OchemE

As promised here is the response I got on the status of people who were informed they were not selected "for a fellowship this year" (the people that got the so-called rejection letters already) "Dear _____, Thank you for your interest in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). We regret that applicants who have been notified that they were not offered an award will not be considered for honorable mention either. If you have any further questions, please contact this office toll-free at (866) 673-4737, via postal mail at the address below, or via email at info@nsfgrfp.org Sincerely, GRF Operations Center " So basically the people that have not heard yet will get either an award, HM, or a reject (I think). The people that NSF knew for sure would not get an award or HM have already been notified. Which is bascially what we have been assuming all along.

"they'll run out of "limbo-ers" and have to be calling up people who already got bad letters " Hey, I'll take that. Not to sound greedy after winning the NDSEG, but rejection always blows.

Also before I called the 866 number, I emailed the Q&A address. I will post the answer here as well when I get it.

@NSF I LOVE the screen name!

If you listen to the GRFP recording at 866-673-4737 it is pretty clear that no HM's have gone out yet and are yet to be released, suggesting that anyone who has received a rejection letter is out of the running for HM and awards, period. Hell I will take the NDSEG and DHS gladly. The NDSEG application was short and sweet and bullshit-free, so winning is less contingent on how well you can write a bunch of essays. Plus it's a bigger award and more selective... but that won't stop me from reapplying for GRFP next year when I have (hopefully) a decent research proposal, as I will actually be in school by that point. Congrats to everyone who won or is still waiting!

"The NSF accords Honorable Mention to meritorious applicants who do not receive fellowship awards" So I guess I did not receive an award AND I won't get HM, since the letter they sent makes no mention of HM. I will post the response I get from NSF when it comes.

I just now emailed them. Maybe I will call. But I have been contacted- I got the email rejection letter. It just says I didn't get a fellowship, but says nothing about HM. Also says nothing about being contacted later on about HM so my hopes aren't so high.

@blah Here is my full letter "April 10, 2009 Dear___: Your application for the 2009 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) has been evaluated. We regret to inform you that you were not selected to receive a fellowship in this year's competition. Access to your rating sheets will be available in the next several weeks. You will receive an e-mail with login information as soon as the rating sheets are available. If you have questions concerning this notification, please send an e-mail to info@nsfgrfp.org. Thank you for your interest in the Graduate Research Fellowship Program. We wish you well in your future studies. Sincerely, Carol Van Hartesveldt, Ph.D. Acting Division Director Division of Graduate Education" So I am wondering what the hell, if I have not been picked for a fellowship, does that mean I might get HM?

I think the email may have just taken awhile to get through my work email account. That happens sometimes.

Yeah I just got an email- Your application for the 2009 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) has been evaluated. We regret to inform you that you were not selected to receive a fellowship in this year's competition. Now my question is, if I have not been selected for a fellowship, is it possible I could get HM? On the homepage they say applicants who had not been selected for funding had been notified. Well, HM includes not being selected for funding. I emailed the Q&A address to find out if the people that got reject letters are still in the running for HM. I spent weeks agonizing over my proposal, plus I got the NDSEG and about half of the people that get the NDSEG either win the NSF or get HM at least in my field, the last three years. If I don't get it, I certainly have plenty to be thankful for.

What's up with the statement on GRFP homepage? "Due to the complexity of the current budget situation, the 2009 GRFP awards will be announced in installments based on fields of study and other factors. The first installment is now available on FastLane. Awardees, as well as Applicants not recommended for funding, have been notified by email. Recipients of Honorable Mention and any additional Fellowship award offers will be forthcoming. Applicant ratings sheets will be available after all award announcements have been made. We thank you for your patience." Does this mean there is a third pool of applicants out there that has not recieved a rejection yet? Has anyone here not heard from NSF yet or got an email saying they are being considered for HM or an award? I got NDSEG and DHS but am still trying to figure out where I stand on NSF.

I contacted MIT on Friday to see if the letters were to be mailed that day, and if so, could I receive my decision. The reason I asked was that my slight schedules for business travel over the next couple of weeks depend on whether I am accepted and need to attend the recruiting weekend. I was emailed back my rejection letter and a response that the letters had gone to the dean on Friday and would be distributed. Whether they are acceptances or rejections, I don't know, but mine was a rejection. I am also reading lots of news about Stanford and MIT taking huge budget cuts because their endowments have plunged 30 percent after the economy tanked.

I have classmates from undergrad that are at MIT and hate it. One of them in particular wanted to get into Berkeley and was rejected twice, go figure. There are four people I went to undergrad with that are at Berkeley and love it. CalTech is going to be more isolated and more academic. The campus is also not going to be as diverse, as the whole institution is more focused on technical fields. CalTech's researh interests are also very narrow relative to the larger programs (MIT, Berk, Prince, Minn, Wisc, etc.). CalTech and Berkeley are also less traditional ChemE programs in terms of research. They are tied in a lot more with the Chemistry dept and some people are even co-advised. The only schools like that are Berkeley, CalTech, and Illinois.

@UDChemE Nope- got my MIT reject letter today by email. Go figure. Here's my results summary, as they are all in now. There is a hell of a variation in responses, as you will see. Berkeley - admitted Dec 18 Princeton - admitted Jan 29 CalTech - admitted Feb 20 Stanford - rejected Feb 18 MIT - rejected Feb 27 What doesn't jive is the acceptance to CalTech and the ultra early acceptance to Berkeley, yet somehow the reject from MIT. There's just a massive range to my responses, and I don't know what to make of it. At least the waiting is over with. Btw I had no contact w/ any of the profs at Berkeley, nor did I go to undergrad there so I don't know what was up w/the early accept.

@UDChemE ok, and you know this because?? Btw that is damn weird you still have not heard from UCB if you heard from MIT already. My MIT application was a piece of sh*t because I turned it in way early. The other four apps I filled out were great and I bothered to put effort into the essays and explained how I could contribute to specific research groups. For MIT I basically laundry listed my accomplishments and prior research and vaguely named a bunch of groups that were in line with my experience and my interests (although interests were pretty vaguely defined at best). Whatever the outcome, I have definitely seen a big range of answers. My replies have run the gamut from an early accept to Berkeley (Dec 18) to an outright reject from Stanford on Feb 18. Because of the unpredictability of my responses, I really can't decide one way or another if I can expect to get into MIT. Congrats to you though for getting in.