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?

We're going to have to agree to disagree on that one.

Yeah, and honestly, things DO happen; you're not going to be "blacklisted" and it's not going to be "career suicide" if you end up having to withdraw an acceptance; you could try requesting an extension and explain why you need it, but if they won't grant it then they're forcing your hand. They may remember you if for some reason you apply there again the next year or something....but why would you be doing that? I can't imagine a scenario in which seven years from now, with research, teaching, publications and who knows what else under your belt, you're rejected for a job that you're otherwise perfect for specifically because of something you did before you even started doctoral training. Even if every single professor in the department is pissed at you as of May 1st 2015, how would they even maintain enough passion to remember who you are virtually a decade later!? And the professors are not the same thing as the college. I don't imagine they're any happier about delays in funding announcements than you are, they will remember being in your shoes, and they WILL understand. ...unless they're just assholes. In which case they would have found some reason to be pissed at you even if you'd accepted!

Noooo, I don't think so...but if they can, better to have them do it now than after you've moved out there!

Agreed in theory, but not necessarily in practice. Be polite and try not to burn bridges but things happen. In my specific case the point is moot, as I did not get funding at my second acceptance. Nope! Decision validated!

My funding offer is supposed to come today. I don't think there's any hard and fast rule about when funding offers come, but it seems unprofessional to come AFTER April 15. I only know that today's the day for mine because I've been asking (pestering) the department secretary about it. This is a hugely significant component of the offer and I think you have every right to ask for information as soon as possible. If funding isn't automatic that means it's attached to a TA/GA/RA position, which means you're working for it. Which means you are basically an employee and I feel like they need to treat you as they would a new hire. I'd see getting a job offer and then waiting a few weeks for salary info....a month tops. But two months or more is ridiculous. Have you contacted those PhD programs to ask when the funding decisions will be announced? If not, I say do it! They can't rescind your acceptance or anything, so there is literally no reason not to. And it wouldn't hurt to mention that the reason you're asking is because you have a funded offer and you want to "..be able to make an informed decision as soon as possible". You don't...and I definitely wouldn't...have to specify that the funded offer you have is for an MA.

I am a natural self-saboteur and professional buyer's remorse....uh....haver. I accepted my one offer before hearing the final decision on funding on my other offer and part of me is like.....it'd have to be AMAZING, but what if it IS!!!!????? So for self-doubting types like me, or for people who find themselves suddenly surprised by funding or additional offers elsewhere, after they've accepted, worry not! I present you with the April 15th Resolution, by the Council of Graduate Schools: https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf Basically, any acceptance BEFORE April 15th is non-binding, as long as you write a letter to the school withdrawing your acceptance. So if you accept and then get a better offer, accept the better offer and write your initial acceptance to withdraw. No harm, no foul. Except on a personal level of course but what are you gonna do? If you accept AFTER April 15th the matter becomes much more complicated and the first place has to write a letter releasing you before you can accept anywhere else.

I've accepted UMass I haven't actually heard what my financial offer is from my other acceptance (they're deciding tomorrow) but my partner and I sat down and crunched some numbers and realized that even if they beat the financial offer I got from UMass, which is pretty damn good for a public school, they'd have to beat it by a significant amount to make the prospect of living there better than living in Amherst. And there's a slew of other quality-of-life issues we'd have to mitigate as well. Plus my mom already bought like $500 worth of UMass swag, so I think I would literally break her heart if I didn't go.

Somewhere in the 'Graduate' section of the department's website there should be either a "Contact Us" or a "For More Information about the Graduate Program" link; if not, look through the 'Faculty & Staff' section and find the contact info for the Department Secretary or the Grad Studies Coordinator. If you've established an email correspondence with a specific POI, I would suggest that you email her/him as well.

I think you just epitomized my thought process better than I could have done. I'm just going to assume that a PhD in bioarchaeology, cool-ass research that stimulates my brain, and experience in the writing and editorial fields will come to my aid in some capacity at some point in the future.

However you do it, I would plant the idea in your POIs head that they might like to work with you in some capacity in the future. Granted I was not waitlisted by Berkeley but rejected (wiping away a single tear), but I wrote my POI to say "...thank you for reviewing my application materials, and for help during this process. I hope that we can stay in touch and I look forward to the possibility of working with you in the future". She got back to me and said that she hoped we could and that she'd see me at the SAA conference that's coming up. I like to minimize the downer element (turning down the waitlist, being rejected, etc.) and play up the "hope for the future" angle.