aspiringscientist

E/E, E/VG, E/E, honorable mention, applying as an undergraduate senior. My reviews were very positive with one or two small suggestions about my third aim of proposal seeming not fit in the exact same line of thinking as the first two (though other reviewers thought it was solid) & the VG for broader impacts wanted me to have emphasized BI more in the proposal and to have said I would keep doing my current nonprofit work (though I did say I wanted to long term in the personal statement & I couldn't make any definitive statements as to what I'll be doing next since I'm an undergrad applying to grad school). I'm very happy with the application I put together and the positive reviews! At the end of the day, grants are a crapshoot... especially with the shut down. Congrats to those awarded!

Others have reported the same issue with plant pathology proposals, which are certainly not human health pathology-related. However, if you did have a sentence referring to human disease at all in the research plan, they can declare ineligible for that. Yes, the work was basic science in Drosophila you proposed, but by framing the potential "broader impacts" as human health applicable at all, it technically counts as a "goal," especially if the neuroimmunology proposal was specific to any existing disease. This was a warning I received when working on my proposal. Therefore, I ensured it was entirely mechanistic and not based on anything that applied to health (rather a basic understanding of the genetic code). NSF is very stingy (especially this year with the effects of the shutdown) and will outright reject anything that would be eligible for NIH funding. Sorry that you ran into this problem, but at least you can still apply again next year as a first year grad student!

It sounds like you have good amounts of experience. Have you presented at any conferences? I didn't & don't have any papers out during the application process, though one in prep, and I didn't feel like it hurt my chances at all. Not sure the answer to your second question since I am not in the computational/systems field. Good luck!

Hi! So you submitted for Jan 3, so I assume you are a non-US citizen applying for the 2nd round. According to the website, Departmental ranking doesn't finish until sometime in February (meaning if you are put forward to the Gates Cambridge Trust you should hear from your Department sometime in mid/late February). The Gates Cambridge Trust shortlists candidates submitted by the departments in Early March. You would hear about a possible interview around then, and the interviews this year are March 26th and 27th. All of that information is here: https://www.gatescambridge.org/apply/deadlines

5-7 sounds like a good number to send. Most of mine that have asked for lists of PIs have asked from somewhere from 8-12

Anyone get good news? A no for me!

Kind of niche question for yall: so I have a fellowship interview coming up that applies to a specific school. I think they'll strong arm me and force a reply pretty soon after a potential offer - however I have interviews scheduled at a number of places after I think that deadline would be. If I'm offered it and take it, do I just pull out of all the interviews I have scheduled? It'd be bad form to attend other interviews when I've essentially said yes to this other place with a specific fellowship, right?

I didn't apply to SCRB, but I do believe the first full round of invites for all home programs have gone out. I'm not sure if there will be more spots if people turn it down, but it's possible

I sent a thank you note the evening after mine! I think it's just polite to do so. When I had mine there was no mention of an on campus interview, but they replied to my thank you note saying I would hear back in the next 2 weeks. Abt 10 days later, I received an invitation for an on campus interview

Yeah that definitely means there's a delay if not worse. It says all panels, including virtual (which is how GRFP reviewers rank applicants) will be canceled and likely be rescheduled for a later date. Lets hope it only ends up being a delay.

Not really hopeful... but looking forward to January 16th for the waiting to end

So, since the US government is in a partial shutdown that includes NSF... does anyone know if that will affect us? NSF has stopped distributing some grants recently because of the shutdown

The one I had for Caltech was 15 minutes too. They started with "tell us about your research experience" and then asked a few follow up questions. Then what I want to get out of grad school, why I chose to apply to them. And then left 5 minutes for questions from me. Its not a lot of time but it let's them gauge your ability to communicate and your enthusiasm! So yes they probably want to know your not a serial killer, but maybe also that you can communicate ideas well, are enthusiastic about science and their program, and that the research experiences you described on your application is true.

I had a similar set up for Caltech. It's likely a prescreening - I'm not sure what percentage of people tend to move forward after, if I had to guess I'd probably guess somewhere from 50-75% of prescreened applicants get invited for on-campus interviews. Its a good sign they asked this from you! It means they have taken an interest in your application and you made it through the initial rounds of review.

not for Micro and immuno, but I did hear back from Dev Bio program within Biosciences. However, it seemed very clear in the email that they weren't finished. On the Stanford Biosciences Website it says interview invitations are not sent out until the week of Jan 7, and that you should hear back but the end of january. The interview weekend for all Biosciences home programs is Feb27 to Feb3

DId you send your W9 form? There was a secure email - the W9 is needed prior to arrangements. I had said I would attend in mid Dec and was sent flights by maupin travel on Dec 20. (I've since dropped out for UNC, so I don't have any more info past that as I ended up declining my offer on the 20th)

Thank you!!! and in defence of the neuro programs, I think there are a lot more people interested in neuro than my specific specialization choice of developmental bio, so they probably just have a lot more applications to comb through, you'll all hear back in the next month I'm sure!!!

Hey, I received a Stanford invite for Dev Bio yesterday, but the home programs all run on their own schedule. I don't even think Dev Bio is done sending invites honestly. Don't get freaked out because a few people heard - looking at the results page it seems like a small number trickle in around this time but then the vast majority of biosciences invites go out around Jan 10.

I did as well! Very excited!

I also have gotten more than anticipated, and I basically am going through and trying to arrange based on preference. My top two choices for interviews (Caltech and Stanford) haven't sent their on-campus invites yet, but I do know what weekends they are so I'm leaving them open. Then taking the others in sort of rank order. Unfortunately, that has meant UCLA and Penn have openly said they cannot accommodate my schedule, and I've just declined UNC's interview offer. It's really difficult to turn down opportunities but that's how I'm approaching it. It's impossible to fit everything if you fill every interview weekend. I'm also already accepted to a great program so I'm going purely on rank. If I didn't have that, I would probably try and take things at a nice balance with a sort of "safety" option included in the interview line-up, just in case.

BBE is the Biology and Bioengineering Department. The Biology, CNS, Biophyics, and Neurobiology progrmas are all run through that department

By chance, did you go through an online interview for Caltech before getting this invitation? and did it seem like all options from BBE would be interviewing the same weekend?

Does anyone know the in-person dates for Caltech biology? Also does doing a skype interview or an alternative day/weekend interview hurt chances of acceptance?

Has anyone who did an online interview with Caltech Biology hear anything? I think it was a pre-screen for an on campus interview - has anyone gotten an invitation for that?

UCSF (Developmental and Stem cell Biology): February 7th-9th Yale (BBS - MCGD): February 1st-3rd or February 15th-17th Duke (Developmental and Stem Cell Biology): February 21st-24th Penn (CAMB): January 17th-20th UNC Chapel Hill (BBSP): January 31st-February 2nd UCLA (CDB): January 17th-19th Harvard (BBS): January 24th-26th or February 7th-10th Stanford (Biosciences): February 27th-March 3rd