RosamundReage

Yeah I only heard by mail as my institution put an embargo on giving out results. It seems some Universities are being kind and letting people know ahead of time so they do not have to suffer waiting for snail mail! It looks like maybe they are telling you something by sending you that email. If they are emailing people information they may give you the results over the phone. A few people on here won and didn't hear a peep from their institutions before they got the letter. I won CGS and no one at my university thought it might be nice to email me on Friday when they got the results (they actually probably got the results earlier than that). On a side note my university hasn't even sent me anything even after I received my letter, you think they could send out a measly congratulations. When I called the awards office to tell them I was accepting they sounded irritated I was bothering them and wouldn't even tell me how my guaranteed funding would change. They usually only win 4 or 5 CGS' a year so you think they could give us a little special attention. I don't want to sound bitter but this wait was awful and I am pretty upset how the stress has derailed my work this month. My university could have alleviated some of this stress by just emailing people if they got it or not- the last week was the worst and they could have prevented it. Some people found out they won over a week ago, if we can believe what was written on this thread then it is really silly to make all these people suffer when it would take a very small amount of time for each institution to email out the results. I think they are changing how SSHRC is decided next year- from my understanding each university will have a quota and decide just like OGS this year. I hope this new format will take out some of the wait time and universities will just post the results online instead of using the antiquated mail system. For those still waiting for a letter do not despair it still could be good news!

Yeah mine was pretty thick with the three pages stuffed into it. I think rejections probably only have one sheet of paper in them.

Mine was also postmarked Monday. Though it does say on the Canada post website mail takes 3 days to get from Ottawa to Toronto, so it would have gotten here super fast if it was mailed on Monday. The letter inside was dated the 25th of April.

Yes only conferences I presented at

Some advice for people rejected. I too was rejected last year and didn't even make it out of my university, I was crushed. I do have a publication and numerous conferences, but I think what won me the CGS was my proposal. This year I completely revamped my topic over the summer, developing a really innovative idea which concentrated on Canada. I know people are really tied to their research but coming up with a "sexy" idea for your proposal goes a long way. I have spoken to numerous adjudicators and this is what they all say- the proposal is the most important thing. It needs to be very easy to understand why the Canadian government needs to fund this research. You can have the best CV in the world but you will not get funded if you do not have an appealing proposal- note appealing is the operative word. Also, remember you have to have an amazing first sentence- I worked for months on just that- because they read so many of these you have to hook them right away. I spent months refining my proposal and even though I hate sending off unpolished drafts for critique I did numerous times. I went to every workshop and sent it to every department chair and graduate advisor. You need to get a lot of people outside of your discipline to read it because they will be on the jury- I sent mine to people in 5 different fields. Because supervisors usually do the same type of research they are actually not always the best people to only take advice from because they will not give you the breadth your proposal will need (they do help with the depth though). Everyone who has won has been rejected from something before and I know it is hard and believe me I know the crushing feeling. i really urge those rejected to start this summer talking to many different academics on how to make your proposal stand out. Think about starting from scratch- that really helped me. You also really need at least 7 or 8 full drafts so start sending out drafts ASAP. I am sure there is some element of luck or divine intervention in this, but successful proposals really do have a certain formula. Try to get your hands on some and you will see what I mean.

Communications

I got my mail today and am in shock I got CGS! I was certain I didn't get an award because I did not hear anything from my department or grad office. It appears York really did not contact anyone with results, so for those who have not heard anything there is still hope! My score was 25.3 MA SSHRC One accepted publication 3 conferences (2 national and one grad) 2 RAships both profs I worked for wrote me reference letters 3.95 GPA 7 drafts of my proposal Going into second year PHD

FYI most programs at York only let in one international student because they have to guarantee full funding for 6 years. Most PHD programs at York have sent out there first round of offers and they are most likely waiting to hear back from the first round before they respond to you.

I would work full time as the RA, you will buid better connections with faculty and get to do the research you want to do, which is presumably the reason you are in grad school. You will also be in a better finacial situation by taking the option. TAing is generally pretty terrible and you can always do it later on in a PHD program.

How long are you guaranteed funding at McMaster? There is usually 6 years of funding at York and other universities usually have a lot less. You also get much better health benfits and TA pay at York, so that is something to consider. For fiances though Hamilton is a much cheaper city to live in than Toronto. Both offers sound really good, but you will probably be more financially secure with York. It also really depends on who you would rather work with.

Even if you don't get into the program if you win a sshrc they will very likely let you in. Because it is for the MA SSHRC you have about a 90-95% chance of winning, so I wouldn't stress about it.

It does sound like a rather difficult situation. I am in Canada, so not sure if this applies for your situation but students who are no longer attending an institution can apply as an independent candidate. Do you have to go through your undergrad school to apply for these scholarships? If you have to go through a university have you thought about taking some classes at another school who may support your application? Sorry if this isn't any help.

I am not sure what type of scholarships you have been looking at, but many do not require proof of acceptance. You need to make your proposal sound like you will be gettign into the program though. Every scholarship I have applied for has not asked for proof of acceptance, but they have all been government funded so I am not sure about private scholarships. I would try to find some other scholarship options. I would start by contacting past professors (who can also write you reference letters) and ask them what kind of funding options they are aware of. You can also contact the schools you want to apply to and ask them what type of funding they provide for international students. If you can find a professor at an institution you want to study who really wants to work with you they can often help with funding as well. As for your question regarding deferral, some programs will allow you to defer for a year.

It is possible to win a sshrc and be rejected, but you will very likely get into any program you want with a sshrc win. People who win a sshrc and do not get into a grad program can contact the school to let them know they have won a sshrc. In almost all cases said program will admit you because sshrc will cover your expenses and grad programs want and need sshc winners ( the university gets money for and it may increase their quota for next year). If you were passed on for the MA competition you have about a 90-95% chance of winning sshrc, so congrats you will most likely be going to grad school next year.

Just got an email from York today that my application was passed on.