csot

Has anyone heard back from the Horowitz Foundation yet? Their website says awards are announced by the end of May. I'm assuming I got rejected because it's so late, but it would be nice to have some closure.

Currently in a PhD program. I, along with 2 of my classmates, all went to the same institution for undergrad.

Yes, graduate students should fill out the FAFSA. It's possible that you may qualify for certain grants, and if necessary, be eligible for loans. You don't have to accept any money that you don't want/need.

To be completely honest, I would re-take the GRE if you can. At some schools, the GRE is the first thing admission committees see, and since most people do very well on the verbal section, a low quantitative score can often separate you from other applicants who have better quantitative scores. Applying to graduate school can be really expensive, so if you can invest some time into re-taking the GRE and perform better, your money will go a long(er) way, and I sincerely think that you will have a better shot at getting accepted.

I got flat out rejected. Not even an honorable mention. I'm bummed, but part of me was expecting it. I only had 2 reviewers. One seemed to really like my application and rated me with excellent/very good ratings. The other reviewer gave me good/fair ratings, but they were on things that I have little control over now (e.g., past employment history). I'm definitely willing to try and apply again next year, but I'll have to figure out how to make my application stronger. Congratulations to all the winners! I know y'all are going to do great things.

Don't worry. You're not alone. I've gone on old GradCafe threads, the academic jobs wiki, Reddit, College Confidential, Twitter, etc. I had a dream that I got flat out rejected, and in a subsequent one, I got Honorable Mention.

I feel like it's very strategic and unfortunate if they wait until Friday to get the results out. If they get an influx of emails or calls with questions about our award status or reviewer comments (which I'm sure they will), then it's possible that they won't respond to us until the following Monday. :/

Yes! I was having the same issue. Hopefully this means decisions are right around the corner.

Nice! I'm studying sociology. That's good to know. Hopefully this year, you'll hear better news, and it'll come sooner rather than later!

What general field/discipline are y'all in?

Also if someone is in the process of going to grad school, wins the fellowship, and decides they will no longer be attending, that's another reason why someone would decline the award. On an unrelated note, I really wish they would throw a plot twist at us and release the awards at night. But I guess we'll have to wait a few more days.

Applicants from past years also said that their application portal looked different as awards started to get sent out. They could no longer see their application (or something like that), so I'm wondering if the same thing will happen this year. My application portal looks exactly the same as of right now.

I emailed them to ask when we can expect to start hearing back, but they were vague and just said that we'd be notified by the end of the month. Same information that we already had.

You're right. Although, I don't think it will be as late as April since the Ford website says we'll hear back by the end of March. Over the past few years, winners have been notified on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. So, this is just pure speculation, but if we don't start hearing back tomorrow, I figure we'll find out next week.

Gotcha. Hopefully this means that we'll start hearing back next week. You're right. I need to learn how to be more patient and optimistic like you. Thanks for keeping our spirits up.

Has anyone heard anything about when we'll start hearing back? I feel like I refresh my email inbox and application portal at least 10 times a day.

I'm sorry. That's so frustrating. I hope that this year, things turn out more favorably.

Does anyone else think the formatting instructions were a little strange? They asked for our document margins to be 1" on top/bottom and 0.5" on left/right. I kept second guessing myself throughout the submission process.

From my understanding, we should be hearing back in 3 to 4 weeks! How is everyone feeling?

I will echo rising_star's sentiments. If you plan on going into academia after graduating, funding and program rank/placement should be the main factors that you look at. Once you know funding has been secured and that alumni of your specific program get good jobs after they graduate, you can consider other things (e.g., location, access to resources, etc.)

Feeling grateful and relieved that my 4th (and final) recommender got her LoR uploaded. I'm reading through my essays again and realizing that I could've said some things a little differently, but what's done is done. I just have to sit back, pray that the reviewers take interest in my application, and hope for the best! Best of luck to everyone.

If it makes you feel any better, I got accepted to two different programs last year (ranging from top 10-30), and my quant score was only 155. Some schools probably do look more closely at quant than verbal because they want to make sure you will be able to pass their stats sequence, but for a lot of programs, this score is only ONE part of your application. Keep your head up!

I feel your frustration. I asked my recommender to write me a letter toward the end of November. Usually they just ask for notice 2 weeks in advance. I gave notice 6 weeks in advance, but it still hasn't been uploaded...

Don't worry. You're not alone. Here's the original thread with posts from other members:

I uploaded my verification of predoctoral status, but it wasn't anything fancy. I think (or at least, I hope) the fellowships office just wants to confirm that you REALLY have at least 3 years left to complete your program. I created a table and organized all the courses I was taking over the next few years. That way, they could see what classes I'll be taking (and how they overlap with my research proposal). I think "projects" could include research projects that you collaborate on with faculty members. "Plans" could include participating in research camps over the summer to supplement your coursework, going abroad to do any fieldwork that you might plan on completing, etc.