Carthage32

Hi all, Just checking in here after a while. Thanks for all your well wishes from earlier. Hope everyone's applications went well. It definitely was a challenge to fit the statement in 2 pages, but it's done now. I received my acknowledgement email from SSHRC, so I guess now we wait. Good luck everyone!

If you must address it at all, I wouldn't do it in your statement of purpose. Instead, ask if one of your referees can briefly address it in their letter (assuming you have the kind of relationship with them to ask). A brief mention in a reference letter saying, "So-and-so's GRE score does not reflect his/her academic abilities. In all my classes with him/her, s/he was in the top x% of students etc etc etc." or something to that effect might re-assure the admissions committee. That being said, rarely do GRE scores make or break an application. So, maybe best to leave it alone altogether.

Hi all, Nice to come across this thread and hear from all of you. I'm also applying for SSHRC this year, as an independent candidate (I'm at at a US school). I have never held or applied for SSHRC before, so the whole thing is bit new for me. So far, so good! The deadline for us independents is November 6th.

Thank you! PM sent.

One additional thought: I also started my program this year (in Sept 2012), so my total US income is pretty low. So, I wonder why I didn't get all of my withheld amount back. Maybe I did something incorrectly with the tax return... Also, can we claim that our fellowship is exempt from taxation due to the Canada-US tax treaty? Someone was telling me about filing a form W-8BEN, but I didn't really understand the whole thing.

Great, thanks so much, TakeruK! This is super-helpful!

Hi TakeruK, you seem to know this tax business pretty well, so could I ask a few questions? 1. I am on a fellowship, for which taxes were withheld by the university. They issued me a Form 1042-S, which I used to file my US tax return. The withheld amount was around $1,600 and I ended up getting $870 refunded. Is that what you would expect, or would you expect to get all of the withheld amount refunded? 2. When I file my Canadian tax return (yes, I know I'm late!), would I report just the fellowship amount, or the tuition waiver too? 3. In my Canadian taxes, am I allowed to claim Canadian Education Tax Credits (considering that I'm not paying for the tuition myself, but have a waiver)? Thanks so much!!

Yep, totally agree with 1Q84 that they really shouldn't ask you to show proof of funding if you will have a stipend. I wasn't asked for any of this information. My school sent me the I-20 already filled out with the stipend amounts. Under the funding section, it listed "Student's personal funds" as $0 and "Funds from the school" as the total tuition + stipend amount. I think you should contact your grad director or the international students' office and let them know what the situation is. I'm sure this can be sorted out. You should not be expected to show proof of funding of such a large amount when you have a stipend.

Thanks for your replies! Kind of disappointed that we aren't allowed to donate...

Congratulations! All the best, and if you have any questions about Cambridge (for example, on choosing a College or anything about travel or living there), feel free to message me.

Hi everyone, Just wondering if, legally, F1 status students are allowed to donate to political campaigns. I know for sure that we are allowed to volunteer for a campaign. But, I'm getting some contradictory info about donating money. Some people think you can only donate if you have permanent residence status (i.e. green card), while others think that F1 students are allowed to donate.... Any thoughts?

I feel that we've given OP probably more advice than she was looking for! But, since this thread might be useful for future applicants as well, I'll add a few more thoughts. I feel it's important not to overstate the "independence" aspect of UK PhDs. Yes, there is less structure than in US programs, but it's not as if you're completely on your own for three years. In fact, think of it as the three years you might do at any US school post-Comps. It might look something like this: Year 1: on campus - work with advisor to develop proposal, identify archives, take a course or two, work on languages, etc. Year 2: field work Year 3: writing - back on campus or elsewhere. How much contact you have with your advisor depends on the person. Some may be more hands-off than others, but you certainly can't generalize.

A few additional points that you might want to consider: 1. TMP brings up an interesting point about languages. If you feel that you might need to pick up a language in the next couple of years for dissertation research, then a US program would be very helpful because it would provide you the time to learn it. Many PhD students here take language courses during the year, or over the summer. In the UK, it might be more difficult to do this given the shortened timeline. 2. It seems to me that a typical path for an Oxbridge PhD wanting to work in the US would be to do two or three years of post-doc or fellowship (an equivalent to a Junior Research Fellowship in the UK, or something like the Society of Fellows programs in the US) before going out into the job market. This would essentially bring you to an equivalent level to an American PhD who has done a 5-7 program. 3. You would have some opportunities to teach at Cambridge, depending on how you negotiate it with your supervisor. Some supervisors let their PhD students take on a few "supervisions" each year. This is nothing like TAing, but it would allow you to build at least some teaching portfolio.

Thanks so much for your reply, TMP! Yes, I have looked at Middlebury. But, I was thinking less of language program and more of funding sources (like FLAS, CLS, etc) that provide funding for students to undertake language study elsewhere. Middlebury is a great program though.

Just wondering if folks know of any summer language funding programs for non-US citizens. Many people in my program have applied for FLAS and other State Department funding programs, which I am not eligible for, as I am not a US citizen.

Yes, it's true that British PhDs might have difficulty on the job market. But, then again, we're talking about Cambridge, which is arguably among the top two or three history departments in the world. Top departments in the US are filled with Cambridge PhDs (though, to be fair, many of them are of an older generation). In terms of city, do remember that Cambridge is a stone's throw away from London, so you will still have access to the cosmopolitan, big-city atmosphere, if that is what you want. Good luck with your decision! It's a very hard choice.