Monochrome Spring

Follow the rules for grants and fellowships you apply to. The end.

Bombed a stats test because I was dealing with personal issues during pre-test prep time. Oh well. You win some and you lose some. That just means I have to work harder for the final.

Trying to figure out the balance between personal life and research life is not easy.

I don't think that someone should necessarily look into some lower ranked programs simply because their quant GRE score isn't very high. It entirely depends on the program and the potential advisors. Also, the rest of her package seems competitive, and she could be a great interviewee.

I think that some disqualification emails didn't come out until late winter/early spring last year.

It is after the deadline. I wouldn't be surprised if your application is thrown. It's unfortunate, but that's how NSF works.

I also want to point out that a year-long project could actually be a substantial major project in different fields. I don't think I'll have a single project over 1.5 years during my entire PhD, but that doesn't make them non-substantial. That means that my projects have a different time frame than yours. I am proposing a 1-1.5 year project in my GRFP, and even then, it is difficult to fit everything in, including introduction/background and broader impacts.

Some people won't have a 5-year project at all and may have multiple 1-year projects. The point is the you should be detailing a single project (or if you have something like a field and greenhouse component, then a pair of parallel projects), not something as immense as an entire dissertation.

I entirely disagree. The research proposal should be whatever time frame you need to complete a single project that you have the space to elaborate on enough to prove that you can "think critically, logically, and plan feasible and significant research projects" as Guttata stated. The research proposal should not be a summary of your entire dissertation plan, because you will certainly not be able to fit enough elaboration on theory, methods, etc. Even proposals for a single (possibly year-long) project have been criticized in reviews for not having enough detailed methods. And some projects simply don't take the 3-year timeframe. The NSF GRF does not fund your research for 3 years. It funds you as a researcher for 3 years worth of stipend so you can focus on research, instead of TAships and RAships. The GRF funds the researcher, not the project, so you should not try to match your proposal to the length of the funding.

Of course you can be specific. Say who you are working with and at what program.

That sounds like it went really well!! Congrats! I'm especially glad that you seemed to get along with his personality (so far) and you were able to impress him. : )

We had panel reviews of our GRF proposals in class today and I got a great review from my classmates! So, any guilt I had about not working as many hours as my classmates is gone, because I am still producing high quality work. Great way to start the weekend.

I agree with this. Even if there is a preference for scores, as long as you're above a minimum, the writing GRE seems to be the least important aspect of the application. So, if you don't have time to study for it, don't sweat it.

It depends on the programs you apply to and the professors you are interested in working with. A few professors I talked to said that they would be concerned with a score below 50th percentile. The GRE writing section is a standard five paragraph essay for basic argumentation, which is something you'll use in your research writing, even if it isn't as simplistic. So, I think you should "study" in the sense that you read through higher scoring essay examples from the ETS website. I think it is the easiest section to study for, if you are a native English speaker and have a basic grasp on the five paragraph essay format.

1-2 sentences is fine. I included an entire paragraph (about 7 sentences if I remember correctly) on events prior to college and how they shaped my motivation to pursue research as an undergraduate. One of the first conversations my current advisor and I had was about those experiences, because he likes to see a lifelong drive. Especially since your experience is research at a well known university, I think it is fine to include it. We have high school students in our lab every once in a while; the entire goal is to inspire them to continue research, not to get advanced lab help. I would refrain from spending more than a few sentences, unless you produced something substantial, however.

You can include this. It is still research experience and it influenced your decision to pursue a higher research degree.

To anyone worrying about GPA and GRE scores, it is 100% okay to ask the graduate admissions secretary or a POI at your potential programs how important these are. And that is pretty much the only way you will know whether you should worry about them.

Make one the best you can. I didn't have a lot when I sent my CV to POI's. It was really a resumé, to be honest. I detailed my experiences and put the skills that I had learned, because it gave a better overview.

Join a club on campus (or off) for a hobby not related to your research. I joined a League of Legends club on campus, and even though we only meet once a week, it makes me feel more connected with other students on campus outside of my lab group. You need to have a hobby that you can hold onto when your research gets rough.

I registered for spring before I had started fall. O___o