Canuckonomist

Michelle St-Pierre is now out of the office until July 26th. The wait just got a little bit longer.

This was my thought, too. The difference between Vanier and CGS looks like it's just the amount of the award. SSHRC DF can be held aboard, so that's the reason they'd turn down a Vanier.

Queen's is always a good choice. I miss the department quite a bit -they're great people. I'm sure you'll have a good time there, and learn plenty. Also, their graduate assistant is the most amazing person in the world. Be good to her, and she'll be good to you.

Talked to Michelle St-Pierre yesterday, and she said that there has been no 'official' movement on the waitlists yet (I think she meant regular waitlists) because after the accept/decline deadline in June, there is a secret deadline of July 7th where they take until then to call winners to find out why they haven't replied yet. Then there are still a couple days past that deadline where they keep trying. There are a few people still unaccounted for. She said that movement should start in the next two weeks, and if I haven't heard anything in a few weeks to e-mail/call her again. By the sounds of it, the 'second rounders' so to speak, might be released as early as next week, or as late as end of July. Still, that's not that long of a wait, either way. Best, Canuck P.S: Sure, ChanEcon, I can agree to that. You wouldn't happen to be attending UToronto next year, would you? There is a Mr. Chan listed in the first year class for the coming september, and I was wondering if that was you.

Still waiting, of course. But on that note, passed 1 of 2 comps, the harder of the two. Rewrite again in August, and with hope, I'll have a SSHRC to put to use upon passing that. At least waiting for the comps results is over, for the time being. Canuck

Congrats! Not an easy thing to do. I don't think these arguments are entirely bogus, especially when your arguments and numbers are based on the really heavy assumption about a perfect information framework, which is oversimplifying the situation considerably. I don't have the time to crunch through your numbers, but the argument that there is so much red tape to pay for does hold water. The fact that you've provided 2 quotes from SSHRC that differ considerably from one time to the other, show that the pieces of information we get from SSHRC are only noisy signals of the truth, and so we can't entirely base our 'proofs' on those noisy signals. Something tells me that if the money is indeed delayed, it's delayed because it's uncertain, and there is a positive probability not equal to one that the funding will not actually be clawed back. (TransitCity in Toronto is a loose example of money that is promised by government bodies to a project, when it later gets retracted before it can be used). Still, all these things aside, you're 5th on the waiting list, when my initial impression was that you said somewhere that you were 15th, -a point on which I am obviously mistaken. My cautionary advice was only in that context, where I figured that your research didn't prove with any concreteness that the waitlist would move 15 spots. Given that you are 5th, I see no reason why it isn't likely that the 2 Vaniers would accept, and 3 of 34 would decline. So I'm with you on this one, and hopefully in not too short a time, we'll both be drinking moderately-priced wine on a government bill.

I wager you mean "at least", here. And this is in our subcommittee alone. What happens in other subcommittees doesn't help us. 2 were offered Vaniers, and 34 others combined for the SSHRC/CGS awards in that subcommittee. From what I've heard from SSHRC, someone declining a Vanier may be detrimental to us, as from what I gather, the award is not necessarily 'passed on' in that subcommittee -and what's more, they get a Small SSHRC from somewhere if they decline the Vanier. That said, I hope you're right about all this, because your getting an award is a sufficient condition for my getting one. Further, it's possible that if all this happens, I may win a CGS, and I haven't even won a small SSHRC yet. Where were you on the waitlist (just out of curiousity)? Your calculations do lead to a more optimistic view, but a number with this view have been burned by admissions/scholarship committees not giving full information, as tends to be common. For those who applied for the 2009-2010 academic year to the UChicago Econ Ph.D program, they might remember this all too well. We applied being told by their website, and by admins that there were the usual 25 funded spots, and because they're Chicago, 85 spots in total (they like to give a number of students a chance, and take their money while they're at it.) After applying, and waiting, we hear from an admin that 'the economy' had forced them to cut the number of funded spots to 15. So, at the end of the day, there were 25% more applicants, and 40% less spots. Would have been nice if they had told us that at the beginning, so that some of us wouldn't have wasted the $120 to apply (UChicago is a gold mine for admin fees). Again, not trying to say you won't get one, but you've given this more thought than I think might be good for your ability to cope with rejection, should that be the ultimate, and unfortunate outcome. It's not uncommon for budgets to change mid-year for all sorts of reasons, and who knows what happened this year. That said, a member of my program this year didn't initially win an award, but received a 'business CGS' in July. Anything is possible, it's true. Canuck

