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CGS-M 2015-2016


nuih

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Wish Concordia would tell us - I'd like to know if I'm 29th or not (or: should I keep the research portal open in a tab until January 2016, haha)

 

Did you try e-mailing Margaret in SGS' awards office? She should have more information about where you sit on the waitlist.

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Did you try e-mailing Margaret in SGS' awards office? She should have more information about where you sit on the waitlist.

Yes and she told me herself that she cannot give that information.  What a drag.

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Yes and she told me herself that she cannot give that information.  What a drag.

Ugh, that's really annoying. Awards has been awful this year because Dolly is on mat. leave and she is the person who singlehandedly kept that ship afloat.

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does anyone know their position on the waitlist for u of t or york?

does anyone know how many people are on the waitlist at toronto? Or even who to call to ask? 

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Also, is it possible to apply for a CGS-M for a second master's degree? I know that in the old system (pre 2013) it was explicitly delineated that this must be our first graduate program, but the new eligiblity rules don't seem to mention this unless I have missed it. Did anyone here apply (successfully) with another master's under their belt?

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can universities reduce internal funding if you received a CGS-M? My funding letter said the internal funding (TA-ship and a merit-based entrance scholarship) will be "adjusted" if I receive a CGS-M.  I feel this is kind of fishy ... thoughts?

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can universities reduce internal funding if you received a CGS-M? My funding letter said the internal funding (TA-ship and a merit-based entrance scholarship) will be "adjusted" if I receive a CGS-M.  I feel this is kind of fishy ... thoughts?

It is normal for it to be reduced. You don't just get an extra $17.5k on top of what you were offered. Usually you still end up with a few thousand more, and a reduced teaching load, but this depends on the department.

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It is normal for it to be reduced. You don't just get an extra $17.5k on top of what you were offered. Usually you still end up with a few thousand more, and a reduced teaching load, but this depends on the department.

 

really... well this almost makes me question what is even the point of applying for scholarships if your funding is going to be roughly the same as if you just went with the funding package :/

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really... well this almost makes me question what is even the point of applying for scholarships if your funding is going to be roughly the same as if you just went with the funding package :/

Well, you will get a few thousand more usually (in the case of my offers, I would have gotten $8k more at one place and $6k at another, and TA half as many hours per week at both). It is also beneficial for academic job applications to have received grants/scholarships/fellowships - there is a certain amount of prestige associated with them.

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yeah two of my schools said i'd have to turn down internal funding if i accepted the SSHRC, while one said that I could keep my award and my SSHRC. Two schools also offered "top-up" funding (1K and 5K) on the SSHRC alone. I think TAships are still permitted, but the internal scholarships might be lost depending on the schools. 

PS weird question but would it be okay to write down an award you were offered but turned down, on your CV? I've been offered a SSHRC at two schools but my top school only listed me as an alternate (unlikely to receive it) and i'm wondering whether i could still include the CGS-M on my resume if i turn down the award

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I agree that it's very strange how receiving a CGS-m can either decrease or cause no effect on your funding. In my first year of my master's program I received two small scholarships ($5000 and $6000) and was still allowed to TA. So I received $11,000 +$1300 a month. This comes out to about $21,400 total. Now that I have the CGS-m, I will only receive $17,500. There is no top-up and I will not be allowed to TA. I go to York.

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really... well this almost makes me question what is even the point of applying for scholarships if your funding is going to be roughly the same as if you just went with the funding package :/

 

The point is that you get relatively the same amount of money but you don't have to work for it; i.e. work as a RA or TA which can be major time sucks. 

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really... well this almost makes me question what is even the point of applying for scholarships if your funding is going to be roughly the same as if you just went with the funding package :/

 

In addition to what others also said, getting the fellowship on your CV is a huge deal. I think the thing that most NSERC (I'd assume this appilies to SSHRC and CIHR too) CGS-M winners have in common is winning the NSERC Undergraduate research award. And the thing most NSERC PGS-D/CGS-D award winners have in common is winning the CGS-M. Having won past prestigious awards makes you a much stronger candidate for everything.

 

 

PS weird question but would it be okay to write down an award you were offered but turned down, on your CV? I've been offered a SSHRC at two schools but my top school only listed me as an alternate (unlikely to receive it) and i'm wondering whether i could still include the CGS-M on my resume if i turn down the award

 

Sometimes. It's normal practice to put "declined" awards in some cases. For example, if you won a NSERC CGS-M for computer science at School X and you also won a "Microsoft Fellowship" (probably not real, just making up an external award) and you decide the Microsoft Fellowship is better for you, you can say you declined the CGS-M (since the CGS-M is also a prestigious award!).

