Vanier 2019-2020

[StructIntern]

I didn't apply for vanier last yr but consider to apply this yr......do you really have to re-invent the world to score high on leadership ?? My leadership part is quite "boring", better than average but certainly nothing groundbreaking (i.e. organized a few conferences here and there)

[Adelaide9216]

Conferences organizing are not enough For leadership. (Vanier recipient from last year speaking). You need to have an impact outside of academia to score highly on that criteria. And it’s a critical one.

Conference organizing would help you on the research potential score.

you don’t have to re-invent the world, I did not and I did not start my own company or anything like that. But I was involved in my community for a decade and in different significant leadership projects.

 

i recommend looking at their criteria and the example given on the Vanier website, it gives an idea of what they’re looking for in terms of leadership criteria.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Adelaide9216

[tt1706]

21 hours ago, ERW said:

My scores from McGill (Ranked 5/23):

Academic Excellence: 8.30

Research Potential: 7.40

Leadership: 8.17

My National Scores (Ranked 153/179):

Academic Excellence: 4.00

Research Potential: 4.80

Leadership: 2.10

 

I honestly don't understand. I don't mean to throw a pity-party for myself, but I don't understand.

It's extremely competitive at the national level, your scores are far from anything to be ashamed of.

I graduated my engineering undergrad top of my class with only 3 As after first year, the rest A+, and only have received A+ in all graduate courses I've taken. I was given an 8 for academic excellence, meaning lots of rooms for improvement in this category and many nominations above me. Obviously there is more to academic excellence than grades alone, but this gives a sense of the competitiveness we're dealing with.

[Tarisa]

Hello everyone!

I applied for the doctoral award and was sent to the national competition....

How are you guess finding out your results? I just signed up for the research portal...as I was not required to do so previously. How do you find our your rankings?

[tt1706]

23 minutes ago, Tarisa said:

Hello everyone!

I applied for the doctoral award and was sent to the national competition....

How are you guess finding out your results? I just signed up for the research portal...as I was not required to do so previously. How do you find our your rankings?

It is my understanding that for Vanier you had to apply to the competition on research net in the first place? However the steps are to go to the "My Applications" tab, then the "Check Application Status" subtab, then you should see "Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships", click on that, it will take you to a page where you can click on "View Results/Review".

[TheCivLad]

I'd like to tell you guys that if you weren't fortunate in this round, you can always work on your application and reapply if you're still eligible. 

Last year I didn't apply for Vanier, but applied for PGS-D and didn't get it, and I hadn't even started the PhD at the time. 

This year, I applied to PGS-D (Didn't hear back yet) and Vanier, and got the Vanier this year. 

Some notes, I didn't have any publications, just 1 conference presentation, and 1 conference paper, and 1 Paper submitted (later to be rejected). I scored 5.5 in research potential. However, I always maintained a 4.0 GPA and A+ in courses, so academic excellence was 7.5. However, I spent a lot of time working on the leadership statement and reference letters, which gave me a score of 8.5 in this category, giving me a ranking of 33/178 in NSERC, and being awarded Vanier. 

There is hope for all of you out there! you just have to present yourself to them in the statements the way they want to see you! 

Best of luck to everyone

[Proteinsci]

1 hour ago, McMNa3 said:

I'd like to tell you guys that if you weren't fortunate in this round, you can always work on your application and reapply if you're still eligible. 

Last year I didn't apply for Vanier, but applied for PGS-D and didn't get it, and I hadn't even started the PhD at the time. 

This year, I applied to PGS-D (Didn't hear back yet) and Vanier, and got the Vanier this year. 

Some notes, I didn't have any publications, just 1 conference presentation, and 1 conference paper, and 1 Paper submitted (later to be rejected). I scored 5.5 in research potential. However, I always maintained a 4.0 GPA and A+ in courses, so academic excellence was 7.5. However, I spent a lot of time working on the leadership statement and reference letters, which gave me a score of 8.5 in this category, giving me a ranking of 33/178 in NSERC, and being awarded Vanier. 

There is hope for all of you out there! you just have to present yourself to them in the statements the way they want to see you! 

