O4E

Can be true. But if the reviewer isnt looking for typos youd be in the clear. And if the committee whose evaluating has two people tied, whats the tie breaker? Its a possibility. Nonetheless.

I heard that any typo was a automatic rejection as well. My profs/colleagues have always told me under no circumsatnces can there be any typos/grammar mistakes. none.

That is indeed your confirmation. I sent an email last night asking about emailing/faxing (Im in the UK), they replied to me that you can email/fax in their FAQ (ill be faxing mine). They will send you a automatic FAQ file explaining this if you send an email. When in doubt, email them is what i say (*they are prompt i find). Also has anyone noticed the 1050 accepted awards figure?., Is that right that 1050 total PGS/CGS awards were handed out?., Because last year 2700 awards were given out?. Thoughts

My GF had an issue simmilar to this she was graduating in October last fall. The graduate school told her she had to retuirn all of the funding she recieved after September (even though she was registered). However she thought the school was being a bit weird in their behaviour and asked NSERC directly what the policies were. Essentially they told her the finances are based until you graduate. So you are entitled to funding right up until the point where your officially graduated for the calender yaera where you were rewarded the scholarship. Make sure though you get clarification from your grad school on their policies. Otherwise theres red tape to deal with down the road. They often have different satnces than nserc.

I remember last year with my NSERC rejection being quite bitter that a colleague got a PGS-D and didnt even publish a single paper prior to submitting her ap. I had at least 2 at the time. But what Ive come to realize and especially from others experinces is that there are many issues that can come into play in the selection process. Heck even the criteria for getting your app outside of the university is vague university to university. Some universities have a criteria of grades only and do not look at all at any of your other accomplishments. So if the cut off was 92% regardless of your publications an 85 or 86 would get you a rejection in November at some Universities without the pleasure of a rejection letter from nserc. I know alot of guys doing research right now who have 70~80% averages that are far more canny at research and publishing than people with 95s but they cant break the university screen. I dont know why your app didnt go through at NSERC. But some years i would have relished the oppertunity just for my ap to have gone through the university screen. Could be a number of things why it didnt pan out. There is no exact sceince to scholarship acceptances/rejections its subjective based on some 30/50/20 scale for the reviewer who has multiple apps to go through and little time to do so based on many reasons listed here. I know of people with multiple publications and 99% averages still being rejected for scholarships (and being quite upset over it too). The key is, rejection happens, and you need to make them make you stronger. Take it from somone whose been rejected 3x by Nserc, 2x by OGS, 1x by commonwealth, multiplex by some pretstigious University scholarship that i cant remeber and use this motivation; Prove to them why they made a mistake by publishing even more and excelling in your research. Theres other scholarships out there that are more prestigious go for them. But always keep in mind that no matter how great you are or think you are. Scholarships and grants are hit and misses. You win some, you lose some, and you keep at it;) Thats academia. BTW my grammar and typing is atrocious here, but this is not an app for nserc thankfully

Ive had 5 applications to NSERC. first 2 were rejections while applying in undergrad at Ottawa U (2005/6,2006/7), third was succesful at a new school (2007/8) at start of my masters, fourth was unsuccesful (2008/9). And this weekend i learnt that my 5th (2010/11) was succesful in my first year of phd! I was quite discouraged after my fourth app that was rejected (incidently my OGS was rejected too that year and wasnt even sent to nserc) and thought of not trying again. I was denied by my school to see the selection process so I was quite ticked off at them, as i was suppose to be allowed to see it. I think most schools have very different criteria in what apps that they send and what they dont send. I did try again this fall And im very glad i tried again. Anyway I hope some of this info helps others who have been discouraged by rejection letters this week. I think the most important thing is to keep trying.