happy little pill

Me! I'm interested in collecting/curatorial practice in non-gallery/museum spaces (I'm focusing on hospital art collections in North America for my PhD). Inevitably I'll run into some modernist content, I'd assume, but it's not my goal.

I'm under the impression from discussions with one of my profs who sat on the PhD adj. committee last year for SSHRC that they're sorting out the kinks in the MA system before converting the PhDs over to that system. I don't know if this was cross-board or only for SSHRC last year, but they had to extend by 4 or 5 days due to technical issues, so maybe they wanted to give it another test run this year. From what this year's cohort has shared, it seems like things have improved, so maybe next year.

My McGill status has been updated from "submitted" to "in review" And so begins the long-winded waiting process until about late-February, unless they are on their game this year! Good luck to all of you returning applicants! I personally think it's an asset that you've been in the arts/cultural sector and are returning, as I imagine you're coming back with a really solid idea of what you want to do!

I was 24 when I started and I'll be 26 when I'm over.

Yup, it's definitely a good sign. They wouldn't offer to reimburse you if they weren't serious about you coming to their school! My friend was courted by UChicago and Harvard last year to come to their prospective student weekends and got into both.

I applied directly to my university. I was surprised today to see that they are still using snail mail to let people know their status. :S

Congratulations!!!! I'm Canadian so PhD application season has only ended for me at McGill. Everybody else either extended their deadline (grr) or their deadline is in about 3 days. I've sent in all of my applications though so I'm officially in the waiting game.

Hello! Like HollaAtYoGurrrl, I've been a long time lurker and finally decided to "take the plunge" as I finished up PhD application season. I was forwarded on by my university in late December, which I was surprised about, as my department never usually forwards candidates who aren't planning to return to their institution. From what I have heard from professors, there are five SSHRC ranking committees in Ottawa and your proposal is sent to one of the five, based on Departmental affiliation, I'd assume. The list of all the sub-committees is here.

Publications don't seem to affect things that much, but I can say that for sure at Concordia, "academic mindset" is important (I've been at the school for five years now). They understand that students have real world experience, but the caliber of applicants is so high that they are looking for a) an absolute knock-out SOP and b ) academic potential and internal community participation. Concordia's ARTH department is big on having its students start initiatives or take part in existing ones and they are conference fiends. One of the most popular phrases in the department is "so what conferences have you applied to?" As for tuition in Quebec being lower so there's less pressure... I disagree. Yes, maybe you can afford to pay the $1500.00 for your tuition a semester, but in the long run, not applying for federal and provincial grants is going to hurt your career. Funding begets other funding (this isn't just a stupid saying, I've been much more successful in other funding endeavors since getting SSHRC) and if you're looking to work in academia, especially, they're going to want someone who has a proven track record of getting funding from funding agencies. You're also at a disadvantage by not applying because you don't have the expertise of having your proposal looked at by your professors, who most likely have gone through this process successfully.