sarah-bellum

I'm not sure how long your program usually is, but the OGS page on my school's website says this regarding 5th year funding: So if you're in a 12-term program then that's probably why you didn't get it. Otherwise I'm not sure how common this is.

As mentioned above, it's expected that you be friendly and try to get along with everyone. And if your lab/cohort ever has social events (lab parties, dinners out, etc.), or if people make a point of inviting you to spend time with them, then you should make an effort to go - partly just out of politeness, and partly because there really are advantages to having friends in your program. It can make conferences more enjoyable (and help you cut costs by splitting hotel rooms etc.) Senior grad students in your area can be an amazing resource for guidance and advice, especially people who are in your lab. And of course, having a friend or two in your classes can be extremely helpful, since you can help each other study and work out anything you don't understand. But if you're happier doing those things on your own, then by all means! There's certainly no obligation to hang out with your labmates all the time or befriend everyone in your cohort. Don't make yourself annoyed and uncomfortable by spending time with people if you don't want to.

You just gave me a mini heart attack until I re-read my letter! The deadline to accept or decline is May 15, not 1st. Somewhere way back in this thread people talked about how SSHRC would be posting the results on the Web portal by May 6th (I think?), so hopefully you can find out that way.

The summer before my masters, I contacted a prof that I had previously worked with as an RA, asking if he needed any help over the summer. He didn't, but through his contacts on campus was able to hook me up with a lab in a different faculty. I ended up working full time all summer for $17 per hour. And it gave me some further research experience to boot

Sorry to hear, Inquietude. If nothing else, it sounds like you were close - maybe third time's the charm. I agree, the lack of transparency with SSHRC is really frustrating. Nobody seems to know what their scores even mean, much less how they were determined, and the whole process just seems to be purposely difficult to understand. It's tough when we all work so hard on these applications and then don't get any constructive feedback.

I'm in southern Ontario and still haven't heard anything. This is torture

I'm not in Ottawa, but elsewhere in Ontario. Nothing in the mail yet. Good luck everybody!!

There are a very small number of OGS awards available to international students. You can apply (through your school, usually), but to my knowledge the chances are small for international students.

No Vanier for me either. The leadership score killed me! Good luck to everyone else.

know the feeling! I keep trying to imagine getting the bad news in order to prepare myself... but my mind much prefers to imagine the good news haha. probably best to stop thinking about it altogether, although that's much easier said than done.

Anyone know what time the announcement usually goes up? should we start checking at midnight, or do they wait until business hours?

Oh, I see - I totally missed the "three-year allocation" bit and thought it was 600 per year. Thanks!!

I applied to Cornell back in 2013, and it took them until March 11th to get back to me (I was ultimately rejected). Seems like they're one of the last schools to reply.

Hey folks, wondering if anybody has any thoughts about this. I noticed on that, although there is a total of 600 possible nominations for each funding agency, for the SSHRC Vanier. Does anyone know a) if this is normal?, and b ) why would that happen? Are schools just not sending forward their full quota of nominees? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting pretty anxious to hear the results. Just tell us already!!

I'm in social psych at Western. I love our program and have really enjoyed my time here I can try to answer any specific questions you have.

In my experience, the acceptance process usually went like this: Interview with prof of interest and possibly other faculty members Prof decides they would like to take you on as a student Prof recommends to the department that they accept you Department approves decision Department sends official acceptance Basically, the departmental approval is there to make sure that no really sub-par students get in - they might check out things like your grades, GRE scores if you took them, etc. I get the sense that it's not too common for departments to disapprove of a candidate once a prof has recommended them.

GRE scores are valid for 5 years whether you took them in the old or new format. They'll send the schools you apply to a "concordance chart" so they can compare your scores with the newer ones that other people have. Source

I'm starting my MSc in September, and I've heard conflicting reports about how much time people actually spend on their schoolwork in grad school. I'm sure it's also very different between programs, so I thought I'd put this question out there to psychology grad students. Also, how do you typically structure your time? Do you like to work 9-5 and then 'leave your work at the office', so to speak? Or do you spend a lot of evenings and weekends working as well? I know a lot of programs are quite flexible about this, I'm just curious as to how the majority of people handle it. Sorry if this question has been asked before - I couldn't really find anything through the search function.

I think you've partially answered your own question here. Being exhausted is by far the most effective way to make yourself feel dumb and ineffectual, and it ensures that you'll probably keep making little mistakes like the ones you described above. Go get a good night's sleep and come back to your assignment when you're better rested. I know you probably feel like you don't have time, but if you just keep getting more and more fatigued it's going to become increasingly harder to produce good work.

I'm going to Western for social psych. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat

I don't know if you're open to Canadian schools, but I interviewed recently with Dr. Paula Barata at the University of Guelph in Ontario. She does a lot of work with battered women in the community and the challenges they face. When I spoke to her she said she was basically open to any research on women and improving their lives/social standing/etc. so she could be a good fit for you. She's really nice, too, and I think she only has 2 students currently, so would probably be open to taking another on next year

I know some labs prefer to have students who want to continue in their research area, but a lot of them don't really care as long as you can get the job done. I graduated with a BA in psychology in December, and was hired right away by the Health Studies department at my school because they wanted people who were experienced with human experiments. I'm going into social psychology, which is only loosely related, but they didn't mind at all. Just let them know you're looking to gather a breadth of experiences so that when you do eventually make up your mind, you can be confident in your choice. That's what I've always said to employers (and to my grad school interviewers, when they came around), and it was always pretty well received.

I asked the director of financial aid at my school about this, and she emailed me saying: "For the SSHRC Master's Award, there is no national adjudication of the applications. Universities are given a quota they can send forward and providing the agency does not find anyone to be ineligible, those applicants will receive the scholarship." So basically, as long as you meet all the eligibility requirements, you should definitely have it.

I think it varies by program. I'm starting an MSc in Psychology at Western this fall; I know that in 2011-2012 the psych department offered a minimum top-up of $10,000 for external award winners. It may be slightly more now (since their minimum funding guarantee has gone up from $19k to $22k as well). You'll have to check with your program though! Have you accepted Western already? Feel free to PM me if you want to chat

I know the research programs had their interview day in February, but not sure if counselling psych would have been at the same time or not.