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There's an ongoing thread for NSF-GRFP, what is so compelling about your question that you must make a separate post?
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On 6/2/2016 at 4:14 AM, kltessa said:
1. I didn't get the technique right, and he did it before I could. But him doing it meant my first research aim was redundant, so I moved to the second one, for which there were two experiments planned.
2. he told me he's done the first of the two experiments....which, in this case, DOES NOT fit within his thesis, and was not included in his dissertation. When I suggested I then move on to the next experiment in that line of research, he told me he thought the question wasn't interesting. If it wasn't interesting, why did he do it, then? Especially considering the hypothesis has been validated, which was the desirable outcome.
Your accusations are absolutely ridiculous:
1. The project ideas came up in your discussions with him, so they weren't totally yours. So it is not stealing. Also, you couldn't do it right so why are you blaming him?
2. Maybe after completing the first experiment, the result led to an obvious/uninteresting answer to the second problem. PEOPLE CAN CHANGE THEIR MINDS, TOO. I don't think he can stop you from performing the second one if you want to.
PS: Sorry if it seems like I'm yelling, but you sound like some brats I have to deal with in my own lab
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On 5/22/2016 at 3:26 PM, MSinChem said:
GRE- 309, TOEFL- 99. I had applied for fall 2015 while in my final year of MS in Chemistry at one of the top institutes in India (9.56/10 GPA)and got rejection from Pennstate, UNC. Purdue (after interview), Rochester. Notredame.
Completed MS with 9.65/10 and first rank. Currently working as assistant professor in Chemistry for 9 months. I have co-authored a paper in Chemical Physics Letters, have done a 1 yr project and three summer projects. Organised a national seminar and attended a few seminars...
I wish to apply for graduate program in Chemistry in Spring 2017. Do I have chances to get into top universities? I don't have much idea of universities having spring admissions?
Or should I retake GRE and apply again?
1. GRE & TOEFL: nothing to write home about. You should definitely retake your GRE.
2. Being a lecturer in India doesn't mean so much in grad school application.
3. Your research experience is rather poor. Organizing seminars is not research experience and again, the committees don't care about that.
4. Your chance to get into top schools is low. Shoot lower.
Source: My boss is the head of admission committee in one of the schools you mentioned. My peers who are F1 from India have much better credentials (multiple papers, 3-5 years of reseach experience, better GRE).
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3 hours ago, DgDeBx said:
Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but I received the NSF award yesterday and have a question for others that were awarded this year or in the past. Is it best to accept the stipend during the first three years? Considering the stipend at my school raises a bit each year, it would seem to be best financially to use the NSF stipend the first three years. Are there any reasons to defer the three years of financial support if you are currently enrolled in a graduate program? Thanks for any help!
Unless you have another fellowship to cover your first 1-2 years, there is no reason not to accept the award right away. There are field-specific fellowships you can apply later (ABD). You can apply for NSF-GRIP or -GROW for internship opportunities as long as you are still an "active Fellow" (5 years including the 3 years of stipend). Also, money is tight these days so your boss will be happy to have you work for free sooner rather than later.
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Your profile says you are pursuing MSc in Chemistry, is it true? Many schools in this list dont have terminal MSc plans though. Have you checked with them yet?
For international applicants, your GPA and GRE are not so good. What is your research experience? Have you published? I know theorists from all these schools so if you want to talk in details, PM me.
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With those GRE scores, I wouldn't consider your "safety schools" as that safe. For example, you'd be in the lowest quartile for all of your GRE scores, and in the middle quartiles for your GPA.
He is right! Why the downvote?
Every school considers each aspect of your application differently, and I know for a fact that 2 schools you listed care quite a bit about GRE. Your GRE is not so-so, it is seriously low (not even 50% for Quant...) Now the important question is what division you are applying to, and does your research experience match with your POI's research interest?
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I cant speak for physical experimentalists, but as a theorist I'm pretty sure the competition is just as tough: since there are fewer theory faculty, they would admit fewer applicants. These students generally have strong math/comp sci background, and/or have theoretical chemistry research experience.
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Good GRE: V/Q > 160, W > 4.5
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Akash, I'm in Physical chemistry as well and from the statistics of those I know in Harvard and Berkeley, there is very very little chance that you will get accepted to these programs, since there is not a single aspect of your application that really stands out (so-so GPA, too little research experience, not-great rec letters, your expected Chem GRE and general GRE are both low).
You might have a shot if (1) your Chem GRE is amazing (>80%), AND (2) your POIs personally support your application.
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For what program? What are you planning to do in the future? Can you be a little bit more vague?
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Never do a Ph.D without funding (at least partial, preferably FULL). It is already a long and stressful time with approx 50% chance of completion, do you really want to pay for it?
