OGS Status Update Anyone?

[NeedFunds]

Can't take the waiting!!!

[NeedFunds]

Anyone here anything on a precise date yet?

[ktel]

Beginning to mid May is as precise as we're going to get.

[NeedFunds]

Formally, yes, but their are individuals who are privy to insider information - just wondering who knows what. It is not uncommon for departments to know results ahead of time and share this information with students.

[sleepyphd]

Formally, yes, but their are individuals who are privy to insider information - just wondering who knows what. It is not uncommon for departments to know results ahead of time and share this information with students.

Yes... I already shared this type of info a while back but people either didnt believe me or got upset that I had some of this very insider info you speak of now. Whoever it is that makes up the funding committee in your department likely already knows (at least mine do, and I have a friend in another department where this is also the case). Go a couple pages back and you'll see my post (along with people's responses to my post). In a forum where people are looking for others to pass along info they've been privy to, I thought perhaps people would have been appreciative of my post. Guess not... but hey, I tried to share what I knew.

Call it "a lack of integrity" on behalf of the department, or "unprofessional" all you want, but post after post in this "in the bank" forum has people wishing they knew about funding earlier in order to make tough decisions about admission and job offers a little easier... but when departments try to alleviate some of these difficulties by sharing info to help certain students in unique circumstances - who for some stupid bureacratic reason wouldnt otherwise be told until over a month later - suddenly this is bad. YES its not fair that all students arent told right away, YES its unfair that we have to wait to be told something that has already been decided on a month ago. But to jump all over the department who tries to help certain students make crucial choices rather than sitting on info that this student will EVENTUALLY find out anyway while watching them squirm to make those admission or job decisions is also unfair. Instead of condemning them, condemn the system that is currently in place... to expect students to respond to admission offers, TA contracts, RA contracts etc BEFORE THEY ARE EVEN TOLD IF THEY WILL BE FUNDED is simply ridiculous. We submit these applications in Oct... I dont think its too much to ask that results be released by end of March to ensure that Ontario's students can make the best decisions for themselves.

I really wish the best of luck to everyone in the competition, and I look forward to seeing people announce their good news on the forum!

[NeedFunds]

Yes... I already shared this type of info a while back but people either didnt believe me or got upset that I had some of this very insider info you speak of now. Whoever it is that makes up the funding committee in your department likely already knows (at least mine do, and I have a friend in another department where this is also the case). Go a couple pages back and you'll see my post (along with people's responses to my post). In a forum where people are looking for others to pass along info they've been privy to, I thought perhaps people would have been appreciative of my post. Guess not... but hey, I tried to share what I knew.

Call it "a lack of integrity" on behalf of the department, or "unprofessional" all you want, but post after post in this "in the bank" forum has people wishing they knew about funding earlier in order to make tough decisions about admission and job offers a little easier... but when departments try to alleviate some of these difficulties by sharing info to help certain students in unique circumstances - who for some stupid bureacratic reason wouldnt otherwise be told until over a month later - suddenly this is bad. YES its not fair that all students arent told right away, YES its unfair that we have to wait to be told something that has already been decided on a month ago. But to jump all over the department who tries to help certain students make crucial choices rather than sitting on info that this student will EVENTUALLY find out anyway while watching them squirm to make those admission or job decisions is also unfair. Instead of condemning them, condemn the system that is currently in place... to expect students to respond to admission offers, TA contracts, RA contracts etc BEFORE THEY ARE EVEN TOLD IF THEY WILL BE FUNDED is simply ridiculous. We submit these applications in Oct... I dont think its too much to ask that results be released by end of March to ensure that Ontario's students can make the best decisions for themselves.

I really wish the best of luck to everyone in the competition, and I look forward to seeing people announce their good news on the forum!

I completely agree with you - the whole point of this forum is to share information amongst one another and to shut someone down when they proffer this information defeats the purpose of following these threads in the first place. I don't know whether every department knows the results as of yet, but certainly those with committee members do.

