Doctoral scholarship CRSH/SSHRC 2012

[Andsowego]

I got the email yesterday. My application for the PhD scholarship/fellowship has been received by SSHRC.

Any idea when SHHRC announces the results?

Last year, my "you're on the waitlist but haven't been funded at this time" hard copy letter was dated April 21st (I just checked my files). I assume we'll have to wait until at least April again this year!

[wheatGrass]

I got an email from SSHRC this morning informing me that my application has been received. Phew! My MA school is trying to build up its doctoral program. I didn't apply and got a lot of tsk-tsks from admin around here. I was worried that the committee would favour students already attending or planning on attending this school's program.

[funology]

I've taken a look through last years thread and I saw that a lot of people were able to negotiate with SSHRC later on to get their award upgraded.

I'm a 4th year undergrad, and am applying to some masters programs in Canada. I'm curious to know if (hypothetically) I were to get an award and choose to attend a Canadian MA program, would I be able to 'downgrade' the award.

Any ideas?

[raise cain]

I received good news from my University (Concordia) - December 20.

This was my third time writing a proposal - the first time, I applied directly to SSHRC, but my PhD applications got derailed. SSHRC rejected me anyway. I received a mailed later in late February, if I recall.

The second time was last year when I finally got my PhD applications together - again, I applied directly to SSHRC, but got rejected. Letter in the mail, mid-to-late February.

Third times the charm, maybe. Now in a program, I applied to my department, and received an email from the University saying my application had been forwarded to the national competition. I was lucky that I had received merit-based departmental funding upon entrance, which was something else to add to my application.

Each time, I re-wrote the application, almost from scratch - I'd say I threw out at least 50% of the writing and tried again. This time, I still thought my application was rushed, but I tried really had to make the description of my research as concrete as possible (which is often difficult with art/humanities/practice-based work). Not to mention that my advisor forgot to sign her letter, and caused me a lot of running around in late October.

I'm not sure what usually happens next - does anyone know how SSHRC lets the recipients know, and when?

Congrats! You are one of the few! I wonder if we know each other. The Humanities/SIP program accepts so many lovely students.

I am also glad I got the Concordia Fellowship or else I'd be screwed. I am thinking third time is a charm as well.

[surefire]

I've taken a look through last years thread and I saw that a lot of people were able to negotiate with SSHRC later on to get their award upgraded.

I'm a 4th year undergrad, and am applying to some masters programs in Canada. I'm curious to know if (hypothetically) I were to get an award and choose to attend a Canadian MA program, would I be able to 'downgrade' the award.

Any ideas?

I'm confused by your question. Are you talking about "upgrading" or "downgrading" (why would you WANT the latter)? I haven't read last year's thread, but in my experience, the amount of control that you have re: up/downgrading is minimal. While I HAVE heard about students who LEVERAGED an award with a university to positively change an admission offer/package, I don't often here about the onus for negotiating being on SSHRC. There are rules to holding a SSHRC award. A lot of rules. Having a SSHRC will affect your university's funding package (you will get less, remember that the attended institution issues part of the award), your ability to work (should be less than 450 hours for a 12-month period; you have to keep this in mind when looking at RA/TA offers) and your elegibility for other awards (including, most notably, OGS).

I suggest that you start with the SSHRC Award Holder's Guide

http://www.sshrc-crs...ements-eng.aspx

Next, take advantage of the fact that you're still attending your undergrad institution and start making contact with the career centre (they often have grad school planning documents and can point you in the direction of departmental advisers). If you apply for a SSHRC while you are still registered in your undergrad ( or, less than 13 months after your degree is conferred), then you HAVE to apply through your undergrad. Your undergrad has quotas and, often, will keep successful copies of SSHRC applications on file. Take advantage!

I applied for a SSHRC when entering the MA level and didn't get one (fingers crossed for this year!) One of the benefits of doing an application is that it forces you to specifically articulate a program plan and quantify your research interests in an uncomfortable verbatim and inadequate space. It's a great test of your mettle. It helps you determine IF you actually want to go this route (and WHY) and it makes ACTUAL grad applications down the road easier. When students/friends ask me how they can know if this is the right path for them, I encourage them to apply. If you get through the process and are STILL eager to attend, then that's a good indication (this is further affirmed when you get an acceptance with minimal funding, no SSHRC/OGS money and are still able to smile broadly and say "whatever, i'll make it work I'm going to grad school WHEEEEE!")

Edited January 13, 2012 by surefire

[cafeomuerte]

Bad news bear.

Second time applying to SSHRC. Last year I was forwarded by my university (York) but didn't win at national level. This year no one from my cohort at Concordia was forwarded. However, York was able to forward 104 doctoral applications to SSHRC and Concordia only forwarded 46, and the graduate student body is about equal.

Bleh. All that work and falling behind in my courses for nothing.

I too received bad news today: my application wasn't forwarded to SSHRC.