Best of luck to everyone

Also in the same boat, last year I applied to PGS-D and got waitlisted and didn't even apply for Vanier. (Also in NSERC)

There is hope for us people! Just because you think you're not good enough, doesn't mean you shouldn't apply. 

 

Best of luck to future applicants and congratulations to this year's applicants

[ERW]

On 4/7/2020 at 11:07 AM, tt1706 said:

It's extremely competitive at the national level, your scores are far from anything to be ashamed of.

I graduated my engineering undergrad top of my class with only 3 As after first year, the rest A+, and only have received A+ in all graduate courses I've taken. I was given an 8 for academic excellence, meaning lots of rooms for improvement in this category and many nominations above me. Obviously there is more to academic excellence than grades alone, but this gives a sense of the competitiveness we're dealing with.

The descriptions people are giving of their successful qualifications are honestly discouraging me. My academic record is basically similar to your, I had less than five non-A+ grades in undergrad, and only A+ (or A at McGill since there are no A+s) at the graduate level. Yet my score is 4.0 lower than yours on a 9 point scale? What?

Similarly, someone mentioned getting a 5.5 on research potential with one publication and one conference. I have two publications and over twenty conferences. Maybe I didn't sell them well enough, but what the hell? Maybe the expectations are different for the SSHRC Vanier? It all seems pretty arbitrary.

Gah, I have to stop coming on here, it just makes me hate myself.

Edited April 8, 2020 by ERW

[Prereg]

42 minutes ago, ERW said:

The descriptions people are giving of their successful qualifications are honestly discouraging me. My academic record is basically similar to your, I had less than five non-A+ grades in undergrad, and only A+ (or A at McGill since there are no A+s) at the graduate level. Yet my score is 4.0 lower than yours on a 9 point scale? What?

Similarly, someone mentioned getting a 5.5 on research potential with one publication and one conference. I have two publications and over twenty conferences. Maybe I didn't sell them well enough, but what the hell? Maybe the expectations are different for the SSHRC Vanier? It all seems pretty arbitrary.

Gah, I have to stop coming on here, it just makes me hate myself.

In no way feel down about yourself!  You are more than what a committee says you are. Yes, I completed agree, chance plays a critical role. I was awarded a Vanier SSHRC....for context I barely made the cut. For the last 2 years of undergrad, had a A to A+ average. The last 2 years of grad is also A- to A+, I received 5.95 for academic excellence.  I know it is easy for me to say this, and this is something I have had to tell myself after receiving my federal scores.  The sun still shines elegantly and ever-presently when we do not pay attention to it. You are talented, and your potential is boundless!  

[Adelaide9216]

I hate that these scholarships create these types of feelings within people. We all do hard work, and we all should get the money we need to study and produce research.

I reiterate that you should re-apply next year. It's happened to me multiple times to win fellowships/awards the third or second time I tried. And if I did not get it the first time, it's an opportunity to strengthen my application for next time (which can be a blessing in disguise). And it's happened to be multiple times to think I wouldn't get a scholarship, and to be positively surprised. You must never let your insecurities get in the way of at least trying. If a door is open for you to try, then try. Try as long as you're eligible/allowed to do it. That's literally my mantra. I hate when people close doors for themselves out of insecurity. Try, ask for advice, or support, etc. But try, because you literally never know. 

But to be honest, I often feel embarassed that my entire departement knows I got this scholarship (because it's public and announced everywhere) while I know many students who are struggling financially. I don't feel comfortable with that. I don't feel more "deserving" or any other student. Some people in my departement have dependents, or are taking care of older parents, or whatever, and I just don't feel like this system is fair and it creates this sense of competition that I don't feel comfortable with.

Academia can be so toxic sometimes with these things. I just don't sit comfortably with that, and it seems like "it's the game", and that's the way it is and I don't know how we could change that from the inside.

Anyways. 

I also barely made the cut when I got the award, but I think it is because I am a first year PhD student, so I did not really care about my ranking. I did not have any academic publications, but I had a lot of other things to compensate for that I guess.

