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Pitangus

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Everything posted by Pitangus

  1. I am two years into my program and still procrastinate in that I complete most written tasks right before the deadline, but I can write efficiently, which makes this less of a problem for me. I also am most productive at night, so I have no trouble working late to get something done. I think working close to the deadline has actually helped me in some cases; for example, it keeps me from pouring excess time and energy into things like homework assignments that shouldn't be taking up my focus. Of course, there needs to be a balance between not wasting time and putting in a good effort: I don't spend a lot of time on classwork, yet I've done enough to maintain my 4.0 GPA. Deciding how much your habits need to change will depend on how much procrastination affects your work and your mental state. Do you hate staying up late or getting up early to finish work? Do you usually need to go through several drafts of an essay/proposal before submitting it? Do you worry about incomplete tasks? Do you have trouble working for long stretches of time? If the answers are yes, then it will probably be helpful for you to be more proactive as you start your new program. I am not actively trying to change my work habits right now, so I can't offer much help, but here are a couple of things that work for me: - Start by curbing your reading procrastination. Reading is probably the one thing I have stopped putting off because it makes up such a large part of preparing my research plans. If I find myself sitting somewhere with my laptop and not doing anything else I will start reading. I keep a folder on my desktop with articles that need to be read for upcoming classes or for my current research. One thing I have started to do is arrive at a class early before the class starts and spend that time reading. Even if it's just a half hour, I can usually get through an article. I start with any articles that have deadlines (e.g. ones for that week's class discussion or lab meeting) to get them out of the way and then move on to the rest. I also will take myself out to lunch somewhere and read an article or two while I'm there. - Also it helps if you have regular contact with your advisor. My advisor likes to meet with me every other week and asks to see a draft of any written proposal/document before I submit it. These additional external deadlines help me space out the workload a bit more. Of course, other advisors may not expect/want/be able to be in contact as frequently, but might be worth asking if they would be willing to set up a regular meeting schedule with you if they don't bring it up themselves.
  2. For those of you wondering about the scores, here is a post I made in a previous thread that summarizes the scoring according to the 2008 Reviewer's Guide (the link to guide itself is no longer working):
  3. The 2012 results were released Friday, March 30th 2012. My email came around 3:30 AM EST.
  4. If you receive the fellowship then you will have the option to change the institution when you accept the award on Fastlane. Your institution will then be updated on your Fastlane profile, no big deal. The proposed institution on the awards list will not change though.
  5. This is my thought as well: if something is important to you, then you will make time for it. I run for an hour every day because I enjoy it and want to do it. It's been trickier lately because I run outside and there's quite a bit of snow everywhere, but I find manageable routes and make it work.
  6. Another $0 here. For undergrad I had a scholarship to a small liberal arts college with lower tuition than more well-known schools, and the college was close enough to my house that I could live at home and commute easily. I worked and TAed to pay for books etc. Like Eigen, I probably wouldn't have gone to graduate school if I had to pay for it.
  7. I've found that mesh lingerie bags work well for washing those little liner socks. I just leave them in the bag after I wash them, so that they don't get lost in my drawer either.
  8. You mean call them up now and tell them? No, for the NSF GRF at least, if you win the award then you confirm which program you'll be attending on fastlane. Unless you received one of those emails requesting additional information and that's what they wanted (those emails are new this year, I think, so I don't know what they asked specifically).
  9. I think post-bac work is always a good option to consider regardless of undergrad GPA. It is great for reaffirming (or redirecting) research interests, learning new skills, and networking (all of which are useful when applying to graduate programs in the future). I had a high GPA, but I still took a year to work a couple of field jobs in order to learn some techniques that are common and useful in my area of research but that I did not have an opportunity to learn during undergrad. My experience and skillset were the main reasons why my POI (now advisor) sponsored me during the application process for my current program, and I'm convinced my post-bac experience played a big role in securing the fellowships I received. I agree with BostonBio153 that the only downside is that some people may fall out of "school mode," but I think if you take on a post-bac position with the intention of pursuing graduate school after then it shouldn't be a problem. While post-bac research can certainly improve a graduate school application in general, I'm not sure if it can compensate for GPA in particular when applying to very competitive programs, for there will always be applicants with significant experience and high GPAs. Networking and connections can be helpful in this case, so I don't think any extra experience could hurt.
  10. I enjoy running, Law & Order, audiobooks, and perfume.
  11. It happens frequently and doesn't matter at all. If you win the award, when you go to accept it on fastlane you will have the chance to change the institution if it's different than the one initially listed. The original institution will still be shown on the awards/HMs list, but again it's not uncommon and not a big deal.
  12. You'd likely have classes with students from a mix of the EEBB departments, so you'd get to know people beyond Zoology right away. Zoology and Plant Bio are the most represented departments in my EEBB cohort, but I've met people in Fisheries & Wildlife, Computer Science, and Forestry as well. Hope you enjoy the recruiting event!
  13. I minored in English during undergrad, and my favorite course was about literary theory. I was particularly interested in deconstruction and other post-structuralist approaches. I wrote a paper on Baudrillard's simulacrum for that course and ended up presenting it at an undergrad literature conference. The discussion that followed after my panel was one of the most thought-provoking academic conversations I've had. I sometimes wish I had pursued literature just so I could keep writing papers like that. But in terms of graduate school, I think the biological sciences were the best choice for me.
  14. Pitangus

    Turbo Tax?

