Andsowego

Go to the OSAP site and use your access number and password to sign in: https://osap.gov.on....n.xhtml?lang=en

Well, we're now well past what I would consider "mid-January." Just for fun, I hereby predict that in the next couple of days the OGS status description will be changed to "mid-February." I'd be willing to stake the $4.37 I have left on my Tim H's card that mid-Feb is the next stop on the notification train! Anyone want to bet against me?

I see that your deadline of Jan. 23rd has now passed, but you might find this to be useful: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/726/07/ Sometimes "abstract" and "summary" are used interchangeably, but they're actually a little different depending on the nature of your work. Hopefully whatever you decided to submit will do the trick!

Writing an essay is completely different than writing an SOP for grad school entry. Yes, getting the word count right can be a harrowing experience (I've been through tons of these trials), but exceeding the word count by even a small margin does project a sense of arrogance (again, my opinion). It implies that you think your words or ideas are so important or significant that you have the right to exceed the standards that others are adhering to. Writing an SOP for grad school is excellent practice for learning how to write academic funding grant applications (or conference proposals, or publishable papers, etc.) and there is absolutely no room there for a person to go beyond a required word count simply because they believe what they have to say is Just. That. Important. Intentionally choosing to exceed a word count limit is about ego. A very important part of becoming a successful grad student (and future scholar) is learning how to express your academic ideas succinctly within limits, and learning how to elegantly refine your arguments. I see required word counts as an opportunity to do that (however "harrowing" that task may be).

I disagree with this where hard word limits are concerned. I've mentioned this in another thread, that I was the student rep on the admissions committee for my department, so I can speak from that context. Don't give an admissions committee ANY reason to throw out your application (or even to be annoyed with it!). Word count matters. I can only speak from my experience, but here's what happens in my department: the graduate secretary reviews all the applications to make sure there's nothing missing, AND she includes the exact SOP word count on a cover page for the ad comm. All pdf's or word doc's are easy to establish word count. One year, I sat on the committee with a prof who wanted to literally black out every single word beyond the limit with a sharpie marker before the application was evaluated. So yes. Word count really does matter! Why risk pissing people off simply because you think you're smart enough to fool them? It indicates a sense of arrogance on the part of the applicant.

I disagree somewhat with the bolded part. If the methods worked well in state A, there's absolutely no guarantee that they'll also work well in state B. Transplantation of methodology without consideration of contextual subtleties is inappropriate in my field (though I'm not sure about others). If you really want to use the same methodology as your peer, at the very least you should assess what the contextual differences are between the two states then make changes to your methodology accordingly.

Salad bar

The only cast member of "Friends" who wasn't a smoker at the time of the series filming was Matt LeBlanc.

My university gives a small travel grant to a student who has a paper accepted at a conference (just one grant per school year). I try to use that grant to buy a plane ticket to a really worthwhile inter/national conference in my field. Additional conferences are paid for out of my pocket, so I try to select ones that are relatively close to where I live and don't require a plane ticket (perhaps just train, or carpool with others who are attending the same conference). I also cut corners on hotels when I can (e.g., don't stay in them! try to find dorm-style accommodation at a local college/university, or stay with family/friends when possible). I've also gone to conferences where I just go for the day on which I'm presenting, thus only having to stay overnight once, rather than for multiple days (but then you're sacrificing attending the rest of the conference, so it's a trade-off). You could also look into grad student conferences (run by students, for students) at other universities close to where you're located. The fees are usually cheap (if not completely free) and it's a good chance to meet other grad students in your field (plus it's an excuse to chat with professors from other universities). Although student-run conferences aren't as "prestigious" as inter/national conferences, you'll still present a paper, still get feedback, still get differing perspectives from others in your field, and still have something useful to put on your c.v.

You won't have to give up anything! There's something for everyone. http://livevictoria.com/

So sorry to hear that, cabooklover. May the force be with you as you stay positive!!!

Hang in there! <<<hugs>>>

I'm in the 3rd year of my PhD, and I've done 2-3 conferences per year. I try to mix it up between solo papers, co-authored papers, and roundtables. I've never done a poster session. This number completely depends on whether or not I can scrounge up the finances to travel (and obviously how far I need to go for each conference since air travel in/out of Canada isn't cheap). From what I understand, one conference/semester (term?) is a good number (at least in the social sciences). edited: I want to add as well, that I recently had a professor caution against going "conference crazy" just to enhance a c.v. (not referring to me specifically, it was something she said in a general presentation). If you've already got a lot of conference credits, you might want to work on getting more publishing credits - especially towards the middle/end of your PhD program, since that's when you should be thinking about what it will take to get hired in the near future.

Totally. I did three degrees before this PhD (2 Bachelor's and a Master's - a different university for each one) but my current university is a nightmare. My three previous universities had their issues, sure, but this one is absolutely the worst of the bunch. Every time I have to visit the registrar's office or the finance office in particular, I have to talk myself into a very zen mental space before I go. I've totally given up on the hope that they might know how to think critically (or even use basic logic). It's at the point where all I can really do is laugh. Otherwise, I'd be sticking my head in a gas oven at least once a month.

