InquilineKea

Okay... So here's a question: Does it count as outreach to females if I made extra efforts to loan out my science/math textbooks to several women, gave them many of the STEM-based resources I used, recommended STEM courses for them to take (some of them that they eventually took), and even discussed potential research groups for them? (I also got one recruited to a certain lab). I really encouraged one of them to apply for PhD programs as well, and sent her all the information she was willing to receive. Also, does it count if, say, I recruited a female to a lab in a field that's totally unrelated to the field I'm in?

Thanks for all the answers, guttata! Yeah - about the 810 Biology GRE - it's not essential, but from what I've seen out of reviewer comments, a number of reviewers really seem to be impressed with interdisciplinarity in applicants.. (but again, there is always a balance that must be made between interdisciplinarity and focus). == I have another question for anyone to answer: Does the application require professors to fill out checkboxes comparing the applicants to other applicants the professor has seen? (sort of like what is done in grad admissions). Also, are NSF applications expected to have a more serious "tone" than grad-school application essays? Or is it okay to contain a little humor in one's essays?

Also I'm wondering - is it okay to include figured that come from other papers as long as I properly cite them? Should most proposals contain at least 5 citations? Also, how would I cite a paper that is submitted but not published? (if it's on the author's website). How should I also mention mentoring a low-income student without sounding cheesy? I don't target my outreach to under-represented groups, but the wonderful thing about Internet outreach is that it often does contain large samples of certain under-represented groups. Also, is it bad if I only make mention of outreach to people with disabilities, people with low-income, and people of under-represented geographical areas, without mention of women or under-represented minorities? I've tried especially hard with women, but it just hasn't worked out as well as it has with males I've done outreach with, probably since my disabilities and unique life experiences (GPA issues) disproportionately affect men. If a NSF Fellowship would be *truly* necessary for my work (my adviser might not be able to take me on if I don't get it simply since he doesn't have the funding for my project), should I mention that on my PS? What about cutbacks to Planetary Science funding? (since planetary science has been hit especially hard by budget issues relative to other fields) Has anyone ever been docked points for having lots of interdisciplinary interests but not having enough focus? If I have a 810 on the Biology GRE, could I mention that? (even though I'm in an entirely different field, but a high biology score could be helpful for astrobiology). The most important thing it shows about me is that I can rapidly pick up things in other disciplines on my own.

Do profs who write LORs for their student applying for the NSF fellowship look at the application materials of their student again to help them write their LORs, *especially* the letters of recommendation that the student's old professors wrote for the student? ^this question is actually quite important for me since my primary adviser right now actually isn't even in the department I applied to, so he wouldn't have access to them... And the LORs my old professors wrote aren't exactly something that's easy to ask to transfer over....

WOW - thanks so much for this excellent discussion, UnlikelyGrad and Usmivka!! And yes - I agree! I go to an Ivy League school now, but seriously, people in the earth sciences have so much more respect for the UW than it... And I so agree about the point on reverse-googling - heh. PS: Usmivka - what did you major in at UW?

Ohh I see, so if I'm applying for climate science, then I'll be reviewed by panels consisting of people from I guess that might make things interesting. Yup - it's taking over mine. Like, almost to the extent that grad admissions took over my life last year. My facebook status updates and Quora feed are filled up with NSF updates, even.

Is there a general way for me to find my NSF program officer at my own institution?

Is the success rate for NSF Fellowships really 5%? And what of NDSEG? Also, reviewers are supposed to recuse themselves from reviewing if they know the applicant. But what if they know the professor that the applicant is under?

Wow - thanks *so* much for your answers again, vertices!

Okay thanks. I just know that a number of unfunded proposals also have very good hypotheses, valid methods of testing hypotheses, and an understanding of research. Regarding backup plans though, how many successful proposals actually include backup plans? I've read quite a few successful proposals by now and none of them have any backup plans, so I'm hesitant about including them until I see one.

Is it possible to simply re-use your essays for NSF? Does EPA STAR care about theoretical atmosphere research that could be potentially relevant to climate change?

Wow - very interesting. Which university does your sister go to? I'm curious. Since I got the opposite impression - though at least with professors who did research relating to the most theoretical aspects of general atmospheric circulation - not climate change per se (surprisingly enough, I was very competitive with the most theoretical professors [1] despite my low GPA at top schools- but ultimately I was too interested in exoplanets to be trusted to stay with some of them). [1] In fact, I was competing with another poster here (hope4fall2012) for the EXACT same slot at Yale!

Also, is it a good idea for me to mention that *only* a NSF Fellowship would make my proposed research possible? (it is something for which my professor does not have funding for - and it is unlikely that I would work on any of my adviser's pre-existing projects since there are other people who are better-suited for those). It is within his interests though - in the direction of something that he wants to expand into (planetary atmospheres). Or in other words, does the NSF Graduate Fellowship prefer applications from projects that probably would not exist were it not for the student's own initiative? Does connecting undergrads with professors for research count as public outreach? What about developing a course plan for them? In terms of actual impact, it's probably bigger, but it doesn't involve actively teaching them science. Or in other words, does advising individual people to pursue a scientific career count as scientific outreach for NSF Graduate Fellowships? Are NSF Fellowships more forgiving of extremely high-risk applicants compared with graduate schools? How competitive are NSF Fellowships compared with, say, admissions to top graduate programs?

