masters offer better since it is equal bargaining tool?

As per the website "Results deadline (date on which institutions may begin posting their competition results using the Research Portal): April 1 of the following calendar year."

Congrats that is super awesome! Definitely this is the thing that scares me the most about going to a new university where no one knows you versus staying at your undergrad school where you know you are supported. Huge fear of mine moving forward, but I am so glad to read through that and hear it went well!

I definitely am the opposite! When I am dating someone I want a break from academia! It is also nice for schedules since if you both are in academia it can make it hard to meet if everything is opposite (different timelines for dissertation or both working crazy hours), though it can suck for time off and vacations. I agree with Cheshire_Cat in that it only becomes a big deal if you make it a big deal. But hey, if you want to talk about your work and bounce those ideas off each other then I totally get where you are coming from! However, I definitely find myself on the total opposite of the spectrum.