Mine still says, "Information about whether or not your application was entered into the competition will be available mid January. The results of the competition will be available mid April 2012. Please use the "Check Status" link on your OGS Main Page to access information about the status of your application." And then when you use the "check status" link on the main page as they suggest, you get sent right back to ^^that^^ message. Based on my previous experiences with OGS, the things they write on their website are subject to change at any time without any explanation... from mid-Dec to mid-Jan to mid-Feb... to OOPS! now you have to wait until April to know *anything*. But then again, I would be more than happy to eat my words!

EAT THE COOKIE is going to be my new personal mantra (and I'm not even waiting to hear about Fulbright... I'm in my own personal funding hell). lol

Me: I'd like to request xyz and I have some questions. Them: You need to fill out the online form and submit it via e-mail. Me: I've already filled out the form (here it is!), and on your website it says you can submit it in person. Them: Sorry, you have to go send it via e-mail. Me: If I send it via e-mail, who will receive it? Them: I will receive it. Me: Okay. And then you will print it? Them: Yes. Me: And then you'll be able to answer my questions? Them: Yes. Me: (holding out printed, complete form)... Them: Sorry, but it needs to be done via e-mail. Me: But I'm Right. Here. Them: It has to be via e-mail. Me: (grabs blackberry) I'll e-mail a copy to you right now. As I'm standing here. You'll have it within 5 seconds. Them: Sorry. You have to go home and e-mail it to me (walks away). Me: HEADDESK. /end scene

This sounds like my perfect date. Just sayin.

As a PhD student, you register in all three terms - fall, winter, and spring/summer. You can select if you want your OGS award to be 2 or 3 terms, and you have the option for the award to start in May if you're registered then (since you pay tuition all year long, this might make sense if you're heading into your second, third, or fourth year). It just means that your $$ goes from May-May, rather than Sept-Sept. I'm just curious if anyone has done this and what they see as beneficial about it.

Similar here - Last year my application was successful, and I was notified on May 6th (that's the day my online status changed on the OSAP site). I chose the September start date to receive the award, and the first funding payment was in my bank account during the first week of September. Does anyone out there have experience with selecting the May start date option?

re: irritations of networking. Oh, for sure. I'm sure there are a million things I could list that are the cause of conference discomfort! Honestly, I just never considered it from the "straddler" point of view before, and I think there's merit in further investigation. I'm 75% done my doctoral program and have presented at countless conferences at this point. I actually enjoy public speaking, and sharing my work publicly. I just really hate the whole conference culture (for the most part... I do admit to enjoying some of the aspects of networking). My upbringing was very blue collar, working class, no expendable income. My parents both went to community college (technical cert's, no degrees) and have spent a lifetime working hard just to make ends meet. I still live my day-to-day life as if I have no money (which I kind of don't as a grad student, but even when I was working full time before I returned to grad school, I was overly careful with expenses). I'm also the person at conferences who doesn't like to waste food, and doesn't like to leave lights on in a room when I leave, etc. etc. You get the picture. These things spill over into my daily existence at an elite research-based university where others I'm studying with have generations of family history at the university. I've never really felt like an "insider" in many ways, but I just attributed it to being unique, rather than something that is directly attributed to my context in a class system. Next step: I think I might check out Lubrano's book (thanks for that suggestion!). (and RedPanda, this line, "It's not easy to have a conversation about your office mate's birthday safari in Africa when your family celebrates special occasions with a Carvel cake and dinner at the Outback" is RAD. Been there, done that, still enjoying the cake!)

re: the bolded part. I'm totally in agreement. One of the hardest things I've had to do as a grad student is acclimate to the idea of networking. Not that I haven't networked before, but the contextual expectations surrounding it are so different in academia than in what I would consider "real life." I literally have a physical reaction to name-dropping and anything that can remotely be considered disingenuous. It turns my stomach. I grew up in a family where people said what they meant without a hidden agenda and where people were appreciated for transparency, so this academic concept of networking (especially at a conference - don't even get me started on how much I loathe that practice) feels unnatural to me. I like to refer to it as "AAK" (academic a**-kissing) and I usually avoid it at all costs. As soon as a person gives me the impression that they'd rather talk about all the people they've worked with, and all the people they know (rather than the actual work they're doing or the ideas they might be interested in sharing), I tune out and move on. I never really considered my response to be borne from this "straddler" phenomenon before, but it's definitely something I'm going to give more thought to.

CanuckBoy, You might want to post your question in the Education section of this forum (if you haven't already done so). I'm not saying you shouldn't have posted it here... just saying you'll likely get a lot more info on this topic from people who are conducting research in this area (in addition to the anecdotal advice you'd receive elsewhere in the forum).

Dentistry. And for anyone who knows me, this is about as far from my current field as I could possibly get (I'm not even in sciences, or anything that could remotely be considered science-y). I've just always had the internal belief that I could do it better than any dentist I've ever had. There's absolutely no empirical evidence to back this up of course, but still. The strange "what if" dream has always been there. lol

I didn't post my admits on fb (just told those who are close to me in person). I waited until I had made a firm decision, and then posted about it. Something along the lines of, "It's official, I'm moving to city XYZ this September to tackle a PhD! Let the good times begin!" Why post about admits when you're ultimately only going to accept one? Posting about admits seems like bragging. Posting about a firm life decision seems more like informing. Just my two cents!