Higgins_the_Brave

My theory is that they do include ARRA money, because I don't think that congress would randomly grant the NSF more money than they asked for in their budget request. But I could be wrong.

No reply on my early morning request for a status update. I think that's a good sign - I've emailed them three times before and all three times they have been very prompt (within 2 hours) in telling me that nothing new was going on and that they know nothing. Perhaps silence means they are busy! So, I think it's finally time for me to join the (no actual money) pool and make my bets on number and timing of awards. My guess for award notification: Friday morning 4/24. My guess for number of awards: I think they will fund another 663 awardees, or 31% of the 2100 of us in limbo, for a total of 1613 awardees this year. I know that's super optimistic, but here's my math: According to the fiscal year '09 budget request, NSF GRFP asked for money to give out 700 more awards this year than they did in 2008. In 2008 they gave out 913 awards, so they asked for money to give out 1613 awards this year. NSF's spending plan is divided into six categories, and GRFP falls under the category "Education and Human Resources." The appropriations were just posted here: http://www.nsf.gov/about/congress/111/h ... 9_0310.jsp (again linked from Twitter), and Education and Human Resources was actually granted 50 million^h^h^h^h^h^h^h billion MORE dollars than they asked for when congress passed the budget on March 10. Thus, I believe that GRFP will be fully funded as described in the original request - they would have no reason to NOT fund the extra 700 this year if their division got more money than they requested. I am not sure whether the appropriations here include ARRA (stimulus funds), but I THINK that they do and that is why NSF was granted more than they asked for. I think GRFP has known they have this money, they just couldn't move to notify anyone (including call center) until the whole spending plan was approved and sent to congress, which happened today. It seems that NSF has to be very careful with ARRA funds and carefully document and update how they are using them, and so perhaps they needed more infrastructure in place before they notified more awardees. I do not think that there will be any MORE than the extra 663, though - that is, I think these numbers from March 10th are the final numbers, and that the delay is just in setting up Recovery Act infrastructure, not from getting more money than was approved on March 10th. Well, those are my theories! Still nobody out there from Colorado?

I emailed for an update - I'll let you guys know when I hear back. Is anybody on here from CO?

Yeah, this forum is officially the most depressing place in the world to hang out. I think we should all leave this forum and go have a fun weekend. I think I'll sign off at 3:00 when my class starts and not check back until Monday evening. Good luck to everybody and I hope we all manage to stay happy and productive despite being in limbo!

NEW INFO for us all to analyze every word of!! I sent the following email today: "Thank you for the reply. Currently, www.nsfgrfp.org states "two weeks" as the approximate timeframe for further awards, and many people say that they have called the NSF helpline and heard tomorrow (Friday) as the release date. Can you confirm either of these sources? Thank you, Higgins the (increasingly less) Brave" I received the following in response a few minutes ago: "Dear Higgins the (increasingly less) Brave", Thank you for your interest in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The helpdesk staff here were told around the beginning of April that NSF hoped to send all awards out by the end of this week. However, that was under what turned out to be an optimistic expectation that they would have decided on the additional awardees before this week. That decision has not taken place. Therefore, we can definitively state that no announcements will be forthcoming this week. At this time, we have been told that additional awards may be announced within the next two weeks. We certainly hope to be able to notify applicants within that timeframe. However, the 'two weeks' timeframe should not be taken as an absolute deadline. We understand that all the remaining applicants are anxious to know the results of their application, and we will make every effort to notify you as soon as possible after the additional award situation is decided. We sincerely appreciate your patience. If you have any further questions, please contact this office toll-free at (866) 673-4737, via postal mail at the address below, or via email at info@nsfgrfp.org Sincerely, GRF Operations Center " MORE WAITING! *barfs*

Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.

I'm really depressed - you're not alone.

Holy Shit! As if the waiting weren't miserable enough... NO DOLLHOUSE THIS WEEK! What a pisser.

bum bum bum... waiting for things makes me fat. *eats cookies*

I got that same email this morning after writing to info@nsfgrfp.org. I just sent a quick, one-line email with my name and application ID asking them to confirm that my application was still pending. If anyone is still nervous that their rejection letter was lost, I recommend emailing. It's non-invasive and won't make you as nervous as picking up the phone :wink: What I don't understand is why they didn't send this email to all 2100 of us when they sent out the rejections and acceptances; it would have saved them a ton of phone calls and it just seems like the decent thing to do. But whatever...

I feel for you man. Here's my advice: go read some sci fi! It'll all be over soon! :-D

Mine says "fellow stats" also. I am in limbo also. I don't think it means anything.