The e-mail said that "there were too many applicants and not enough places," and that my application "was outstanding" --but I'm sure they always say that...

[Blurry]

I received good news from my University (Concordia) - December 20.

This was my third time writing a proposal - the first time, I applied directly to SSHRC, but my PhD applications got derailed. SSHRC rejected me anyway. I received a mailed later in late February, if I recall.

The second time was last year when I finally got my PhD applications together - again, I applied directly to SSHRC, but got rejected. Letter in the mail, mid-to-late February.

Third times the charm, maybe. Now in a program, I applied to my department, and received an email from the University saying my application had been forwarded to the national competition. I was lucky that I had received merit-based departmental funding upon entrance, which was something else to add to my application.

Each time, I re-wrote the application, almost from scratch - I'd say I threw out at least 50% of the writing and tried again. This time, I still thought my application was rushed, but I tried really had to make the description of my research as concrete as possible (which is often difficult with art/humanities/practice-based work). Not to mention that my advisor forgot to sign her letter, and caused me a lot of running around in late October.

I'm not sure what usually happens next - does anyone know how SSHRC lets the recipients know, and when?

Same here, Concordia told me my application would be forwarded to the national competition at around the same date. I am not a PhD student yet so I am not sure what my chances are but from past data it seems that there is a somewhat equitable distribution across the board (from starting to 3rd year PhDs). Also, applicants forwarded from universities have over 60% success rate while those who apply directly have about 20-30% success rate, so I think your odds are MUCH better this time around

I heard that SSHRC lets you know by email in the spring. This is vague, but it is all I have heard. If anyone else has more specific information please share.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Blurry

[Andsowego]

Same here, Concordia told me my application would be forwarded to the national competition at around the same date. I am not a PhD student yet so I am not sure what my chances are but from past data it seems that there is a somewhat equitable distribution across the board (from starting to 3rd year PhDs). Also, applicants forwarded from universities have over 60% success rate while those who apply directly have about 20-30% success rate, so I think your odds are MUCH better this time around

I heard that SSHRC lets you know by email in the spring. This is vague, but it is all I have heard. If anyone else has more specific information please share.

Last year I was notified by hard copy mail on April 21st (see my post above). I'm not sure I can be more specific than that! However, going on past experiences, "in the spring" really can mean anything. April, May... who knows!?!? Just gotta stay sane and play the waiting game until then.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Andsowego

[Blurry]

Last year I was notified by hard copy mail on April 21st (see my post above). I'm not sure I can be more specific than that. However, going on past experiences, "in the spring" really can mean anything. April, May... who knows!?!? Just gotta stay sane and play the waiting game until then.

Did you receive the funding or was it a rejection notice?

EDIT: never mind, I just read your previous post. Waiting until April is absolutely crazy; I imagine those who are not on the waiting list receive their notice earlier..?

Edited January 15, 2012 by Blurry

[Andsowego]

Did you receive the funding or was it a rejection notice?

EDIT: never mind, I just read your previous post. Waiting until April is absolutely crazy; I imagine those who are not on the waiting list receive their notice earlier..?

My friend (who did receive funding last year) had the exact same date on his letter as the date on my waitlist letter (I just called him and asked - lol). I'm not sure about outright rejections, but it seems that the waitlist letters and letters of success were sent on/around the same date.

edit: I didn't ask him if his was a hardcopy letter though... hm. Maybe his was via e-mail? I can say for certain that I never got an e-mail, just an old-skool letter, and that it was dated on the 21st of April (but if I recall correctly, it took a while to get to me due to silly Canada post - it might have even been the first week of May by the time I got the letter).

Edited January 15, 2012 by Andsowego

[Ludwig von Dracula]

Chances are that nobody will hear back about their final status until at least mid-April. I got my letter (rejection) in the mail last year around the 20th. That was in Edmonton, so it must have been mailed a few days earlier. There were no emails beforehand, although some people might get informed by their school a day or two early. I got an MA award the year before that, and I think notification came even later.

This year, I applied directly to SSHRC (attending an American school). From what I understand, those of us in this category will receive notice in mid to late February informing us whether we have made it into the "A" pile (to be evaluated against all of the applications forwarded by Canadian universities) or rejected. Hoping for good news!

[Ziz]

Same here, Concordia told me my application would be forwarded to the national competition at around the same date. I am not a PhD student yet so I am not sure what my chances are but from past data it seems that there is a somewhat equitable distribution across the board (from starting to 3rd year PhDs). Also, applicants forwarded from universities have over 60% success rate while those who apply directly have about 20-30% success rate, so I think your odds are MUCH better this time around

I heard that SSHRC lets you know by email in the spring. This is vague, but it is all I have heard. If anyone else has more specific information please share.

Where did you find the stats about people applying directly having a lower success rate? That doesn't seem fair at all...

[Blurry]

Where did you find the stats about people applying directly having a lower success rate? That doesn't seem fair at all...

