scigrad

I iterate through that cycle every month of grad school.

You don't have to send transcripts explicitly to NSF and the NDSEG. I believe it says this in the application. They (NDSEG and GRFP programs) share an office, and therefore the address you send the transcripts to is actually the same place. They can't, however, share GRE scores since it's a pay-per-score type situation.

It's been like that for weeks.

Most professors will take any student that comes with their own funding, and especially full funding.

We regret to inform you... congrats to the winners

If I were to get the NDSEG I would accept it immediately. - More money than the NSF (by a couple thousand, but no travel support like the NSF grant, so I guess it evens out) - They give out between 1/5 and 1/10 as many NDSEG awards as NSF, anyone who you want to be looking at your CV should know the difference. Can anyone think of any cons? I suppose your CV will have a defense-related stigma, but the way the economy going that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I guess grandma wouldn't know what NDSEG was at thanksgiving dinner, but it's not like they understand why you're in grad school anyway :| Day 2 of waiting commences.

Yes, you are right. Unfortunately I'm wrong because I forgot I'll soon be starting my third year :shock:

You are only eligible to apply one more time after this year. You might be able to trick them though.

A stipend is taxed like any other income from any other job. A fellowship can be tax free, provided you spend the money on "qualified educational expenses." These expenses do not include car/food/housing, etc. A laptop you can probably claim. Otherwise, you have to pay up to the gov't.

I hope they don't do it alphabetically. My last name starts with W.

All I really know is that I want to punch David Kaz right in his smug face.

I was reading the thread from last year, and it seems like people were getting "we regret to inform you" letters on the first day of announcements.

BAH! NOW IT SAYS THIS WEEK?!?

Any minute now...

People just keep sending me inane e-mails and I'm like INBOX?!? nope.

It must be soon!!!

I suspect it's actually a person sending out e-mails, so I'm not sure they'll be out at 12:01. I'll be refreshing my mailbox, though.

Yes, you're eligible to apply next year. I applied this year and I'm a second year grad student. It was unclear the way they worded it, but they clearly stated "began study no earlier than Fall 2007".

Bahhhh the wait is killing me.

I wish I would have done the following: Find out what classes I was taking Find out what books the classes required (Bought the books cheap on Amazon) Read the books before class started I, however, switched science majors (Mechanical Engineering to Materials Science), and felt like I was in over my head. A lot. The other thing that will make you can do is to know the policy, practices, etc. of your school inside and out. Know exactly where you have to go to get your student ID, exactly the forms to fill out, etc. No one likes holding the new guy/girl's hand through all that crap, so if you can figure it out yourself it is in everyone's interest.

Same here. So either we both won, we both didn't win, or it doesn't mean anything.

You'll get the reimbursement. The University of Maryland took almost two months to send mine, but it came eventually. There's a good chance they won't start processing them until they hear yes or no from all potential applicants, as they have to process the yes-es different than the nos. They won't not reimburse you out of spite. The people doing the reimbursements are usually secretaries who couldn't care less who comes and who goes somewhere else.

Yikes! Monday! There's always hope... The way I look at it I only have to be better than 14 other people. I would, however, be a little more confident if I were a disabled Hispanic Native American woman.

I never said this. Did you do your due diligence before you applied? I don't really know what to tell you. You have this idea that you need more money so you can only focus on your research. Have you ever spent a week with a graduate student? A year? Two years? There's not a grad student I know who doesn't have worries outside of their research, and to think you deserve this luxury is mildly offensive. People who have passed their qualification exams already watch their bank accounts dwindling and have just had their funding pulled out from under them. If you can't deal with the worries and the work for a microscopic salary, then you're barking up the wrong tree.

I'm somewhat amused that this whole philosophical argument has been carried out by people who aren't in graduate school. I'm going to voice my opinion and no one is going to like it. You're sorely out of line if you want to ask a school for more money so you don't have to be "distracted" from your work. There will be plenty of graduate students in your department who work as hard or harder than you who have to PAY to go to school. Perhaps you think there are no graduate students who ever worry about finances or whether they'll have a large unexpected expense? Perhaps you think we are kings among men, with large sacks of gold coins strewn about our mansions. Worrying about finances, bills, your health, and four hundred other things besides research is part of being a graduate student, whether or not you like it. No, it's not cute and it's not a badge of honor, but that's how life is. Did you not read up on average stipends before you decided to throw all your eggs in the grad school basket? You want to make more money and not have to worry about struggling? Get a job. I'll be watching my checking account balance hoping my landlord won't deposit my rent check until my stipend comes through. I'll be in the lab until 11 PM worrying about how much I spent on lunch today. I'll be with the rest of the grad students who spend too much time working to complain about how little we make. If I gave an offer to a student and they asked for more money I would tell them absolutely not. If I gave an offer to a student and they tried to leverage another offer for more money, I would tell them to not bother joining my group. edit: i meant eggs, not begs.