Wow really? How do you know that the field in which climate change researchers function very competitive? Are all geoscience applicants compared together regardless of sub-specialty?

Okay. Thanks so much for all of your wonderful answers! I'm also wondering - does NDSEG weigh GPA and LORs differently from NSF?

How much of the "Intellectual Merit" portion of the NSF Fellowship is based on how unique, original, and transformative the applicant's research *could* be? E.g. if I'm in a field that *very* few other grad students are in, could that potentially help? Also - which one of these is more important for prior research? (a) you did the professor's research and you mostly did what the professor told you to do, and it landed you a publication (b )you mostly did your own research under a supervisor, produced results that probably aren't publishable, but learned lots in the process And are there any sample essays that fit under category (b )? What is the best way to convince professors to add more content for your NSF fellowships, and not to simply reuse the LORs they wrote for your grad apps? If you've done a lot of outreach but your professors don't mention such outreach on their LORs, then is that a red flag for NSF Fellowship apps? If I took 8 grad-lvl courses as an undergrad, does that disqualify me from applying for the NSF Fellowship for my 2nd year of grad school? Are most NSF Fellowship "honorable mentions" usually the result of insufficiently large public outreach? How much do awards like the Goldwater Scholarship factor into the award decisions process? How important is it that the idea is your own and not your professor's? If your proposal is interdisciplinary, could it possibly hurt? One professor told me that they might take the average of the reviews across both disciplines. How do you know that the NDSEG puts a higher weight to the merit of one's proposal? Ok. My GPA was horrible until I got diagnosed with ADD and the ADD meds I badly needed. At this point, would you suggest that I mention that fact? The fact that I got meds afterwards might be sufficient enough to convince them that my past failures might not be reflective of future performance (and would be sufficient enough to sum up my academic issues in a single sentence), but people have such a huge stigma against ADD that it's hard. I have near-perfect GRE scores, and that's what really impressed my advisers. Is it bad if my advisers "sneak" in my GRE percentile scores in their LORs for me? My advisers suggested that I include my GRE scores (since I'm in an extremely special case - as one professor said - I had higher GRE scores than *anyone* she saw, but also a lower GPA than almost everyone too), but it would sound kind of "corny" for me to do it, so it might be better if they did it? Also, are NSF reviewer comments basically completely UNINFLUENCED by the letters of recommendations?

I just looked at the research proposals of a few people who failed to win the NSF Fellowship, and they actually scare me a bit. I know that the NSF cares about Broader Impact a lot, and that is where I might actually be strongest at. But the reviews look at intellectual merit first and foremost, and that's what scares me, since how can you convince the reviewers that your idea has more intellectual merit than a huge number of other very strong applicants?

Now that it's the time of year again, let's get it started! ______________________________________________ Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in EAPS?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: P: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest

Wow - thanks SO much for the excellent reply. I really appreciated it.

Bump... Is this process also super-competitive? What acceptance rate does it have? Does it help if you already have some connections with faculty at, say, the University of Bergen? Also for other people: http://www.nsf.gov/p...06/nsf12006.pdf provides more info

Does anyone know what they look for, as compared to what the NSF GRFP looks for? Also, how much additional work is it on top of the NSF GRFP fellowship? It says that you have to write a "five page proposal" - it does sound like a significant amount of extra work for what probably amounts to a small chance at actually getting it... And is it far more competitive for grad students than for undergrads? Ugh They say this... Hmm... did anyone doing climate modeling research ever win this?

I'm thinking of applying - I'm in climate science - so there is definitely a lot of good reason for me to apply.. I wonder about the "Anyway, in your essays, you really need to convincingly justify why a supercomputer would be absolutely necessary in this really cool science/engineering project you have. " thing though. Could this mean that students from universities without powerful supercomputers could actually be given preference? Do they put reviewer comments up too?

Is anyone else here planning to apply? Does anyone know what the DOE SCGF looks for in applicants compared to what the NSF GSRF looks for in applicants? Which is more competitive?

If you go to http://epa.gov/ncer/rfa/, it says this below... 2012 EPA Environmental Research Fellowships 2013 EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships For Graduate Environmental Study - Opens September 2012 well, there's still one more day... I think I have my hopes up.. Does anyone know how the selection criteria for this differ from those of NSF GSRFs? === Also, it says... Does this mean that if I go to a super-expensive private university, then most of the expenses won't be covered?

Wow I see - thanks so much for all your awesome answers! irugga is *really* inspiring - I just sent a PM. Another question: If you have an interdisciplinary proposal that gets reviewed by more than one panel, then will you get more reviewer comments than people who have stuck strictly in one subdiscipline?