arrowtotheknee

From what I've seen, the standards are similar across all fields: will the proposed project help us better understand some interesting question? Can the candidate define an interesting question? Will answering the question have any small (ie to subjects, the subjects' community) and large (science community, society, etc) impacts? The social science examples I've read have been more or less concrete and targeted questions, typically with quantitative methodologies.

@Alext182 - Why would the broader impacts be more abstract? Could you give an example of what you mean? The example proposals I have seen often have more explicit and applied impacts than those in physical sciences. If you are having difficulty defining the Broader Impacts, you may need to reevaluate your research question. For sample essays, I would ask your department and/or advisor. It's also possible that your school has workshops about how to win the award -- sometimes these go over example essays, too.

A statement of intent typically answers the "why" question - what motivates you to go to grad school and this school in particular (profs whose research you're interested in? program that fits your career goals? etc) and what strengths make you a match for the program? The second part does sounds like a summary of your resume in a more narrative format. Whereas your statement of intent might broadly describe relevant skills and experiences, the second question is where you'd specifically discuss the skills/techniques/etc you gained during undergrad, internships, jobs, REUs etc.

Thanks for the reply. That would be by guess, too. Upon cursory glance of the web application, I don't see any place to upload or otherwise note IRB approval, so...

So, I'm concerned about this section of the application, and I was wondering if anyone had insight: Do I need to seek IRB approval prior to submission? Or at all, ever? I may not even carry out the research in my proposal.

I will be quitting my job and going on a vacation. I don't get to see my family very often.

I would attempt to submit an updated CV to the admissions committees and only address the issue in interviews if it comes up (ie, if they ask you about your research plans for 2012, what group you're working with, etc). It's good to be forthcoming, but you don't want to over-complicate things for your interviewer. You're still getting research experience, which is wonderful and likely what they care about most. Is there something about working with this new lab that you think would change how adcoms view your application? Are the skills you are practicing completely different from the skills you were using at the first lab?

Thank you both for your comments. A few people "IRL" had suggested I reply to the POI's e-mail with comments, but I was thinking this was not for the best. I'll wait and hope...

I had a (in my mind, terrible) interview a few days ago with my person of interest / potential advisor. I completely froze up when she asked me about whether I had read her work, what I thought of it. The rest went okay, but I came away feeling I had really bombed it. I sent a thank you e-mail, and she sent me some reading material (papers) as she had promised to do at the end of the interview. I know it's typically ill-advised to e-mail POIs after applying - but could I e-mail back with my thoughts on her research and potentially redeem myself? Or would this be inappropriate? I also sent some requested materials to her - maybe I should wait until she replies? And does this bad interview mean that I'm totally out now? She had plenty of praise and was very patient with me...but I don't want to get my hopes up. She also mentioned keeping a few dates in March open so that if I'm admitted, I'll be able to attend a prospective student weekend. This was all after my major flub. Thoughts?