sylvinka

Maybe the cut-off for the external applicants differs from the one for the internal? Try to ask SSHRC directly about this. Good luck!

Hi Sarah. I got 18.3 as I posted earlied and I am in my third year of PhD. Unfortunately, SSHRC does not provide scheme for evaluation unlike NSERC but I believe it may be similar. Check http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-E ... es_eng.asp if you are interested. Based on this scheme the year of your program does not make a difference if I understand it correctly.

Hi guys. The letter just arrived to St. John's (NL). I got the scholarship with the score 18.3. Good luck to all who are still waiting!

It was not my question. I replied to that question. I am pretty familiar with your region. Lived in ONT 4 years! Good luck.

Nothing in NL today.

Dean of SGS at MUN (NL) just sent congratulatory emails. I got SSHRC for one year as I am in the 3rd year of my PhD. Thanks for all your support, congratulations to all and those who did not get it (as me a few years back), don't give up!

Thanks. Maybe that's why she did not reply. I wonder if she will tell us directly or send it to our departments. Well, one more day to wait:(

Sincere congratulations to all! I haven't heard so far anything from our grad studies or my department at MUN (NL). Still waiting for their response.

Hi Sylvinka, I am sorry to hear about your previous experience with SSHRC and, with your strong qualifications, wish you well in this competition. Like many others on this board, I don't understand how these decisions get made...there is actually a PhD student in my department who won a SSHRC CGS scholarship and, in the same year, was turned down for the OGS (which is decided earlier)...this makes no sense whatsoever! I am THRILLED to have an OGS for next year; however, for obvious reasons I would prefer a SSHRC (the greater amount of the award and the fact that it is for more than one year - it would mean no apps this fall which would be terrific!). Mostly I think I would be excited about the multiple years funding as I am a student parent and the stress every year of wondering whether I will be able to afford to complete my education (and feed my ravenous teenage children!) is crazy so it sure would be nice to not have to worry so much! I do apologize if I came across as not appreciative of the OGS as I certainly didn't mean it!

No, if you read my previous posts, my application was selected as the best in the School of medicine and then made it to the pool with other applicants from other departments via School of Graduate Studies. My friend who applied one year before me scored 16/30 and got it. Since SSHRC does not provide applicants with reviews, it is difficult to say what went wrong. CIHR sents reviewers' reports back to applicants so they know strong and weak points in their proposals.

Thank you both! And being a mother of three does not make things easier. I wish you all best!

Sylvinka, I think jackassjim has some good points. From my understanding, the SSHRC adjudication committee scores you on each of the following factors: - past academic results, demonstrated by transcripts, awards and distinctions; - the program of study and its potential contribution to the advancement of knowledge; - relevant professional and academic experience, including research training, as demonstrated by conference presentations and scholarly publications; - two written evaluations from referees; and - the departmental appraisal (for those registered at Canadian universities) Even if your previous awards and distinctions were COMPLETELY ignored, a score of 5/30 means that there were some problems in other aspects of the application as well. This is not meant to sound accusatory, but you should know that those 5 bulleted points listed above are fairly evenly weighted by the judges.

Yes, ogopogo, but also when some university is given a quota of 40 and the other one only 8, you may have a better application then 30 people from a bigger university but your problem is that you are number 9. Being in NL, I find it always extremely tough competing with people from big universities as if the name of the university provides some guarantee that those guys are better. I ended up here since my husband is teaching here, so I don't have luxury to choose and study somewhere else. Anyways, let's remain optimistic.

You must be kidding me! You think that after getting two major research scholarships and several minor (piror to applying for SSHRC), I don't know how to write a research proposal?! Even my supervisor was shocked from my result and we were convinced that someone misplaced my papers or something. But since SSHRC is not willing to discuss any decisions, we got nowhere. And BTW I get all my proposals and papers reviewed by a professional proofreader. In addition, I got now 9 papers published in peer-reviewed journal papers. So please be considerate when you pass judgements like that on your fellows.

This is very unofficial, but I heard from a prof that having already received a major award does increase your chances of getting one again. Kind of a "rich get richer" scenario, but he said that reviewers generally have the impression that if you were good enough to be "chosen" once, you're good enough again. However, he and I were discussing OGS (master's) first, doctoral SSHRC next (my situation). I know SSHRC actually awards points for getting external awards previously during the review process. I don't know as much about OGS's review policies, so I can't really comment on the SSHRC first, OGS next scenario you're in.