Kermit

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this. sshrc has a twitter feed (SSHRC_CRSH) that posts approximate deadlines. Apparently the other year they posted when the letters went out.

hashslinger - that makes me feel so much better. I did not so well in undergrad (continual partying in my first few years and double major) but once I got to my masters I really did well. I'm still not so confident about the PhD... but it's nice to know someone else has gone through something similar. Also I agree that at this point numbers are kind of meaningless. Anyone who is serious to apply to a PhD probably has excellent grades and good gre scores. Also also. I hope I didn't come across as too self-impressed. I worked really, really hard. It was frustrating the first time I applied to a MA because the schools generally gave me a response that they thought perhaps I wasn't 'committed' enough since I had a Physics degree and that my ideas were too 'radical' and 'big' for a MA course. I basically had to teach myself for 2 years in between applications and do scholarly work outside of the institution since I wasn't able to afford so much. Right now I had to graduate early so I could go back to work in order to have some medical stuff done. I'm actually getting so disillusioned with institutions and the amount of crap they put you through!

Do you know if they have already contacted the top 20 or are in the process of? I haven't heard anything yet

This is really cool. I hope everyone gets in! And I'm sure you all will because from what I've heard the departments are looking into so many factors It comes down to whether someone can supervise you and how you fit the departments needs. I'll contribute a bit of my own background. I have a BSc in Physics from a well known Canadian institution. I ended up acquiring so many lit credits that my minor was able to change into a major so in one extra semester I fulfilled all the requirements and added on a BA at the last minute in Lit. My overall GPA was 3.26 but I had a 4.0 in my lit courses. I took some time off to work on writing and starting publishing poetry in Canadian and American journals. This got me into a creative writing program at SFU and helped me create a manuscript. During this I did my own academic work on the side and applied to an English grad conference. At it I gave a talk and it impressed some professors who would encourage me outside the school since I couldn't afford two educations. They ended up writing my MA recommendation letters. (I was working full time since I was 17 supporting myself). I got to be the "Academic" for the Vancouver poetry conference and work with professors on research even thought I wasn't enrolled and published 10-15 more pieces. I got into a Canadian school for a MA in English and Creative writing. I did all my classes on theory and digital humanities which is hopefully my phd focus. During this I presented at 2 national level conferences and 1 international conference at UMD college park. I ended up finishing my thesis (creative research project on Internet poetry) and my course work in less than 4 semesters and was one of the top students in my department with a 4.05 GPA with a A+ in a phd level course. I TA-ed 3 times. I have an article under consideration at an international journal and am currently doing research for professors and will be 2nd or 3rd author on a series of papers out this summer. I'm also an editor at a lit journal in Canada and publish essays within the magazine. I talked with the professors from the schools as well as having my profs contact the ones who were friends. 1 at UC Boulder wrote an internal recommendation letter for me (ATLAS program), 2 at Stanford agreed to vouch for me and offered a fellowship IF accepted (MTL program), 1 at UMD wrote a secondary letter for me and 1 at UCSB is interested in working with me. I tried to include this info in my SOP. I made my SOP all about my project and goals. I outlined clearly step by step details and how the school could provide assistance. Further I listed specific classes and profs that would help. I usually only put in 1 paragraph of my background near the end and included a secondary CV and website of my work. I'm also a finalist for the sshrc phd scholarship. I'm also a student with disabilities so I'm hoping that works in my favour. That's my academic career in a nutshell (help I'm stuck!) Point is I have a crazy different background that most people but I'm hoping it will make me more interesting.

proflorax- I hope so too! I visited the campus last spring for a conference and it was so pretty! I'd never been to that part of the States, it was so neat.

scuttlebutt - it looks like we applied to a bunch of the same programs: UMD-CP, Stanford (MTL), UCSD.... Good luck! I thought it was weird that someone posted that they were contacted on Jan 10. Oh well. Here is hoping!

Anyone else out there applying to UMD- College Park? I noticed on the responses page one person heard back from them already and was accepted. Has the first round already gone out? Anyone else hear of anything specific?

Hi all, I just received unofficial word that I will be likely be getting an offer from cu boulder for a phd soon. (It's one of my first choice programs so yay!). I'm from Vancouver and Toronto so I'm used to paying 700+ for a small shared space, in fact Boulder seems way cheaper than Vancouver. I'm looking for a neat area, I've read some earlier comments about Table Mesa. I usually live in the funky areas (ie Mile End in Montreal, Cap Hill in Seattle) so hopefully it will be somewhere with character. My one requirement is that I live in an actual house. I absolutely hate apartments. Is there any areas where there is shared housing? It seems like a lot of apartment complexes. I don't drive but I bike everywhere so being 30 mins away isn't a problem. I'm also wondering if anyone knows where the hospitals are. I have epilepsy and it's always safer to live closer (I'm a dork I know). Thank you so much! I have no idea about boulder, I've only been on the coasts of the US so anything between Oregon and New York is new to me!