 

However, I think the CGS-M is a special case because it's an award that is tied to a specific school. So, I don't think you should include the CGS-M (declined) from a school that you are not attending. Another case where I don't think you should include a declined award is if you end up with a better award from the same granting agency. For example, if you applied to both the CGS-D ($35k/year) and the Vanier CGS ($50k/year) program and received both, you should not put CGS-D (Declined) on your CV since the Vanier is a better award from the same agency.

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Sometimes. It's normal practice to put "declined" awards in some cases. For example, if you won a NSERC CGS-M for computer science at School X and you also won a "Microsoft Fellowship" (probably not real, just making up an external award) and you decide the Microsoft Fellowship is better for you, you can say you declined the CGS-M (since the CGS-M is also a prestigious award!).

 

However, I think the CGS-M is a special case because it's an award that is tied to a specific school. So, I don't think you should include the CGS-M (declined) from a school that you are not attending. Another case where I don't think you should include a declined award is if you end up with a better award from the same granting agency. For example, if you applied to both the CGS-D ($35k/year) and the Vanier CGS ($50k/year) program and received both, you should not put CGS-D (Declined) on your CV since the Vanier is a better award from the same agency.

I had to decline the CGS-M everywhere because I'm going to the US. I still intend to apply for the PGS-D next year (not quite eligible yet). I was planning on including that I had declined the CGS-M on my CV. Do you think I shouldn't, in this case? I agree that the CGS-M is a special case, being tied to specific programs, so it's maybe a bit weird. I also declined an OGS, but was not really planning on including both on my CV.

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I had to decline the CGS-M everywhere because I'm going to the US. I still intend to apply for the PGS-D next year (not quite eligible yet). I was planning on including that I had declined the CGS-M on my CV. Do you think I shouldn't, in this case? I agree that the CGS-M is a special case, being tied to specific programs, so it's maybe a bit weird. I also declined an OGS, but was not really planning on including both on my CV.

 

You probably want to get multiple opinions on this specific case!

 

My thought would be no, do not include it, and here's why (but almost all of this is subjective--it's just my opinion!): The CGS-M is now structured so that it is awarded by the school you applied to only--the decision is not made at the NSERC level (please correct me if I'm wrong here). So, it's no longer as prestigious as it used to be, in my opinion, to be worth indicating that you declined it. It also doesn't mean very much, in my opinion, to decline an award that is offered by one specific school only. 

 

However, if I remember correctly, you will still be able to indicate that you were successful in a previous CGS-M competition when you apply for the PGS-D next year. So this is another special case--since both the CGS-M and PGS-D are NSERC awards, they would already know about your success at the CGS-M level (congrats!) Here's the quote from the Instructions for the PGS-D:

 
Awards

Scholarships and other awards offered

List only competitive awards based on academic or research excellence and/or leadership or communication abilities. Include NSERC awards and declined awards. You may list up to 10 awards, starting with the most recent.

 

 

 

Therefore, the only people that care about your previous CGS-M success are your PGS-D evaluators and they will know this through your PGS-D application, so there's no need (in my opinion) to put this on your general CV. In fact, I don't think you get to submit a CV at all for the PGS-D, you have to fill out individual form sections like the one I quoted above. 

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You probably want to get multiple opinions on this specific case!

 

My thought would be no, do not include it, and here's why (but almost all of this is subjective--it's just my opinion!): The CGS-M is now structured so that it is awarded by the school you applied to only--the decision is not made at the NSERC level (please correct me if I'm wrong here). So, it's no longer as prestigious as it used to be, in my opinion, to be worth indicating that you declined it. It also doesn't mean very much, in my opinion, to decline an award that is offered by one specific school only. 

 

However, if I remember correctly, you will still be able to indicate that you were successful in a previous CGS-M competition when you apply for the PGS-D next year. So this is another special case--since both the CGS-M and PGS-D are NSERC awards, they would already know about your success at the CGS-M level (congrats!) Here's the quote from the Instructions for the PGS-D:

 

 

 

Therefore, the only people that care about your previous CGS-M success are your PGS-D evaluators and they will know this through your PGS-D application, so there's no need (in my opinion) to put this on your general CV. In fact, I don't think you get to submit a CV at all for the PGS-D, you have to fill out individual form sections like the one I quoted above. 

At least for the CGS-M, you have to use their online system to make their specific electronic CV. I'll mention it for the PGS-D application I think, but I agree that it might be kind of meaningless on the general CV.

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