electrochoc

T4A income is not taxable if used to fund a degree (ba, ma, or phd), although it is still income hence why you get a T4A for it. If it is for post-doc, then it's taxable. So basically fellowships are taxable and scholarships are not. It sort of depends on the province though, Quebec treats scholarships a bit different. "In most cases, scholarships, fellowships, or bursaries are not taxable and need not be reported as income on your tax return, if you received them while enrolled as a student in a program that entitles you to claim the education amount on your tax information, as defined by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). More information on this topic may be found at CRAs website, <http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.html>. In some rare circumstances (outlined on CRA's website), this award or portions of it may be taxed." Also, I believe this has been dealt with extensively in other threads. You should take a look at that. This one particular thread my be useful (they also mention how you input t4a income but it gets subtracted from taxable income later):

Anybody heard from U of T yet? For PhD? That said, I find the comments about not wanting to move to Ottawa funny to me. I love this city, and even though I got into York with a great funding package, I don't know if I can even fathom the idea of living in Toronto. So interesting how we have to match our lifestyle preferences with our university preferences, no? Also, about the Carleton Political Science program: actually well-known with some pretty big scholars depending on the field (i.e. Political Theory, Parliamentary studies, etc).

If it was already your top choice and funding is not an issue, it seems that other applications would only waste your time and money. The only reason to apply to one or two more would be if you're unsure about this one grad school that accepted you.

I think some grad schools are betting with this whole process. Many don't offer you their highest offer from the beginning. If you take it right away, good for them. But if you are a top applicant and have some other good offers on the table, it is not unheard of to use them as leverage (many POIs actually advise you to do that) in order to get some more monies. However, if you don't have a lot of leverage, then it's more of a "please take a look and see if you have a bit more to spare" and it can work too.

I would give about two more weeks because at some universities committees haven't even met yet. Then, if still not word, contact them by e-mail and tell them you are concerned with your visa application time (though some US embassies around the world are very aware of this and even offer an expedited process for grad students).

That's tough. My question for you is about what do you want to do for a living after a graduation and what would be of higher value for you as a professional then: better university reputation or a more exciting research background?

How are you leaning towards the other non-film related programs? I know a couple of people in Anthropology for example doing exactly that: ethnographic documentaries. This allows them to get the skills for film-making but still make sure they focus on the message they want to convey. That's because the degree at the university where they are is flexible. If you get into Columbia's Anthro you might be able to do something like this. If any of the programs you mentioned are more flexible than the other, then it's your chance to customize it to fit your interests (and a variety of knowledge you can get from this might be a differential for when you join the job market).

My dept told me that after the nomination, it might take up to 10 days to officially hear from grad studies. But I assume the dept itself should be able to provide you with some solid info.

I agree. Though here at the forum those who win are usually just genuinely happy, not boasting or anything, and most are truly wishing good luck to everybody else. Just helps to be considerate of those who are not in the same boat.

Well, I have a question for you: what exactly is the job market they are talking about? The academic one or outside of academia? Because there's always the opportunity of pushing forward if you really like the subject and do end up getting a PhD and teaching about it (while getting research grants and actually being a documentary/ethnographic filmmaker). Also, as far as I know (somebody else might be better informed), creativity is only one aspect of doc making, as the message is what matters more than anything else. based on what you said, you do seem to care a lot about the message and that's important!

I second that. Plus, many PhD programs still have room for you to exercise your entrepreneur side (and some amazing networking that may be very useful in the future). Did Stanford give you an estimate on when you'd find out about funding?

I think you really have to look into the structure of the program as well as what your current job situation would allow in terms of flexibility. I know somebody in a similar situation who lives about 2 hours away from here, but since he only has to attend classes twice a week, he doesn't mind the commute and is still able to work where he resides (though not fully full-time because of the two days of classes). You must also consider what sort of strain it will put on you to work full-time and then still give 100% to study and research.

Oh I see, thanks for clarifying. I guess that without any notice from the university it is indeed great news to get the letter of receipt.

Hi Foreign Guy, I was nominated for the Elia, which also requires the applicant to fill out some stuff and my conclusion is simple: their system is a mess. Absolutely no guidelines. They made me fill out a bursary application form, in which I was asked to explain how dire my financial condition was, being that the Elia is in no way a bursary, but a merit based scholarship. So hopefully they reply to you, but have something ready already just in case (it's better to have to cut stuff out than add last minute). It basically means a department at York nominated you, and they normally nominate people they have admitted so it indicates an offer, but you can never be sure when it comes to big universities. Also keep in mind the application is no guarantee of actually getting the award (unfortunately). In my case the department called me with the offer of admission first and then requesting info for the award nomination.

The OGS office is so understaffed though I'm actually happy it doesn't take them longer to send out notices. It's really just a hand full of people trying to process thousands of applications. Too bad for us who have to wait, but apparently the government's argument is: we could either hire more people and offer less money, or keep understaffed and offer more scholarships. Oh well.

I'm not really sure about that in regards to the Social Sciences field. Whereas in the US it is common to go straight into your PhD (without an MA), most Social Science programs in Canada still require an MA (1-2 years) and a 5 year PhD (which can be reduced to four years in some departments) that includes at least a year of coursework (intense seminars) and then that little hell we call comps. They might just be taking an issue with the overall amount of credits he/she has in their subject area, since you only have a very limited number of credits at the MA level in comparison to UG.

@talific when I applied for an MA at Queens, my POI there contacted me in January but I didn't get the offer till March because the offer has to go through the committee one way or another. So there's no need to worry, if the POI says you're in, you're pretty much in, you just have to wait for them to add some dollar signs to it

I did. Will most likely turn down PoliSci though and free up a spot for somebody (my funding offer was quite high, so hopefully it frees up some money for somebody else too)

By letter you mean the confirmation that your application was received and will be processed, correct? Normally both direct and university applicants get the final answer together in April (if we're lucky, end of March). I just keep getting confused by everyone calling their acknowledgment of receipt a "result" or a "letter" because I only use those terms to refer to the actual final result letter in the spring. They should come up with standard terminology for the processing steps.

Based on previous years, PhD applicants are informed before MA applicants. But if you take a look at the application-to-awards ratio SSHRC publishes every year, almost every MA applicant who is forwarded by the university gets it (very very few exceptions - though I can't recall what the numbers were for direct applicants). For PhD's it's not the same, the chance of rejection is pretty high.

Hi Talific, in the case of Pols I got an e-mail from the graduate assistant first, then an official e-mail offer from the FGPA (how Carleton calls its DGS) with the funding offer a couple of days later. For Soci I got the FGPA e-mail right away. It really depends on when the committee meets and sends the names and recommendations down to the FGPA, and then there's about a 2 or 3-day delay after that till you get the e-mail.

Thanks. I'm sure you will hear soon. First two weeks of March seem to be standard for offers in the social sciences. I was leaning towards Sociology at Carleton (good funding and great program structure), but York's Pols funding offer just blew me away. We'll see. This will not be an easy decision to make.

I have applied for Poli Sci at York and Carleton and have heard from both already. But this is at the PhD level, I don't know about their MA decisions status.

Carleton - Political Science Carleton - Sociology York - Political Science Still waiting on York's Social and Political Thought PhD program. I can only relocate between Ottawa and Toronto, so I tried to make the best I can out of applications.

Got a phone acceptance this morning. That makes for 3 acceptances and still waiting on one offer. Can't wait to have enough information to be able to make a decision.