agarcia59

Awarded. 2nd year. VG/VG VG/VG VG/VG 1 thing I did differently this year was drop my UG recommendation and had all 3 recommenders from my grad institution. I think I got a good batch of reviewers. All noting research experience (even though I have 0 pubs, 2 presentations) and also noting not so competitive GPA. In BI, I showed serious initiative in promoting science outreach. The 3rd reviewer practically worshipped the ground I walk on and really read my app in depth. Left a ~200 word summary noting all the strong points my app had. Congrats to those awarded. To those not awarded, remember that your scientific worth is not valued by 1 fellowship. This can be a real crapshoot sometimes depending on the reviewer you get.

So those of us 2nd years who still don't get it, should feel twice as bad about a rejection? JK, thanks for the analysis, it definitely makes sense. Way to stay strong! Best of luck with Ford!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news... but I doubt they'll accept your application. They're pretty strict on these guidelines from what I see. I would definitely call them in the morning and ask, it can't hurt. Sorry.

I've seen plenty of winner runs theirs references in a continuous line instead of a new line for each one. Speaking of which, how many references would people suggest? I'm pushing 12 on mine currently, thinking about seeing if I can cut them down.

Just to clear things up, will the grant be increased to $32,000 or has the sequester destroyed that possibility?

I found out around March 16th. Is this for UCI? Congrats either way!

Visit UCI if you get the chance. You can't beat living by the beach in so-cal weather all year round

Dammit Magpies, that near heart attack almost ruined my night.

Save the obsessing for March. You don't wanna have a mental breakdown just yet.

For 1st year graduate students, what do we put for GPA on the "Education and Work Experience" part? I made a quick call and the person said to put 4.0 out of 4.0 for my school. I'm not sure if that sounds right though... Can anyone advise?

Just got off the phone with the help line [ (866) 673-4737 for those of you who'd like to double-check] There will be no penalization for keeping title and keywords in your essays, but it is "up to you". So if you're dying for more space, take the title and keywords out. If you're looking to fill more space, leave them in.

Yes

Based on Vertices' comment, seems like this fellowship is not going to happen this year...

I've seen a few winning papers listing their submitted (under review) publications. I would suggest doing so.

I've spoken with a couple profs. whom were both in your position (Cal Tech Vs. MIT), both chose Cal Tech. One of them (applied physics Ph.D. w/MSE background working as MSE) said the environment at MIT was super competitive while Cal Tech seemed to be more personalized... The other prof. is a Ph.D. in Chem and works in MSE. Hope this helps and best of luck!

Actually from what I've read, one can accept the NDSEG, defer the NSF for 2 years, and give up the first year of NSF funding. So it would be 1:NDSEG 2:NDSEG 3:NDSEG 4:NSF GRFP 5:NSF GRFP. Not 100% sure on this, but I'm pretty sure.

Better reviews than I thought I would get. I wish I would have done better on my GPA for a higher IM score. Low GPA has been killing me. IM/BI: F/G G/E VG/E Congrats to all who got an award or HM!

I think you won.

Sweet, Just got accepted to MSE program. Will also be there March 2nd. I'm Excited!!!

That would be great. If anyone else wants to join in, please let us know, it's always helpful to have more people look at your paper.

Anybody with experience in this? Anybody interested in perhaps reviewing an essay for this in return for a review of theirs?

I'm not aware of any history, but I have been told by past fellows whom are now professors that one may basically just call up a school (after winning the NSF) and say "I have an NSF, I want to go here". and that would work out.

I just put my computer skills in my CV before I saw this post. I agree with leaving out hobbies/places as mentioned above.

If anybody else is curious, please feel free to let me know. I was born & raised and will be graduating from UCM this spring semester.

Also, someone had a question about references? There is an option to "manage references" once you log in. You can still edit/delete/send email to your LOR writers.