guttata

I think you are on the right track with your assessments:
1) Don't take on debt for your graduate degree. Don't do it. Don't. Especially not when, in non-regimented programs, MA/MS degrees are increasingly taking longer than 2 years to actually complete.
 
2) Time for a self-evaluation. Considering the state of academia/funding/job competition, what are your future job prospects in the field? If you're struggling to get into school and fund yourself now, what is going to change (or what are you going to do to change yourself) when you are competing for increasingly small pots of research funds against the people that already beat you for slots and funding at lower levels?
 
There is nothing wrong with asking your professor, dept., or college if there are TAs available in other related depts (unlikely), other in-house fellowships, or the possibility of departing students opening up slots (even deferring to spring if there are fall graduations coming up). At the same time, since you are a minimal investment by the school at this point, there should be little resistance if you talk to someone about withdrawing your commitment in the light of not receiving funding.

Oh, good, you'll be fine then.

Has anyone been accepted to go to Australia?
 
Congratulations to Husky, Closetgeek, and Daly_ab!

How about this? Has anyone, who has applied to Australia, NOT heard from NSF?

CGS isn't legally binding... I'm not sure why everyone assumes that. 

You do realize that you'll never be able to pay back that mortgage because by buying a $10-20k house in Detroit you're gonna get shot in the head?

You do realize that you'll never be able to pay back that mortgage because by buying a $10-20k house in Detroit you're gonna get shot in the head?

You do realize that you'll never be able to pay back that mortgage because by buying a $10-20k house in Detroit you're gonna get shot in the head?

Just jumping in to point out that the lack of daylight had nothing to do with the depth of the winter. Germany is situated much further north than the United States, reducing your daylight during winter months. To illustrate, Minneapolis is located at ~45ºN, while Berlin is at ~52.5ºN.

Announcements are all put through at the same time (roughly, since it appears EAPSI has to mail them by hand rather than by batches like similar programs). If you didn't receive a notification for your country when others did (+/- a few hours), you didn't make the first cut. However, they do maintain a waitlist and move down if people cannot accept or do not respond to their acceptance. Especially with as many spots as Japan (65, if memory serves), there's a chance that they'll have to go to the waitlist for at least a few spots. It's not something to bank on, since no more than a few spots can be expected to open up, and fewer in the more popular countries like NZ and Australia, but it is possible. You're not officially out of the running until you've missed the orientation.

WHAT ARE YOU ASKING?

Are... Are you a grad student?

Seriously?

Seriously?

Which are the top grad programs with the most funding available to them? As in which particular field or discipline. Actual names of the programs and universities would be great. Thanks!

Seriously?

There are so many variants on the masters degree that that's a worthless stat (and also, likely wrong). My dept offers a thesis and non-thesis masters, neither of which is part of a continuous program. All thesis-based students (the majority) are fully funded with stipend and waiver, while non-thesis students receive nothing.

Hi X,
 
Thank you for your patience. We complete reviews, interviews, and admissions for applicants within the U.S. borders first. We then review external applicants. Frequently, this first phase fills the slots available. I will email you when a decision is made.
 
Thank you for your interest in our program.
 
X

I bet less than 10% of Master's students across all fields are fully funded (excluding people in continuous MS/PhD programs).

There are so many variants on the masters degree that that's a worthless stat (and also, likely wrong). My dept offers a thesis and non-thesis masters, neither of which is part of a continuous program. All thesis-based students (the majority) are fully funded with stipend and waiver, while non-thesis students receive nothing.

But if you cant follow the rules, you are not qualified, are you?
I agree with GeoDUDE! completely. It is the applicant's sole responsibility to follow the (very simple, imho) guidelines. There are a lot of things one can do to maximize the use of 2 pages without "pushing the limit". This fellowship is so prestigious and $$$ that it is definitely worth your utmost care. 

Thread for EAPSI 2015. Proposals are due Nov. 13 this year.
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5284
 
I'll be applying again after a "Fund if possible" rating with no award last year. Good luck!

Well, now you have.

Well, now you have.

Why would you be surprised at how strict they are? They are an undermanned organization where people fight for their money. If you couldn't color within the lines in kindergarden  you are going to have trouble getting funding from them.