BioBum

Bummer! I am already funded by my advisor, but, it would certainly be nice to be able to say I'm an NSF fellow (I'm hoping I didn't just jinx myself there). Compared to most, my stipend is generous. Let's be honest, 32k or even 30k is still very generous! I'm wondering what made them decide to raise the stipend instead of upping the number of awards to maybe not 2,700 but something manageable - perhaps a 100 more? From my understanding it's still a crap shoot anyway - you could get the reviewer that's having a bad day and that would be enough to hose you. Oh well, time will tell.

1. Describe any research project or major endeavor on which you’ve worked. What was the purpose of the project and what was your role in the project? 2. What do you think you will need to do to be successful in graduate school? Those were the questions that I was asked. I had my fellowship interview February 7th. I was incredibly nervous, far more nervous than I've ever been. When I got there two of my three interviewers were late, I chatted with the one that made it on time - just small talk kind of things. When the other two finally showed up it was right down to business. They asked me the first question and seemed satisfied with my answer. Then onto the second question. Before I knew it my 10 minutes were up and I was being thanked for coming in. I sat there for a second a little shocked because it felt like my 10 minutes had flown by. Advice - take a GIANT breath in and then a giant breath out. Be as calm as possible - I know it's easier said than done but the committee can smell fear. Don't appear over eager - that was the piece of advice given to me by the grad student services person at the university that sits on the committee. Be yourself. I was professional but also let my personality come through. If they're interviewing you then you passed the first hurdle, just keep that in mind. And good luck! PS I did get nominated for fellowship I interviewed for so I'm not totally full of it. Although I haven't gotten the fellowship officially. But the department liked me but natural resources is really laid back - jeans and tshirt crowd. You may want to adjust your strategy if your department is not so laid back.

At the prospective grad student weekend I had a 10 minute interview for a university fellowship. The interview was conducted by 3 members of the grad student committee. I just got an email from my potential advisor saying "The graduate committee within NRES voted to nominate you for a graduate college fellowship!" Does this mean that I'm in? I don't know if I should get excited yet or not. Anyone had a similar situation and what was the outcome?

At the prospective grad student weekend I had a 10 minute interview for a university fellowship. The interview was conducted by 3 members of the grad student committee. I just got an email from my potential advisor saying "The graduate committee within NRES voted to nominate you for a graduate college fellowship!" Does this mean that I'm in? I don't know if I should get excited yet or not. Anyone had a similar situation and what was the outcome?

I had my interview last Friday we were told that they would be making their decisions *definitely* before March 1st, but, there would be two rounds of committee meetings to go over applications. One this week and one next week. Every morning I've gotten up and thought, "Is today the day?" Nope. Sigh.

So turns out my interview wasn't for admissions. It was for a departmental fellowship. However, I still don't know if I'm in or not. Gah! Part two of prospie weekend is tomorrow. Wasn't today enough? I'm mentally and physically exhausted.

freak out mode has commenced.

I've got my prospective graduate student weekend coming up and I've been thinking about possible topics that may come up and questions they might ask me. Using the all powerful interwebs, I found a list of questions the admissions committee could ask. I found one specific question interesting and thought it might be good to get ideas for others that have gone through or are going through this process. What do you think you will need to do to be successful in graduate school? My own ideas: To be successful in grad school I need perseverance for WHEN I fail and tenacity to see me through that failure. A graduate education is, in my opinion, about pushing the boundaries of our current knowledge base. I would be entirely arrogant if I thought I could attain a graduate degree without hitting a few speed bumps.

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Hi all, I am going to the grad weekend Feb 6th - 8th. I applied with a GPA below their minimum requirement so it's very important I do well in my interviews. Any tips would be appreciated! Clothing to demeanor and beyond. Thanks!

That moment when you call the department to check on the status of your application and you're told you applied for the wrong semester. Whoops. I checked the damn application a million times to make sure my uploads were correct, reference letters were up, etc etc. sigh.

Can anyone tell me where this mythical results survey is located? Thanks!

...give up and live in a box. That's only partly a joke. Since finishing undergrad May 2011 I have, without break, had jobs ONLY relevant to my field. I have networked and published. And been told by my would be advisor that I shouldn't worry. Yet, I still do. He is already talking about potential projects and funding sources, however, I don't meet the minimum requirements for admission. There are exceptions in which they admit students on a conditional basis where you meet a certain GPA at the end of the 1st semester or you are kicked out. I'm really feeling the crunch especially since they have recently upped the requirements (after I applied) and seem to be getting stricter on admitting students. Sigh. If I don't get in, I think I will try to bulk up my CV and get more pubs out.

