acv025

Second offers went out at any point between Apr. 1 - 22, so those recipients have three weeks from receiving them (i.e. May 13 at the very latest) to accept/decline. That said, it's conceivable that some have already received third round offers at this point. And obviously with each subsequent round, the chances get smaller. With the odds as slim as they are, and knowing that there's no real deadline to look ahead to, I'm going to just sit back and forget about this. Maybe I'll get a surprise e-mail at some point, but I think I'm done theorizing and hoping. Best of luck to all those still waiting - let us know if you hit the jackpot!

Hi again, I talked with the scholarships officer at my school just now. I still get the feeling that even they are not sure how everything works, but from what I was able to tell: 1) Waitlisted people receive notice automatically via the system as soon as a spot opens up. This makes sense given what we've seen so far. There's no fixed alternate announcement date, at least at my school. 2) Waitlisted people who are offered the award also have 3 weeks to accept/decline. So there you go. That does mean that all of us still waiting now are waiting for the second rounders to decline spots, which could happen any time between now and May 13. And the wait will go on even longer for some of us. She was unable to comment on if our statuses would ever change to "not offered". Sorry for the bad news guys.

Still an alternate here. Personally I think that our chances are getting quite slim at this point. For the majority of us, we need to hope that our schools have just not made a second round offering yet. However, we don't actually know that that has ever been a possibility. It could well be that all schools have already been contacting alternates, and we just haven't heard about them all online. In an effort to put the whole thing to bed (for me at least), I have just e-mailed my school's grad office once again, asking for clarification. Last time (early April) they were quite vague, but I rephrased the question this time. I'm hoping they'll deliver hopeful news or else tell me that all SSHRCs have been awarded and to go away. I will let you know what response I get. I encourage you all to e-mail the appropriate people at your schools as well. I don't think it's rude or inappropriate for us to ask these questions of the offices.

My current theory is this: 1) There was that document posted here earlier from the early days of the harmonization program, which said that results would be released to alternates the day after the first offer expiry deadline. That was talking about May 15/16, which seems to have changed. 2) At least going by postings on this forum and Twitter, we know that some schools (U of T, UWO, some others) have already pulled the trigger and contacted alternates (presumably right as first rounders declined), whereas at least some schools seem to have stayed "silent". 3) One possible scenario, therefore, is that some schools have gone ahead and contacted immediately, whereas others have been following the original "day after first round expiry" plan. Given that schools weren't allowed to announce first offers before Apr. 1, maybe some decided to play it safe and not offer second offers until after this date. 4) If so, and depending on how they count 3 weeks from Apr. 1, we should see a number of offers from previously "silent" schools coming out tomorrow or Wednesday. Or really any time after that. --- There are holes in this theory, because it could be that all schools have been contacting alternates all along and those lucky souls just haven't put their success up on the Internet. At any rate, a few spots across the board could be opening up soon as the first round expiry date passes. Hang in there, everyone.

Looks like everything is still quiet on the alternate front. Just a few hours before the long weekend is upon us. Then what? Might we hear the morning of the 21? The morning of the 22? Or maybe some will hear nothing at all. Will "alternate" statuses at some point be changed to "not offered", when schools have given everything out? I'm starting to feel like a conspiracy theorist over here.

Apart from the two lucky people who already posted here, have any more alternates heard anything? I'm a SSHRC alternate at Memorial and haven't heard anything yet. Maybe just wishful thinking on my part, but could it be that some schools contact alternates immediately, whereas some wait (possibly to Apr. 22)? From an administrative standpoint I could see how grad studies offices might prefer to make second offers as a wave. And much of the documentation refers to "rounds": I'm happy to have made it as an alternate at all, but in some respects, this purgatory business is more stressful than rejection.