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Yeah, my institution is #4 on the list for the most fees, and it's really hard on our students. I think there has been some success working with unions and and big graduate student organizations - we are looking into this.

This is an important conversation that we should have. Personally, I think that charging graduate students thousands of dollars of fees is ridiculous when our tuition is waived. Recently, there has been a conversation about fees. There is a giant spreadsheet showing the yearly fees at universities around the US which you can compare to. Keep in mind that this spreadsheet is yearly fees, and you will want to add up the fees for the fall + spring plus the summer to get the total for your university in question. Spreadsheet of fees: bit.ly/aau_grad_fees

Ah well I'll just link my personal website where I uploaded stuff then. http://callieoldfield.wixsite.com/home/nsf-grfp-proposals

Nafiseh, did that work? NSF GRFP Reviews 2018.pdf Nsf Personal Statement 2017.pdf

Thank you for reaching out. Sometimes that's the hardest part. I've dealt with depression and anxiety my whole life, and it has only been amplified by graduate school and my divorce. Even though I am in a much better place now, depression and suicidal thoughts still creep back in my mind, and that is okay. I can tell you what I did to my depression, but there may be other options depending on your situation. I spoke with a therapist for several months, which helped me open up to my friends and family about my depression. Sometimes having a non-judgmental ear to listen to your problems and offer advice and perspective really helps. I don't know about your living situation, but getting a cat really helped me, because I had someone else to care for and that depended on me getting up in the morning. Normalizing your depression may also help - many many graduate students suffer from depression, so you may be able to develop a support network with other students. Does your university offer counseling or a graduate student support group that you could attend? Alternatively, is it possible for you to take a leave of absence? You need to listen to yourself and your body and do what is best for you.

As you mention, personal statements are unique and there are many different potentially successful strategies. Much of it is a monologue about your past and accomplishments, but also a chance to show how you have grown from your experiences and convey the passion you feel about your field/outreach. Although you are trying to tell a story of how you became a scientist and arrived at your research proposal, I don't think you necessarily need to directly tie every experience you have had into setting up your project proposal. Some lessons on data management, working with others, or overcoming obstacles are all skills that will help you with your research and may be important to mention. Just based on your description of your current format, I would recommend expanding your Broader Impacts section, since Broader Impacts and Intellectual Merit are judged equally. One tip for shortening an Intellectual Merit section when everything feels important is to ask a letter of recommendation writer that knows your research to write on that particular topic, so you can shorten/remove it from your statement. For me, I divided my statement into 4 parts, a .5 page Introduction that described my approach to science and a brief summary of my past, present, and future plans. Following that, I had a 1 page Intellectual Merit section that described important experiences and my research/personal growth trajectory. I had a 1 page Broader Impacts sections describing my outreach and goals. Finally, I had a .5 page Future Plans section that summarized what I wanted to do in the future in terms of both research and outreach. I was really trying to balance emphasis between Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. I can attach my statement and reviews so you can see what the reviewers did and didn't like about it..... My proposal went to the Environmental Biology/Ecology panel. Also it looks like the pdfs I attached directly download when you click so be aware of that. NSF GRFP Reviews 2018.pdf Nsf Personal Statement 2017.pdf

That sounds correct - you use the stipend as you would use any other salary. If you want to spend it on a conference, it is your choice. One of the few restrictions on the stipend that I know of is that you can't put any of your stipend into a Roth IRA (retirement account). Maybe you are referring to the 12K cost of education allowance? Your graduate program will determine how you can use it. It can be very variable - at the least it is supposed to cover your tuition and fees. At my university, I can use the leftover money to travel to conferences or purchase supplies. On occasion, I have heard of it being used for a student's health insurance.

E/E, E/E, E/E, award offered! I've been lurking this forum nervously ever since August. I'm a 2nd year, but I applied before as an undergrad and didn't even come close. I'm so honored and excited! This is the best possible news I could get after a year working through really difficult personal problems.

Hi @genes! There is a grad school-wide Accepted Students program May 26 which my department recommended me to attend. I will probably visit my department after the event, or they may have representatives there. Do you live in the area? I'm a bit nervous about finding housing, and have just started looking on Zillow.

Hi, everyone! I don't think a thread has been created yet for incoming UGA graduate students this year. It would be great to talk with other incoming students as we begin the process of moving to Athens and enrolling in classes. To introduce myself, I will be attending UGA as a PhD student in the Department of Plant Biology. Did anyone attend the Accepted Graduate Students Day last Wednesday (April 6)? I am planning to attend the May 26 event and look at houses the day after.

Of those that applied as undergraduates/no graduate study, will getting the GRFP change where you choose to go to graduate school? I am deciding between two places, but the funding and moving considerations are definitely better at one. If I got the GRFP, I may choose the other university.

That could definitely be possible... those three postings don't mention scores or any other information.

Is this for some other NSF fellowship that they misclassified? Fastlane hasn't updated for me.

Wait... why are results on thegradcafesurvey for the NSF GRFP being posted?? I see an Animal Biology and Chemistry result that were posted today. http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=nsf&t=a&o=&pp=25

I misspelled my current adviser's name while filling out the electronic letter of recommendation request form and couldn't change it... He thought it was funny, and I guess the school didn't notice/mind, because I was accepted.

Chaparral, I am not sure - it seems that their intentions of limiting graduate applications is to encourage more diverse undergraduate applications, so I am almost learning towards applying my first year because it will be earlier in my graduate career. But that means I need to enter graduate school and immediately get involved with outreach. Tahlain, I don't think it specifies whether the 1st year and 2nd year graduate students will be evaluated separately. I would hope that they continue to evaluate them separately. P.S. Chapparral, did you go to the UGA PBIO recruitment weekend? If so, we probably met.

Yes, I think that is what it is saying. However, people like me who applied this year as an undergrad will only be able to apply once as a graduate student - and we will have to decide whether to apply as a first year graduate student or a second year graduate student.

Pterosaur, I don't know if this helps you, but it says "First-year graduate students in Fall 2015 who applied to the 2016 GRFP competition will be allowed to apply a second time in Fall 2016, if they are otherwise eligible. All other graduate students are subject to the new eligibility requirements."

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2016/nsf16050/nsf16050.jsp Whaaaat? They are changing the eligibility next year, so you can only apply as a graduate student once!