SSHRC

[canuckle]

I am going into my first year of MA in Sept., and I will be applying for SSHRC. Who do I ask for a reference letter, profs from my undergrad? Also does receiving OGS this year increase my chances for SSHRC next year? How specific were your research proposals? I am not sure if I should taylor my proposal for OGS to something more specific? I don't even know if I will have my thesis figured out by next fall, being that I will be starting my studies.

kaybee, there's a wealth of information throughout this forum which you should read through.

Certainly, before you graduate you should try to make contact with a few of your profs, who you think might hold you in high regard, to put your face in their mind and let them know that you may ask for a reference letter in the future. Depending on the deadline your MA school sets, your application will be due oct-novish. I assume you'll get some encouragement very early in your program to apply for the SSHRC.

Your research proposal (mine, was anyway) should be very specific. You would do yourself a favor if you put some thought into your thesis topic/ questions during the summer, and you could also contact your potential new supervisor (once you think you're onto a specific topic area/ questions, perhaps late in the summer) to get a little feedback. I suspect that it'll all go through a few revisions/ total changes. This is all part of the process--don't sweat it.

All in all, its only two pages long--but you'll be surprised how long that 2 pages takes to polished up to a gleaming SSHRC-worthy shine.

[psychwaiter]

I'm hoping someone on here can help me out. I was told by my department that I was successful in getting the sshrc fellowship. But I am out of the province doing fieldwork for the next two months, so I will not get my letter for a long time. I'm wondering if anyone who has a letter can tell me if there is anything I'm supposed to do (i.e. how do I confirm my acceptance of the award?). I'm assuming the timeframe to accept is only a few weeks. Could anyone help me out? Thanks!

The letter just tells you to go to this website:

http://www.sshrc.ca/site/using-utiliser ... r-eng.aspx

All of the instructions for accepting/declining an award are there. I believe that all you have to do is email someone. Hope that helps.

[banana45]

Thanks so much!!

The letter just tells you to go to this website:

http://www.sshrc.ca/site/using-utiliser ... r-eng.aspx

All of the instructions for accepting/declining an award are there. I believe that all you have to do is email someone. Hope that helps.

[Sarah7]

Banana45,

Just one quick little detail to add: when you contact SSHRC, they usually like you to include the type of award or at least your award # in your message, so it might not hurt to call your department and see if anyone can give you that information (which you will need eventually to send in your forms anyways, although that is less urgent). In your email, you will need to confirm your acceptance (obviously), your start date, your university and department (if known).

Good luck,

Sarah

PS Sorry canuckly, I totally missed that... you sounded so serious and resolute. This is why I should not post anything while on a SSHRC high...

[banana45]

Thanks Sarah7! I've sent off the email...

I also came across an interesting bit of information. According to one of our awards officers at SGS, every year a few of the fellowship winners are upgraded to CGS SSHRCs. He couldn't tell me how this was decided, only that studnets always welcome more money. Has anyone else heard about this?

[Felan]

Re: people wondering about the waiting list cut-off, I wouldn't put too much stock on what we can discern based on the small fraction of people who are posting their scores here on this form. I'm no social scientist, but there are what, maybe 20 or 30 grad students who applied to SSHRC and have posted here? That out of over a thousand applications is a pretty lousy sample. We have no way of knowing what kind of a curve we're dealing with either, so the 14-17.5 range could well be the largest proportion of applications. Surely there are fewer in the 0-5 range considering that all the applications have already made it past an internal committee! On top of that, because the number of applications and the amount of funding varies (apparently quite widely!) each year, there's no guarantee that the "cut-off" will be consistent from year to year. The scores are a short-hand anyhow for a ranking that is based on a wide variety of factors, and I think it would be unwise (and unhealthy!) to spend too much time thinking about them. I know I'll be focusing on how to tweak my application for next year (I'm thinking: pretend to be a business student. Zing!), and not on where I happen to lie on the waiting list.

[kaybee]

Thanks for the reply canuckle! I'll look through the forum for anything that might help me further.

[Cree8tiveGyal]

Hey everyone....

I'm in Toronto and received my letter today.

This line is mildly disturbing - "Payments due in subsequent fiscal years are subject to the availability of funds." Let's hope those business students with their extra funding can fix-up this economy for us.........lol

[phreeduh]

urgh. It is actually quite frustrated to hear that other Montrealers have received their letters already..

Come on lucky Friday mail!

[canuckle]

FRIDAY MAIL!?!?

Jesus... it just sunk in that its friday tomorrow and if we don't get our letters its one more weekend!

Ah, the life of a grad student--sometimes not knowing the day of the week helps, but its a bitch when you realize it!

[sylvinka]

FRIDAY MAIL!?!?

