mudlark

Hah! Sorry, it's a bad habit. Would you believe I'm actually much more tactful than I used to be? ChanEcon, I'm not awake enough to plow through your numbers, so I'm going to assume that they're right and plausible. I hope you get an award. For me, there's still the question of why SSHRC would choose to deliberately delay a certain number of awards, especially when they delay releasing results every year so that they can get all of the notifications out at the same time. Also, there's the possibility that the extra funding going to SSHRC is being spent on administrative and clerical salaries, increasing costs for maintaining the office space, or just some government red tape clusterfuckery. *shrug* Not trying to be an asshole, just feeling like we don't know enough about how SSHRC works to make the assumptions that you're basing your argument on. Of course, I'm happy to eat crow when you come back to wave your notice of award in my face.

Given a choice between the explanation being that 88 awards have been mysteriously delayed for unclear reasons, and the explanation being that 88 fewer awards are being given out because the economy is shit, I'd go with the simpler explanation. I think there are just fewer awards. "Missing" awards are only "missing" if you assume that SSHRC gives out a constant number of awards every year, and I don't think that's a valid premise.

You should check with your school regardless, to see if winning the SSHRC changes the level of internal support you get from them. Most schools in Canada cut your internal funding when you win SSHRC, but I'm sure it varies widely from school to school, especially overseas. When I saw the thread bumped, I was hoping someone had good news about waitlist movement! Anyone? Still waiting?

I would agree with fuzzylogician if it wasn't for this: Could you define "early on"? If you're using a paper from like second year, I'd suggest changing samples. Why did you go with an earlier paper, rather than a later one, which would presumably have shown more depth of research and complexity of thought? I'm sure you had a good reason, just wondering what it is. Another route you might be able to take is to build a writing sample off of a presentation for one of your grad classes in the fall. Don't know if history runs the same way English does, but our grad seminars almost always involve one or two lengthy presentations from each student over the course of the term. Presentation write-ups can be 10-12 pages, if they're thorough. Assuming your fall classes run on this model, you might try to schedule your presentation early in the term, and tell the prof that you're hoping to use it as the basis for your writing sample. Then you could use the feedback you get on the presentation to expand/refine the paper. It might not work out, and it would probably take more work, but the reason I suggest it is that it would show that you're capable of graduate level research, which is what the search committee wants to see. If they can't see your grades, at least they can see what kind of work you're producing in a grad seminar.

That was beautiful, strokeofmidnight! I couldn't agree more.

I think they would only affect job applications, etc. if your supervisor chose to mention them in his/her letter of reference. Which s/he would probably only do if you did exceptionally well. I've been told by my committee not to 'fetishize the exam', and to focus on getting to the diss, where the really important work starts. I think exams are important, but your result isn't going to dog you.

I second fuzzylogician. Wow the advisor with your ideas and drive, and let the chips fall where they may. I'm sure there are more students on the spectrum than most people would think.

As a TA I've run: 1) two sections of a first year discussion seminar, 34 students total, marked 5-6 assignments per student over the course of the term, attended lecture and held office hours. 2) three sections of a second year discussion seminar, 45 students total, marked 5-6 assignments per student over the course of the term, attended lecture and held office hours. 3) one entire distance education class, 60 students total, marked 5-6 assignments per student over the course of the term, fielded questions, but no other contact hours. 90 students does seem crazy, but I agree that transferring is not really a valid option. Do you have a union you can go to for help? Or even your grad chair? You might also see if there's anyone around who can help you work more efficiently so that this doesn't drain your will to live quite so much (Not saying that you're inefficient, just saying that you can always learn to work faster, and it might help you out). In your shoes, I would start documenting the work I did, and the hours I spent. This has two purposes: It gives you something concrete to use for a complaint, and it shows you where you're spending your time, so that you can see where you might shave some hours. I tracked my work hours as a TA, and made sure that I was doing the work listed above in an average of 12 hours/week over the semester, and not one minute more. Hope you can find at least a partial solution.

Hi Carlos, The main sources of external funding for research degrees in Canada are NSERC (sciences), SSHRC (humanities and social sciences), and CIHR (health). Psychology projects can fit into any one of those three categories, depending on what kind of work you'll be doing. I'm not sure if clinical programs are eligible, though. These funding agencies are for research degrees, not professional degrees. My brilliant sister can't apply for funding for her speech pathology master's, for example. Do you have a professor who knows you well? Someone you're planning to ask for a letter of reference? Go to that person and ask if you're eligible for external federal funding, and if so, which agency fits your project best. Two things to keep in mind: 1) If you are eligible for federal funding, the application cycle starts in the fall (usually October or November for SSHRC). You might have to apply through your current or previous school, or you might have to apply directly to Ottawa if you've been out of school for a while. Regardless, this will take planning and work. 2) It's always a great idea to apply for external funding, but not having it isn't the end of the world. The majority of people who do master's degrees are funded by their schools, and are given their funding packages after being accepted.

I did a bottle of cheap wine that I knew the prof loved ($10) and a really good box of chocolate ($15). She wrote multiple letters for me over a couple of years, so I thought something a little extra was required.

