commodork

Man, no luck. VG/VG VG/VG VG/VG. I feel like I got kinda screwed on reviewers. All 3 only gave 1-2 sentences of feedback on each category, and so vague that I wonder if they even read the whole thing. 
Here's my verbatim feedback from Reviewer 3 (it's always #3) in its entirely, for example: 
Intellectual Merit: VG "Adequate academic preparation. Very good work/ research experience" 
Broader Impacts: VG "Image processing can only go so far in helping tumor detection" 
Summary: "Mr. Commodork is qualified, but not in the first tier of candidates"
What am I supposed to make of that??? Last year, I got very in depth paragraphs and comments on specific activities. I thought I made my personal way stronger, but I'm not sure now. Did my reviewers just get lazy and burnt out, or was my app that much more forgettable this time around? My CV got way stronger between cycles, so I'm kind of at a loss. 

Here's hoping NSF pulls a Beyoncé and sends out emails with zero warning at midnight tonight. I can't take it much longer. 

Good luck! Rooting for you!

Here's hoping NSF pulls a Beyoncé and sends out emails with zero warning at midnight tonight. I can't take it much longer. 

Thanks for your perspective! I had no idea there were faculty members on this site as well, neat. I have a few questions, if you don't mind me taking the chance to pick your brain. 
How much impact, if any, does receipt of NSF-GRFP/other prestigious fellowships affect faculty hires, in your experience? I saw something a while back that said GRFP recipients were way more likely to land TT positions (though that's probably more correlation than causation). Any application advice? 
Thank you!

Here's hoping NSF pulls a Beyoncé and sends out emails with zero warning at midnight tonight. I can't take it much longer. 

Re: the benefits of the fellowship:
I can tell you as a PI it makes a difference to me in funding my students. If I have a student who wins the GRFP I can use my grad assistantship on another student.
Also, re: the prestige. Aside from the CV boost, I've been told by a few Program Officers that NSF looks favorably on GRFP recipients who apply for future NSF grants. They like to see that their investment in fellowship winners pays off and are willing to continue to support them (you list the GRFP like other prior NSF funding on grant applications).

Do you think it will be Tuesday 3/29 or Friday 4/1 that we find out?
Using the Results page (here on gc), the past announcement dates seem to alternate in pairs of years -- but I don't have enough info to really conclude that a pattern exists.
2015: Tuesday, 31 March 2014: Tuesday, 1 April 2013: Friday, 29 March 2012: Friday, 30 March 2011: Tuesday, 5 April 2010: Tuesday, 6 April 2009: Friday, 10 April I wasn't able to find information about announcements in 2008 or earlier.
If we assume that a pattern does exist, it would make sense for Friday 4/1 to be the day. However, if this pattern does exist, there has got to be a reason that it exists -- it seems unlikely that NSF would create a pattern for no reason. What are these people planning around that may affect the Tuesday vs Friday decision? Who organizes the announcement? 
If we assume that submission deadlines are not arbitrary (ie, deadlines are selected so that adequate time could be given to review), it would make more sense for Tuesday 3/29 to be the announcement date. The deadlines for submission this year were earlier than any of the other years I surveyed (2009-2015) by ~1-3 weeks.
Man! I have missed sharing in the obsessiveness that comes with this site . I haven't been on much since starting school last August.

Heh, was that the thread titled "Does anybody else just remember the NSF GRFP exists in the middle of the day out of nowhere and feel like they're suddenly on fire"?

Billy Kimbah!

We should start taking bets on when it'll be up, Hopefully it goes a little better than my bracket this year. 

We should start taking bets on when it'll be up, Hopefully it goes a little better than my bracket this year. 

i think we're all collectively losing it at this point

you should actually find out where he eats lunch and just show up unannounced. 

I once had a POI respond to my email 18 months after I sent it. Now THAT is how you flaunt your tenure.

Yes it works for me now. I was actually a little wrong on that. I did it again and screencapped it. See here! http://imgur.com/a/DSFzs

See here: http://imgur.com/a/DSFzs
 
This did the trick for me, at least.

Hello all! 
 
Long time fan, first time typer. 
 