    I used TurboTax last year and had an easy enough time with it. It took some finagling to get my fellowship entered correctly, but I knew enough about the Form 1040 to check and make sure TurboTax entered everything in the right places.
  15. I am a night owl, so I only sleep 4 - 5 hours a night during the week anyways. However, I only stay up all night when I have a deadline to meet because in most cases I like to complete a task in one go rather than linger over it. Lately that has been one night every two weeks or so.
  16. My potential advisor took me on a campus tour during my visit, but there wasn't a program-wide tour. There were meetings/lunches in a few different buildings though, which required walking around campus. I wore wedge boots and didn't have a problem, but they were comfortable boots and I wear wedges for walking quite frequently.
  17. I attended a relatively unknown college for financial reasons. I know I would have had more research opportunities at a different school and would've been better prepared for applying to graduate schools. On the other hand, I made my own opportunities while in undergrad, graduated first in my class, and have no student loan debt, so I don't regret my decision.
  18. In the sciences, generally speaking, a hypothesis is a testable/falsifiable statement that serves as a proposed explanation for some phenomenon or as a solution to a problem. The anticipated results refer to the outcome of an experiment/study designed to test a hypothesis. So no, they are not the same thing. It is possible to form one hypothesis and then develop several experiments that could each test that hypothesis somehow and would each yield a separate set of results. It is also sometimes possible to design one "crucial experiment" that tests several competing hypotheses (a method known as "strong inference"). I don't know much about the process of hypothesis formation and evaluation in engineering, so I can't be more specific than that.
  19. Looking at my essays, I did have headers with my name and the essay name as you described, so presumably it was ok the year I applied. I would avoid putting any essay content in a header/footer though (including references). I don't know much about why the other poster was disqualified other than that there was an "artifact" in one of the side margins, if I remember correctly. I would be hesitant to put anything in the margins now if that was the case. Edit: I'm still not sure what year the disqualification was mentioned. I'm thinking 2011-2012, but I haven't looked through the whole thread again.
  20. Unless the rules have changed since I applied (2011), references may be in 10 pt font. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11582/nsf11582.htm
  21. Similar to what others have said, you can be on "Reserve" status for up to two years out of the five year award period that starts when you win the award. To "defer" according to the NSF means to push back your five year award period, which is only allowed in special cases (e.g. military service and medical issues). I believe you cannot hold another federal fellowship at the same time as the NSF GRF, even if you are on a reserve year. More info: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12062/nsf12062.pdf Question 5: "Reserve years" versus "deferral" Question 141: Having another federal fellowship I remember someone posted last year or the year before saying that they were disqualified for having an "artifact" in the margin of one of their essays. For that reason I would try to avoid footers and anything that could mess with the margins. I think it would be better to just use a very brief citation format and 10 pt font like guttata suggests. Just be consistent and it shouldn't matter if it's not a standard citation format. Edit: Meant to say "footers" rather than "footnotes"
  22. Honestly, I would point to juilletmercredi's response on a previous page that there is more to Broader Impacts than the "Broadening Participation" example. I don't think there's any way to go around specifically looking for minorities or women that won't seem awkward and obvious. Personally, I would try to find an activity to which I had a meaningful connection (either a research interest-based connection or personal connection), rather than specifically trying to work with underrepresented groups. If you are interested in tutoring, I think it would be better for you to find an underfunded school in need of science tutors or science fair organizers/presenters and work with any and all students that come to you. For a general example, I was a student tutor at my high school (not in science specifically, just a general homework tutor for underclassmen) because my school was very large and isolating at times, and I wanted to be more involved. Yes, I did work with students from a variety of backgrounds, but that's because my city is very diverse, not because I specifically set out to work with minorities or young women. My science-based outreach and other volunteer work in college did not have any emphasis on specific underrepresented groups, but it had meaningful and relevant connections to my research and personal interests, and that seemed to be enough for the NSF reviewers.
  23. When I applied, the application still had three essays, including a "Personal Statement" and a separate "Previous Research Experience" essay. For my Previous Research essay, I had a separate section titled "Significance" for each past experience, which included both IM and BI. My Personal Statement didn't have any titled sections, though I did have a paragraph towards the end that was more BI oriented and discussed how my past outreach experiences helped me develop my future outreach goals. I'm not sure though how I would have structured things if I was writing just the one "Personal Statement, Relevant Background and Future Goals" essay. I believe this is the first year that the two essays have been combined into one, so I don't think anyone will be able to provide exact examples from past applications.
  24. Mentoring counts, so if you had worked on the project longer / had more experience and one of your duties was to guide a new worker, then that should be what you emphasize.
  25. I agree with Eigen, especially when reviewing the NSF's description for "broadening participation": Broaden participation of under-represented groups, for example,by establishing collaborations with students and faculty from institutions and organizations serving women, minorities, and other groups under-represented in the mathematical sciences. I think the key word here is "establishing," which suggests an active role in encouraging participation. Did you recruit your partner? Did your duties include mentoring her? Simply having a co-worker from an underrepresented group is not a BI in that sense, so I don't know if there is any way to phrase that without it sounding awkward. I applied as a post-bacc in 2011. I tailored my essays to a lab within a graduate program that I thought would best fit my research interests. I had worked in the lab that past summer, so I was familiar with its ongoing work, but I developed my proposal and wrote my essays on my own. Like Eigen's, my proposal was therefore very specific. My project would have utilized the lab's study system, one of its field sites, and some of its long term data, and I was able to provide details about those aspects. I also suggested timeframes for each part of the project. I think specificity helps in many cases because it makes the proposed project seem well thought out and plausible. But as Jimbo2 explained, in the end you aren't held to your proposed project or proposed institution if you receive the fellowship. I ended up in a different program and have developed an entirely new project that fits in with the research at my current lab.
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