Gram Positive

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  

E/E, VG/G, VG/VG
Will try again next year! 

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!

I've been lurking this entire time
E/E E/E E/VG
Life Sciences - Neuroscience
Awarded
You are all beautiful

I compiled the last decade of result days for GRFP, and for fun, compared them to Easter dates (sadly, no useful correlations).
 
           Results                                                                         Easter                          Timing of results with Easter weekend:
2016: ????                                                                   27 March                       ????                          2015: Tuesday, 31 March                                             5 April                           Tuesday before 2014: Tuesday, 1 April                                                  20 April                         Way before 2013: Friday, 29 March                                               31 March                       Friday before 2012: Friday, 30 March                                                8 April                           Full week before 2011: Tuesday, 5 April                                                 24 April                          Way before 2010: Tuesday, 6 April                                                 4 April                           Tuesday after 2009: Friday, 10 April                                                   12 April                          Friday before 2008: Tuesday, 1 April/Monday, 31 March*                 23 March                        Full week after 2007: Thursday 22 March/Friday, 23 March**              8 April                           Way before 2006: Monday, April 17th                                            16 April                           Day after * 2008, the fellow list was released/hacked before emailing applicants
** 2007, they updated Fastlane before emailing, so awardees saw links like "view print fellow award letter" the day before.
Some insight: There doesn't seem to be any correlation between number of applicants and the date the results are released. Applications (and awards) have been steadily rising over time, but the release dates are kind of all over. I heard last year, NSF asked for more funding for more fellows, but was denied so there were only 2000 as with previous years. Was there any request for something similar this year? We likely will see just as many or more applications, but will number of rewards increase as well?
There is no correlation between the application due date (almost always first weeks of Nov except this year) and results date.
The results have been on Tuesdays/Fridays (2006 was likely late Monday night/early Tuesday morning like the rest). There really isn't a pattern on which day it's released in what year. You could say it alternated until 2011, where a double pattern began. That would put the release date for this year on Friday.
It seems they just release it when they have all their ducks in row. They always have the aim for 'early April' each year. Sometimes everything happens quicker, sometimes later. It's impossible to know why.
It is coming soon. When you go to the 'search awardees' page, the site has been updated with "2016 Offered Award List: This list of Awardees and Honorable Mention recipients for the year you have selected is not yet available."
There will likely be a maintenance break around that time. None has been announced yet, but it still could be posted tomorrow for a Tuesday release.

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. 

I swear, if it doesn't come out this Friday, I'm going to need to be sent to a looney bin...

I'm with you guys.

same..... 

Haha I can see the NSF being all, let's mess with these guys and make a pattern for no reason and if they ask we can say there's no pattern. 

I am able to access the old awardee lists off of the fastlane website: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/AwardeeList.do?method=loadAwardeeList
It does say though under a heading of "2016 Offered Award List" that " *The list of Awardees and Honorable Mention recipients for the year you have selected is not yet available".
 

I don't see how they could possibly be real. NSF releases all decisions at once (last year emails were sent out around 2:00/3:00am CST). In all likelihood, results will come out next Friday. Last year, GradCafe was very accurate in predicting the decision release date, and I'd assume the same for this year.

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.

Best part about a new @school.edu address is 6 more free months of Amazon Prime. 

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

Haha! Agreed

I now check this page more often than I check my email...

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

I took both semesters of P chem and I don't think you really need it.  As mentioned before, you could ask if you want to.  If you are interested in structural biology, it might be a good idea just to be able to understand the fundamentals of biophysics.  But I get it!  I hate physics, hate my biophysics class, and generally want nothing to do with physics.  BUT.  I did enjoy my quantum mechanics class quite a bit.  Thermodynamics, which was my 2nd semester of P chem, was really boring.  Honestly, I found taking specialized biology courses and grad courses much more helpful.  Immunology, medical microbiology, virology, molecular signaling, molecular genetics.  These high level classes will introduce you deeply to areas of molecular biology and, if you take a grad level course, you will probably get introduced to literature review which is one of the most important skills outside of experimentation and science you will learn.  HIGHLY recommend finding a publication-based class in an area of your interest to try your hand at what journal clubs, grad classes, and researching for your thesis will be like.  I took 4 before applying and it really helped me to explain what I liked and why, even if it was outside of what I currently do.  (FYI I took immunology, molecular signaling, molecular genetics, and nucleic acid  biochemistry as my publication-based classes before applications.  They were also graduate level.  I took like 9 grad classes total, I think, before application.  But that's completely over the top!)

Just confirmed Emory MMG (+ fellowship)! Definitely the best fit for my research interests (bacteriology and antibiotic resistance). Good luck to everyone making decisions!

Just confirmed Emory MMG (+ fellowship)! Definitely the best fit for my research interests (bacteriology and antibiotic resistance). Good luck to everyone making decisions!

Just confirmed Emory MMG (+ fellowship)! Definitely the best fit for my research interests (bacteriology and antibiotic resistance). Good luck to everyone making decisions!

Just confirmed Emory MMG (+ fellowship)! Definitely the best fit for my research interests (bacteriology and antibiotic resistance). Good luck to everyone making decisions!

Just confirmed Emory MMG (+ fellowship)! Definitely the best fit for my research interests (bacteriology and antibiotic resistance). Good luck to everyone making decisions!