Russell Grey

Your clinical program just can't be related to health. That's all.

I wish you luck. Hopefully they don't force you to go through CIHR for something that's not clinical. Unfortunately, anything that can even remotely be construed as health related will be declined for that reason. A good friend that is doing her PhD in sociology had a health related topic about obesity, although it was clearly a program of study with a sociological focus, and her application was denied on the grounds that it was health related. A little tweaking and she ended up getting SSHRC the following year. Again, I really hope this isn't the case for you, as you said your study is not clinical. All the best.

You may be relieved to know that the government of the day has no say or sway over the selection process. You don't have to worry about that.

You'll have to forgive me for being new here. I'm not sure what stats you're looking for. Here's some additional info about me. I applied during my 4th year of my undergraduate degree. I graduated with first-class honours in both sociology and history. I had a 4.3/4.3 gpa in my third year and a 4.2/4.3 gpa in my fourth year. I have no peer-reviewed publications, but I was both a research assistant and teaching assistant in my 4th year. My RAship was with a multinational research project that was SSHRC funded as well. I received the prize for top-standing sociology student going into their senior year and at graduation I received the award for top-standing sociology student in honours. I was also one of the Dean's Scholars for 2012 at my university. This is awarded to students who had a 3.7 gpa or above for 3 or more years during their undergrad. The MA program that I'm going into in the fall is 1 year of coursework plus thesis in the second year. I've been offered the university's board of governor's merit award above and beyond the SSHRC scholarship, plus the university's "top-tier" assistantship for my second year of study.

I just received my letter in the mail this morning in New Brunswick. I applied through my university and was successful. What a relief.

I find a lot of responses here rely on the benefit of hindsight. If I were in danmacg's position, I would probably be expecting the funding as well, regardless of what the university's website or "common" knowledge told me. I say that from danmacg's recounting of the events anyway. It's easy to rationalize why the funding fell through after the fact. However, imagining myself in that moment, I don't see any indication as to why he would expect otherwise. At the same time, I do see Sigaba's point that publicly denouncing the university and program may not be the best way of handling the situation. However, In danmacg's defence, Sigaba's posts do come off as very blame-the-victim-like and preachy. I guess I feel for danmacg, due to the immigration problems and difficulties he will face as a result of this situation. There's really no need to criticize his "situational awareness" other than to rub salt in the wound. I would guess that danmacg will make sure any future offers are in writing before relying on them or getting his hopes up.

I'm in NB and still haven't received my letter. Mail often ends up in other people's boxes in my building though.

Most people seem to be recommending Lenovo machines, but my experience has been that they don't last very long on battery power. Are those of you with Lenovos happy with the battery life?

I thought I would just sign up to say how relieved I am to have found this thread. Now that June is fast approaching, I was really worried that I had been passed over by the jury in Ottawa. It's good to know we're all in the same boat, biting our nails together (and mixing metaphors apparently).