SSHRC 2010

[Hypatia]

Anyone apply for an SSHRC award this season? Masters Scholarship, CGS, or Doctoral Fellowship applicants all welcome! From last year's thread, it looks like A-list and score notification letters get sent out this week, so let's all commiserate as we set up camp by the mailbox...Post here with any news!

[sebastiaan]

Hey!

I got a letter from SHHRC last week saying that they received my PhD application.

Best of luck!

Sbeastian

[socfreak]

I got a confirmation from SSHRC saying they have received my application and one form the university stating that I was recommended.

And the waiting game begins!

[canlit]

sshrc confirmed that they had received my app, but over email?

[NorthernStar]

Both SSHRC and the University notified me that my application has gone through to SSHRC (after being evaluated internally twice - once within the department, once by SGS). Then the graduate administrator told me the same thing. Now all there's left to do is wait and pray. Really hard.

Does anyone know when we should expect to hear back? last year they were pretty late.

[danutfm]

i just got an email this afternoon from sshrc; didn't hear from my school yet - do you guys know if you were recommended as A-list candidates or as alternates? does that matter?

thanks and good luck!

[NorthernStar]

i just got an email this afternoon from sshrc; didn't hear from my school yet - do you guys know if you were recommended as A-list candidates or as alternates? does that matter?

thanks and good luck!

I don't think they even tell us if we're A listers or alternates, they just confirm that we have been forwarded. I checked the stats though (on the SSHRC website) - and relatively, it looks pretty good. For instance, 63% of U of T PhD students forwarded last year were awarded. Here's to hopin'.

[canlit]

I'm planning to start a PhD program in the fall of 2010. My app has been sent to SSHRC but I am just wondering if they are as likely to give the award to a student who is just entering a program then a student who is already a year in?

[Hypatia]

I'm planning to start a PhD program in the fall of 2010. My app has been sent to SSHRC but I am just wondering if they are as likely to give the award to a student who is just entering a program then a student who is already a year in?

Table 7 on the excel spreadsheets shows the success rate by year of study...it looks like it is pretty close between those starting the award in their first year and those in their second year. In 2009, just a percent or two more in favour of 2nd years, in 2008 more in favour of first years, in 2007 more in favour of second years. So it should be pretty even?

http://www.sshrc.ca/...bleaux-eng.aspx

[e-jane]

I just got an email today telling me that my school entered my SSHRC app into the Business-Related section of the national competition, which is interesting because while it did cross my mind to check off that box when I applied, I was pretty sure I hadn't done it in the end --though my memory's a bit foggy on it now-- since I thought it might be pushing my luck. And besides that, I hadn't exactly been in favour of the politics of this new initiative anyway. I'm in Media Studies, but my advertising-related proposal is somewhat business-related (I just hadn't imagined it was "businessy" enough for this category).

Anyway, I didn't receive any info on what kind of 'score' I got or whether I was on this apparent "A-list" some of you have mentioned or what --should I have gotten that information? More importantly, does anyone know how being in this category (Masters level), rather than in the usual Masters SSHRC category might affect my chances? What I got from the letter was that I was taken out of the normal Masters-level competition and am now a contender only in the business related pool of the national competition, my guess is that maybe putting my app in this category was the school's way of getting me into the national competition where I otherwise might not have made the cut (and if so, no complaints!).

This is the first year of this "business-related" initiative, right? Even so, if anyone has any thoughts or insights as to how things are operating in this new category or about my other questions, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks.

[ajesusj]

I don't think they even tell us if we're A listers or alternates, they just confirm that we have been forwarded. I checked the stats though (on the SSHRC website) - and relatively, it looks pretty good. For instance, 63% of U of T PhD students forwarded last year were awarded. Here's to hopin'.

Has anyone from York received a confirmaiton email of application? I applied and have not heard yet.

[allornothing]

I just got an email today telling me that my school entered my SSHRC app into the Business-Related section of the national competition, which is interesting because while it did cross my mind to check off that box when I applied, I was pretty sure I hadn't done it in the end --though my memory's a bit foggy on it now-- since I thought it might be pushing my luck. And besides that, I hadn't exactly been in favour of the politics of this new initiative anyway. I'm in Media Studies, but my advertising-related proposal is somewhat business-related (I just hadn't imagined it was "businessy" enough for this category).