Universities tend to weed out weaker applicants so it makes sense that those applying directly to SSHRC have a lower success rate.

Also, you can get the statistics for any award year here

I was looking at the statistics from 2011-2012 Doctoral Awards.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Blurry

[Ziz]

Oh I see what you mean. Makes sense.

[StrangeLight]

1. you hear an outcome regarding your application (winning it, being waitlisted, losing) in april. no sooner. they promise early april and usually only actually send the letters in late april (meaning april 30, not april 16). my award letter from last year was dated may 5, 2011. so anyone hoping for anything in march or even the beginning of april can just calm down. it won't happen. you will, however, hear in february whether you were considered A list or B list. B list means you're out, A list means you still have a shot. if you're applying through your school, odds are you know this information already, but if you're applying directly, you don't hear until february.

2. students cannot really negotiate their awards. i applied directly to SSHRC as i was finishing a masters program in the US. i was accepted to the same school's PhD program (which was just a little more than a mere formality) but the SSHRC considered me to be not yet enrolled in any PhD program, so they offered me the CGS, which you can only hold while studying in canada, or the SSHRC. my choice. since i decided to stay in the US, i took the SSHRC, and that opened up a CGS for someone else who had only won the SSHRC. that, in turn, opened up a spot for someone on the waitlist to get an SSHRC. that is, i believe, the total extent of "negotiating" that one can do with the SSHRC. you can turn down awards, but you can't angle for anything better.

3. students have been able to negotiate admission to schools after receiving the SSHRC or CGS. if you're rejected from every school you can apply to, but then have this external source of funding, it would be a wise move to reach out to your dream school and let them know you'll be able to fund (or partially fund, depending on the tuition rate) yourself. particularly if you win a 4-year doctoral award but aren't admitted to any PhD programs, you can convince many schools (american and canadian) to take you on. however, if you're admitted to even one school and you win an award, just go to that school. keeping them on hold (way past the april 15 deadline to confirm your school acceptances) because you might win a SSHRC in early may which means you might convince harvard to take you after all is a waste of everyone's time and generally considered poor form. but again, if you win an award and are shut out of admissions (which does happen) then you can convince schools to bring you along. it might be possible to negotiate different funding packages with schools based on receiving a SSHRC, but be careful about how you approach that. if you're too demanding, the schools reserve the right to rescind their offer of admission.

Edited January 17, 2012 by StrangeLight

[oliverj]

Has anyone at York heard from SSHRC yet?

[DZed]

Has anyone at York heard from SSHRC yet?

I'm at York as well and haven't heard anything yet. Can I safely assume you haven't either?

[Blurry]

I'm at York as well and haven't heard anything yet. Can I safely assume you haven't either?

That's quite odd, I would contact your awards office.

I have been contacted by SSHRC today to confirm the receipt of my application for the Doctoral Award as well as the application number.

[oliverj]

I'm at York as well and haven't heard anything yet. Can I safely assume you haven't either?

No, I haven't. I'm assuming that means I didn't get put forward by FGS.

[DZed]

No, I haven't. I'm assuming that means I didn't get put forward by FGS.

I'm hoping that's not necessarily true. York is notoriously slow in these things. I'm planning to contact FGS to find out the status and can let you know as well if I find out anything.

Do you know if our programs are to notify us if our applications aren't put forward, or do we simply not hear back anything at all?

Edited January 24, 2012 by DZed

[oliverj]

I'm hoping that's not necessarily true. York is notoriously slow in these things. I'm planning to contact FGS to find out the status and can let you know as well if I find out anything.

Do you know if our programs are to notify us if our applications aren't put forward, or do we simply not hear back anything at all?

I hope so too! This is my second time applying. Around this time last year I received an email from SSHRC saying that they had received my application. A friend who also goes to York received a letter from FGS about two or three weeks later saying that she wasn't put forward. Neither of us heard anything directly from our departments. I'm assuming it will be similar this year. But, you're right, York is very slow with these things. Maybe there is still hope?

[trebuchet]

... got the confirmation today that sshrc received my app, for those who want to track timelines.

[cordyceps]

Still no news here... Université de Montréal, sociology departement.

[cafeomuerte]

Still no news here... Université de Montréal, sociology departement.

I thought all departments selected their candidates at the same time. DLLM sent out notifications two weeks ago.

[electrochoc]

At Carleton we got a letter in December informing us on whether our application was forwarded to SSHRC or not. Mine was. I already got SSHRC for my MA and that was pretty straight forward. But I assume the process for the doctoral awards is a lot more complicated. Seems that if you get forwarded for an MA SSHRC, you're almost guaranteed to get it.

For the doctoral awards being forwarded seems to only mean getting into the competition, you can still get rejected.

What are the chances of being forwarded by the university and then rejected by SSHRC?

Benefit of Carleton is that they don't reduce their offer of funding if you get the SSHRC. You get to keep it all.

Edited January 26, 2012 by sabb