biosci

Accepted from waitlist to Baylor COM Immunology PhD, will attend.

Just got official rejection.  

I got it too, but I will decline, since I already accepted GRFP. GRFP is better for my purposes, since I can put the fellowship on reserve the first year to use an institutional fellowship.
But hey, I hope that means one of y'all on the waitlist will get an email saying you got it!

OMG, I got it!

Just got mine as well. Praise the Lord!

Good luck everyone!

In one of life's great ironies I got the award writing as if I was going to a school I got rejected from  

Congratulations to all of the new NSF fellows and to those of you who got Honorable Mention!
I had an NSF myself in graduate school (2010-2013). This year, I had the pleasure of giving back to the program by serving as a reviewer It was certainly interesting viewing the process from the other side. There are many things about the reviewing process we're not supposed to talk about, but we can give high-level information and advice.
As for getting good comments but still not getting the award - I know, that sucks. The truth is two-fold: 1) Some reviewers simply write more detailed and helpful comments than others; we are encouraged to give information that will help the student improve their proposal for a second application. I tried my best to give the kind of feedback I would want as an applicant; I think my comments were a bit longer than average. and 2) I know it sounds cliche, but there really are simply many more really good quality applications than NSF can give funding to. Sometimes there's truly nothing wrong with your app; it's just that enough people had even better apps (even slightly better) that they got the award instead. There has to be a cutoff somewhere
Also, yes, we have a lot of applications to review and not a whole lot of time to do it. I'd say most people spent more than 5-7 minutes. I think I spent an average of 30 minutes per application. And...if you look at the timeline, this is happening during the winter holidays




Yes, please spoon feed! Bolding, underlining, highlighting out sections, it ALL HELPS. Make it really easy for reviewers to find relevant parts of your application. Think of them skimming through your app quickly in between bites of lunch before class or while jumping around between sections when referring back to itto improve their notes or while adjusting their ratings or whatever. People miss things.


I would say that's both true and untrue. It's untrue in the sense that there doesn't seem to be systematic bias against people who took time off, and in fact non-traditional routes can be highly valued. It's true in the sense that unfortunately non-traditional students may also be evaluated (consciously or unconsciously) differently - for example, on the basis of what they did in the interim time they took off. I think in that sense it's somewhat similar to other types of unconscious bias.
Publications and how they are weighted will vary by field - basically how common is it for people in your field to have publications at your stage of the game? Remember, too, that the NSF applicants are probably on average more accomplished/competitive than the average doctoral student. That said, you certainly don't have to have publications to win an NSF; I'd wager most of them don't. (I didn't have any when I won mine.)




This is really going to be an individual decision, I think, and it depends on the quality and strength of your application in other ways. But IMO I would say it's a good idea to include a recommendation from your advisor in your current program, even if you don't know them very well. First of all, there are early impressions that your advisor can give of you that can be useful for reviewers trying to make decisions. Second, that recommendation can signal support from your program and advisor. Since the Intellectual Merit criteria includes you being reviewed on the potential to succeed in graduate study, and support from the department and your graduate advisor are crucial for that, it can be a good idea to display that. (However, if you've got three really strong references from undergrad and you don't want to displace one, I would say don't. It's really a variable thing, and it can work either way.)

In one of life's great ironies I got the award writing as if I was going to a school I got rejected from  

Hehe  
I got HM writing a proposal for the school I ended up accepting

In one of life's great ironies I got the award writing as if I was going to a school I got rejected from  

I just got honorable mention! I think that's pretty good considering I didn't even know about the GRFP until September and didn't settle on a topic until 2 weeks before the deadline. I'm pumped!

Good luck! Rooting for you!

Congrats!! I just got a call as well at the end of the week offering the CSGF. I am definitely taking it! I'm with you -- was not expecting a phone call a month early with that news. 

Not NSF, but I just got a call that I got the DOE CSGF. I'm absolutely in shock. I didn't expect to hear back this early, let alone hear that I got it! Definitely reduces the stress for waiting on the GRFP.

I accepted the offer from Notre Dame. Excited to start my PhD!

just got an offer, 98% sure i'm going to go!!!!

I've ghosted this forum due to being busy - despite being fairly active at first - but I just wanted to swoop back in and say congratulations to everyone on the very busy past two months (and to those who are still interviewing also... I'm pretty sure there are a few??) I met so many amazing people on interviews, no doubt some who have been helpful and active in this thread; it is honestly such an interesting experience! The next month is going to be difficult to make decisions, but I know regardless of that by April 15 we'll all be heading amazing places. 
Good luck to all and many happy wishes! Hope to see you all at conferences / in the news down the line

me too  

I'm very excited to be accepted into my top two choices (UTSW and UW Madison), only now I have no clue which I want to attend. I suppose it's a good problem to have though

Committed to University of Washington Biochemistry. So happy with my choice and relieved all this is done!!

Just got accepted to TCU MS Biology and UNT Health Science Center MS Microbiology, Immunology, & Cell Biology program! Really big thanks to all programs I am considering, but I am declining their offers. I decided to commit to The University of Texas at Dallas MS Molecular Cell Biology! After MS, on to Ph.D. Can't wait to start grad school in the fall! Best of luck to everyone waiting for decisions and making their decisions!

Just heard back from my POI that I'm accepted! I'm in Biology
 

Just found out I got into UNC-CH BBSP!!!!!! 
 
Ah. 3 weeks of waiting over since the interview and I'm through the moon.

CSHL