Anyway, I didn't receive any info on what kind of 'score' I got or whether I was on this apparent "A-list" some of you have mentioned or what --should I have gotten that information? More importantly, does anyone know how being in this category (Masters level), rather than in the usual Masters SSHRC category might affect my chances? What I got from the letter was that I was taken out of the normal Masters-level competition and am now a contender only in the business related pool of the national competition, my guess is that maybe putting my app in this category was the school's way of getting me into the national competition where I otherwise might not have made the cut (and if so, no complaints!).

This is the first year of this "business-related" initiative, right? Even so, if anyone has any thoughts or insights as to how things are operating in this new category or about my other questions, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks.

I will preface this by saying that my experience is with the PhD level business award. The SSHRC Master's competition usually works differently but, I'll post what I know in case it is helpful for you or others.

Last year, my application was forwarded from my school to SSHRC. I found out in June (it was really late last year) that I was not awarded a CSG/SSHRC in the general competition. In late July I got a letter saying that my application had been sent to the Business Competition and was funded (I couldn't accept this award because I'm studying in the United States...this goes to your point about the "politics" of the initiatives). My application was only tangentially related to business, and I had not specifically applied to this category. My personal guess is that they are having a tough time finding applications that are specifically related to business and are pulling from other elsewhere to insure that the money is going to well-qualified candidates.

My experience last year was that, because of the novelty of this scholarship initiative, helpful bloggers and my school's administration did not have a lot of advice for me. I ended up having a couple of helpful (if ultimately disappointing) email exchanges with SSHRC. If you have specific questions, I would not hesitate to contact them.

Best of luck!

[mudlark]

Hi fellow waiting people!

This is my fourth round of SSHRC: an MA app that didn't get forwarded, and MA app that won, a PhD app that got forwarded, but not funded, and now a second PhD app forwarded. I consider myself a bit of a SSHRC geek.

As far as I know (and I'm pretty sure on these):

-E-mail notification: To the poster who was a bit baffled by their e-mail notification from SSHRC, yup, that's how you find out. Some grad faculties and grad chairs also send out notifications, but that seems to vary a lot from school to school.

-Alternates Lists: You would absolutely have been told if you are on an alternates list. I've had three friends win SSHRCs who were alternates (two MAs, and one PhD!) so don't lose hope if that's the result you get. When you're looking at the spreadsheets, "A list" means "forwarded", "B list" means "cut at the university level". If you got an e-mail from SSHRC, and nobody has told you that you're an alternate, congratulations! You're A list.

-Scores: You would only get a score at this point if you applied directly to Ottawa (because of a gap between degrees). If you applied through your school, you won't get a score until the bitter end, so don't worry about not having one. That being said, the scores are pretty useless. The direct-to-Ottawa applications can get massively different scores in the first and second rounds (they tend to drop a few points). The final scores are given to you in an aggregate, with no other information. Last year I got a 15, and funding started at 17. So I know that I wasn't too far off the mark, but with no idea what to change. Hell, that's the score from three readers, and I don't know if that was three 5s, or a 7, a 6, and a 2. The scores are not given to students in a useful form.

-Timelines: last year was hellish, (late May-early June) but SSHRC had two new initiatives to deal with: the business related projects, and the Vanier awards. I'm hoping that this year is closer to 2008's timeline, when I found out in mid April. A girl can dream, can't she?

This year, my goal is not to freak out about SSHRC. So far, I've been really good at not letting it take over my life. Hopefully I can keep up the zen attitude while waiting for results!

[Hypatia]

Hi fellow waiting people!

This is my fourth round of SSHRC: an MA app that didn't get forwarded, and MA app that won, a PhD app that got forwarded, but not funded, and now a second PhD app forwarded. I consider myself a bit of a SSHRC geek.

