jtro37

My reviewers really liked when I talked about my community outreach activities in my personal statement. I think it matters a lot for the broader impacts criteria of the fellowship. Also, think of a research project that has a good broader impact. The first year I applied (senior year), I just said that my contributions would help my field. This time around (first year grad), my broader impacts were contributions to my field but also how it could be applied to under-served communities, and the reviewers really liked that. I think LoRs mean a lot as well, so if you can find professors/PIs who are willing to put the time in to write a really good letter, it would help your application a lot. In my case, I had one PI who was an NSF fellow during her PhD. She also hasn't had a student win the award yet even though she has all her students apply. So the combination of knowing what reviewers wanted and the motivation to have an advisee win made her dedicate a lot of time to the LoR. Another letter writer mentioned that he knows that a lot reviewers like to hear that you want to go into academia, so if that is something you plan on doing definitely mention it. I didn't really do this, but a lot of people say to have experienced grad students or even professors read your proposal. So maybe do that too. They release the names and schools of all the winners. I guess it would be easy to figure out if you download the excel sheet, arrange by school, and isolate the ones that are R2s and see what the difference is. However, I don't think institution matters. They fund the students, not the programs.

Man, I had one reviewer who was really critical. After reading their comments I feel even more lucky to have gotten the award now E/E VG/VG G/VG

Yeah Penn was 2nd choice for me. But I totally feel the same way about the rank thing

Yeah I'd say you might hear from then if that's the case. I already accepted an offer and don't feel like burning bridges lol. Plus after getting GRFP, TAMU gave me additional funding and I don't think I'd get a better offer from Penn. Also the guy from Penn doesn't do much in the field I wanna go into

Professor at Penn reached out to chat about joining his lab. Apparently I was waitlisted there but he has an opening. Would've been good to know there was a chance instead of hearing nothing for 5 months

Anybody get their reviews or link to accept the award? I feel like it isn't real until I accept lol

Most PIs should know you're being recruited by other programs so I don't think they'd take it very harshly. I just sent them like quick emails saying thanks for everything but I'm going somewhere else. My explanation was that there was a better fit in terms of research so I think most would understand that. If it's about money then I'd suggest not mentioning that lol

No, there's 2,050 awards and 1,540 honorable mentions

Anyone know how many applicants there were this cycle? It also looks like they offered 2,050 awards. I'm not sure where some people were getting 1,500 available spots from

Yeah no brainer man. Grad school will be hard. Why be miserable at MIT when you have so many positives at UCSF-UCB on top of all the stress in grad school? This is also a time for personal growth. Maybe it'll be good to move away from your parents and away from a city you've been in

I put 3.7 but ended up getting a 4.0. I would have been so upset with myself if I hadn't gotten the award. Especially if the reviews brought up a low GPA

Awarded! Feels good getting at least one fellowship. Had a string of rejections and GRFP was my last one

Just wanted to say it was great posting with y'all. Good luck with your programs!

were you waitlisted? or just haven't heard anything until yesterday?

Oh yeah I was definitely rejected or waitlisted. I already accepted an offer but I just want to get all my results back now. Ya know, for my ego