
kbolya1
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kbolya1 reacted to cee15 in EPA STAR 2015
It may be anomalous to have received a rejection email at the moment. I think more people would have posted. Plus, they have 1300+ candidates to personally email and compile review reports for. I think as the week(s) goes on, we'll start seeing more rejection emails trickling in.
However, it IS a good sign that they're getting these rejections out. That means they have the external review completed and internal programmatic review is underway or waiting to start. It is promising that the process is moving forward.
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kbolya1 reacted to bio323 in EPA STAR 2015
I'm guessing most of the people who got rejections may have quit reading the forum obsessively (must be nice), but for anyone out there who may have heard something one way or the other……it would be great if you would post what category you applied under. Good luck to all
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kbolya1 got a reaction from cee15 in EPA STAR 2015
When I inquired about a month back if we would find out before the sem started (to turn down TA's) technical contact reminded me in the email to remember the first year of the EPA STAR Fellowship can not be deferred, suggesting no matter what/when we find out, you can't defer the first year.
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kbolya1 got a reaction from coffee_grad in EPA STAR 2015
Not really- I asked if we were going to hear before September so we'd have the chance to decline teaching assistantships, and was just told it was highly unlikely we would hear before September.
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kbolya1 reacted to newenglandgrad in EPA STAR 2015
The closed grants website was updated to show the number of applications: http://www.epa.gov/ogd/competition/closed_awards.htm
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kbolya1 got a reaction from atlremix in EPA STAR 2015
maybe August decisions will happen nonetheless, one can hope for the seemingly impossible?
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kbolya1 reacted to aconv13 in EPA STAR 2015
The EPA STAR webpage has a special announcement that applicants should get acknowledgement of application receipt by July 31st. At least it looks like it's starting to move foward..
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kbolya1 reacted to coffee_grad in EPA STAR 2015
Womp womp. Thanks for the news coyote_wrangler.
Also note that EPA's FY ends Sept 30, so if we don't hear in Sept, then that would be bad news. Seems like they're pushing the boundary based on that email.
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kbolya1 reacted to coyote_wrangler in EPA STAR 2015
So I got word from my advisor, who is signed up as a potential reviewer of STAR fellowship apps, that the process might be delayed a bit. She received the following in an email from the EPA a little over a week ago:
"Thank you for registering as a potential reviewer for the EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Graduate Fellowship Program. Please note that the schedule for the review period has changed. The review period is now expected to begin in mid- to late August and continue through September. Depending on the number of applications to be reviewed per research topic, you will have 2-3 weeks to complete your individual evaluations prior to the virtual panel meetings (web meetings)."
Looks like we won't be hearing back until after September...
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kbolya1 reacted to coffee_grad in EPA STAR 2015
All applicants should be getting the email in question, not just those who applied under alternative methods.
I managed to get in contact with NCER and they said they are aware of the issue and are working to solve it. No further instructions.
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kbolya1 reacted to Skigrl in EPA STAR 2015
Hey all, there is a section under the regular Grants.gov submission section (section IV.E) that also says that we should get an email from EPA and to contact them if this email is not received. Since no one appears to have gotten it, I guess we don't have to worry.
I did send an email to the NCER contact page informing them that the email 2015FellowshipsRFA@epa.gov isn't working because I need to contact them to clarify my eligibility. However, I used to be a federal grants administrator and I don't have a lot of confidence that the general mailboxes are checked all that often. I will let you know!
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kbolya1 reacted to Beweaver36 in EPA STAR 2015
Yeah we will see. I don't recall that statement about June 25th and the 2015FellowshipsRFA@epa.gov and emailing being up in the original announcement when I was working on this? Does anyone else recall that or was it added later?
I mean I would think the agency would be in a lot of trouble if they didn't review applications that they assigned tracking numbers when the issue is pretty obviously on their end. I guess if its any solace we can say that the work on our end is done and they are obviously are having a hellacious time coordinating this on their end. So some people at the EPA are probably much more stressed out about this fellowship than we are at the moment.
Take it easy everyone.
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kbolya1 reacted to Staubsauger in EPA STAR 2015
Woo! Glad to hear it! Let the breath holding begin...
