mbs191

Hot off the press......*zonk* Oh boy :-( The dreaded envelope just showed up in West Philly...... No-go on B-2.........Very Good, Good, and Good. Oh well........................ best of luck to everyone else!!!

So no good news from anyone? Nothing here yet in Philly for B-2.....but that could very well be due to the amazingly slow University Post-Office where letters sometimes take weeks to emerge from.......

Hey guys....so I emailed one of the contacts at EPA and I was like "hey, so any updates....its May" (but I phrased it a lot nicer). They wrote back in like 8 minutes and said they just received notice today saying that: _______________________________ Due to the Sequestration and resulting actions, the EPA Fellowship program is experiencing some delays in processing grants and completing support actions for the Fellows. Question: When are the 2013 Fellowships going to be announced? Response: At this time, we do not have an expected date for the 2013 Fellowship announcement. We will update you on this as more information is available. ______________________________ So, I was like "Ok, is this an ambiguous way of saying that the Grants aren't happening due to the ambiguous language, and the person wrote back almost right away saying that nothing firm has been decided, and many things are in flux due to the sequester, and no decisions have been made yet regarding a multitude of issues to-be-addressed regarding Fellowships. So, looks like the answer is: Nobody has any idea.........

Hey all........not that it probably helps much, but I wrote an email in mid-February to James Gentry who I think was one of the contacts if you had any questions, etc..... back in mid-February he said that "they have not yet been peer reviewed. Typically, results are known in the summer." UHHHHHHHHH

On a related but opposite kind of item - - - - when I was applying to PhD programs back in 2010, I got a rejection "letter" from the UNC - Chapel Hill ... except it didn't have my name on it, had "CRAYON" on the margins and was photocopied on a 25 degree angle slant so portions of the overly-xeroxed copy weren't even readable! I didn't know if it was real, a prank, or what - - so I had to email the head of the Dept saying "hi, I got a rejection letter but it doesn't have my name on it, has purple crayon scribbles in the margins, and just overall looks like a prank" .... is this real? I got a response back the next day apologizing, but that yes, in fact, I was rejected...........but that he'd look into the way in which rejections were being sent. Oh geez.

I agree - - - if you are already at the thesis stage, just go for it and even though it shouldn't feel like "work," just think of yourself of getting paid the $30,000 you spent in your tuition / loans by finishing it. I'm a big proponent of doing what is right and to leave when its not going well, but, when you are at a 90-95% completion rate, just suck it up and plow through it. And hey, a thesis does not have to be long - -- they are not necessarily judged on length. My final masters thesis was around 60 pages and a year later I shortened it down to 12, submitted it to a journal as an abstract, and in 2012 it got published. Anyway, so what I'd recommend is the following: FOCUS on what you want to do (non-engineering) so you can get excited about stuff :-) but tell yourself that you need to finish this thesis as a last item, and then you'll move on :-) Hope this helps!

I would consider letting the Dept where you've been accepted know that you are really interested, blah blah blah, but the lack of funding is making you consider multiple options at this "life decision" junction/ moment (which can be other programs or not going to their program, etc) and see what their response is. At the very least it will show if you they are interested in you / can make an offer / let you know what others have done in the program that have been in your situation before......

Yeah, I would just be totally open about it and stress what you said: " I am in charge of a long term project that I care about" etc. I had a similar issue at my university where up until 2010 all people on Assistantships or Fellowships were mandated to get a letter/waiver signed by their Dept saying that they could work, etc - - - if your Dept didn't feel like giving it to you (which they actually wouldn't in some cases), then your Dept could, by withholding the letter, stop you from working outside. Now, I'll agree there are very good reasons not to work outside of your assistanship/fellowship contact, but you're right - - - somethings are not a big deal in terms of time and if you are good at time management you can handle it. My Dept (unlike 99% of others, from what I heard) was super strict about this and didn't want anyone working outside the assistantships/fellowships. But, it turns out University rules changed and those on assistantships (but not fellowships) no longer needed their Dept's permission to work outside the Dept after 2010. When my Dept originally heard this, they weren't too keen but realized that they had to follow the rules. Has the earth imploded, has the sky turned black, have locusts taken over the world since some of us started working outside (to supplement a not-so-high assistanship)? No. And I'm glad the Dept saw that. So, in summary - - just be 100% transparent and honest and work through whatever you need to do. You'll get there one way or another. Hope this helps........

Got my rejection envelope :-/ Booooo Goodluck to those moving forward!

Still nothing here (no email / no letter). But I'm thinking its way too late to get a transcript request now. Anyone else hear anything as of late?

Looks like I'm awaiting the thin white envelope on this one, too :-/

I totally agree with this. DEFINITELY let them know that you're a)interested b)excited c)need to know their anticipated funding (if any) of your program to help you evaluate this lifetime decision that you will make in the very near future. Even if you only got into 1 program, it's fine to phrase it this way because, like you said, if they are not offering funding, then why are you wasting your time. Just ask! Hopefully you'll have an answer before the weekend.

That's for sure!!!!!!!!!! Congrats lunabell +ferret for hearing!!! Just checked my email and zilch lol....... oh well, I guess with IDRF you never know...

Hey guys, so imagine my heart-rate as I checked my email (after not having checked it for 8 minutes) and there was an email from IDRF!!! After I picked myself off the floor and managed to click on it, it was a response to the Friday email (see above post). Anyway, the person responding was very nice and said that the "review and notification processes are still ongoing at this time." So, looks like they definitely haven't notified everyone at this point.........so we still have a shot! I think its time to go to the gym to work off the adrenaline rush.......

I feel like 2 people in the entire forum heard (hmmm?) so my gut is telling me there may be more notifications coming? Hmmmm, I keep refreshing too, but alas, a watched-topic never boils Maybe I should distract myself.........