Jesus... it just sunk in that its friday tomorrow and if we don't get our letters its one more weekend!

Ah, the life of a grad student--sometimes not knowing the day of the week helps, but its a bitch when you realize it!

Hi guys.

The letter just arrived to St. John's (NL). I got the scholarship with the score 18.3.

Good luck to all who are still waiting!

[outfall]

Hi all,

I got my letter yesterday (Montreal). I won a CGS with a score of 23.8. Hope that helps shed some light on the going rate.

Congratulations all the recipients and best of luck to those applying next year.

[phreeduh]

*grumble*

Apparently, though I had confirmed by email an address change with SSHRC no less than twice, (their being a month and a half late means I'd returned home for the summer by the time they had released the results) my letter still got sent to the the US. Looks like I won't be getting my results til sometime mid next week. If anyone else thinks that their results might have gotten sent to the wrong address you should contact SSHRC by email and check.

[fatcat]

Hey all,

Thanks to all you posters! If not for this board, I would have gone nuts with the waiting.

[tofunoodle]

Thanks for all the recent posts, and congrats to the lucky recipients!

It looks like the cut-off for doctoral fellowships this year is somewhere between 17.4 and 17.8 -- it's nice that we can narrow it down that much!

[violet]

Hi all. I just got my letter (in Montreal). Just to add to the stats: I got a SSHRC for 4 years with a score of 19.3. I applied independently and my score in the first round was 24.

I'm curious what the cut-off score for CGS was (?)

[Neatgirl]

Got my letter today in Guelph (ON) - I won a CGS with a score of 21. Hope this info helps! Good luck to everyone still waiting!

[Neatgirl]

The letter just tells you to go to this website:

http://www.sshrc.ca/site/using-utiliser ... r-eng.aspx

All of the instructions for accepting/declining an award are there. I believe that all you have to do is email someone. Hope that helps.

Hi banana45 - my letter says to email Fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca of your acceptance within 4 weeks of the date on the Notice of Award (which is dated May 20, 2009). Hope this helps and congrats!

[sunny]

Hi everyone,

I am in Toronto and also just received my letter. I'm going into my third year, and received a Doctoral Fellowship with a score of 24.4. Does anyone know when they adjudicate the other awards you are eligible for if you obtain a SSHRC (e.g, Aileen Ross Award, Sport Participation Research Initiative?) Thanks to everyone for the support on this board!

[Justsomerandominfo]

Hi all,

I've been lurking this forum for the last little while for my girlfriend, who can't bear to think about SSHRC any longer. (Can you blame her?) You've all been a great help, so here's something in return! Got the letter ten minutes ago:

EXTERNAL candidate to U of T, 1st year Ph.D.

WAS NOT on the list of successful U of T candidates sent to grad departments

20.55 final after a 21-ish initial score

Doctoral fellowship (4 years)

All signs were completely negative up until the letter came today, so don't give up hope! Best of luck to all of you!

P.S. I think she might actually be riiiight under the cutoff for CGS, looking at these numbers. We'll try not to tell her that.

[MissTheory]

P.S. I think she might actually be riiiight under the cutoff for CGS, looking at these numbers. We'll try not to tell her that.

Hey all......i've been lurking for a bit......got my letter today at U of T......successful application for a SSHRC CGS Doctoral......app score 20.5/30......

So Justsomerandominfo......maybe she should inquire why she didn't receive the CGS?...although i think it's pretty good that she's getting funding for the full duration! congrats to her!

[Neatgirl]

Hey all......i've been lurking for a bit......got my letter today at U of T......successful application for a SSHRC CGS Doctoral......app score 20.5/30......

So Justsomerandominfo......maybe she should inquire why she didn't receive the CGS?...although i think it's pretty good that she's getting funding for the full duration! congrats to her!

Congrats MissTheory! That does seem strange that Justsomerandominfo's gf didn't get a CGS with her score - really doesn't make any sense (not that I'm too surprised that something else about this whole process doesn't make sense though)!!! I agree with you that congrats are in order for either award, it's still a real accomplishment!

[ogopogo]

Do you think that the scores needed to get each award might vary by the committee that judges them?

Also, no letter today in Vancouver. sigh. I used to like weekends.

[*&*]

anybody else out there who applied to sshrc with a practice-based phd in the arts?

[Cree8tiveGyal]

Congrats MissTheory! That does seem strange that Justsomerandominfo's gf didn't get a CGS with her score - really doesn't make any sense (not that I'm too surprised that something else about this whole process doesn't make sense though)!!! I agree with you that congrats are in order for either award, it's still a real accomplishment!

That makes sense Neatgirl. And maybe the year of application makes a difference, too?