eliasg Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 I'd personally be shocked if it were that simple....Especially because colleagues of mine at McGill were awarded a PGS-D without having a 1st author paper in years past. MTL18, my friend in 2010 was awarded PGD-D3 without having any publications (neither paper, book, bla bla bla). On the date of the application, he was on his second year of PhD. Sometimes, you need luck. Dont'forget also that competition is increasing from year to year !
eliasg Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 Eliasg, you have to let us know the result tomorrow! I am crossing my fingers for you! Thank you Clarrien. Very appreciated As soon as I get results, i will let you know !
Ecophys Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 I'm not surprised actually - I think it is because of the weighting of the categories. Research is more heavily weighted for PGS/CGS D than Vanier, and I am weaker in research than leadership. I had no first author publications accepted at the time of application, only 2 with co-authors, and some collaborations with government and international researchers, but my manuscripts are just on their way now. I think if I had been applying a year later, I would have gotten CGS instead. It was the same for me when I went through the round of applications for the Vanier and PGS/CGS. Except I was notified of the PGS-D first. My grades were not overly high but I had publications and leadership. I thought that was it and I was happy with the PGS-D then the second letter came saying disregard the PGS offer since I got a Vanier.
eliasg Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 Guys, after all that story finished, i think we should all meet. ITs my pleasure to share with you in this Forum. Sincerely, i'm in love with this forum jnoel12 1
eliasg Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 87 user(s) are reading this topic who say more ??? Ironmonkey66 1
MichalK Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 Eliasg, you have to let us know the result tomorrow! I am crossing my fingers for you! Can you cross them for me as well?
eliasg Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 Can you cross them for me as well? Dont worry MichalK, we are all crossing them for you !
mtlgrad Posted April 3, 2012 Posted April 3, 2012 checked with my program director this afternoon. No word received yet in the department of results. Hopeful to receive an email from them in the morning.
MichalK Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Dont worry MichalK, we are all crossing them for you ! I live in Ottawa, so I'll let you all know if i get a letter tomorrow.
marmoor Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Fingers crossed they might have mailed some of the letters today seebee 1
mattboud Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 ...reload......reload............reload....reload.....
MichalK Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 I wish I could forget about all of this and just be suprised when I get something from NSERC in the mail. I am literally obsessing over this. seebee 1
yellowtulip Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 FYI for the PDF hopefuls... I heard from my home department at my former university (I'm in the US now, so former is my best hope at finding out), and was told that the university had given them a list of the NSERC scholarship winners, but not the PDF winners. Too bad. Back to thumb twiddling!
snowshoes Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 My supervisor is in the committte in NSERC and told me that conference paper do not mean a lot. To have a a PGS-D, you must have at least 1 paper as first author unless your grades in bachelor are eceptionnal (more than 3.9/4) with good leadership and communication skills. I agree about conference papers not meaning much... everyone knows publishing conference abstracts is just a way to boost your publication record, so they shouldn't be looked at that seriously. Although attending and presenting (esp. oral) at a conference is very important for students and does show communication experience. I have 4 first author publications, 3 conference pubs, and a bunch of non-refereed talks/pubs. My Master's marks were excellent but my undergrad marks were all over the place, so I'm not too hopeful about the PGS-D to be honest. But I'll have at least 2 papers and 4 conference abstracts by next October, so there is always next year!
eliasg Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 I agree about conference papers not meaning much... everyone knows publishing conference abstracts is just a way to boost your publication record, so they shouldn't be looked at that seriously. Although attending and presenting (esp. oral) at a conference is very important for students and does show communication experience. I have 4 first author publications, 3 conference pubs, and a bunch of non-refereed talks/pubs. My Master's marks were excellent but my undergrad marks were all over the place, so I'm not too hopeful about the PGS-D to be honest. But I'll have at least 2 papers and 4 conference abstracts by next October, so there is always next year! You will win PGS... I'am 100% sure ! For your grade in bachelor, the most important is the last 2 year.