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kbolya1 reacted to Staubsauger in EPA STAR 2015
Kbolya1--Yes! You would have received confirmation emails if they were submitted. Check your spam folder. If it's not there, then I would get in touch with your letter writers right away and kindly ask them to submit your letter before the deadline tonight.
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kbolya1 got a reaction from Beweaver36 in EPA STAR 2015
Just wanted to start a thread about this fellowship. I applied and am wondering if anyone knows more specifics on how many people apply every year/how competitive compared to NSF, considering it is only open to environmental students and was only open for a month.
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kbolya1 reacted to Munashi in NSF GRFP 2014-2015
I like how 99 people are reading this topic right now.
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kbolya1 reacted to Humulus_lupulus in NSF GRFP 2014-2015
*compulsively checks this thread and fastlane instead of doing lab report*
*also checks fridge for celebration/misery beer*
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kbolya1 reacted to shadowclaw in NSF GRFP 2014-2015
Well I had two dreams about this last night.
The first dream was straightforward. I opened the email and saw I was awarded the fellowship.
The second dream was was about an alien conspiracy to abduct the winners. The aliens disabled the NSF servers some how and then linked into them using devices disguised as a grills. They then set up centers for students to come find out the results. If someone was a winner, they fed them a piece of pepperoni from the grill that had a mind control agent in it. While waiting in line, I figured out that the grill was fake and an alien device so I ran out to try and find someone to stop them. However, aliens were everywhere (disguised as humans) and they chased after me so I couldn't blow their cover. Never found out of I got the fellowship, though.
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kbolya1 reacted to moochie in NSF GRFP 2014-2015
I was just thinking about why the message went up for all of FastLane to go down this year instead of just the GRFP page, and it might be because there were even more applicants than last year (I don't know this for sure, but in general there are more applicants each year) and it takes some serious work to enter the info to update 14,000+ profiles and get all the emails directed to the correct people, etc and then they have to check it all to make sure they don't accidentally give someone the wrong status. Maybe it's easier to take the whole site down than to try to do it all while the other parts of FastLane are still up and running.
Or maybe they just have a new IT guy and this is how he wants to do it.
Or maybe they watch these forums and thought it'd be funny to see our over analyzing of the early maintenance posting.
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kbolya1 got a reaction from M4ss5pec in NSF GRFP 2014-2015
guys we're basically finding out tomorrow
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kbolya1 reacted to HockeyNerd in NSF GRFP 2014-2015
welcome to the graduate school club, the drinks aren't free but the insomnia is hooray
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kbolya1 reacted to littlemoondragon in NSF GRFP 2014-2015
Here is some info I can provide about the GRFP that may or may not help some. I will provide more after the announcements.
1. Very competitive this year:
There were over 16,000 applicants; the most applicants ever. Last year was around 14,000.
2. How well you apply only gets you so far in the process guaranteed.
What do I mean by that? In competitive fellowships, the reviewers are not looking for winners. They are looking for losers (this is sometimes a difficult mindset to keep for people who apply). 16,000 applications is a lot to go through.
Level 1 is seeing who followed instructions. Essays the right length? Number of references in? Margins correct? etc. I will say the other levels some other time, but once you make it to the last level, it is all luck. With so many people left, the reviewers have to be SUPER PICKY. Do you get the reviewer who emphasizes more on letters than personal statement? Or maybe the reviewer who understands your path (coming from a small college and making it through to a better graduate school as you struggled to find research, etc.)
3. Congress did not pass to increase number of winners (increase funding).
NSF GRF wanted to increase the number of winners to ~2,700 instead of ~2,000. It didn't the current or previous application year. The odds this year is far worse than last year.
I tried to list some parts of the NSF GRFP that is something out of anyone's control (except I guess the final reviewers). I hope this helps some realize that whether or not you win doesn't mean anything on you being a good scientist. These reviewers are only seeing a small snap shot of your life that is condensed down to transcripts, two essays, and three letters from people who only see you in a certain light. In the end, what you do during graduate school and your future career matters to you and those who really know you.
Good luck.
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