jouissance

I second this. I am in the position of having to make major decisions

When you say your "previous university", do you mean the university that you attended for 2008-09?

ack, i keep holding out hope that my wife, who applied as an independent, will be able to find out her results from the school that she applied to. unfortunately, it seems like they only tell the school that you applied through (which doesn't exist, in her case) so we are going to have to wait for the letter (which is seriously causing problems with organizing schooling etc. for our two children). in any case, way to go!

Congrats! Out of curiosity, did the invite come from Mac or Brock?

argh, i am really hoping that isn't the case! I was hoping to contact my grad office (at UVic) about my wife's independent application (to U of T).

That is absolutely ridiculous, I can't believe that your supervisor wasn't helping you! Most departments realize that they have a vested interest in their students' success with SSHRC and act accordingly.

Hmmm...interesting stuff. I will say this, though, as someone who failed to get a SSHRC independently and then succeeded through an institution: the support that institutions offer in the preparation process is an unbelievable advantage. Simply put, having a variety of people at your disposal who have had multiple years of experience with the process means that you get the benefit of their sense of what plays well and what does not. I honestly feel like I could have applied 3 times independently without being successful...and I am someone who has lots of experience with grant-writing, having worked as an artist for a few years as well as having worked for a couple of non-profits. SSHRC may be amongst the world leaders, but it is still very much an insider's game (IMO).

Thanks for the sites; unfortunately, it looks like the scoring relation between the two rounds is more or less arbitrary, with scores dropping by as little as 0.4 and as much as 9.0. I guess we just wait...and wait.

Thanks for the response and the suggestion. As a point of discussion, does anyone else find it strange that they re-score? I mean, the whole thing is set up to give the impression of objectivity, at least; it seems to me that re-scoring kind of puts the lie to that. In a time when the social sciences are trying to emphasize their scientificity (for better or worse), this strikes me as a strange strategy (again, conceptually, not necessarily in terms of 'fairness'). In any case, the implicit admission of a strong subjective element that comes with the practice of re-scoring would offer a compelling argument for greater transparency and feedback after the fact. Thoughts?

Someone posted that last year the cutoff for SSHRC was around 18, does anyone know what the cutoff for CGS was? My wife applied independently, so she already knows her score (unless they rescore?)...we really need to make some decisions soon (regarding our kids' schooling next year, as well as my work situation) if we are going to be moving from Victoria to Toronto! She scored 21 or 22, does that mean anything to anyone?

Yep, that is how it is. Plus

Does anyone know who my wife should contact in lieu of FGS, when the time comes; she applied nationally, since she is not currently in school...when I did the same, I remember that I received my letter a couple of weeks after everyone in school knew...in our case, this type of delay will really cause some problems re: moving with kids. PS: I, too, have found this forum much more informative than SSHRC itself. Thanks!