coffee_grad

Good luck to all!

I am in the E1 category and have not heard anything. Update: Spoke 15 minutes too soon. Just received by rejection in E1. Good luck to all.

Great! So glad to hear that you had a similar positive experience.

Songbird, If you can't find an example online, try looking at last years recipients in your field and emailing a few directly. Perhaps explain what you're doing and ask them to share as little or as much as they wish. In my experience, people are more than happy to share something.

DavidB144, I have a letter from an industry professional. I think if your work experience is both relevant and highlights your desire to pursue graduate study, then it is a valid consideration. I worked for one year full-time (through a co-op program during my UG) with a city planning office directly related to my research field, and I highlight that work experience in my personal statement as evidence for my continued interest in the field and use it as support in my career goal claims. That being said, this GRFP is not an ordinary LOR. I wrote up a kindly-worded email to this person stating the criteria that NSF is looking for in the LOR, and gave resources such as the NSF guide to letter writers (http://www.nsfgrfp.org/reference_writers) and opened line of communication between this person and my academic adviser so that question could be asked if needed. Good luck!

This almost seems silly to say, but I recommend that you select to request LOR from those who actually know you well. There is a big difference in the type of letter someone (presumably very busy) will write for you whether you were some random lab rat working on a project on which they were the PI, or someone you worked with collaboratively and had honest dialogue about personal, academic, and research endeavors. I see a lot of students trying to get a letter from someone whose name looks very nice on a piece of paper, but NSF wants to know more about who you are as a person and how you have the tools to be successful. For the record, my LOR come from: 1) UG mentor, professor, and research PI: Someone who knows my academic achievements, research capability, and personal life 2) Program director/boss that I worked with for 1 year through co-op program in UG: Someone who works in an industry related to my research goals, who knows my work ethic and personality, and who can support my claims of career goals 3) My graduate adviser, professor, and research PI: Someone who knows my current interests, discipline, research goals, career goals, and personal life

At the same link I post above, you can view the current EPA STAR Fellowship Handbook. CTRL-F "defer" and you'll find some info. I'm not sure how that applies to this odd timing (i.e. everyone's tuition should already be paid for the term, and likely has a stipend source for the term), but it's a place to start looking.

I just noticed an update on the main NCER page (http://www.epa.gov/ncer/fellowships/)which says awards are to be announced late September for late October funding. Late October funding makes no sense whatsoever, and might as well be for the spring semester at that point, but whatever. Again, best of luck.

So I don't think it really matters what happened in previous years, but for those who are curious, I looked up award numbers and application numbers for the past few years (awarded/applied) 2015: 55/1400 anticipated 2013: 105/1396 2012: 87/1501 2011: 109/1475 2010: 137/1362 Looks like we were all wrong to assume the applicant pool would be considerably smaller. Good luck again to everyone! Thanks to all who post helpful updates.

I don't see the updates to number of applications on the closed announcements page. When I go to this page, the last update is from 6/22. OH so idk why this happened, but it seems chrome was accessing an old page? Opening up the same link in incognito mode worked, just in case this also happens to someone else. Thanks for the update!

I honestly can't imagine any institution granting a tuition waiver. My tuition is fully covered so I'm not worried about it, but it is a weird place for EPA to assert that it is an option.

I'm a little confused by this statement: "Review and evaluation will take approximately 6 months" if they indeed are trying to get these back anytime soon. Does anyone else find that odd?

grrrr haven't received my receipt email yet UPDATE: alas, the elusive email. More waiting...

I sent an email over the weekend and it didn't get kicked back either. I think the fellowshipsrfa email at least exists now! Not that its existence seems to change much, but still nice to know it is open so we can attempt to follow directions.

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.

Hi NBB, I know a lot has changed since I took mine (Oct 2013) and it varies by state (I did mine in DE); Nevertheless, this was my experience. I took the last paper-based exam and took it at the start of my senior year of undergrad. In order to get the certificate, you have to have passed the exam and graduated from an accredited program (i.e. they need your transcripts to verify that you actually graduated). After I graduated, I contacted the DE office to ask about it and had to fill out another form and send transcripts from my undergraduate institution. The secretary told me they do it in batches about once a month. After I got everything in, it took about a month to get my certificate. So, my advice is don't expect it to just appear at your door -- be proactive and follow up with your state office contact. As for the rest of you, I took mine because I'm a civil discipline and the faculty at my undergraduate institution encouraged us to take the exam. I think if you graduate from an accredited engineering program, you should just take it. It's not that expensive, it is not hard, it leaves open career opportunities (lets be honest, none of us really know where our lives will go), and it is a certification that distinguishes your accomplishments.

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.

HA. Love this. Now maybe you can see why I'm just a tad pessimistic about all this.

Did anyone have success emailing 2015FellowshipsRFA@epa.gov? I keep getting a kickback email that says the address doesn't exist...

Not yet, curlydoc

I'm eager to hear back just like all of you! I conciser myself a realist when I say I think we'll be lucky if awardees hear by August 1.

Yeah. I submitted last week and it's total email overload. This is what I've received so far (in order, all from grants.gov): 1. application received and is being validated 2. application received and validated, prepared for agency retrieval 3. received by grantor agency 4. grantor agency assigned tracking number (with no where to check status using that new tracking no.) I suppose that means it's fine, but the whole thing is kind of convoluted. Emails 3&4 took about a day to show up for me just FYI

Oh, also wanted to check with someone else who applied -- The last email I have is the one from grants.gov saying the grantor agency has assigned a tracking number to my application. The solicitation says the "critical" email is the one one from NCER acknowledging receipt, which could take weeks. I'm assuming that my application is in the right hands. It's still unsettling to know that we may not get the "critical" email until weeks after the application is due...

I love these stories. I couldn't sleep one night when I heard an email alert on my phone. I tilted up the phone, and my heart rate probably sky-rocketed when seeing the sender was a faculty member at my top-choice school. It was an email regarding travel funds to visit, which didn't initially mean I was accepted, but after some digging online at 3 AM local time, I figured out that only accepted students were offered travel funds. So, it was exciting but also strange to find out I got in before I was extended an offer. I didn't end up attending this university, because the funding package at another great university couldn't be matched. I got that call in a research meeting with my faculty mentor. I had to keep it together until the meeting was over and everyone left.

I'm in agreement with the bizarre timing and fast turnaround -- for both applications and expected reviews. Luckily, I found out on the day of the solicitation posting. I applied for E1 as an ED. I'm hoping the review process and awards goes ahead as suggested by the solicitation, because this was quite a bit of effort during a busy time for all of us. I'm not holding my breath though because I've heard some less than satisfying news from my colleagues who applied in the past and even a professor who was awarded one as a grad student but was never funded due to budget cuts. Good luck everyone!