eliasg Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) I agree about conference papers not meaning much... everyone knows publishing conference abstracts is just a way to boost your publication record, so they shouldn't be looked at that seriously. Although attending and presenting (esp. oral) at a conference is very important for students and does show communication experience. I have 4 first author publications, 3 conference pubs, and a bunch of non-refereed talks/pubs. My Master's marks were excellent but my undergrad marks were all over the place, so I'm not too hopeful about the PGS-D to be honest. But I'll have at least 2 papers and 4 conference abstracts by next October, so there is always next year! Do you have communication skills and leadership experience ? Edited April 4, 2012 by eliasg
yellowtulip Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 My supervisor is in the committte in NSERC and told me that conference paper do not mean a lot. To have a a PGS-D, you must have at least 1 paper as first author unless your grades in bachelor are eceptionnal (more than 3.9/4) with good leadership and communication skills. Heya Elisag I've always been curious - one of the evaluation criteria I've seen in a couple of places (mind you this is for PDF) is the amount of time in grad school. Curious if you've ever discussed this with your supervisor? Sometimes I wonder if long is bad (because it dragged out maybe and you weren't productive), but other times I think short is bad (because it doesn't give you an opportunity to necessarily thoroughly explore things, or maybe face challenges, or who knows what). Anyway... I've always been curious how length of grad school could possibly be considered as an evaluation criteria (particularly since people also have different life commitments - the time it takes doesn't necessarily reflect if they're intelligent)... anyway.. just curious!
snowshoes Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Do you have communication skills and leadership experience ? Well I've given lots of talks, have 3 years TA experience, collaborated with outside researchers during my MSc., have a couple "best talk" awards, have a magazine article, worked in a couple labs in my field, helped out with some public events relating to my field, etc. But my awards section is pretty slim (only 3). I have a very strong research proposal but my undergrad marks aren't that great and my awards are lacking. So I can see myself losing to someone who is an all-round strong student. I really tried to convey that I wasn't just a professional student, but that I was a very passionate researcher and went beyond my degree requirements and embrace my field. We'll see!
eliasg Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Heya Elisag I've always been curious - one of the evaluation criteria I've seen in a couple of places (mind you this is for PDF) is the amount of time in grad school. Curious if you've ever discussed this with your supervisor? Sometimes I wonder if long is bad (because it dragged out maybe and you weren't productive), but other times I think short is bad (because it doesn't give you an opportunity to necessarily thoroughly explore things, or maybe face challenges, or who knows what). Anyway... I've always been curious how length of grad school could possibly be considered as an evaluation criteria (particularly since people also have different life commitments - the time it takes doesn't necessarily reflect if they're intelligent)... anyway.. just curious! Yes time of studies is considred in evaluation. A bachelor in engineering is 4 year in Canada. Some people do it in 3 and half and it will be a god point in their application. Others do it in 4.5 or even 5. In this case, you have to explain in the special circunstances why ? For exemple, yo do many internships, activites, .... The reviewer will understant why. But if you dont mention why and the reviewer didn't see the reasons in your CV, it will bel negative for you. Something else. If you do t in 3.5 year with a GPA of 3.5 is less better thna doini it in 4 year with 3.8. But doing it in 3.5 year with 3.8 + internships + activities is very good and will help you in your application.
eliasg Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Well I've given lots of talks, have 3 years TA experience, collaborated with outside researchers during my MSc., have a couple "best talk" awards, have a magazine article, worked in a couple labs in my field, helped out with some public events relating to my field, etc. But my awards section is pretty slim (only 3). I have a very strong research proposal but my undergrad marks aren't that great and my awards are lacking. So I can see myself losing to someone who is an all-round strong student. I really tried to convey that I wasn't just a professional student, but that I was a very passionate researcher and went beyond my degree requirements and embrace my field. We'll see! Very good ! You will win ... I am sure. Maybe even the CGS. What is youur GPa.(you can send it to by message) You dont have to worry... Academic excellence is only 30%. You will have excellent results in Research and Communication skiils. (70%)
yellowtulip Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 I get the bachelor time frame as that's pretty standard... but the number of years in grad school can vary so much!
eliasg Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 I get the bachelor time frame as that's pretty standard... but the number of years in grad school can vary so much! It's the time of bachelor studies that is important.
DirkDanly Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 cool link describing exactly what goes on at the NSERC offices during the ranking process http://www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/scholarships/NSERC%20hints%2005.pdf
yellowtulip Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 For the PDF's it says: "Duration of graduate studies" as one of the criteria
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