questions about getting NSERC

[Guest smooth operater]

I am going into my 3rd year and thinking about applying for NSERC. My grade is not that stellar, only 78%. Do I stand a good chance of getting the grant? How does the evaluation process actually work? is it purely based on grades? And How competitive is it secure the grant?

 

Hope those who have received NSERC before can share wisdom. Thanks!

[Guest Dentosaurus]

Smooth Operator,

 

Enjoyed your candid questions on the Dental Board earlier. As much as it pains to say it, NSERC is very grades oriented for PhD or undergraduate awards. Usually the NSERC applications are ranked internally by the individual department and the school first, and then are selectively sent to NSERC. Many applications won't make it out of these rounds. The first thing they look at is GPA, and some schools have strict cutoffs. An average of 78% is good, but unless it is A- (and likely higher) it may be hard to get NSERC awards.

 

There are other ways to help improve your application, however, should you wish to apply. For one, if you have one or more reviewed publication(s) in a major journal, you can really distinguish yourself from the rest. One publication will not be as important for graduate fellowships since PhD students are expected to produce, especially after 2 years. But as an undergraduate it would be considered an exceptional feat. Now, if you have some research activities, like summer research positions and have something to show, it will help too. Two to three great recommendation letters from your professors, emphasizing your research potential, can make a big impact too.

 

I would suggest that you speak to one of the academic advisors in your department. They should have some inside information just by comparing your resume with ones that were successful in the past.

[Guest blinknoodle]

Actually, NSERC is pretty open about explaining the relative breakdown for obtaining post-graduate awards. See www.nserc.ca/programs/sf/pgs_pdf_tips_e.htm.

 

However, post-grad awards are only available to those going into research graduate programs, and the earliest you could apply is during the fall of your last undergraduate year (most likely your 4th year).

 

The undergrad awards are discussed elsewhere on the NSERC site. You will be limited in who can be your supervisor. Usually the deadlines are much later, like January before the summer you will be working, but each institution sets these individually.

 

But dentosaurus raises good points, usually the awards are highly skewed to those with a high GPA, but if you have previous research experience with strong references this certainly would help.

[Guest HenryTheBig]

Hey,

I've received NSERC twice before. My profs have told me that its only grades based. The only thing I had to send was my transcript. My prof also had to fill out a sheet stating his research intentions but basically it really doesn't matter what he fills out. Approx. the top 15 gpa's in my biochem program got it. I would say one needs >9.0 (or 90%) to have a good shot but I know some people with 88% who have got it. If their are ties in the gpa, 3rd yr applicants are preferred over 2nd yr and 4th yr applicants. These are just the rules at my university but different universities have different rules. NSERC is quite common among med applicants so it doesn't distinguish between applicants too much. I would say having a publication would be quite a nice thing to have on a med application since few undergrads have these.

Henry

[Guest s sadry]

hey i'm doing an NSERC this summer - i finished second year in may.

 

the application process was very simple - a professor i was working with earlier asked me if i was interested. i said yes. filled out a form (with adress/sin number/ citizenship- personal info...no essay questions or anything). she had to fill out a short form as to what i would be doing.

 

i had to get an official copy of my transcript.

 

i then gave it all to the department by a certain deadline (i think mine was during reading week, Feb 15th??).

 

i then heard back sometime in march or april -- not really sure.

 

but that was it. 1 form, and a transcript.

[Guest 4shattered4]

Do they care about your marks the year you apply or just the transcript? If you hear back from them in March/April, then the final marks for the current year wouldn't be out right? Thanks!

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Speaking as a past NSERC recipient, I can tell you that NSERC is all marks from previous years and no, they don't consider marks from the courses you are currently taking- transcript marks only are considered.

I seriously doubt that extracurriculars, previous research, and volunteer work has much to do with anything- if you don't have the grades, you won't get NSERC- it's that simple.

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest Snew]

Hello!

 

I think that I may be the exception to the general trend of needing really high grades to get an NSERC. I am a Dalhousie student, but I applied for an out of province NSERC at the University of British Columbia. My cGPA is only 3.4 and I received one to work in the Center for Blood Research.

 

I think I was lucky though, becuase in general NSERC's are very marks based. So in general, it can't hurt to apply, but keep your grades in mind.

[Guest 4shattered4]

Thanks for the info TimmyMax! I thought they did since I know some professors want to see up-to-date marks, but I guess it's different for NSERC.

[Guest Dentosaurus]

Snew,

 

Maybe there is such a thing as a lucky NSERC award, but keep in mind that nothing is 1-Dimensional. So I am not surprised, as with other awards. Grades are the not the only thing. It may be the most important, but far from the only thing...

[Guest mitchie41]

I got an NSERC this year, and it seems like getting an NSERC is not really 1-dimensional because there are some people with stellar grades who get rejected, and people with good grades who get it.

 

And the selection criteria differs from dept to dept.

 

From my own experience(at UBC), I think the main factors that play into whether or not you get the NSERC are:

 

1) Whether or not you can find a supervisor. Without one, you may find it difficult to get your foot in the door becuase the NSERC coordinator for the dept will usually full spots first with students that have supervisors lined up, and ask around the dept. to fill empty spots if there are any. Also, having a supervisor shows that you have a real sense of direction in your research.

2) The competition in the dept. that you're applying for(I recall that there was only 1 spot for every 3 applicants in my dept).

3) I think grades matter A LOT though when you don't have a supervisor lined up and the NSERC coordinator has to match you with someone. Supervisors are prob going to take on the best student, and the GPA is the only real measuring stick for this.

4) Your preparation for the field. You're allowed to apply for NSERCs in any dept, but for instance, a supervisor in the stats dept. is probably not going to take a student with only a beginners course in stats.

[Guest peachy]

The reason there are so many conflicting explanations here about how to get NSERC USRAs and about who gets them is because the rules and criteria are entirely different at every university! (The situation with graduate awards that some people mentioned above is completely different)

 

At York, for example, the USRAs are entirely based on grades. At UBC, based on the post above, this is not the case. Your best bet is to find out what the case is at your school, because it really doesn't matter what the rest of us say about our own undergraduate experiences unless we went to the same school as you!

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

The reason there are so many conflicting explanations here about how to get NSERC USRAs and about who gets them is because the rules and criteria are entirely different at every university!

 

Excellent point, peachy! I had forgotten about this entirely!

At my school, anyway, to get out of the schoolwide competition, it was pretty much 100% marks- that's why I made the point that I did. While I don't doubt that it is all that different at other schools, I'm sure that exceptions occur.

 

Best of luck!

Timmy