Nserc

[tnwl]

Hi!

If I received NSERC studentship, but declined it and accepted some other

funding, do you think I can still put NSERC down on the med school application

as one of the awards? I will not say that I accepted NSERC, but was a successful recipient. Is this okay? Please share thoughts! Thanks

[DOC_Ma]

Hi!

If I received NSERC studentship, but declined it and accepted some other

funding, do you think I can still put NSERC down on the med school application

as one of the awards? I will not say that I accepted NSERC, but was a successful recipient. Is this okay? Please share thoughts! Thanks

 

Yep u can. Just say u won the award but didn't actually do the nserc.

[tnwl]

awesome! my NSERC won't go to waste!

[pininkid]

Yep u can. Just say u won the award but didn't actually do the nserc.

 

Is this unique for NSERC? I mean, I got offered a couple other entrance scholarships by other universities--I though if I turn them down I can't list them.

[liverpool]

If you can find someone that can vouch for you somehow then I guess, but think about it for a sec...

 

The NSERC USRA is awarded solely based on GPA and it's purpose is to provide research opportunities for undergrads. It seems kind of pointless to declare the NSERC on your application if you don't follow through with it, as med schools can already see your GPA and the award's value in your application comes from the research you participated in.

 

Wording it ambiguously just makes it look shady and could lead to awkwardness if you're asked about it in an interview.

[osteon]

If you can find someone that can vouch for you somehow then I guess, but think about it for a sec...

 

The NSERC USRA is awarded solely based on GPA and it's purpose is to provide research opportunities for undergrads. It seems kind of pointless to declare the NSERC on your application if you don't follow through with it, as med schools can already see your GPA and the award's value in your application comes from the research you participated in.

 

Wording it ambiguously just makes it look shady and could lead to awkwardness if you're asked about it in an interview.

 

NSERC USRA is soley based on GPA for the applicant, but it's not like NSERC just gives out awards at random to those with high GPAs. You first must apply, and to apply you have to be interested in research to an extent that your supervisor will write you a decent enough letter of recommendation in order to actually receive the funding. GPA does not automatically equate with NSERC. NSERC is a national award so receiving it should definitely go on your CV regardless of whether you accept it or not. There's nothing ambiguous about it. You received it, and turned it down for some other opportunity; seems pretty valid to me. I was offered 60 grand in national/provincial scholarships this year but could only accept a fraction of that. Did I include it all on my CV? Better believe it. Showing I was offered all these research awards shows competitiveness. Saying you received it and declined will still look better than not being offered it at all.

 

Is this unique for NSERC? I mean, I got offered a couple other entrance scholarships by other universities--I though if I turn them down I can't list them.

 

I'm not sure about this. Entrance scholarships are based on high school marks, which isn't really what the MD programs are marking you on, so I wouldn't include it for other schools. But if you have the space then might as well put it.

[liverpool]

NSERC USRA is soley based on GPA for the applicant, but it's not like NSERC just gives out awards at random to those with high GPAs. You first must apply, and to apply you have to be interested in research to an extent that your supervisor will write you a decent enough letter of recommendation in order to actually receive the funding. GPA does not automatically equate with NSERC.

 

I guess it shows you have the ability to find and perhaps impress a supervisor, which isn't necessarily that special but I'll agree with you on that point. The supervisor doesn't actually recommend you though, they just attach a description of the project you'd be doing, and the main purpose of this is to ensure that the project falls under NSERC's scope of funding (natural sciences and engineering). The scholarships are given to the top applicants from each university's department based on a rank ordered GPA list and depending on the number of scholarships allocated to that department.

 

And although doing an NSERC is great, it really is quite common-place, especially among those applying to medicine. It's value lies in what you learn and how much you accomplish in the project you'd do (eg. presenting at a confrence, getting published, etc), not so much in the prestige of the award itself. National scholarships are a different situation as those are based on various types of merit. The NSERC USRA is more a source of personal funding for undergrads to do research rather than a merit based award. GPA is simply used to rank the applicants and distribute the limited number of awards.

[NewfieMike]

I think it's totally legitimate to put:

 

Awarded: NSERC USRA, March 2011 (declined)

 

but I will admit that when it came time to put in my 29 or whatever items on my UofC application, none of my declined awards made the list.