Sarah7

You have four weeks from the date on the award to accept or decline. My letter was dated May 20th and I received it on the 26th. That means I had just over three weeks. If your letter is dated May 20th (which you won't know until you get the letter), then time's a-tickin'! I would contact your Faculty of Grad Studies and then SSHRC, and I would do it today so you can hopefully have some answers before the weekend. The four week deadline was actually the reason I started following this forum, because I too have had mail lost and was worried that my four weeks would be gone if indeed the letter was lost in the mail (luckily SSHRC was just running behind!). Sarah

Holy cow, Snasser, you've been busy! I am in my first year of a lit. PhD and had only one conference to put on the application at the time, since SSHRC accepts neither pending conferences nor a list of articles submitted for publication but unprinted as of yet. I don't understand how all your publications/conferences did not secure you funding or a spot on the waiting list at the very least. I personally would have thought that this would be the part of the application, along with reference letters and the study proposal, that carried the most weight, since I think most grad students would have very comparable results on the rest of the application (straight As, for example, as you mention). It makes you wonder what on earth you're supposed to do to better your chances... My sympathies to all those in that tought predicament. Sarah

Perhaps their concern is that each sub-group might mark slightly differently or slightly more strictly, and then those graded more strictly would automatically be lower on the waiting list and never be offered any scholarship relative to the other subgroups whose committees were more lenient? Either way, unless one committee were to mark all the applications (which is obviously unreasonable), there is no way to be perfectly fair, and we have to accept the least unfair solution. Also, there seem to be so many variables involved in the score, that we could never determine what is definitely a factor and what isn't. I thought SSHRC was attempting to make its process more transparent? So much for that!

I am not sure if you mean that the standard varies from year to year or if you mean that the year of the program matters, but I have heard that the latter is true, although I don't have any way to confirm that the information I received was correct. If I correctly understand what I was told, what is deemed a high score depends on what year you're in. Using myself as an example, I received 18.5 and applied while in my first year of the PhD program and received funding for three years. However, maybe for someone in second or third year already, 18.5 might be an unacceptably low score. Again, I don't know if there's any truth to this, but it's something that seems generally accepted, at least in my department. Sorry I can't offer any more concrete information I have also heard that the threshold for an acceptable score is higher this b/c of cuts, but again, I don't think we can confirm this. Sarah

Banana45, Just one quick little detail to add: when you contact SSHRC, they usually like you to include the type of award or at least your award # in your message, so it might not hurt to call your department and see if anyone can give you that information (which you will need eventually to send in your forms anyways, although that is less urgent). In your email, you will need to confirm your acceptance (obviously), your start date, your university and department (if known). Good luck, Sarah PS Sorry canuckly, I totally missed that... you sounded so serious and resolute. This is why I should not post anything while on a SSHRC high...

Sorry for the confusion, sylvinka. I just saw the quoted question in your reply box right after my post popped up (it must have popped up while I was typing my own response) and didn't take the time to realize you were quoting. Sorry everybody canuckle, if I were a communist, I would be against SSHRCs altogether. I just meant that it is too bad that so many other applicants are being turned away, particularly when scores seem so close and when the number of *regular* SSHRCs have already been cut this year. But that is competition, I guess. Sarah

Hi sylvinka, Sorry, I completely disregarded your question! My letter came to Kingston Ontario today (about two hours from Ottawa, just in case you are unfamiliar with the region or in case your geography stinks, like mine! ) Sarah

Hi guys, In an attempt to help discern the cut-off line... I was scored 18.5 and just found out this morning that I have been offered a scholarship. I must have just scraped my way onto the list. I am just about through the first year of my program now (so September will mark the start of year two), and I have heard that how far along you are in your program can help determine your score (for example, the exact same application would have earned me more points next year). I have also heard that earning a scholarship in previous year (ex. OGS) can also help raise your score, but even with such a precise scoring system I still think it's largely luck. Like most grad students, I consider myself a pretty good student (even among grads) and so I also wonder what a 30/30 application would look like... I guess that's what super SSHRCs and Vaniers are for! I don't know how anyone else feels about it (and no disrespect intended to the deserving winners of the Vaniers), but I would personnally rather see that money spread among more people, and so I hope the Vaniers didn't come from the same financial pot. To those on the waiting list, the letter I received also explained that students who were unsure of whether they would be attending in the States or Canada were offered a choice between CGS and SSHRC. If they go to the States, perhaps that means more money for SSHRC-ers on the waiting list? Or is it all the same money pot? I'm not sure, just trying to offer encouragement and hope! Good luck to those still waiting. My thoughts are with you and my fingers are crossed for you all! Sarah

So true! I think any excitement will not be over the result itself but over the mere fact that there is a letter from SSHRC in my mailbox. Maybe I will just take in the look of that glorious envelope for a couple days before even opening it... Maybe I will frame the envelope and ditch the letter... On a sidenote, perhaps next year, as a way to receive extra funding, we could establish a lottery and take bets on when the letters will arrive.

Thank goodness for this forum! I have been worried all month that my letter (good or bad) was lost in the mail all this time! This seems to be the only place to get any kind of information. Even our secretary's office cannot tell us anything b/c it's confidential until we receive the letter. She teasingly told me she already knew the results, waving the paper about in her hand, but she couldn't share them with me!! From what I have heard at school, a lot of really stellar applications are being deemed unsuccessful this year because of the funding situation, so nobody beat themselved up about any bad news! Congrats to all those who were successful and a huge thank you to everyone participating in and providing information for this forum. Best of luck to the rest of you who are all still waiting with me!