As far as I know (and I'm pretty sure on these):

-Scores: You would only get a score at this point if you applied directly to Ottawa (because of a gap between degrees). If you applied through your school, you won't get a score until the bitter end, so don't worry about not having one. That being said, the scores are pretty useless. The direct-to-Ottawa applications can get massively different scores in the first and second rounds (they tend to drop a few points). The final scores are given to you in an aggregate, with no other information. Last year I got a 15, and funding started at 17. So I know that I wasn't too far off the mark, but with no idea what to change. Hell, that's the score from three readers, and I don't know if that was three 5s, or a 7, a 6, and a 2. The scores are not given to students in a useful form.

Wow, thanks for all the info mudlark!

For the direct-to-Ottawa applications (I did my undergrad in Canada, but my masters in the UK, so didn't apply through my school for the PhD SSHRC fellowship), do you or does anyone else have any insight into when those applicants usually get the score letters? Are they emailed or snail mailed? Any data on what the average (or extreme) score drop is between rounds 1 and 2?

[mudlark]

For the direct-to-Ottawa applications (I did my undergrad in Canada, but my masters in the UK, so didn't apply through my school for the PhD SSHRC fellowship), do you or does anyone else have any insight into when those applicants usually get the score letters? Are they emailed or snail mailed? Any data on what the average (or extreme) score drop is between rounds 1 and 2?

Snail mailed, I believe? I've never gone the direct route, so I'm not sure. But the people who did so last year knew their scores. I think they were reporting a drop of a few points, BUT it was unpredictable, you never know what point is going to be the funding threshold in a given year, and it all depends on your readers so it's not worth stressing about.

[NorthernStar]

thanks, mudlark. That was helpful. Hoping for April myself, or I go insane.

[winwinwin]

Does anyone know how to ensure that I don't get a CGS? I have only applied to US schools, so getting a CGS would sort of suck (haha). They are still not letting people downgrade, right?

[mudlark]

Does anyone know how to ensure that I don't get a CGS? I have only applied to US schools, so getting a CGS would sort of suck (haha). They are still not letting people downgrade, right?

As far as I understand you can downgrade a CGS won in the regular competition. The one you can't downgrade is the "business related" CGS, since that was part of economic stimulus spending and they wanted to keep it in Canada (I think I may strain my eyes from all the rolling).

Do you know anyone who wasn't allowed to downgrade a regular CGS? That just sounds crazy to me!

[winwinwin]

As far as I understand you can downgrade a CGS won in the regular competition. The one you can't downgrade is the "business related" CGS, since that was part of economic stimulus spending and they wanted to keep it in Canada (I think I may strain my eyes from all the rolling).

Do you know anyone who wasn't allowed to downgrade a regular CGS? That just sounds crazy to me!

haha, yes, that would be terrible wouldn't it?

I applied to a business discipline - but through the regular process - and i think i have a strong application. What i'm worried about is that they will see business, and give me a must-stay-in-canada busines SSHRC rather than a regular SSHRC. Make sense? Or am I just misunderstanding the process.

Edited February 24, 2010 by winwinwin

[seaninthepark]

any bets on when the results will be out this year?

my chips are on first results trickling in starting april 20th

sean

[markg]

Has anyone who applied directly to Ottawa gotten any notification about whether they made it to the next stage?

[RaaR]

Has anyone who applied directly to Ottawa gotten any notification about whether they made it to the next stage?

I applied directly to Ottawa and still waiting for the notification... I was under the impression they go through this first round in early Feb.

I guess they should release decisions any day now... hopefully.

[Hypatia]

Has anyone who applied directly to Ottawa gotten any notification about whether they made it to the next stage?

I applied directly, but am in the UK so will likely be getting my letter a few days later than everyone--I'm relying on you Ontarians to let us know when you get yours so we can know when they're out!

[fritzlechat]

I just got a letter today saying that my application has been forwarded to the National Committees. This is my second year off between my MA and PhD so I'm an external. The letter says they received 825 applications and forwarded 230 (the maximum number that can be advanced).

Do any of you know what percentage is usually successful after this first cut?

[markg]

I just got a letter today saying that my application has been forwarded to the National Committees. This is my second year off between my MA and PhD so I'm an external. The letter says they received 825 applications and forwarded 230 (the maximum number that can be advanced).

Do any of you know what percentage is usually successful after this first cut?

I think it's about 50/50 for those who make it to the final stage.

Did you get e-mail notification, or just snail-mail?