greentechgirl

VG/VG VG/VG VG/G somehow got me an award. Maybe my reviewers had low averages, or maybe I benefited from being a woman in engineering and from a weird state. I'm still waiting for them to call and say it was a mistake; I was very very surprised to get it. Chance definitely plays a big role in this I think.

I think schools usually tell you when they send the admissions letter if you are guaranteed funding. I don't know anything about UCR, but if I were you I'd call/email and ask to be sure. When you call you can also ask about other funding resources or possibilities for paid research or teaching. You will probably have to do a lot of the legwork yourself in terms of looking for scholarships to apply for and contacting professors to work with. You will probably only get stafford loans from fafsa. That's pretty general info, but I hope it helps!

In case anyone else wonders about this in the future: The "View/Print application" page says that the "degree toward which you expect to work" question is for statistical purposes only and will not be seen by the selection panel.

Inside the application on the references page, it says "Three reference letters must be uploaded by the applicant's Field of Study deadline to be eligible for review. " From this, I think it must be the Nov 16 deadline.

The NSF GRF app says it's for master's students too. However, I don't know anyone who's been awarded one for a terminal master's (or any master's students who've applied for it either really). Has anyone else heard of it getting awarded to master's students?

I have an internship with a really cool start-up. Everyone there is very smart and very nice. I'm constantly learning and having fun. My boss there just told me that I can probably stay on permanently with my current duties, but gradually gaining in responsibility and salary. (they have employees who started as interns and are now full engineers so I know this can happen). I was also just admitted to Berkeley for a masters in mechanical engineering (no funding). I've met with the prof at the lab I'm interested in, and they're research is really exciting to me. It's a great school, and I definitely never expected to be admitted. It seems crazy to not go. In the short-term it's a choice between starving student with lots of new debt and less-starving tech/intern without new debt. In the long term, I'm not sure which will be better for me. I'm also considering trying to keep working part-time while I'm in school or deferring for a year to save up money and gain experience. (haven't asked either place about it yet) Any thoughts?