Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

nserc usra


Recommended Posts

NSERC just changed the rules. You used to not be able to them after your fourth year. However, starting this year they are allowing it. For the most part I believe it is being used as a sort of transition for people going into grad school so they can get paid to "start early". I know at my school at least (even though I find it biased and discriminatory) if they find out you are even applying to med school they won't give you one. However, once NSERC gives the schools the money they can make all kinds of crazy rules so hopefully yours will be nicer. Hope that helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest viscous
are you allowed to do an nserc usra in the summer after your fourth year?

 

thanks

 

no you cant, its very hard to get it unless you have connections and your supervisor fights and argues in your favor vehemently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest viscous
hmm so the message im getting is that theoretically it is possible, but in reality they dont like giving them for 4th years?

 

i was trying to find info on the nserc site, but all it says is you have to be an undergraduate student at the time of application submission

 

its possible, preference is given to 3rd years, at least at my uni. of course unless you have a prof who convinces them that you are the diamond and deserves to get it or otherwise this world will be destroyed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They were giving away NSERCs at U of T last year. I know a 4th year that had graduated who had an NSERC.

 

They couldn't even fill up the NSERC spots in our department. This was before there was a university wide notice of like 50 additional NSERCs a week after the program should have started, offering a truncated salary to anyone who applied on a first come first serve basis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest viscous
They were giving away NSERCs at U of T last year. I know a 4th year that had graduated who had an NSERC.

 

They couldn't even fill up the NSERC spots in our department. This was before there was a university wide notice of like 50 additional NSERCs a week after the program should have started, offering a truncated salary to anyone who applied on a first come first serve basis.

 

wow what department was this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

wow what department was this?

 

This is the Lab Med and Pathobiology department.

 

Although the NSERCs were available, only 4 supervisors have NSERC grants in the department. The main difficulty is getting into one of these labs.

 

I think that the additional 60 NSERCs were university wide though (the ones just available at the beginning of May).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest viscous
This is the Lab Med and Pathobiology department.

 

Although the NSERCs were available, only 4 supervisors have NSERC grants in the department. The main difficulty is getting into one of these labs.

 

I think that the additional 60 NSERCs were university wide though (the ones just available at the beginning of May).

 

yea I applied in this dept for my masters NSERC, got selected. its a cool place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you ever go to meet with a prof about the NSERC, don't even mention med school. They want students interested in doing graduate studies, and prefer to give the award to them.

 

Imo, don't ever not mention med school when applying for a research position.

 

 

Good luck getting a reference letter for med school from a professor who has a bias against the non-grad bound.

 

Professors are often very interested in your future career plans, as it will be their duty to facilitate you if they should take you on. Not being frank is a recipe for disaster.

 

Anyway, this bias certainly isn't always present; I'd say that it's more department specific (perhaps biochemistry, immunology, genetics @ U of T). I applied to the U of T Chem department centralized application system saying that I wanted to be an MD in my cover letter and got it (but declined). Similarly for labs in the pathobiology department.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also I told the masters program I applied for and all the professors that I did research with that I wanted to do medical school and they were all supportive :)

 

Yes, this is how it should be.

 

And I think that they would be extremely peeved if you said you wanted to have a career in research, then asked them for a medical school reference after being done (without saying it first; I certainly realize med school can still = research).

 

I can nearly guarantee that.

 

It's better to be honest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I applied for an NSERC USRA, my supervisor asked me to remove any mention of medical school from my future plans on the university NSERC application (not the online component). He was okay with me pursuing medicine and just wanted to make sure I got the award.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree you should be upfront about your future goals for medical school, but I don't think that should immediatly be said upon meeting future supervisors.

 

Most researchers do not like the idea of investing time, effort, and money into a students graduate degree if their sole purpose is to use that to get into medicine. I completely agree they will be MORE pissed if you never tell them and ask for a letter 2 yrs down the road, but realistically, many proff's will not take on a student who is only using research as a stepping stone to something else.

 

Just be smart about how you play it out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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

×
×
  • Create New...