What mudlark is pointing out, is that more money does not imply more scholarships. More money is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for that. In fact, because there is more 'business money' that may contribute to the fewer scholarships than you'd expect, because I'm pretty sure that business money was in the form of CGS awards, which take up a considerably larger sum than a regular SSHRC. Not to mention, if there were more CGS awards given out, the number of scholarships goes down. Perhaps the effort in the downturn was to keep more students with awards in Canada, and hence the distinct possibility that the number of CGS-type awards went up. Also, the number of single and double-year awards could have also decreased in favour of more awards of the three and four-year variety. This doesn't contradict with what the policymakers say, though policymakers, if as an economist, you've known any, are far from completely reliable. Not trying to crap on your sundae, just ironing out what I think Mudlark's case is. Here's hoping you're right though.

Your degree of bluntness is almost a turn on. Didn't have the heart to be nearly as forward. Still though, as in previous years, sometimes more funding becomes available, and so more awards are declared later. I doubt, however, that it will be 88. I think more than one per committee might even be a stretch.

I think we all appreciate your optimism. It's good to still believe that you've got a shot, but remember not to hang your future on it. Some would say I've already got one, but I'm not willing to believe it until I see it. Treat your situation as a lottery ticket that you didn't have to pay for, and don't be too disappointed if things don't end up in the green. The last thing you want is to fall victim to a version of the Machina Paradox (something that might happen to me, for different reasons).

I'm posting this because I see both SpaceJump and I online at this very moment, hoping that we'll hear something form someone. Wishin', and hopin' we'll get bumped today.

Thanks, Mudlark. I figure there will be variability, but don't people get until June 1st to make their initial decision? I thought the deadline was only something like a month. Anyhow, I figure mid June for me anyway, so I'm not too anxious. It's nice to see some movement for you, though!

Great to know that waitlist is moving, so perhaps others in line for a CGS will get them soon. Also nice to know they're moving by e-mail. I'm not sure what this says about regular SSHRCs, but I hope to see one soon. Congrats Mudlark, life is good! EDIT: Given that that happened almost 3 1/2 hours ago, and since they'll probably hang 'em up for the weekend in about an hour, I figure the rest of us are waiting on monday.

Doesn't surprise me when it comes to moving on the waitlists. I imagine they'll want to wrap things up quicker, now that everything is said and done, and there is no adjudication left to be done -it's purely administrative from here on in. Of course, most of that is wishful-economist-thinking, imagining that now that the uncertainties in the process are sorted out, that the rest of the process will be efficient.

I feel bad for you cats, but the consistent information from SSHRC has been end of the month, which is a week away, so if they were indeed mailed today, they'll be out by when SSHRC has consistently said. Wait, hold on, and you'll get your response. I'm hoping for the best for all of you, and that the answers come soon. Canuck

I stand happily corrected.

I think you've misread some of the posts. I don't believe anyone knows where they are on the list of winners. Those stats were for those who were on the "recommended but not funded" and are waiting to win an award. They gave that info to us waitlisters freely.

Nice to see it in writing. EDIT: Where are my manners? Congrats Snasser! Hard-fought and well-deserved!

What Michelle St-Pierre told me, (and someone else told SpaceJump) was that, Vanier winners are in essence, offered both Vanier and SSHRC DF, and if they take one, they forfeit the other. So, she says, if a Vanier winner takes their Vanier offer, the SSHRC DF reserved for them moves down the list. I've got 2 Vanier winners in my subcommittee, and she said that should one of them take the award they were offered, then a SSHRC DF will come my way.

I figured as much. I'm studying for comps which are June 1st, and 8th, and likely I'll fail 1 of 2, so I'll be studying through August. I'm not too hung up on the whole SSHRC thing (well, enough to wait around for your answer...) because I can't even claim it if I don't pass comps, so whether I win it or not is relatively secondary at this point. Early June, if that is the case, would be much earlier than I was expecting. Just would love to hear if those Vanier cats in my subcommittee took the award or not. (Take it!.... Awww come on! He's spinning the ball on his finger!!!! Just take it!)

How long did it take last year?

Whoa, Bill. You must be their Golden boy with stats like that. I'm wondering why you didn't apply to the US, but Queen's is a powerhouse nonetheless, and I miss it plenty myself. Regardless, I'm expecting great things from you! Tell Rachel that Mike says hi, next time you're in.

I wasn't suggesting it is. Anyone who has won a CGS has obviously met the cut-off point and are well-deserving.

The subcomittee you are evaluated in is randomly assigned. Not really much more to explain than that!

What did she say your chances are?