pterosaur

I just finished my taxes and I owe and additional $3,000. Who decided to make scholarships taxable??

Same for me (though VG/E E/E E/E). We hit some weird terrible jackpot to end up there. It occurred to me that an E/E could be worth "less" if the reviewer tends to give generally high marks (it'll be fewer standard deviations above their mean), so it ends up hurting you to have a friendly reviewer because they max out the scale and end up hurting you.

Also, remember that for both it's a bit of a crapshoot; there's definitely a certain amount of luck involved. So if you just found out that you didn't get the GRFP, you're not doomed for NDSEG.

@hippyscientist - If it weren't for cooking, I might have zero social life. I have no idea what to do with people except offer to make them food.

That won't get you anywhere. They don't take appeals. If they said VG but didn't have any negative remarks, I guess they thought it was good but not... fantastic? It seems kind of like the idea of letters that kill you with "damnation by faint praise".

I think they realized that they at least needed to get results out before the April 15 deadline.

Oh, but that's my problem: I nest... and never leave or talk to anyone. I started designing my perfect tiny house when I was about 8 (I even have evidence from elementary school art classes) way before tiny houses were a thing.

I think it would be a bad idea for me to get a place by myself. I'm a strong introvert with hermitting tendencies, and I would be quite content to never interact with anyone else, but it would probably drive me slowly insane without me realizing it.

Interestingly, the one reviewer who kept me from getting it (grrr...) did give some helpful suggestions for a non-profit science news project I'm in the process of founding. So I guess something positive came of that.

That's nice, since according the results thread in years before last year it seems like it was after April 15.

I was debating whether to submit in bioengineering or neuroscience and opted for bioeng. My scores were basically on par with yours (VG/E E/E E/E) but only HM. Maybe I should have submitted under neuro instead!

None of my reviewers commented on my lack of publications, but 2 really liked how many poster presentations I'd done (7, including at an international conference).

VG/E E/E E/E, HM. The one negative from the VG was that there were weak applications for the research (though the other two reviewers actually thought that was a strong point??). They all said I had extremely strong letters of recommendation, though. Definitely disappointed, but selfishly so; basically all my friends who applied got it, and it wouldn't make a difference since I'd take the CSGF anyway. It also seems crazy to have generally incredibly positive reviews and not get it (but I know this is where the z-scores from reviewers come in).

I prefer thinking it will come out later and being surprised when news arrives early. Way less stress that way! For my undergrad school, I thought decisions would come out April 1, but I found out mid-March. And this time for the CSGF, I didn't expect to hear for a couple more weeks. That said, I'd prefer knowing a date so being completely in the dark.

Part of a figure and they get authorship?? That's crazy to me! Also sounds like advisors trying to make sure their undergrads have publications in matter what.

Are you going to the GSAS open house? Let me know if you learn anything noteworthy in general!

I wouldn't worry about a lack of publications, honestly. I have none, but I've had pretty great success with fellowships and admissions. I talked to a lot of top notch professors about this when I was preparing to apply, and they said they put very little stock in publications for phd admissions (and I'm assuming it's similar here.) Their reasoning is that it's impossible to tell, from an author credit on a paper, what the student actually did. Some professors are more willing to give students authorship, and some research takes a long time to publish (or advisors are slow to publish, for whatever reason). So they all put way more stock in lettersf recommendation to judge an undergraduate's research ability then any publications they may or may not have. So don't sell yourself too short!

I'm guessing that part of the reason for the 2-3 am release (Probably the primary reason) is that it spreads out the load on their servers. 16,000 people won't be checking as soon as the results are posted. A few hardcore people will be, but it'll be staggered as people wake up and check their emails. A change in the timing may reflect a change in the way they're handling their servers.

If it's any help, people in my program (SEAS) all seemed to highly recommend the dorms, both for their convenience and also the chance to mnet/hang out with non-engineers. One guy actually said he lived off campus with a friend from undergrad for his first year and he regretted not being in the dorms.

I know the struggle... I did my undergrad in Boston and will be headed to Havard in the fall. Things are further complicated by the fact that all leases start September 1 and orientation in August 24.

I wonder if the deadline was moved up to accommodate a possible increasing trend in the number of applications. (I don't actually know if they've been increasing, but it seems reasonable, and I'm sure the information is out there somewhere.) If they're trying to keep approximately the same decision date, they'd have to move the deadline to have enough time? Maybe?

I have things to celebrate! I decided on my PhD program a few weeks ago and yesterday I found out I got an awesome (and very generous) government fellowship. But.... I'm also still waiting. Mostly on one fellowship, which I'll hear about April 2-4. It's a huge relief to have those big decisions in place, though! Now I'm moving on to the next stage of deciding if I want to live with a good friend from undergrad or university grad student housing.

Ouch. I'm from Wisconsin. The "failing university" part makes me sad. Our state government is determined to destroy what has historically been a fantastic education system.

It turns out, though (according to my undergrad advisor), GRFP doesn't end up saving them that much money. It only covers a portion of tuition (up to $12,000, I think, where private universities can be upwards of $40,000). Plus, the GRFP doesn't cover overhead - an extra 40% on top of the value of the fellowship that the advisor has to cover.

Not NSF, but I just got a call that I got the DOE CSGF. I'm absolutely in shock. I didn't expect to hear back this early, let alone hear that I got it! Definitely reduces the stress for waiting on the GRFP.