Hi there, I applied to 5 different English Lit/Interdisciplinary programs and I was wondering if it is typical for them to have interviews. I noticed many other types of degrees do however on the results search there isn't many results for English interviews for PhD candidates. Any schools known to do or rather not do interviews? Thanks!

Me too! Even though most schools I applied to have a history of February - March notification dates. The only way I've been coping is with heavy amount of mtv and partying. Hangovers tend to distract you as computer screens make your headaches worse. Also training for a marathon. And reading entire series of comics.

Star Slinger - Morin': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1osmNEp2XGc Teen Daze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjhSOZVmJbE Miami Horror - Holidays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhnBFTYU-_8 Someone earlier suggested Purity Ring. I second that thought!

Sweet thanks! I can deal with a 33-50% rate. It was a lot lower for the school acceptance rate for sshrc. I guess all we can do now is wait... for everything!

Hi, I received notification that my school was forwarding my application in late November/early December for the PhD sshrc. Can I ask what happens next? This is my first time applying for a PhD sshrc and my MA application last year didn't get forwarded because of a technicality resulting from my undergrad (Bsc to MA problem).

I have struggled with the same thing. I didn't mentioned in my pos when applying for my MA the other year and I'm not including it with my PhD applications this year. Do you have any indication that you are a student with disabilities? I got registered with my school so they can find out on my transcript/call the school for verification if they are interested in it. However, its never explicitly mentioned. PS I have epilepsy too, it sucks. Last year I had a seizure on the metro and totally peed everywhere on my way to TA.

I'm from Canada and we don't have diversity statements. I'm applying to Stanford and they have a section of 700 characters on the application. The prompt follows: Stanford University regards the diversity of its graduate student body as an important factor in serving the educational mission of the university. We encourage you to share unique, personally important, and/or challenging factors in your background, such as work and life experiences, special interests, culture, socioeconomic status, the quality of your early educational environment, gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity. Please discuss how such factors would contribute to the diversity of the entering class, and hence to the experience of your Stanford classmates. I'm really unsure what is required for this. As far as "hardships" I have an autoimmune disease, epilepsy and mental illness all of which I've overcome for school. I was even homeless for a while but I worked like 15 jobs and paid my way through 4 degrees (BSc, Ba, BFA and double MA) with good grades. I tried to make my response sound positive. THis is my response. I would be super greatful if anyone could tell me about the diversity statement or read mine. thankkkssss. As student with disabilities I've overcome difficult and life threatening situations, engendering a strong desire to help others and pursue higher education. While a child I experienced several illnesses from a compromised immune system, seizures and mental illness. After a grand mal seizure which left me with injuries it was difficult to regain physical and mental strength, however since I've run two half marathons, performed in the 2010 Olympics as a dancer and finished graduate school eight months early. My varied interests, from ballet to banjo, as well as my past hardships increase the diversity of the school by allowing a student with disabilities a chance to succeed.

Hey, Sounds like I'm applying for the same kinds of programs/we are in similar situations. I was thinking about applying to the NYU program to work with johanna drucker but I had to make realistic choices. I'd be down for swapping. My first one is due tomorrow for UC Boulder and the rest later this week since I'm an international student.

Thanks for the advice! I'd read that subheadings were a no-no, however that was usually for 500-1000 statements. This makes more sense though.

I'm applying to CU Boulder's ATLAS program (interdisciplinary) and it states to have a 4-5 page statement of intent. They also list very specific questions. 5 pages comes out to 2300 words for mine. Is it okay to use subheadings (Academic Background, Courses, Proposal) since its so long? I'm worried the committee will get lost! Especially since its interdisciplinary so I have to relay so much information for the justification of my application. Thanks!

HI y'all. I've been reading through this thread and am now so confused about my status. I applied independently for a MA SSHRC and never received a letter specifying if I was A/B group, or rejected. Its now May 8th and I've had no news, no letters, nothing and I live in Vancouver. The graduate school on the application is different from the one I decided so they don't know either. SSHRC appears to not be answering the phone. If anyone knows what to make of this let me know! I'm dying in anxiety.