FaultyPowers

YES, I would love to. Can I perhaps message you with my email etc.?

Just got notified that I've received a research award for Romania!

UMass Amherst does not require the GRE for either MA/PhD or PhD applicants.

Good to know. And someone in the other forum just brought up an interesting point. Perhaps a change to "Reviewed" is actually not a good thing, since rejected proposals don't get a final review. Oh the many things we tell ourselves to make waiting more palatable.

This. I LIKE this. And so far we can make the theory fit the data! Let it be so!

For what it's worth on the "Received" vs. "Reviewed" status change, I shopped it around the Anthropology forum and so far I've had one response, from a previous winner, who said that his/her status did NOT change before their award was announced.

Hello all! Apparently on reddit there was a post about someone's fastlane status changing from "Received" to "Reviewed" a few days ago. Can everyone who has previously been awarded an NSF GRFP award confirm/deny that their status changed to "Reviewed" before the announcements were made? Or (hopefully) that it did not? I've been following the debate in the GRFP forum but there don't seem to be any comments by people who have actually gotten the award. Thanks!

I was admitted to a PhD program last year, WITH funding, and I would never recommend doing it without. Even with my tuition paid and a fairly generous stipend, I'd have pretty much no money at all if I didn't have another job that essentially doubles my income. And I actually teach SAT as well, and I gotta tell you that although that's awesome backup money, it is not something you want to depend on for stable income. I make about $25 an hour as an SAT tutor, but sometimes there will be one or more months in which you don't work at all. And even if you have a student or a class that you're working, each one brings you about 6 hours a week max, plus a tiny amount of extra hours that may or may not end up happening. That's about $300 a month before tax.....maybe more than that, but in terms of budgeting, assume $300. Unfunded offers suck. I got two acceptances, one with funding and one without and that basically made the decision for me. The job market for PhDs is brutal, so unless you have a rock solid backup plan I don't think it's ultimately worth it. Sorry

I think it can be read as no later than October 31st, 2013 technically, though functionally yes, May. So for people like me, or people who end up like me in the future (you graduate with your MA, you apply the following winter, you don't get in, you apply again the next winter and DO get in) there is eligibility once again. Of course that's also true if your MA is older than 2 years and you haven't taken any additional graduate coursework.

Hi guys. Some of you may remember me from last time...and the time before...and then another time slightly before that time. Ahem. Long story short, I got my MA in 2013 and finally got into my PhD program of choice, which I'll be starting in about a week. Many people will tell you that you are ineligible for the NSF GRFP if you've already earned an MA, and that's true.......EXCEPT!!!!! If you earned that MA two or more years ago (i.e. 2013 or earlier) and haven't taken any additional graduate coursework, you ARE eligible. So if, like me, you earned your MA and then applied for a PhD the following winter but didn't get in, you are once again eligible. Which is basically the only consolation prize for multiple years of rejection! I had heard different things about this but I emailed them and explained my situation in detail and yes, I am eligible. Hopefully this info will stop a lot of us from missing out on an opportunity we didn't know was available!

I don't know about NSF but it looks like something's starting to happen with the Ford Foundation... *Wow. Literally the SECOND after I wrote this I got my rejection letter from them! Touche Ford Foundation. Touche.

I was chagrined to learn that you couldn't apply to the NSF fellowship if you already had an MA, but I think I'm eligible for it next year? That was my interpretation of the "interruption in graduate study" line.

Hello hello! Anyone else apply for the Ford Foundation and/or NSF fellowships? Judging by the results forum we should hear about the former any day now! ...well, any day or at least within the next week. Exciting stuff!

YEAH we did!!!!!!

Any of the other UMass Amherst admits wanna PM and say hi?