littlemoondragon

You will not hear back until late March or early April unless you are disqualified (such as incorrect formatting or not enough reference letters), where you typically receive a notification a few weeks after the deadline.

NSF Systems are finally back in order, so I am reading through the Solicitation. Other than the eligibility change for graduate students: Applications with only two letters (i.e., one fewer than the desired three letters) will be reviewed unless the applicant withdraws the submitted application by November 15 of the application year. Applications with fewer than two letters will be returned without review. To be considered for review, applications should include three reference letters from non-family members; however, applications with only two letters will be reviewed unless the applicant withdraws the submitted application by November 15 of the application year (see instructions below). Applications with fewer than two letters will be returned without review. Wow! In the past, there have been applications returned when a reviewer "forgot" to submit a letter, but now two is acceptable. If I were applying, I would make sure to still have three. Also, I know some applicants last year were freaking out about: Therefore, applicants must include separate statements on Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts in their written statements in order to provide reviewers with the information necessary to evaluate the application with respect to both Criteria as detailed below. It is recommended that applicants include headings for Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts in their statements. Make sure you have headers!

Good job @Eigen! Good luck to everyone as well!

The deadlines are up for 2016-2017. The time requirement is based on local time instead of eastern! https://www.nsfgrfp.org/applicants/important_dates

Typically, someone will start a new forum when the 2016-2017 NSF GRFP Solicitation is up. With the new eligibility as well as the past emphasis on explicitly saying what is your BI and IM, I bet the new solicitation will have more changes than last year.

I agree with @arima. Most programs are wrapping up the applicants for Fall 2016 and don't see any Fall 2017 applications until this Fall or a couple months before the deadline.

Thanks! I would definitely apply for the December deadline if you want to work for the Census, because they prefer people in the summer. I had to negotiate a August start, which was a bit difficult.

@Songbird222 Sure. Send me a pm later. I won't be starting my internship with them till August.

To help echo what everyone else has said, you should take time off! To ensure the other options are still available to you, as @rising_star has said, gain experience in public policy or some other related experiences to the PhD and MPP. It's ok to take time off as long as you "use that time productively". I've had friends who joined the Peace Corp, City Year, worked, traveled (volunteer work traveling), etc. and went back to graduate school. Their experiences also increased their chances of getting into some of their programs, because they used their time off productively and showed they really wanted graduate school. You may find you want to go to graduate school or you may not, but your time off will help you be sure of your decision. Good luck!

This is my experience with having the NSF GRFP that will echo what some other people have said and add new info: Prestige: while you may attend a top university, your peers, professors, graduate school staff, etc. will look at you more favorably. Even though my university is prestigious, I received several congratulatory emails from professors who hardly spoke to me. People around the university started to know me too, where gained a good reputation in not only my department, but the entire graduate school. Also, some people from outside your field may not know that the particular university you are attending is top tier in your field, but if they see you are a NSF GRF recipient, they will view you more highly. Freedom: I know that a few people already talked about freedom, but here are my specific instances with my "freedom". I have never TAed. I am now ahead of a lot of my peers and could graduate in four instead of five years. My advisor has plenty of funding to pay my stipend without the NSF GRFP so I wouldn't have to TA. Since there is no need to cover my stipend, there is extra money to do other things. If I want to go to a conference, my advisor pays for it. No negotiations needed. If I want to go to a workshop or travel or anything, my advisor is more willing to say, "Yes." I can research whatever I want, because the fellowship funds me. No strings attached. I don't have to work on a random side project that will fulfill the stipulations of my funding. I can be involved in other activities, because I have more time. I'm highly involved in STEM outreach and graduate organizations. This involvement has led to widening my professional network more and gain a greater reputation. NSF GROW/GRIP: I applied the the NSF GRIP and won the award. I now have a contact with the US Census Bureau, which is big. The Bureau is the largest government statistical agency in the US. This opportunity will not only contribute to my dissertation (yay chapter!), but also provide great networking.

What?! That sucks! Good luck!

Yes. Don't forget to check your spam in case the email gets sent there!

Congrats! I applied as well and found out yesterday too. I'm going to work at the US Census Bureau.

Mine said "YEAR NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Notification". So, you're correct, the filter is on the body.

Be sure to check your spam, because the NSF announcement email says stuff like 'congratulations', 'you are the recipient', etc.