mars667

Good luck everyone! See ya on the other side!

I don't think so, but if you've got 3 reviewers, you probably made it through the first round.

Agreed. Undergraduate applicants apply before even submitting applications. I think it's understood that the chances of attending the institution you chose for your proposal are pretty iffy, unless you're already enrolled in a program. I think the location criteria would really only come into play if you make it into quality group two, and I'd assume that it's based on the location of schools you've previously attended.

Thanks! I've found a few posts about that in the depths of the forums, but can't seem to track them now . I think the gist of it was that the applications are split into different groups for undergrad, 1st year, and 2nd year and they each have different standards when it comes to publications and general knowledge of the topic. I'll try to track it down tomorrow if no one beats me to it. also it looks like that link just goes to the start of the forum, which still has good info, but there is a great comment containing some helpful info from a former panelist on page 17 (i thought linking might reduce the clutter...whoops)

In case anyone's interested! (and if not, sorry for the spam!) More helpful things:

I'd assume that the panels wrapped up with sorting applications into quality groups in February, but the group 2 reviews probably take up a lot of time from the grfp staff (has the review process been talked about in this thread?) I wonder if the Tuesday/Friday release dates might be related to the panel schedule..... I think someone else on here posted (from nsfgrfp.org) that the panel reviews were either mon/thurs or tues/fri, but maybe those days are designated for the entire grfp review process, not just panel reviews. If the grfp staff review apps on mondays/thursdays, that would match up with the tues/fri releases that happen in the early morning. Just a thought!

I have a hard time believing that they'd stray from the tues/fri pattern after almost a decade of consistency. I'm not expecting it tonight, but MAYBE tomorrow.

I'd also think that having an online application system does some of the work for them--at least, they don't have to sort them since we select our field/year/etc. And from what I've read about the review process, it seems like the bulk of it happens in January anyway. I wouldn't expect it to delay the process that much, if at all.

Whelp, I think I just used up an entire year's worth of luck. My headphone wire got snagged on the backpack of someone walking (UNNECESSARILY) too close to me on a subway platform--the wire flung towards the tracks, but my phone somehow managed to unplug and fall flat, right next to me. Praise Jah (and please take off your backpack on crowded subways, for the love of god) (and don't be a personal space invader) However, I'm now suspecting that I will end up with curmudgeony/unhelpful reviewers.

I don't think the reasons behind applicant hopefulness are as complicated as all that (at least not for everyone). I only made waitlists, which tbh is still a pleasant surprise (high school drop out over here). I'm crossing my fingers for a grf so that I can maybe actually turn one of those waitlists into an acceptance. A grfp award will open a lot of doors for a lot of people, and give them opportunities they may not have had otherwise. Seems pretty simple to me. Also, does impatience necessarily suggest desperation? I don't think so. I think it's perfectly reasonable to be excited about something that could potentially have a pretty big impact on your career/life. Edit to add that the negativity popping up in this forum is pretty disappointing. As nsf grfp applicants, we each had to include statements on how we hope to improve diversity and retention in our respective fields; some of the comments being made here are just mean and seem to go against nsf's values of supporting fellow scientists. If you can't support the excitement of your peers, how can you expect to support and encourage the excitement of younger generations of scientists? But what do I know........I'll end this rant with some words of wisdom that I feel are applicable to this situation (and pretty much all situations): "be excellent to each other"

jfc. on a side note, that is a long closure....i bet it's related to the website changes and has nothing to do with us.

only thing I've seen is on reddit from the "I smell BS" user previously mentioned on this thread. I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

haha, maybe academically--it took me a while to find something I liked enough to go to college for. I've been studying them in cosmological simulations, which has been really fun! I get to look at lots of pretty (simulated) pictures.

senior undergrad. my research so far has been in brown dwarfs and black holes in dwarf galaxies, but I'm hoping to get into direct imaging in grad school.

agreed! I think I'm going to redirect my energy into something more productive and less speculative....like homework or something i guess......