Undergrad Institution: Private University. In top 20 overall and for my major. Not ivy.
Major(s): Biomedical Engineering 
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.675
Overall GPA: 3.538
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Probably top 10-20%, but I really have no idea.
Type of Student: White male

GRE Scores:
Q: 164 (88%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 4.5 (80%)


Research Experience: 
1 summer and winter break in U Pitt lab 2 semesters (one for credit) in university med center creating custom MATLAB image processing tool. 1 poster presentation at university research fair, 10 minute presentation for Guatemalan Engineering University.  2 semesters and summer + this spring/summer in undergraduate research program. Fully independent research pertaining to organs on a chip. Poster presentations at university research fair and BMES. No publications yet, but hope to publish before graduate school. Received program's "Best Paper" and "Best Presenter" awards. 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 
BME Honors Program Research awards mentioned above Dean's List, 4 semesters Small merit-based scholarship Honor society for top academic 1% of campus greek life
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 
Cofounder/Director of Outreach for a club that visits high schools and promotes STEM Education through lessons and demos Microfluidics Workshop for High Schoolers instructor through my lab Leading original Senior Design project involving image processing, 3D printing, and therapeutics. In process of applying for grants and patents Writer for university BME newspaper Over $10,000 in fundraising for medical research as fraternity philanthropy chair (though I don't think I'll include this cuz isn't all that relevant, plus I know the stigma Greek life can have)
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
2 week engineering entrepreneurship workshop/simulation Spent a Spring Break in Guatemala repairing damaged medical equipment  Taking graduate courses for Honors requirements. Have taken a course in signals, statistics, and modeling, and will be taking courses in Systems Bio of Organs on a Chip and MR Image Reconstruction and Pulse Design next semester LOR: Former and current PI + Professor/ Senior Design Project Advisor/  One of the trip leaders for that Spring Break trip

Applying for PhD at:
University of Washington
Vanderbilt
University of California San Diego
Carnegie Mellon University
Harvard University
University of California Davis
University of Illinois at Chicago
Rutgers
University of Delaware
University of Pittsburgh
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
UC Irvine
Washington University at St Louis
City College of New York 
 
All BME/BE, except HST through MIT
  Long list, but I'm pretty split on research interests. Applying to some of those for microfluidics and others for imaging/image processing.    Actually pretty worried about my odds, given my lack of publications and not quite fantastic GPA (had a rough couple semesters in my first two years, but it's been straight A's since). Additionally, I really haven't had the time I'd like to reach out to professors. We will see how it goes. Speaking of which, I have apps I should be finishing up..   If anyone has advice on any of this, I'd certainly appreciate the feedback. 

Hello all! 
 
Long time fan, first time typer. 
 
Undergrad Institution: Private University. In top 20 overall and for my major. Not ivy.
Major(s): Biomedical Engineering 
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.675
Overall GPA: 3.538
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Probably top 10-20%, but I really have no idea.
Type of Student: White male

GRE Scores:
Q: 164 (88%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 4.5 (80%)


Research Experience: 
1 summer and winter break in U Pitt lab 2 semesters (one for credit) in university med center creating custom MATLAB image processing tool. 1 poster presentation at university research fair, 10 minute presentation for Guatemalan Engineering University.  2 semesters and summer + this spring/summer in undergraduate research program. Fully independent research pertaining to organs on a chip. Poster presentations at university research fair and BMES. No publications yet, but hope to publish before graduate school. Received program's "Best Paper" and "Best Presenter" awards. 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 
BME Honors Program Research awards mentioned above Dean's List, 4 semesters Small merit-based scholarship Honor society for top academic 1% of campus greek life
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 
Cofounder/Director of Outreach for a club that visits high schools and promotes STEM Education through lessons and demos Microfluidics Workshop for High Schoolers instructor through my lab Leading original Senior Design project involving image processing, 3D printing, and therapeutics. In process of applying for grants and patents Writer for university BME newspaper Over $10,000 in fundraising for medical research as fraternity philanthropy chair (though I don't think I'll include this cuz isn't all that relevant, plus I know the stigma Greek life can have)
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
2 week engineering entrepreneurship workshop/simulation Spent a Spring Break in Guatemala repairing damaged medical equipment  Taking graduate courses for Honors requirements. Have taken a course in signals, statistics, and modeling, and will be taking courses in Systems Bio of Organs on a Chip and MR Image Reconstruction and Pulse Design next semester LOR: Former and current PI + Professor/ Senior Design Project Advisor/  One of the trip leaders for that Spring Break trip

Applying for PhD at:
University of Washington
Vanderbilt
University of California San Diego
Carnegie Mellon University
Harvard University
University of California Davis
University of Illinois at Chicago
Rutgers
University of Delaware
University of Pittsburgh
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
UC Irvine
Washington University at St Louis
City College of New York 
 
All BME/BE, except HST through MIT
  Long list, but I'm pretty split on research interests. Applying to some of those for microfluidics and others for imaging/image processing.    Actually pretty worried about my odds, given my lack of publications and not quite fantastic GPA (had a rough couple semesters in my first two years, but it's been straight A's since). Additionally, I really haven't had the time I'd like to reach out to professors. We will see how it goes. Speaking of which, I have apps I should be finishing up..   If anyone has advice on any of this, I'd certainly appreciate the feedback.