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If your project is not part of a degree requirement, it should not be called a thesis. Just describe your role/tasks in each research project (all that matters anyway)
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fish tacos
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I also have a question about LORs. I'll have two good ones -- one from my undergrad thesis advisor, and one from my new PhD advisor. But I'm stuck on who I should ask for the third. My other two grad school application letter writers aren't super relevant to the research I'm doing now (plus I'm not on good terms with one of them, long story). Should I pick a different undergrad professor? A new grad school professor who doesn't know me that well? I'm torn...
Undergrad applicants: 3 rec letters from undergrad.
First-year grad applicants: 2 from undergrad (including undergrad advisor), 1 from graduate advisor.
Second-year grad applicants: 1 from undergrad advisor, 2 from grad (including graduate advisor).
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Check your inbox.
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Are we tied to the topic we propose in an NSF grant if we get the award? I'm a first-year student still doing rotations so I'm not sure what kind of lab I'll end up in, and I'm trying several different topics.
If you could spend an hour reading the previous NSF-GRFP threads, you would see 99% of the questions, including yours, already answered.
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Do I just delete the email? Or should I email again to apologize and attach the correct resume?
The email doesnt magically disappear from their inbox if you delete it. Lol
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They already gave out the rest of the awards in June.Hey all, I vaguely remember hearing somewhere that some honorable mention recipients might get the award if others are declined. Does anyone know when these are announced and how it works? I know my chances are pretty much 0 but I can dream
The other threads had some discussions about this. Basically, there is a shortlist of HMs that would be bumped up to awards in May-June. The higher you are in this list, the more likely you get it. I heard someone said the number is around 50 a year, but I cant verify that.
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I am an undergrad student with hopes of entering grad school next year. I have been conducting research at my university for almost a year and I'm really thinking about quitting my lab. I feel as though I have learned a lot from my lab but I have not accomplished nearly as much as I had hoped. I entered the lab with no experience or background on the topic. I had hoped I would have an advisor who would guide me along the way. My PI initially stated that he would be my advisor but as time went on I realized that he was not going to help me. For the first few months I asked several times if he could make time to meet with me and discuss my role and assist me with any trouble I may have. He constantly put off meeting with me and pretty much said "do whatever you can do on your own".
I spent months trying to learn on my own and taught myself a lot but I realized that the learning curve was far too high. Eventually, I sought help outside of my current lab and found another lab doing similar work. I was assigned a grad student from that lab and he has been a tremendous amount of help, he has sat with me for hours explaining the many complicated topics. I tried to use the knowledge I gained from him in my current lab but unfortunately his work is not exactly the same as mine.
As of recently I have become more disenchanted with my lab and my work. I notice that I am being compared to some of the other undergrad students ALL of which have had assistance in their work, they literally have senior level researchers guiding them through their work. I'm being painted out as the underworking lazy one of the team especially so since I have not actually completed anything to show. I am at the point where I want to quit my current lab and perhaps see if I can join the second lab for the school year. I'm concerned about making this decision because I don't think I will be able to get recommendations for grad school from my current PI if I quit and at this point its the only lab I have worked at for an extended period of time.
Any advice as to what I should do?
Every lab is different, and if you dont like the way your current advisor guides your research, by all means, move to another lab. Please keep in mind though, that you learn the most when you actually tackle the problems on your own, and it is not any advisor's priority (or grad students' priority) to babysit undergrads in the lab. I am pretty sure if you move to the second lab and expect the grad students there to guide you through every step, you wouldnt get that either.
The undergrads in my lab are assigned simple and short projects that they can learn to do by themselves, and if they have good progress (capable of producing something publisable), they get to work alongside a grad student. My labmates and I are not responsible to help them, frankly Im very glad we arent.
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The reason I don't think it works well as a title, is that being a "fellow" carries a different connotation than being a graduate student with a fellowship. Generally, I only see people in post-doctoral positions (or sabbatical positions) actually referring to themselves as a fellow.
It's technically correct to say that you're an NSF Graduate Fellow, but I don't think it's generally going to be received well.
Interesting, because the title I use is "NSF Graduate Research Fellow", and at least 70% fellows at my school use it. This is the first time I hear an opposite opinion on this
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I don't usually use it as a title, but have very occasionally. On business cards? Yes, I'd think it's obnoxious, and won't lead to people taking you more seriously.
That's my title on LinkedIn. I dont think its obnoxious
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Set aside time to read every day. Set aside time to write every day.
Keep track at the end of the day of what you did. This will help you looking back over your week/month/year.
Pick a citation manager. Which doesn't really matter. Start using it to organize all those paper's you're reading.
Learn TeX.
Great advices as always!
I want to add:
Keep a log book. Im a theorist so I have a google doc to keep track of everything I do everyday: what I learn, what Im doing and what I should do next, in short sentences. I paste screenshots of my preliminary data/plots here as well. You'll be surprised how quickly you forget something you have done/learnt. When I need to find something, I just Cmd+F in my log and voila!
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duck confit
NSF GRFP 2016-2017
in The Bank
Posted
If you get bumped up, it would be this month (a friend of mine mid June a few years ago)