Humulus_lupulus

I'd recommend getting a parent or another reliable adult to co-sign. It's stupid because you clearly have enough money, but the semester-to-semester basis of most grad stipends is not "stable" enough for banks to consider it income. Although, they can't protect against someone buying a house and then both people getting fired from their job the day after they close. I've heard it is recommended you stay in a house for at least 5 years for it to be a worthwhile investment. Also...be prepared for EVERYTHING to break in your first year! Have a nest egg of at least $10,000 left for unexpected repairs.

I'd recommend getting a parent or another reliable adult to co-sign. It's stupid because you clearly have enough money, but the semester-to-semester basis of most grad stipends is not "stable" enough for banks to consider it income. Although, they can't protect against someone buying a house and then both people getting fired from their job the day after they close. I've heard it is recommended you stay in a house for at least 5 years for it to be a worthwhile investment. Also...be prepared for EVERYTHING to break in your first year! Have a nest egg of at least $10,000 left for unexpected repairs.

I'd recommend getting a parent or another reliable adult to co-sign. It's stupid because you clearly have enough money, but the semester-to-semester basis of most grad stipends is not "stable" enough for banks to consider it income. Although, they can't protect against someone buying a house and then both people getting fired from their job the day after they close. I've heard it is recommended you stay in a house for at least 5 years for it to be a worthwhile investment. Also...be prepared for EVERYTHING to break in your first year! Have a nest egg of at least $10,000 left for unexpected repairs.

I got that there is no information about my award status.  Hoping that maybe they just haven't updated all of them!!!

I'd be surprised if they sent anything today at the rate things have seemed to go the past few days. My optimism and hope are quickly dissipating! I hope their slowed attentiveness means they are going to issue notifications soon, but I am not at all optimistic based on them saying between now and April 15th, when they said 1-2 weeks 2 weeks ago. April 15th is so far away, I really don't want to wait that long to get my inevitable rejection!
I'm just picturing a bunch of sleep-deprived panelists all sitting around in a poorly lit room, having issued 149 awards and debating the 150th award for a week straight.
 
 

I have a "proposals funded" section on my CV because I received over $22,000 of funding from various sources as an undergrad for my research (one being a $10,000 grant my senior year). In this case, I like to include these awards because it shows my ability to write proposals for significant amounts of money at a time where most students do not.
Other awards, like scholarships and whatnot, I do not include dollar amounts. Generally, the well-known fellowships don't need it, and smaller departmental/university stuff tends to be $2,000 or less. Unless it is not a well-known award for a significant amount of money that you had to go through a rigorous application process for, I'd say dollar amounts don't say as much as the award name and maybe a brief description.

I have a "proposals funded" section on my CV because I received over $22,000 of funding from various sources as an undergrad for my research (one being a $10,000 grant my senior year). In this case, I like to include these awards because it shows my ability to write proposals for significant amounts of money at a time where most students do not.
Other awards, like scholarships and whatnot, I do not include dollar amounts. Generally, the well-known fellowships don't need it, and smaller departmental/university stuff tends to be $2,000 or less. Unless it is not a well-known award for a significant amount of money that you had to go through a rigorous application process for, I'd say dollar amounts don't say as much as the award name and maybe a brief description.

Good luck to everyone! Last year was my last year of eligibility, and unfortunately, I was never a winner. However, I can't help but check back to this thread to see all of the excitement and suspense! (Fingers are crossed for NDSEG!)

I don't know exactly what kind of experiment you are doing, but in my lab, it is not uncommon that people who have collected massive amounts of data have done it wrong (scary!).
The best advice I have is to think through the method and see if there is anything at all that doesn't add up in the materials you are using or the protocol that was given. Can you compare to published literature to see which set of results seems more accurate? Or see if a colleague can run the experiment? If you think it is wrong, there must be a way to justify that.

I don't know exactly what kind of experiment you are doing, but in my lab, it is not uncommon that people who have collected massive amounts of data have done it wrong (scary!).
The best advice I have is to think through the method and see if there is anything at all that doesn't add up in the materials you are using or the protocol that was given. Can you compare to published literature to see which set of results seems more accurate? Or see if a colleague can run the experiment? If you think it is wrong, there must be a way to justify that.

This will be me in the future. Sarcastic humor will probably be taken more lightly than angry cursing.

Between waiting for NSF and watching the craziness that is March Madness, I've probably developed a heart condition. SO. MUCH. STRESS.

Between waiting for NSF and watching the craziness that is March Madness, I've probably developed a heart condition. SO. MUCH. STRESS.

I think this week would be a bit ambitious. Plan for next week.

I'm just trying to be as sad as possible this week and next. I figure if I set the bar low enough, a rejection can't make things any worse!

I'm just trying to be as sad as possible this week and next. I figure if I set the bar low enough, a rejection can't make things any worse!

Yeah, this is generally the case. Keep your eyes peeled for maintenance within those times!

I'm pretty sure it usually goes down a couple of times in the beginning of March (maybe to enter in all the scores and then have the top ones selected). But yeah, look for a 3-8 am announcement sometime in a couple of weeks, and that will be it! My prediction is March 31 for the emails to go out.

Yeah, it usually says whether or not you got it in the email. First line of mine last year said this: 
"Your application for the 2015 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program has been evaluated. We regret to inform you that you were not selected to receive a fellowship in this year's competition."
:-(

Yeah, it usually says whether or not you got it in the email. First line of mine last year said this: 
"Your application for the 2015 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program has been evaluated. We regret to inform you that you were not selected to receive a fellowship in this year's competition."
:-(

I'm pretty sure it usually goes down a couple of times in the beginning of March (maybe to enter in all the scores and then have the top ones selected). But yeah, look for a 3-8 am announcement sometime in a couple of weeks, and that will be it! My prediction is March 31 for the emails to go out.

I'm pretty sure it usually goes down a couple of times in the beginning of March (maybe to enter in all the scores and then have the top ones selected). But yeah, look for a 3-8 am announcement sometime in a couple of weeks, and that will be it! My prediction is March 31 for the emails to go out.

The only new advice I have is that it isn't a bad idea to start drafting something up before you even collect data. You should have a solid protocol for methods down, an intro, and even several journal articles to use for a discussion section. All you need to do once you get the data in is fill in results, and round out the discussion. It's a good use of down time between experiments.

I applied last year as a senior and got HM with very little feedback. Took all that feedback, improved my application, and applied this year as a first year graduate student and got VG/G, G/G, G/F--not recommended. A lot more feedback this year but, of course, it would have been more helpful if I had gotten it last year...
 
The things that really bothered me is that they weren't really all that negative but I was still scored poorly. Also, they seemed fixated on the fact that I didn't have a single publication despite having multiple (10) local, national, and international conference presentations, and a publication in progress. My research plan wasn't really "specific" with methods, which I guess I do see, but at the same time, I came to a totally new field and new university so I had a big learning curve to take care of (something that someone who knows senior year exactly what he/she is doing for research who is not switching universities or programs does not have to go through).
 
I'll come at it from a different angle next year and hope for the best. In all, I think I have a plan to work with based on the feedback I got. So...maybe next year.
 
Congratulations to everyone who got the award! Maybe we could start a thread with advice you have about improving applications.

Can't feel my face....