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Is there anybody else out there who has received conformation by their university that they were being forwarded, but have not had a confirmation of receipt from SSHRC? I had a confirmation from SSHRC in January last year, but this year have heard nothing. I'm getting nervous that I have somehow fallen through the cracks.

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Is there anybody else out there who has received conformation by their university that they were being forwarded, but have not had a confirmation of receipt from SSHRC? I had a confirmation from SSHRC in January last year, but this year have heard nothing. I'm getting nervous that I have somehow fallen through the cracks.

I got my confirmation from SSHRC about a month ago. I think it's worth contacting them, but I know people get the SSHRC confirmation at different times (maybe it depends on when the university forwards the group A applications).

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oooooooohhhh! boo. From prior threads it seemed like they may have known earlier - thanks for the update

Might have been the whole group a/group b thing. It used to throw me off a bit too. The way I see the process it's like this (please anyone correct me if I'm wrong).

You apply through the university. A while later you get a letter or e-mail from the university stating whether they will forward your application to SSHRC or not (group A or A-list - forwarded, group B or B-list - not forwarded).

A couple of months later you get an e-mail from SSHRC (only if you were forwarded) confirming they have received your application.

Then in the Spring you get the letter with your offer of funding or rejection. You are awarded a grade out of 30. If it's really low, probably rejection. The higher grades usually get the CGS (also called super-SSHRC, 3 years of 35), others get the 4 years SSHRC (also awarded to those studying abroad). I've seen people refer to this part of the process as being in group A (super SSHRC) or group B (4-yr SSHRC). It used to drive me nuts while I tried to understand what was going on.

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Might have been the whole group a/group b thing. It used to throw me off a bit too. The way I see the process it's like this (please anyone correct me if I'm wrong).

You apply through the university. A while later you get a letter or e-mail from the university stating whether they will forward your application to SSHRC or not (group A or A-list - forwarded, group B or B-list - not forwarded).

A couple of months later you get an e-mail from SSHRC (only if you were forwarded) confirming they have received your application.

Then in the Spring you get the letter with your offer of funding or rejection. You are awarded a grade out of 30. If it's really low, probably rejection. The higher grades usually get the CGS (also called super-SSHRC, 3 years of 35), others get the 4 years SSHRC (also awarded to those studying abroad). I've seen people refer to this part of the process as being in group A (super SSHRC) or group B (4-yr SSHRC). It used to drive me nuts while I tried to understand what was going on.

This whole damn thing is crazy!

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Does anyone know if this is generally the same at the Master's level? I am a direct-to-SSHRC applicant since my undergraduate university doesn't have an allocation. I received my confirmation of receipt in January. I can't seem to find a decent thread on it. If there is one, point me in that direction!

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I just got my letter in Illinois today, so they should be making their way to the outer fringes by now. Dated February 24, and I passed on! However, it's too soon to rejoice altogether, as my uni forwarded my application last year and it got rejected in the end. Good luck to everyone (this year or next).

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Does anyone know if this is generally the same at the Master's level? I am a direct-to-SSHRC applicant since my undergraduate university doesn't have an allocation. I received my confirmation of receipt in January. I can't seem to find a decent thread on it. If there is one, point me in that direction!

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.

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I just got my letter in Illinois today, so they should be making their way to the outer fringes by now. Dated February 24, and I passed on! However, it's too soon to rejoice altogether, as my uni forwarded my application last year and it got rejected in the end. Good luck to everyone (this year or next).

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.

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I got my confirmation from SSHRC about a month ago. I think it's worth contacting them, but I know people get the SSHRC confirmation at different times (maybe it depends on when the university forwards the group A applications).

Thanks, Sabb. I wrote to SSHRC and got a confirmation today, so all is well. Or at least, well enough. I'm in the running, which is the best one can hope for at this point.

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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.