Wouldn't it be great if you were in the "hosed" category for someone to let you know that you aren't in the running anymore? Would certainly help me move on with my life and stop thinking about the GRFP when reviewers have already decided I didn't get it.

I am certainly relieved. Applying for the wrong term could have been enough to reject me. So glad I called.

I went to Tulane for undergrad. I was not in business but had roommates and friends that were and they spoke very highly of the program. All had job offers before even graduating both in town and out of town. And these were undergrads, says something about the program, no? Tulane's campus is beautiful and very friendly towards international students. A story I heard on my visit before attending was that one year the students in the department were given access to some of Tulane's stocks and investments and were told to manage them and the students generated a higher profit for the university per unit of money than those professionals paid to do it. Just a fun story I heard and thought was interested. Tulane is a great school and New Orleans is am amazing town to live in. I am biased, though. Good luck!

I only applied to one school (5 weeks ago - Dec 22nd) and haven't heard anything above the standard "we received your materials" email. I called just now to ask when they will be looking at applications and it turns out that I applied for the summer term and not Fall as I had intended. Whoops. Hope that doesn't have any bearing on my application. I still can't believe I did that. After checking the app a million times to make sure references names were typed correctly and my uploads were all correct I mess up on that! Anywho, the woman on the phone was very nice and explained that they will start looking at apps shortly and will begin with those that have identified an advisor and then sort through the rest alphabetically. Assuming you didn't apply very recently, I don't see a problem with checking in. I would have been semi-screwed if I hadn't caught that issue. Best of luck, everyone!

This silence is killing me. It would be one thing if there were a steady stream of DQ's, for whatever reason, and the longer you don't hear from NSF is actually a good thing. But not hearing anything at all is a real killer. Compound this with waiting on grad school decisions and I'm a wreck.

I'm in a semi unique position. My boyfriend and I met on a field job and he was accepted at the university last year and is in his first year of his masters. I wanted to apply here before even meeting him so it seemed perfect. But now I'm dealing with working at the university under the very people that are deciding my future. And with a boyfriend that keeps reminding me that no matter who I speak to, I can't do anything about anything right now except to keep waiting. My unhealthy habits include obsessively searching gradcafe forums to see if anyone from the NRES department has posted on here this year or in the recent past. Reading into the subtext of emails sent to me from the gradcollege and department. And obsessively searching for a house next year in the event that I get in. We're currently living in an apartment. We found this place last year and were looking for something that he could afford on his own in the event that I had to leave. But now that I've found a potential advisor here we have started fantasizing about a house. Luckily food habits have not factored in. In the event that I don't get in, I see myself forming a bond with both Ben and Jerry.

If this were my dream school, I would do anything in my power to get my foot in the door. It seems easier to get where you want to be once you're established at a university, whether it be as a student or an employee. Just my own two cents.

It is a direct quote from the email I was sent - I took out the signature to allow for some privacy. And the email is from an admin.

This is the email I received: "Your overall GPA does not meet the dept. and Grad College’s requirement for admissions and Quantitative percentage does not meet the dept. requirement. Your application packet is missing the following references: Prof X and Prof X. Once they are received your file will be complete. Have you been in contact with X advisor?" If my application were not in contention would they be asking about references and if I were in contact with the advisor? Since then both missing references have submitted their letters and my potential advisor has written me a letter of support. I applied before the department changed it's requirements. Seems unfair that I am being held to the new standards when at the date of my application the old requirements were still posted, but, there is nothing that I can do about it now. From what I understand, the person who emailed me is the email wrangler that organizes the applications and deals with emailing applicants. So I don't know how much stock to put in that email. My potential advisor has successfully campaigned for a student that had a lower GPA and lower combined GRE percentile. However, with that said, there are new "minimums". I also have the support of the department head, however, he isn't on the committee so I don't know how much that actually counts for. Sigh. I hate being in limbo.

It's a little unfair for readers to request extra information. Part of the difficulty in writing this proposal was sticking to the page limit provided by NSF. Even having a quarter page more would have certainly allowed me to elaborate on my project. In my opinion it's an unfair advantage for reviewers to ask a candidate to provide extra information that could potentially give said candidate an advantage over those that aren't afforded this same opportunity.

I really want one school and only applied there. But now it's very much an all eggs in one basket situation. Now I'm wishing I would have applied to more schools.

Anyone on here apply to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the NRES department? I applied 5 weeks ago and am starting to get rather antsy. Good luck, everyone.