[Andsowego]

Yes... I already shared this type of info a while back but people either didnt believe me or got upset that I had some of this very insider info you speak of now. Whoever it is that makes up the funding committee in your department likely already knows (at least mine do, and I have a friend in another department where this is also the case). Go a couple pages back and you'll see my post (along with people's responses to my post). In a forum where people are looking for others to pass along info they've been privy to, I thought perhaps people would have been appreciative of my post. Guess not... but hey, I tried to share what I knew.

Call it "a lack of integrity" on behalf of the department, or "unprofessional" all you want, but post after post in this "in the bank" forum has people wishing they knew about funding earlier in order to make tough decisions about admission and job offers a little easier... but when departments try to alleviate some of these difficulties by sharing info to help certain students in unique circumstances - who for some stupid bureacratic reason wouldnt otherwise be told until over a month later - suddenly this is bad. YES its not fair that all students arent told right away, YES its unfair that we have to wait to be told something that has already been decided on a month ago. But to jump all over the department who tries to help certain students make crucial choices rather than sitting on info that this student will EVENTUALLY find out anyway while watching them squirm to make those admission or job decisions is also unfair. Instead of condemning them, condemn the system that is currently in place... to expect students to respond to admission offers, TA contracts, RA contracts etc BEFORE THEY ARE EVEN TOLD IF THEY WILL BE FUNDED is simply ridiculous. We submit these applications in Oct... I dont think its too much to ask that results be released by end of March to ensure that Ontario's students can make the best decisions for themselves.

I really wish the best of luck to everyone in the competition, and I look forward to seeing people announce their good news on the forum!

QUOTE: "...but when departments try to alleviate some of these difficulties by sharing info to help certain students in unique circumstances..."

Are you saying that you were notified an entire month early because you are experiencing unique circumstances? If that's the case, maybe you should have mentioned that in your previous posts and people here wouldn't have been so unresponsive. Who was it that decided *your* circumstances were unique enough to warrant early notification? I'm all for accommodation and equitable practices in educational settings, but what does OGS actually say about this with regards to the notification timeline? What are the standards by which a student can be justifiably notified early? Does "unique" have to be based on a documented illness? learning disability? etc? I'm not trying to be accusatory with you, but you never mentioned any of this in your previous posts, and if you did, I'm sure no one would have jumped on you for simply being honest. I'd genuinely like to know what justifies early notification.

Edited April 25, 2012 by Andsowego

[ktel]

What makes me hesitant to believe sleepyphd is just common sense. Why would OGS have the results, yet choose not to distribute them for an entire month? It just makes no sense to me

[sleepyphd]

QUOTE: "...but when departments try to alleviate some of these difficulties by sharing info to help certain students in unique circumstances..."

Are you saying that you were notified an entire month early because you are experiencing unique circumstances? If that's the case, maybe you should have mentioned that in your previous posts and people here wouldn't have been so unresponsive. Who was it that decided *your* circumstances were unique enough to warrant early notification? I'm all for accommodation and equitable practices in educational settings, but what does OGS actually say about this with regards to the notification timeline? What are the standards by which a student can be justifiably notified early? Does "unique" have to be based on a documented illness? learning disability? etc? I'm not trying to be accusatory with you, but you never mentioned any of this in your previous posts, and if you did, I'm sure no one would have jumped on you for simply being honest. I'd genuinely like to know what justifies early notification.

Still NOT the point. Not everything is so "official", as you seem to think they must be. The purpose of my initial posts were to inform you all that committees already know... simple as that. NOT that OGS granted my department early notification permission -- if this were the case, I would have said that. OGS wasn't part of the department's decision to reveal results to some who were trying to make admission/job decisions with early April deadlines (this is all i meant by unique, because some were in this boat while others were not); my post implied that the department wasn't following dumb OGS protocol, obviously (hence my rant about calling it unprofessional all you want, bla bla). I was merely pointing out that rather than jump all over the department for doing this (or the messenger posting that they do in fact already know), we should be blaming OGS for making departments remain hush while they take their sweet time to notify students 1.5 months after decision is made.

