Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

Does SSuRe pay every student or does it still require applying for a grant?


mp01

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

I'm in my 2nd year of undergrad, and I'm going to give it a shot at applying to some research positions for summer 2019. One of the hospitals I was interested in was Sick Kids and their SSuRe program. 

Their website says that the every summer student must be paid the minimum wage, but does this come from SSuRe, or does the student still have to apply for grants such as NSERC?

My first year was atrocious (2.80 and 3.62 GPA per term), however, this term I am anticipating 3.92 to 3.94. So, I'm hoping that I can show that I am capable of doing the work to a high standard, it just (sadly) took me a whole year to learn from my mistakes and refine my studying methods. 

So, with my crappy first year GPA I obviously can't get any grants. Thus, if I were to secure a position (although I realize my chances are slim), would SSuRe still pay, or is it only from the grant?

Other hospitals such as St. Mike's summer student program don't seem to mention anything about pay, so I assume it would be up to the student to secure a grant.

Nonetheless, I'm also open to volunteering in a lab in order to build on my skills and establish connections that could potentially help out in future applications. 

EDIT: sorry, just had another look at St. Mike's and they say students who are hired for the summer do get paid, so I'm assuming it's the same for Sick Kids. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All postings on SSuRe mean that the PI has funding in place to pay for the student(s) that they're planning to hire. You would not need to apply to external grants. However, SSuRe is very competitive, with most PIs wanting upper year students with high GPAs and/or research experience, so I wouldn't count too much on getting a position (a friend of mine applied last year in second year with a perfect two-year GPA and prior research experience but wasn't hired for any positions she applied for). 

The Keenan program at St. Mike's requires that you find your own PI (whereas all job postings are posted on the SSuRe website at SickKids). Some PIs will pay if they have the funding to do so, whereas other PIs will only accept volunteers. It's a much more open-ended program, and you might have more luck finding a volunteer Keenan position than a paid SSuRe (or paid Keenan) position given your low GPA (since this term's GPA won't be on your university transcript yet by the time you apply) and [presumed] lack of prior research experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, xiphoid said:

All postings on SSuRe mean that the PI has funding in place to pay for the student(s) that they're planning to hire. You would not need to apply to external grants. However, SSuRe is very competitive, with most PIs wanting upper year students with high GPAs and/or research experience, so I wouldn't count too much on getting a position (a friend of mine applied last year in second year with a perfect two-year GPA and prior research experience but wasn't hired for any positions she applied for). 

The Keenan program at St. Mike's requires that you find your own PI (whereas all job postings are posted on the SSuRe website at SickKids). Some PIs will pay if they have the funding to do so, whereas other PIs will only accept volunteers. It's a much more open-ended program, and you might have more luck finding a volunteer Keenan position than a paid SSuRe (or paid Keenan) position given your low GPA (since this term's GPA won't be on your university transcript yet by the time you apply) and [presumed] lack of prior research experience.

Yeah I don't anticipate that I'll have any luck even with a volunteering position, but it's winter break so as I have some time I may as well put in some application. 

Thanks for your input, that really did clear it up for me. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...