kafcat

Hey don't be too hard on yourself...you're doing a great job in your search and I was in the same boat last year when I was applying for...you don't have to be ridiculously assertive like others have pointed out..it's okay to doubt yourself Don't worry about your grammar mistakes, you came here for advice not grammar corrections Be careful with what "fully funded" actually means..because most PhD programs are fully funded..but that doesn't mean that you will receive a stipend all years. Sometimes you will have to TA so don't worry too much about that. I actually would encourage you to reach out to professors you're interested in working with even if you are still in the stage of deciding what you want to study..sometimes speaking to them helps you narrow down research interests and they can give you an idea of how to improve your application. Otherwise, I highly encourage to reach out to current students in the programs. Sometimes they are more willing to provide advice, especially since they have been in the same situation as you!

What field? Did you get off the waitlist or were you accepted immediately? Congrats, it was my dream school but didn't manage to get off the waitlist ! But I will be attending an equally awesome uni !

Great advice thank you so much!

For those of you that received the award and applied during your first year, did you have recommendation letters from your current institution (if you didn;t work with any of them before starting the PhD program)? I think I will apply next year but I am worried that the reviewers will comment that I do not have any recommendations from my grad school (doesn't make sense since I will start the PhD program in late September...).

Veo que eres de México así que te contesto en español. Creo que la mejor opción para ti serían las universidades del Reino Unido o en los Países Bajos (especialmente Amsterdam o Nijmegen). Además hay muchas becas para estudiantes Mexicanos/Latinos en estas regiones. Por cierto, no le hagas caso al comentario de MAC2809 que entiendo porqué dijiste lo de America ya que muchos estadounidenses colectivamente se llaman de esta manera (un nombre erróneo por supuesto) Suerte y esperemos que encuentres el mejor programa posible para ti!

Did you get waitlisted ?

I would suggest to email them..I declined a school that waitlisted me because the person that I spoke with informed me that getting off the waitlist at this point was difficult...

I'm in political science.

I received mine immediately. So far I only heard of one other person being an alternate...wonder how many of us are in that list :/

Thanks! Hoping for the best but for now...just feeling like I did all in my power to get the award and regardless of the outcome, I will keep on trying! No accolade will decide my value or self-worth http://imgur.com/BiRG4IE

alternate ...didnt know there would be alternates for the ford. oh well.

Anyone get the NSF GRFP? Got honorable mention..bittersweet but oh well..now gotta figure out if I want to apply this upcoming year or the next..

that's interesting...I wonder if that will affect me too if I don't have any recommenders from my institution (its yr phd student this upcoming fall)...but there really is no way around it right?? Anyone with this dilemma?

Should we be expecting the news this week?

Yeah same here....