I think the question is not whether they'll be willing to write the letters, but whether those letters would help your application. Are you applying for creative writing programs? If not, the letters would have no value. If so, it would be better to take for-credit creative writing classes and seek your letters there. The other big question is whether the teachers have relevant PhDs. How can somebody attest to your ability to excel in a graduate program, or to your research potential, if they have no experience with graduate level research? Ultimately, I think that using non-credit continuing-ed instructors as referees will just make you look like you're not a serious contender. I'm sure a lot of incredibly well educated, talented people teach those classes, but I'm sure there are also a lot of people running those classes with little to no academic experience. You need impressive letters from someone who has the institutional cred and credentials to back up the glowing things they're saying about you.

(As always) I agree with fuzzylogician. You want people who will speak to your research potential, not your language skills. If you feel the need to prove your competence with a language, and you've checked with a prof and it makes sense for your application, you could maybe have the language prof write a supplemental letter. In any case, I wouldn't use the private tutor. Stick to tenure-track faculty.

Thanks everyone! Canuckonomist, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lot of variability about when people get the news. It all depends on how quickly people get back to SSHRC to turn down awards. I'm sure there are some people out there who will take some time making that decision, and some who know right away. I'm totally pulling for you, though! After the initial squealing and jumping up and down wore off, one of my first thoughts was "I wonder if canuckonomist got bumped as well..." I spend too much time online.

I didn't ask where I was on the waitlist. Figure those poor SSHRC workers have enough to worry about. But I did know I was likely close, since my friend who's in the same program and sub-field as me won a big SSHRC with a score that was .1 higher than mine. For the record, I'm in English, will take up the award for year 2, and had a score of 19.3.

For those of you waiting for PhD SSHRC wait list movement, I just got an e-mail upgrading me to a CGS! Hopefully there will be more good news around here soon! AAHHHHHHHHH I'm so so so so happy!!! Michael Smith travel funding here I come!

I like that thinking! Makes sense to me. There's also no privacy issue now, and no need to get all of the results out in one big shot. Should be easier. Of course, when I saw that Canuckonomist had the last post on this thread, I had a little flutter of hope that things had already started moving. Good luck, waiting folk!

Well, we call ours supervisors as well, but we just don't work directly for them in the humanities. We apply for totally separate grants for totally separate projects, but supervisors will often help review their grad students' apps and help them sort out sources of funding. Professors sometimes have grad students help them with their work as research assistants, but that's not always or even usually part of the supervisor-supervisee relationship. RAs are more likely to be random MA or PhD students who are put to work photocopying or hunting down documents for professors. It's busy work, not part of the actual production of ideas.

Yeah, I think that this doesn't apply to almost all of the arts and humanities. Supervising grad students is still part of the tenure package, but supervisors and grad students only very rarely work on research together. I'm in English, and while there are some co-authored papers out there, it's usually an equal collaboration between two professors. We certainly don't have anything like the multi-authored system in the sciences. We end up with far fewer publications, because all of ours are independently produced, first-authored pieces. My supervisor stresses independence and self-motivation. Makes sense, since I'll basically be huddled in my office, typing away alone for a few years. If I submit some work to him, he'll give very good, very harsh feedback on it within days, but he's not going to hold my hand, or chase me around and set deadlines for me. This works for me, since I have a fairly strong sense of what I want to do, and mostly want to be left to do it (while being held to high standards). I e-mail him when I need something, and otherwise have a more formal meeting every few months. Other supervisors in my department have more frequent contact with their students. I know some who have meetings every two weeks, with structured tasks for the student to do before each meeting, and lots of constant feedback. This works really well for some of my friends.

I worked in a grad studies office for a while, and there were specific people whose entire jobs were sorting out issues like this for international students. I would send a very polite e-mail to the grad studies office at your PhD school--or whichever office will process your transcripts--and explain the situation. I'm sure they'll be able to sort something out. After all, this is not your fault, and they won't let a silly little thing like this keep you out of grad school.

Yeah, I would probably skip it.

Congrats, Snasser! I remember you from last year (different handle) when I was also turned down. Now you never ever ever have to apply for one of these damn things ever again!

Right, except that running longer distances has a direct impact on speed, while doing more assignments does not have a direct impact on your ability to do good work. If anything, you had more chances to do well. But the point is that it is completely irrelevant how your classmates were scored, or what their grades were. Your grades based on your performance is what count. Stop worrying about the other folk and take some responsibility for your role in this situation. You didn't do all of the assignments, so you weren't eligible for the special exemption. Based on those circumstances, you earned a certain grade. Other students do not enter into it.

SSHRCs are scored on a curve, so there's usually a big bottleneck in the 17-19 range. That's great! Your odds sound awesome, then. Good luck!

I wonder if people taking Vaniers would move money down the list, though. Did you hear that from someone at SSHRC? It would depend on whether Vanier winners get moved to a totally different funding pool, or just get the equivalent of a top up from a smaller extra fund.

I think it comes in a couple of waves. First, you'll have the re-allocation of funds from people taking up their awards abroad, or immediately turning it down upon receiving their results because they're not going to school after all, or they got something better. That would logically be what, early June? Then it seems like they do another big round in--sorry to say--January. A handful of people at my school won 2009 SSHRCs in January, 2010. The good news is that you get retroactive payment. I have a friend who had a SSHRC for one term before dropping out, so I assume it's the money from people like her that gets redistributed in January. Basically, any time in the next eight months.