anthroapp11

Offered Award! I thought I'd offer a couple of tips, especially for anyone who may be perusing this board hoping to apply in the future: If you are in a field where it is extremely rare to have publications early in your grad career (for example, almost everything is single authored in anthropology, and based on extensive fieldwork we do later in our grad career), be sure to present research at conferences, submit papers for awards, try to get things published on blogs, etc. If you're prepping to apply for the GRFP, dust off any research papers you've written in the past and get them presented/read/submitted somewhere! There are lots of undergraduate paper competitions through AAA, ASA, etc. that no one really knows about. Smaller regional conferences are a supportive, non-intimidating way to get your work out there. And that stuff counts for the GRFP! A hypothesis is totally necessary, even for fields like Anthro where that's not usually done. A contingency plan if your hypothesis is totally wrong = better. I expect to go to the field and find _______. If that is not the case, I plan to ___________. Either way, my project will answer this question:___________. From what I understand, they like this because they know even if your plan is an utter failure, the NSF will still not be wasting its money because you're going to re-route the project and it's still going to be great. Broader impacts is so, so important. Multiple reviewers mentioned my past experience/future work with marginalized populations. In the future, I argued that my research will benefit these marginalized groups, and also that I will be working directly with those populations during the research process. Involve non-scientists IN your research if possible! Make a connection to education. My advisor is an NSF reviewer. In the project proposal, she recommends one section for Broader Impacts and one section for Intellectual Merit. Don't think that either of these things will be implied by the rest of your proposal! You need to dedicate specific paragraphs to these things. In the Personal STatement, don't mention things you've done in your past without tying each one to BI and/or IM. Example: I volunteered at _______ place, which had the broader impact of reaching ____ group with scientific awesomeness. Argue that your planned/current graduate program is the correct place for you to be-- this can be done by your recommenders, and/or in your personal statement. You don't have to re-hash your entire application or grad school or mention specific profs, just argue there are programs/resources/centers/labs that you need. One reviewer said he was confident about the success of my research based upon the program's fit for me. Tell your letter writers they should be addressing BI and IM in their letters, and provide them with resources to know what exactly that means. NUMBERS. Bullet points. Sub-titles and sections (Introduction/Context, Hypothesis, Methods, etc). Formatting is crucial to make your statement easy to read and remember. Again, this is something Anthro does not do a whole lot of, but the NSF loooooves it. Example: Personal statement: (this could be in your intro paragraph) I am prepared to do amazing research for three reasons: 1) I have a strong academic background, 2) I have a commitment to working with X population, as demonstrated through past research and volunteer experience, 3) my current grad program provides me with the resources to be successful. Research statement: This project has several broader impacts that will affect X population or Y body of knowledge: (a) __. Specifically, I will_____. (____ ©____. The cookie-cutterness may be a turn-off for the social and interperative sciences, but you must must speak NSF's language to have any chance at an award.

The only logical solution to this evening.

Out of the loop here, but what are we supposed to refreshing exactly? I can still log into my fastlane/GRFP application page. My application status is still "complete". Should we search for word on the 2013 Awardee List? (https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/AwardeeList.do?method=loadAwardeeList)

Basically.

Hi everyone, I have a bit of information for those that are grasping for news. My advisor is one of the NSF reviewers. They met in Washington DC the end of last week and all of this week-- it sounds like quite a behemoth of a conference. My guess is that decisions are made last week and this week (while the reviewers are in DC) and will be announced next week (since the NSF needs time to organize all the decisions, write the e-mails, etc). Fingers crossed for you!

Yes, I've had several intense interviews of the many I've done over two years, though not with Yale. It seemed as if some faculty enter the interview wanting to tear down the project (looking for all possible theoretical/methodological weeknesses) instead of actually intending to hear me out. The interviews I felt were most successful were those in which ideas were exchanged and constructive feedback was given. Also, Skype interviews SUCK. They are much more difficult in my experience-- you can't read the other person's expressions/body language to respond appropriately, and any pause/hestitation makes you sound awkward and idiotic. That could have something to do with the tone of your interview. Anyway, best of luck! Who knows, they could have been super impressed with your ability to take the heat!

Thanks! I am going to call the department and confirm in the morning (part of me legitimately thinks it might have been an error)-- I'll ask whether they've sent out all acceptances. I honestly didn't have a top choice since I was rejected 100% last year and didn't want to get my hopes up. I want to visit campus and hear back from all my schools but I'd be elated to go to Brown. I got the e-mail around 230pm this afternoon.

The Brown acceptance was me. WTF? No really, wtf, I am totally shocked. Thrilled and elated, but shocked. I wouldn't call myself "particularly impressive" either. This is my second year applying (went 0 for 6 last cycle) and I've gotten so many rejections over the past couple of years that it doesn't seem real that someone would accept me. Part of me thinks it's actually not real. But the e-mail came today that a decision had been made regarding my application. It directed me to the Embark site, where sure enough there's an acceptance letter with funding details. Holy. Crap. I thought I was a good fit, but have had minimal (though encouraging) e-mail contact with faculty. I didn't have an interview-- not sure who that was who posted it.

Sure did! Although last year I interviewed via skype because I was living abroad. I'm hoping second time's a charm! Are you interviewing at Emory as well?

I received an Emory interview. I believe all applicants who've made it to the next stage have been notified. I also received a rejection letter from the University of Illinois (U-C) today-- thank jebus some programs are efficient in letting us know! In case my username looks familiar, I'm in my second application season after striking out completely last year. I cannot say that I changed my application "strategy" a whole lot, particularly after receiving feedback from faculty last year that my application was fine (the advising distribution/faculty meetings just didn't go my way). I applied to 3 of the same programs, and 3 different programs (6 total programs each year). I empathize with everyone waiting!

Great advice! I'm about to send in my applications for the second year in a row (yay 0 for 6ers). I'm hoping the extra months stewing over and eventually remaking my statement will do it this time (please jebus!).

Yes, definately. I contacted a Prof around August, and even went to meet face-to-face with him in the fall. We maintained e-mail contact and I interviewed with him again by phone in the last stage of the app process. Unfortunately, though he went to bat for me at the faculty meeting, he admitted he just didn't have the power/voice to get me in this year. He encouraged me to apply again next year, when it will be "his turn." Not all Profs (or many at all) will be this candid and encouraging throughout the application process. But it can be extremely helpful if you happen to find one that will!

Rejected! Closure. Until next application cycle, folks.

Me too. Stanford's faculty had probably the "stretchiest" fit of any school I applied to. Let me move on with my life, Stanford!

At least they were nice enough to change it on the website.