biggoalies

Thanks!

Hi folks, quick question for you, as I begin my involvement in a thread that will certainly be super helpful over the next few years: were you folks with a Tri-Council fellowship having it deposited in USD in a US bank account? And if so, this does not alter the fact that it is a Canadian source of income, right? (the word source should confirm my presumption, but I thought I would ask in case there is a hoop to jump through, such as making sure it's deposited in Canada instead or something). Thanks and thanks particularly to those who have been frequent posters over the last year(s), making this thread so helpful for the upcoming years!

They do, but ultimately that means that you only really get a tiny % of the value of the award, when compared to your initial guaranteed funding. I imagine that the % begins to grow when one gets CGS, Vanier, or Trudeau... but it initially feels like a bit of a punch in the face when you realize that the neoliberal university is, once again, cashing up on your academic labor [gets trickier, and perhaps slightly more understandable in Canada since universities are publicly-funded to some extent, but that's certainly not the case of UChicago as far as I know]. I would like to think that it certainly doesn't have to be that way; if anything, some universities (e.g.: Rice) let you keep everything (i.e.: they don't withdraw the guaranteed funding as a whole or in part). But anyway, I don't want to sound too depressing!

Letter came in to make the phone call to York last Friday official: SSHRC Fellowship with 13/20 (so close to the waitlist...). Now I'll drink to the health of UChicago that will be taking approximately 70% of that money away. (P.S.: I don't want to sound ungrateful; I just think that it's an absolute shame (that's a soft way to put it) that Canadian and American universities with large endowments end up cashing most of the awards, especially the SSHRC fellowship.)

Sorry to hear that! So weird too... it seems to be the case year in year out, but I'm also in downtown Toronto and nothing has come in the mail today. Go figure!

Check out York's SSHRC doctoral guide (http://gradstudies.yorku.ca/files/2015/09/SSHRC-doctoral-guide.pdf). It's the closest I've seen to a "clear" explanation. Unlike CGS-M's rubric (50% Academic Excellence, 30% Research Potential, 20% Personal Characteristics and Interpersonal Skills), it seems that the doctoral fellowships and awards are more "global," for the lack of a better term: a set of evaluation criteria free of imposed weight, leading to a temporary score that is then adjusted based on a 100-point scheme and adjudicated within the committees. Now, that's a university-level guide, so the process might/must be different, but I can't imagine it being that different.

Update: No letter for me in Toronto today.

Maybe... though Tuesday is perhaps more likely, if we are to believe SSHRC that they have sent the letters on Friday afternoon (that's what I was told by email).

Don't have much to suggest, but... for Rice, I would contact Jim Faubion to have a chat with him. They tend to do stuff in collegiality, as it is such a small department with small cohorts,* but he would most likely be the main professor for you (right?), so I would want to make sure he's pumped about your project. Great department; it was heartbreaking to turn down their offer. * (we were five admittees this year, but two of us rejected, bringing it to three, which was the initial number that they said they would accept)

A "glitch in the system" that caused a bunch of unsuccessful applicants to be accepted for the PhD program in Anthropology before receiving another email 20 minutes later stating that a mistake had been made. Something like that. I was lucky enough to be rejected the first time around, so I deleted that second email after reading it. I'm guessing some folks discussed the matter in my depth (and frustration) somewhere on this forum! The connection to the case in hand here is not direct; it's more a fear that the employee could have read the wrong spreadsheet line, so in my mind, only the letter will make it real (and perhaps trump the denial).

Did you get it? Depending on where you want(ed) to go, it might not be too late to try to use it as leverage. Might be tougher for PhDs than MAs with CGS-M, but still worth a try if you got it, no?

Thanks for mentioning it. So sorry to hear that... If you're still eligible next year, I hope that you get it! Just called, I couldn't barely articulate on the phone. Sounds like I got the SSHRC fellowship although I'm so scared right now... I want the letter to confirm before I allow myself to truly celebrate, especially after seeing universities like UMichigan completely messing up the application result announcements.

Ambiguous refusal from an employee in the FGS office at York... I won't survive the weekend if my heart keeps beating like that!

For what it's worth, SSHRC just told me that results were mailed today. Oh, when I thought this morning that I would have a peaceful weekend! It's the first time that I'm applying for the SSHRC doctoral competition... is it always full of unexpected developments like that?

Woaw, emails before snail mail, maybe SSHRC could learn from this! No hope for York, I'm afraid. Congrats everyone!

Congrats to you both (Anthrogal, and Lanie for Vanier), so exciting! But ahhh, SSHRC speaks of fairness in the process... Why can't all universities proceed the same way?

I don't want to harass that friendly woman by emailing her/going to talk to her again... but maybe if you call her and mention that other schools have emailed the results it'll prompt her to proceed in that direction before 4pm!

Quite odd. I was told I would receive photographs with the offer, if I receive one. Not sure at all why they don't just put them online.

wait, so you got your result?

Oh, when I think about the fact that the scholarship officer at York was actually working on the results list when I dropped by her desk yesterday...

I've heard from multiple sources that the university has sold a number of buildings over the last few years. That's also the justification they gave for me for the ghost buildings on their website (the FAQ refers to 10-12 pet-friendly buildings, whereas there are now only a few). So that might explain the "extreme competition." I'm hoping to visit in July and find an apartment at that time, but otherwise gradhousing would be a good back-up plan (though I now realize the possibility that I might never get an offer). By the way, new admit here too. Anthropology

Naively hoped to receive the letter today... Thankfully (?), the postal worker did his run three hours ahead of his regular schedule, so I'm now somewhat at peace for the weekend

@yellowsweatygorilla: no, I did my Master's at York. I would tend to think that direct applicants won't have their information forwarded to their new school until they confirm where they'll take up the award... just like York must have my information, even though I wouldn't be taking up the award there (I'm going stateside next September). So I think that only SSHRC knows about your result, if that makes sense. Might be wrong, though: informed speculation is now my favourite past-time. [Congrats on the acceptance, by the way!]

My thought, exactly. It would have passed better if the letter had been in my mailbox this afternoon! So York folks: I went to talk to the new scholarship officer at FGS (super friendly woman), but sadly, she refused to give me the results they have definitively received. She also said that no one had told her about emails, so sadly again, we probably shouldn't expect anything more than a letter in the mail next week. I guess that means I can sleep well for a few days now, right?

Ugh, I wish that tweet had never been posted... (on Twitter that is; thanks to crackers for bringing it up)