Some of us are talking about a letter that is a step in between the standard "confirmation of receipt" and the final notice of award/denial. This is only for those who apply independently to SSHRC (not yet enrolled in grad studies, or not attending a Canadian institution). Having not gone through the panel of decision-makers at the university level, we need to be vetted to decide which applications are supposedly strong enough to stand up against those forwarded by the universities. So some of us are indeed getting a "result" of one kind or another; it's either a rejection, or acknowledgement that we are still in the running.

But yes, no final results yet, unfortunately. For that, we'll all have to wait at least another six weeks if last year is any indication.

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Some of us are talking about a letter that is a step in between the standard "confirmation of receipt" and the final notice of award/denial. This is only for those who apply independently to SSHRC (not yet enrolled in grad studies, or not attending a Canadian institution). Having not gone through the panel of decision-makers at the university level, we need to be vetted to decide which applications are supposedly strong enough to stand up against those forwarded by the universities. So some of us are indeed getting a "result" of one kind or another; it's either a rejection, or acknowledgement that we are still in the running.

But yes, no final results yet, unfortunately. For that, we'll all have to wait at least another six weeks if last year is any indication.

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. :)

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Got my letter in Oxford and was forwarded! Over the moon as last year I applied and was rejected in the first round...now to check what the odds are from this point on...

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Hello everyone,

Just for additional information for those who applied directly to SSHRC from American universities. I received a letter on Friday March 2nd in New York City. So for those of you throughout the States who haven't received it yet, you should be doing so shortly.

As the previous post noted, this is an intermediate step. I suggest calling it Stage 1 for those non-affiliated with a Cdn university or attending a non-Cdn. university. The Stage 1 letter tells you whether you moved on to the national competition (Group A) or you are out of competition (Group B). Those of us who go on in Group A await Stage 2 results (whether we get the doctoral awards or not). SSHRC says it will be in April, but it looks like May 1 or later is a more realistic timeline, given the time it takes for letters to reach American destinations.

The SSHRC stats change from year to year, but last year's results were encouraging. Of 137 Group A applicants from U.S. universities, 67 won awards. That's close to 50% odds. SSHRC also lists all the university affiliation of all award holders, and it seems they spread them out last year among many different American universities (though I realize that each competition is different).

Note that SSHRC has two sets of stats, which can be rather confusing. The first lists Cdn students who applied by institution at time of affiliation and those institutions which award the doctorate. I received correspondence from SSHRC on clarifying these stats, but the answer wasn't terribly clear. The main thing is that 67 awards were given out last year to Cdn students attending U.S. universities.

Edited by poseidon2012
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I don't know how that smileyface typo got into the last post. Read Group B for that. Sorry.

And as someone who has both won SSHRC awards in the past and who has not been forwarded by my university, can I suggest that whoever wins take into account those who haven't won, when informing us of their results. In other words, discretion might be preferred to triumphalism!

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I don't know how that smileyface typo got into the last post. Read Group B for that. Sorry.

And as someone who has both won SSHRC awards in the past and who has not been forwarded by my university, can I suggest that whoever wins take into account those who haven't won, when informing us of their results. In other words, discretion might be preferred to triumphalism!

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.

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That's absolutely right, Caffeinated. I don't mean to be humourless about it. I'm sure people are super thrilled that they've won. I sure was when I won my Master's. Looking back over last year's correspondence, though, I must say I cringed a little seeing the ululations of the victors! But, for the sake of community, don't let me stop the celebrations!

Let me add that everyone should obviously just keep on applying. Last year I was ranked 1/21 at the Master's Level and my university didn't forward my application (grrr!). But you should just keep on applying!

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That's absolutely right, Caffeinated. I don't mean to be humourless about it. I'm sure people are super thrilled that they've won. I sure was when I won my Master's. Looking back over last year's correspondence, though, I must say I cringed a little seeing the ululations of the victors! But, for the sake of community, don't let me stop the celebrations!

Let me add that everyone should obviously just keep on applying. Last year I was ranked 1/21 at the Master's Level and my university didn't forward my application (grrr!). But you should just keep on applying!

Re: the bolded part. Just out of curiosity, how do you know this? Aren't internal rankings supposed to be kept confidential?

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