synecdoche

So... what does that mean for those of us who have been told on the website that we were successful? Might the results change? (Seriously, it would make things a lot easier for everyone if OGS would just post a message for people to see when they logged in that said "If you do not have your results, they have been delayed for this reason. Please check back on April whatever." Is that so hard to do?)

Yep, shoulda known better- I'm not that lucky. It was a mistake. I had to return the sweet, sweet, cheque and now wait until I'm issued another one.

I got the standard $20000 letter. I'm guessing that somebody hit the wrong key when they were entering this into the computer at my school, but I just don't want that to be the case. I guess all I can do is wait and try to track down whoever I need to talk to about fixing it.

It is a site specific to my university. I can look up and see what my pay rate is and whatnot and I'm listed as "Type: SSHRCCGS" at $35K/year but I also thought that you can only get the $20K after the first couple years.

So... are upper year doctoral SSHRCs ever bumped up to more money? I won a SSHRC for my fourth year and asked to commence the funding in May. Because of the delay, my university mailed me a cheque and it arrived today and it is more than I expected. I went to the online finances site and it says that I'm due to receive $35000 over twelve months. However, I didn't receive any word that I was getting a CGS and I didn't think I was even eligible (I thought you had to be going into first or second year to get one). Does anybody know? I would LOVE to cash this cheque but I'm waiting to hear from my university. They haven't replied to my e-mail yet, though. I was just wondering if this actually happens or if it is some mix-up. (I know what I'm hoping for.) Thanks.

I take it back; I just got an official e-mail. Good news.

At least at SFU you are getting SOME information. Nobody I have asked here at Western seems to know ANYTHING.

I think "recommended but not funded" means your application was considered good enough to be funded, but they do not have enough money to fund all worthy applications. I do not know how they distinguish between "good enough to be funded, and so funded" and "good enough to be funded, but we don't have enough money" though. (This from a powerpoint I found online.)

Dramanda, there is a flat-out rejection as well.

I'm terrified that I'll be "recommended but not funded," especially because this is my last kick at the SSHRC can and first time getting through to Ottawa since applying for the first year of my PhD. In fact, the other night I dreamt that that is what happened to me.

Contacted the SSHRC coordinator person at my university, and didn't receive a reply. Maybe tomorrow. Sigh. Congrats to all the winners so far.

Also, anyone from Western?

Congrats! Contacted my department secretary, who says that the department hasn't received anything yet. Grumble, grumble...

Thanks, Brewer, and I'm sorry to hear your results were less than you hoped. I'm waiting until we get three confirms, then I'm going to send an e-mail out to the admin people here (who didn't even respond to my last e-mail a couple of weeks ago asking if they had a timeframe, so I am not optimistic).

I'm in favour of getting rid of the passing-through-schools bit, not because I think it will level the playing field but because a few people I have known have been royally screwed by the multi-tiered process. In one case, three of the department's top five candidates (including numbers 1 and 2) were NOT forwarded to Ottawa after the rankings were ignored by the faculty of graduate studies. The professors were pretty angry and there were meetings and complaints and handwringing but nothing ever actually happened with it--grad studies sort of said "Yes, we screwed up" in the private meetings with students and professors, and then publicly released a document that said they did the right thing. Of the others who were not in the department's top five who got forwarded on, none of them won a SSHRC. The others who were in the top five did. This case isn't so much a problem with applying through schools but rather a problem with schools that seem to misunderstand the system when applications get to SSHRC. At the same time, though, people who are at university's have a big leg up just from the fact that they can consult with professors and develop their applications with much more one-on-one feedback. I'd feel far less confident in my own application if I hadn't gone through 14 drafts or so, getting feedback from a variety of profs on each.

scottv1, I would recommend you do what I am planning to do-- leave a postage paid envelope for somebody and giving them a key to my mailbox. Hopefully you'll have a stable location where you can receive mail. I was talking to my supervisor yesterday about the delay in the notices and he entertained me (sort of) with quite the rant about how the lateness isn't just messing with students but screwing with departments who are still waiting to finalize numbers of students and funding packages for next year. He was also pretty frustrated with the fact that they haven't said ANYTHING about the delays to applicants.

Congratulations!!! This is the MA competition, right? Just wondering if I should start getting my hopes up for the PhD one...

Seriously. I really don't understand why we have to get the results through the mail. Is there any good reason for it? Obviously there is some "secure site" that the faculty have access to--why don't they have a secure site for students to check their status on?

Wait, does that mean that the departments WON'T have the results on Monday or Tuesday as the post above suggested? MAY 11? Seriously?

Late next week? Why do I have a feeling it is going to be continually pushed back, and next week they'll still be saying "sometime next week"? Sigh. Oh well. I'll be checking with my university on Monday and Tuesday for sure. Thanks for the news.

Thanks... That gives me some hope, at least. I just hope that the universities will be willing to tell us how we did prior to receiving the actual letters. The university didn't tell us anything about OGS here until a good week after the results were accessible online.

I talked to someone in my department who received a SSHRC doctoral fellowship last year and she said she heard from the Faculty of Graduate Studies or whatever it is called these days a few days before receiving her letter. She got the e-mail on a Thursday or Friday, and received the letter on Monday. However, she said she knows of people in past years for whom the opposite was the case. So, basically, it might be worth a shot to ask, but knowing my university, they would just ignore the e-mail and send something out when they do the mass notifications.

Chenzitian, I might be missing the context of what you quoted but it sounds to me like your graduate department is talking about how many total applicants (ie every person who applied through your institution) are forwarded on to the national competition. For example, here, a couple hundred or whatever apply. In my program if you do not have a SSHRC already, it is mandatory that you apply. Of all the people in the university who apply, something like 70 are passed on to Ottawa. From there, the odds will be different again and I think all you have is to look at how many students in past years have received SSHRCs out of your school's quota. This isn't really the "odds," but just historical data that indicates your university's usual success rate which may vary considerably from year to year. It sounds like at your university, of 112 total applications, your university had a quota of 50 applications that could be forwarded on to Ottawa. Of those 50, a certain number will then receive funding. That's what people upthread are talking about, I think.

*slow clap.*

I e-mailed SSHRC and stated my concern (about wanting to commence funding in the summer 2009 semester) and received this reply: Okay, now, seriously: results will be mailed probably next week?