neuroslice

I'm actually backpacking in SE Asia for a couple of weeks, which should be fun! Just trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my time...

Now that the dust is starting to settle a bit from the admissions season, I was wondering if anybody has given much thought to what they'll do this summer? Is it at all important to keep doing research? I'm sort of tempted to just because I know I'll go insane after a week without anything to do.

I completely agree. A friend and I worked together very closely on our apps, sending drafts back and forth, running things by each other, etc. and I ended up getting the award and he ended up with a HM :/ I think our essays were of similar quality and we had similar levels of research experience/publications, but I thought he had much better broader impacts from his extracurriculars. With so many qualified applicants, I guess it just devolves into a crap shoot

I got the fellowship! Incredibly excited I ended up logging into the website once it was back online - still not sure why I never got an email, but it all worked out in the end E/E E/VG E/E

Weird, I got no email at all... I found this on the website "Email notifications have been sent to all reviewed applicants. If you did not receive a notification, please email info@nsfgrfp.org from the email address you used on your FastLane GRFP application, including your name, 10-digit applicant ID number, and primary mailing address." So I should have gotten an email even if I was rejected? Just going to have to send them an email I guess

Do you need to check fastlane to get the results or would I have received an email if I got it? I didn't realize they were released and now the website is down for maintenance

Me too!

I think they said it would be by the end of the month, I haven't heard back yet either.

I've been asked this by a quite a few of the PIs who've interviewed me and so far I've been answering honestly and telling them the school names. They usually just say something along the lines of "It sounds like you'll have some good options" and then tell me why I should come to their school instead

It's pretty uncommon to work part time while in graduate school, and I'm guessing that most graduate advisors wouldn't approve. I'd recommend talking to the current students during interviews to see where they're currently living. You could also (subtly) ask if they feel like the stipend is enough to get by comfortably.

I don't think this is as bad as it seems at first glance. 70 admits out of a group of 120 is approximately a ~60% acceptance rate, but you have to consider that even top programs don't have 100% enrollment rates. The students that end up getting offers from Harvard are going to be getting offers from other excellent schools, so they always have to send out more offers than they have spots in order to fill out their incoming class. This means that the the actual post-interview admissions rate has to substantially higher than 60% - I figure that somewhere around 80% is reasonable based on the numbers you mentioned. Edit: Didn't see OP's edit to his original post. But I do think it's reasonable to expect an 80% rate.

This is terrific news, thanks so much!

I've read online that Yale BBS is one of the lowest (50%) which has made me pretty nervous about that interview. It would be great if someone could confirm (I'm applying within the neuroscience division).

I've been fortunate to get a lot of interview invitations but am now trying to figure out how to arrange travel for them all. I have three interviews that are basically back to back (I will have to go straight from one to the other without returning home in between). Is it okay for me to ask for plane tickets from or to somewhere other than where I reside? I assume it'll be frowned upon to use their money to go to interviews with other schools? And with one program I will have to miss a welcome dinner on the night we're supposed to arrive - Univ A has events throughout that day while Univ B just has a welcome dinner, so I figure that I will attend all of A's events, use the night to travel between the two and end up missing Univ B's dinner. This minimizes the amount of stuff I miss because I'm traveling during the night instead of the day, but I don't want it to look like I'm not committed to the school. Should I be up front about why I'm missing the dinner and just say I have an interview I already committed to (I committed to interview offer from A before hearing from B)?

I'm in a somewhat similar position. I have an interview scheduled for the day right before another and I don't think I can get from one to the other without missing events. It would be great if someone had advice.