[sleepyphd]

What makes me hesitant to believe sleepyphd is just common sense. Why would OGS have the results, yet choose not to distribute them for an entire month? It just makes no sense to me

Common sense indeed: its a government body... they are notoriously slow (they prepare for one mass distribution, and this takes time). And again, its unlikely that ALL departments know at the same time, so in the interest of "fairness", they dont allow results to be distributed by the schools themselves.

[NeedFunds]

Common sense indeed: its a government body... they are notoriously slow (they prepare for one mass distribution, and this takes time). And again, its unlikely that ALL departments know at the same time, so in the interest of "fairness", they dont allow results to be distributed by the schools themselves.

Absolutely - it is absurd to think that every committee would finish reviewing at the exact same time. Some are definitely more efficient than others, some likely have slightly heavier workloads - there are a number of reasons as to why not all committees would finish reviewing at the same time and hence, why some results would be available before others.

[Andsowego]

Still NOT the point. Not everything is so "official", as you seem to think they must be. The purpose of my initial posts were to inform you all that committees already know... simple as that. NOT that OGS granted my department early notification permission -- if this were the case, I would have said that. OGS wasn't part of the department's decision to reveal results to some who were trying to make admission/job decisions with early April deadlines (this is all i meant by unique, because some were in this boat while others were not); my post implied that the department wasn't following dumb OGS protocol, obviously (hence my rant about calling it unprofessional all you want, bla bla). I was merely pointing out that rather than jump all over the department for doing this (or the messenger posting that they do in fact already know), we should be blaming OGS for making departments remain hush while they take their sweet time to notify students 1.5 months after decision is made.

So, by "unique" you mean that a few special people are in difficult situations with regards to making decisions about acceptance? That's crap. EVERYONE is in that situation. Everyone has "special" or "unique" life circumstances. That's why I asked about whether or not OGS made a decision for early notification for YOU specifically, not whether or not they notified your specific department. If there was some kind of policy that allowed for early notification based on actual unique circumstances (e.g., a documented disability that requires additional time for future planning), then I wouldn't have a problem, since ALL students who need it would have equal opportunity to take advantage of it based on a real, exceptional need. I find it disturbing that your department thinks that their students are unique or special in some way. That they think they know better than a provincial funding body, and just choose to tell students whenever they please. My department would *never* release results early without a set OGS policy to do so for really exceptional student cases. It's unethical, irresponsible, and smacks of unjustifed self-importance. As much as we all want earlier notification, the truth is that I'd rather find out when everyone else across the country does, rather than live with the knowledge that I've received an unjustifiable advantage.

[NeedFunds]

So, by "unique" you mean that a few special people are in difficult situations with regards to making decisions about acceptance? That's crap. EVERYONE is in that situation. Everyone has "special" or "unique" life circumstances. That's why I asked about whether or not OGS made a decision for early notification for YOU specifically, not whether or not they notified your specific department. If there was some kind of policy that allowed for early notification based on actual unique circumstances (e.g., a documented disability that requires additional time for future planning), then I wouldn't have a problem, since ALL students who need it would have equal opportunity to take advantage of it based on a real, exceptional need. I find it disturbing that your department thinks that their students are unique or special in some way. That they think they know better than a provincial funding body, and just choose to tell students whenever they please. My department would *never* release results early without a set OGS policy to do so for really exceptional student cases. It's unethical, irresponsible, and smacks of unjustifed self-importance. As much as we all want earlier notification, the truth is that I'd rather find out when everyone else across the country does, rather than live with the knowledge that I've received an unjustifiable advantage.