But if I had apply at another year, maybe I wouldn't have got the award. Who knows. Yes, there are criteria and stuff, but it depends on who is evaluating and the applicant pool from one year to another.

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by Adelaide9216

[AlphaBetta 12]

Yeah I agree with Adelaide. Keep on trying, don’t give up. ERW, you’ve gotten the feedback and you’re going to take them, work on improving your application and will apply again. If you don’t end up getting this award, then there will be other scholarships to apply for. The bright side is your application managed to go to the national level, depending on how things go, maybe you’re ranking will go up next year and you’ll win the award.

[Adelaide9216]

Yes! I also forgot to mention that I had contacted past one past recipient of the award in my field and she helped me so much with my application. She was a stranger, but she took the time to call me and to revise multiple versions of my application when I did not even ask it (I was just asking for basic advice).

I don’t think I would’ve got the award without her. People are often more than happy to help in these circumstances so don’t hesitate to ask for help.

 

also begin working on your application early. I was a bit intense, I began working on my application 8 months before the deadline because I  was applying as a masters student. I knew I had to work and think harder to produce something that would make sense. But I felt in my core that I had the potential to get this award which is why I invested so much time and energy into my application. And I did get the award in the end.

 

you don’t have to start 8 months early, but start early and commit to it. Especially if you have people telling you you’d be a good fit for this award.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Adelaide9216

[Boileau 20]

On 4/6/2020 at 5:05 PM, LakeGirl said:

Hi all,

Glad that the waiting is over and happy to share that I received a SSHRC Vanier CGS!

I don't know my scores from UBC (they weren't communicated to us...or at least not to me), but posting my national scores below, if it's helpful to reference.

Ranked 26/179 SSHRC Vanier CGS

1. Academic Excellence: 8.00
2. Research Potential: 7.50
3. Leadership: 7.05

Overall average score: 7.52

Best of luck to everyone else! 

I have been reading this forum for the past 2 years with no intentions of signing up. But when I saw your score @LakeGirl, I decided to give it a try. I am so surprised that both of us got the exact same overall average score in the SSHRC Vanier CGS this year except for differences in my case, such as:

1. Academic Excellence: 7.50
2. Research Potential: 7.50
3. Leadership: 7.55

Overall average score: 7.52

Congratulations on winning this highly prestigious scholarship!

And I recommend everyone to try again. In 2018, I applied for the first time and wrote my application while on vacation in Montréal and New York. It got ranked 112th/170+. During the 2019-2020 competition, I dedicated a month to write and revise my application and got several people to read it and give me their feedback and I am glad I was ranked 26th out of 179 applicants, which means that my application was one of the strongest this year. So, I really recommend that everyone tries again and good luck!

Edited April 15, 2020 by Boileau 20

[Proteinsci]

did anyone hear from Vanier regarding public announcements? 

[Adelaide9216]

Usually public announcements are in the summer ! They will contact you 

[Proteinsci]

how long did they take to make the announcement last year? my school hasn't contacted me about much...

[lolplsfundme]

Question for past Vanier CGS and Tri-Council CGS-D applicants -- have you used the same research proposal for both award applications? 

[emma432]

hello! As someone who has had the luck to get a Vanier and is worried about the daunting career prospects in academia could someone tell me how much difference having a Vanier would make in terms of academic jobs in Canada?

[emma432]

To add to my previous post- while the funding has and will help me tremendously as I was in a very precarious situation, (and I am forever grateful for this) I am wondering what difference (or if it makes any) when looking for jobs (besides looking nice on a cv).. Considering the job-market and the lack of jobs and with the reality of not being able to apply to positions outside of Canada due to personal reasons, I am seriously considering going alt-ac after the dissertation these days, and I am looking for any advice to stay. (Sorry if this is not the right thread- but I was wondering what others who have been through the Vanier process or are familiar with the Canadian system thought). Happy New Year to all!

[Proteinsci]

so random but: 

i heard from my colleagues that when you're a vanier scholar, you get a fancy pin and a usb or a pen.. LOL am i the only one whose TOTALLY waiting for this? hahaha or did they stop doing this? does anyone know?