vannik

It's fairly obvious it'll be released next week.

post the list then.

Ah. Well that script sure is a better excuse than being up a 430 checking the page

FYI NSF page is down 230 am mountain time {430 eastern} Friday night. 230 on a Friday and I'm still at school. Don't judge me.

I believe that putting down intended enrollment of MIT over a school like Montana or something would definately have an impact, everything esle considered (No offense to Montana). If you had to similar candidates I'm sure it'd have an effect.

Granted, but I'd also assume when the judges are looking at your application they take note of the school you are trying to get into, or see that your research plan you wrote about is focused at a school such as MIT and that can impact their judging. I may be totally off base though.

Cider House Rules was shot at the Northampton Asylum. Does that count?! I'm from western massachusetts, closer to springfield. You can fly into Bradley and Amherst is less than an hour away. I lived in Boston for 5 years and still loved visiting Northampton and Amherst. Believe me, it's nothing like a big city. Northampton is very similar to Cambridge MA. There's a lot of young people around. In regards to things to do, there's plenty. Always head into Boston for any big things you'd want to catch. It's not like you're moving to Kansas and driving across the state takes 12 hours. You can get from Springfield to Boston in about an hour and fifteen minutes. There's a giant mall off 91 in Holyoke which is pretty good. It's really beautiful in the fall out there too. Sugar houses and stuff. Very New England. It's not for everyone, but really, it's a great location. My one thing against the area is the lack of jobs in the technology field. Springfield area isn't good for high paying jobs. You really need to get to eastern mass for that, especially in my field. There's two well known hospitals in Springfield as well. If I were to move there I'd get a car, especially if you want to go out to Northampton or Springfield. Springfield bars are crazy though. I feel like I'll get stabbed every time I go out down there and I grew up about a 10 minute drive at most away from downtown springfield. Rent is really cheap in comparison to areas like Boston. It all depends on location. I'd imagine walking distance to bars in any college town would be expensive. Best things in Amherst: Bueno Y Sanyo {sp?} - Burritos are amazing The Hanger - wings and beer are amazing Moan and Dove - great beers. Atkins Farm - Cider donuts. Don't know what those are? you will. Northampton: Really nice restaurants to bring a significant other Tunnel Bar - best bar to have a non-beer beverage in Massachusetts (This includes Boston). So chill. Definately don't miss it Dirty Truth - Like moan and dove but with good food and more beers I think. 120 minute dog fish head ipa and macaroni and cheese? I'm ready. I like beer.

I sorted it by where the engineers were going for graduate school. I figured since my graduate institution isn't MIT or one of the big ones where most of the awards have been going my chances are fairly low.

It depends on what you call a successful career. Becoming an allstar in academia may require you to work under an allstar. I have no interest in that though; I just want to work 40-50 hours a week and have a solid job that isn't my entire life. Getting a degree from one of those schools won't guarentee you anything either. Working for a company is about how well you work with others to solve problems quickly. Many PhD's will go into management of some sort. My undergraduate school was Northeastern in Boston. Do you think these are successful positions? You might not know these people's names, but they get their work published all the time in the wall street journal. Intel: Vice President, Teradyne CEO, Lycos Founder, Napster Founder, EMC Corp Founders {one of which is part owner of the Pittsburg Penguins}, Analog Devices CEO, ect ect ect.

You can go to 2008 which was removed, or the 2007 list and sort by major. Looks like 70% of the awards went to 7 different schools. 8)

I haven't heard anything as of yet. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I went on a recruitment visit there in 2007 and didn't get a letter back until mid to late april if I am remembering correctly.

I looked at the list of schools that get awarded the NSF grant in EE and I don't think my current school is on the same level {I'm a second year grad student first time applying} so I'm being realistic. I mainly applied to practice writing proposals. I'd be happy with an honorable mention, but won't be shocked about not getting anything.

I see that fellow thing in my html as well. I am pretty sure I won't get an NSF fellowship since I got rejected completely from the NDSEG as an electrical engineer. So yeah, that won't mean anything significant.

You'll get a detailed bill with regards to the stafford loans, scholarships, grants, ect, that you will recieve. For undergrad it came about a month later. I'm sure this is the case because my friend just started an UG in music at Berklee in Boston and he hasn't heard about his financial package. It'll come I'm sure. Make sure that you pay a deposit if one's required either way, if that's part of your letter you got. That's very important; even moreso if you plan on not talking another offer elsewhere. *edit* you can always contact the financial aid office to be positive.

I'm a low income student from a single mom's income. My grandfather paid the mortgage on my home when I was younger so I'd have a roof over my head. Incidently, my mom has bad credit due to my brother's student loans and we own a home so I got very little in terms of student loans. The problem was that I didn't fully understand what I was stepping into as a 17 year old undergraduate at a private school in Boston. Long story short: 5 years college and about 100k in student loans. I worked during the year but the rent was too much to pay and still help my mom out. She was unemployed for close to 2 years and I had to help with bills and taxes on the home. In any event, I was worried my offer out of school was too low and I got full ride to a few PhD programs so I am going for it. I hope an EE phd in defense will offset that giant loan a bit. For those talking about timing and leaving home: My father was a drug addict and alcoholic. My mom still cared about him and took care of his finances since he wasn't capable. He actually passed away 6 weeks before I moved across the country. The best parts about a low-income upbringing is that living on a 1500 stipend isn't that much different than any other time in life, and when that 6 figure job drops we'll have the common sense to still live like we do on that 1500 stipend

I'm an EE in electromagnetics and I came from a top 50 school undergrad GPA of 3.7. When I app'd to grad school I had a job starting about $20,000 over the national average so I didn't study for GRE's or anything. I got a 750 and the verbal is embarassing. Lets just say below 500. In any event, having a strong work record seemed to be very important for me. I worked full time for 2 years during undergrad (My undergrad is #1 in the country for co-op/internships). The work experience there is what I think got me into some really good programs. For my field Georgia Tech and Ohio State are pretty big names and I got accepted with an RA to both, as well as various offers elsewhere. I didn't apply to anywhere in California or MiT. Long story short, if I were you I'd try to see if there's something that would make you more appealing as an incoming researcher. I learned how to use some 3D computational electromagnetics tools at my job that a lot of undergraduates have little to no experience. I for sure explained in detail what I did with these tools at my job to give me an edge over kids who might have better GPAs but could have less impact in initial research. If you can coorelate your summer work this year with something that relates to a specific school or research group it could help. Also, it's good to apply to lower tier schools to use them as barganing chips. I told one school that I had an RA at a higher ranked school and got offered a fellowship. It was only for a year but it's great for the CV. Especially with this economic climate, it's a lot more competive to get into a school now than a 2007. Way more applications coming in. Hope this helps a little bit.

Everyone's so tense! Stressing out is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere. Also, for anyone who reads this thread in 2010: SCREENSHOT YOUR LOGIN SCREEN WHEN YOU FINISH APPLYING. You will save the sanity of yourself and about 500 people.

I say we all have a giant cuddle fest if anyone's interested. I'm not shy so I'm cool with cuddling with another dude. :wink:

Why wouldn't you just accept NDSEG award and defer NSF if you get that?

I'm no expert, but it's my understanding that government spending was budgeted for this as well as other fellowships a while ago. I'd assume if that stimulus package goes through it'll get trickled to next year. Maybe not.

Rejected. I even had a background in defense. I think my GRE scores killed me.