That may be the case, and you have every right to be angered by the fact that some individuals are privileged enough to find out their results ahead of time; but, let's not lose sight of what this forum is for, to share information. So even though it is unfair that SleepyPhD received results before the rest of us, I don't see much sense in attacking him or her for providing us with what we want - information. Let's just try and keep the discussion cordial.

Edited April 26, 2012 by NeedFunds

[sleepyphd]

That may be the case, and you have every right to be angered by the fact that some individuals are privileged enough to find out their results ahead of time; but, let's not lose sight of what this forum is for, to share information. So even though it is unfair that SleepyPhD received results before the rest of us, I don't see much sense in attacking him or her for providing us with what we want - information. Let's just try and keep the discussion cordial.

Exactly. Thank you.

I wanted to share the info, but had I not mentioned that I myself received a result, people would have been asking "how" I know committees were starting to find out.

Andsowego's self-righteousness is uncalled for... this is just about letting fellow gradstudents in on something.

Good luck with SSHRC and OGS... Im waiting to hear on the SSHRC!

[Andsowego]

Exactly. Thank you.

I wanted to share the info, but had I not mentioned that I myself received a result, people would have been asking "how" I know committees were starting to find out.

Andsowego's self-righteousness is uncalled for... this is just about letting fellow gradstudents in on something.

Good luck with SSHRC and OGS... Im waiting to hear on the SSHRC!

Just for the record, I wasn't even one of the people who took exception to your initial post. And calling ME self-righteous? Please. I'm just stating the obvious. You're at a school that considers themselves "special" enough to give their students an unjustified advantage. I'm pretty sure I'm not the one being self-righteous here. Indeed, it isn't your fault. The blame does lie with your department. I just don't think that those who *did* take exception to your initial post were out of line at all.

[NeedFunds]

Maybe one of you could create a new thread and the two of you can continue your debate on self-righteousness there so that the rest of us can continue to use this thread to share information pertinent to OGS results?

[Andsowego]

Maybe one of you could create a new thread and the two of you can continue your debate on self-righteousness there so that the rest of us can continue to use this thread to share information pertinent to OGS results?

Sarcasm notwithstanding, I do get your point. No worries, I'm done with the [apparent] self-righteousness (for now anyway... I can't predict when it may rear its ugly head again - this is an internet forum, after all - LOL). Honestly, I'm just super-stressed, and knowing that some departments at some universities actually told their students the OGS results over a *month* ago while the rest of us have been made to wait, has really upset me. It's not helpful information (especially for those students who are reading this thread and are battling disabilities or extenuating life circumstances). Angry + Sad about the unethical realities of Academia = Me. Sorry to have offended anyone with my opinion. I'm taking a leave from posting in this particular thread until the legitimate OGS results are announced. Good luck to everyone! See you in the SSHRC-dom.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Andsowego

[cathaea]

The OSAP website is down because it's being updated. This means nothing, right?

[NeedFunds]

I recall from last year that this happened shortly before results were released (I was checking compulsively). I know some people received their results before others last year, so perhaps this is precautionary to ensure that we all receive results at the same time this year? If the site is down then nobody can access there results until everyone has had their status updated and the site is back up and running.

[NeedFunds]

Just checked the site again - its back up and running, but no status update yet.

[NeedFunds]

My guess is that the site might have been shut down to update results for one of the committees; although that is likely wishful thinking on my part.

[cmoor019]

What does everyone think constitutes "early May"? Does anyone think it could mean May 1st or 2nd? Or is that just wishful thinking...?

[cathaea]

Given that the email we all received stated "early-to-mid" May, I would assume it will be at least a week from now.

[NeedFunds]

Im pretty sure it was May 3rd last year, but I could be wrong. In trying to be optimistic, it does say early May on the online system as opposed the beginning to mid May in the email we received.

Edited May 1, 2012 by NeedFunds

[cathaea]

Getting OGS this week would be a nice consolation as I lick my wounds from SSHRC. Although if I don't get OGS either, I am absolutely screwed.