2019 GEM Fellowship

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

2 hours ago, ray92 said:

Can everyone get to egem? The webpage fails for me lol

That's odd, I am able to log in.

[ray92]

@Moods I can now

[ray92]

So this is my second time applying to graduate programs and one of the schools I applied to last year stated on egem I applied but I did not this year. Has this happened to anybody else?

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

My employer finally contacted me! Yay!

[ray92]

@Moods That is awesome!!!! Congrats!

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

11 minutes ago, ray92 said:

@Moods That is awesome!!!! Congrats!

Thanks!!!!! ? Feeling a tiny bit better about life. Just a micron. 

[becs_granola]

So I've been matched by an employer since  late December but was never contacted. I checked today and my status says held but again no contact. Three of my schools have also confirmed that I applied. This might be a dumb question but for fellows I'm confused as to what GEM provides financially. They give an internship and make the school give you a package but do they also provide a cash stipend? Or does GEM essentially help out the school and the school pays for tuition and fees? Halp.

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

11 hours ago, becs_granola said:

So I've been matched by an employer since  late December but was never contacted. I checked today and my status says held but again no contact. Three of my schools have also confirmed that I applied. This might be a dumb question but for fellows I'm confused as to what GEM provides financially. They give an internship and make the school give you a package but do they also provide a cash stipend? Or does GEM essentially help out the school and the school pays for tuition and fees? Halp.

Just FYI, you may never be contacted until after being selected. Maybe one day you will be selected by the employer and then be allowed to accept them. That’s what’s happened to me. I accepted my employer’s offer in late December, but I didn’t hear from them until a few days ago. I feel like a hypocrite saying this (actually, I am one), but just try to be patient. That’s all your can really do, sadly. I hope they accept you and contact you soon, though! If you are concerned, you can always call or email GEM about it and maybe they will know more. 

From what I can tell, GEM is an organization that recruits undergrads to apply to grad school and helps grad school applicants/students get funding through their member schools (who I think pay a fee to be a member) as well as help them get internship experiences through their member employers (who I also think pay a fee). I think with these fees, GEM is able to help cover tution and fees. The unverisities and employers help fund the student with a stipend and paid summer internship, but I think GEM provides a stipend for the first year. GEM mainly is just a way to help underrepresented students in STEM apply to grad school with the hope that the result is that there is more diversity in STEM. 

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

Did anyone else get an email about a week ago talking about a conference call explaining new steps with GEM happening tomorrow and this Thursday at 2pm? I think it’s for people who already have been selected by an employer, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one. 

[ray92]

@Moods I think it is only for the ones that have been selected by a company!

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

1 hour ago, ray92 said:

@Moods I think it is only for the ones that have been selected by a company!

I figured. Are you going to listen in/call today? 

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

This conference call is so informative. If you have been selected and got an email about this call and have questions to ask, you should join it tomorrow. 

[ray92]

@Moods I joined in today! It was very informative! Asked some stuff that was on my mind lol

[BGMFG]

@becs_granola I'm in the same boat. I've been on 'held' for a few weeks (or at least it seems) and have been checking my voicemail and inboxes. I still have not been contacted. Hopefully we get some kind of communication soon. I will check FAQ's again to understand the timeline abit more.

[smalltownwater]

Can someone give me the highlights of the call that happened today? I wasn't able to join because of my work schedule.

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

3 minutes ago, smalltownwater said:

Can someone give me the highlights of the call that happened today? I wasn't able to join because of my work schedule.

It was mostly a Q&A call, but at the beginning they mentioned the things you need to do in order to confirm yourself as a GEM Full Fellow, such as send in your transcript, post the professional photo, get a letter from your employer and give it to GEM, and accept a university. All of that stuff you can find in the email they send a few weeks ago. Also, a couple answers they gave that I found useful.

1. If the schools that you applied to haven't verified that you are an applicant by Feb. 1st, contact GEM and let them know. They will try to get you verified, but there are no guarantees. Also, a week or so before this due date, you can contact the GEM Rep for that specific school to ask about your application's verification.

2. GEM is stackable with other fellowships. You have to ask the other fellowships you may receive if they can be combined with the GEM Fellowship.

3. The only way you can become a full fellow is that you have both a employer sponsor and a university sponsor. If you don't have an employer, then you still have a chance of getting the other two fellowships. However, if you don't have a university sponsor, you can't get any fellowship and have to give up your internship.

4. For the first year, PhD students get a $16,000 stipdend from GEM, which will be given directly to the university and will be paid out to the student in two terms. The university gives you the money the form they want, such as cash, check, or direct deposit. The university can give you more money than that stipend amount your first year, but it all depends on the university and your agreement with them. Years 2-5, you will receive a stipend from the university only. If your a full fellow,  tuition and fees will be paid for those fives years.

5. Make sure that you stay in good standing with your university. For PhD students, the minimum GPA you need in order to keep the GEM Fellowship is 3.0, however the minimum GPA you need to stay in good standing with your university may be higher. If you aren't in good standing with the university, you can't keep the fellowship.

I hope this helps!

[becs_granola]

Wait so are we supposed to be waiting then until an employer contacts us or uploads the form? Where does this photo get uploaded and we just email a transcript now?

[ray92]

@becs_granola You can send your transcripts now if an employer has selected you, It will say 0 transcripts received or so. There was an email sent out a couple weeks ago with information on how to upload a photo, the photo probably just goes on their website with the others. Your employer should be sending you forms. There is also a call even tomorrow if you received the email with the information.

Edited January 24, 2019 by ray92

[becs_granola]

2 minutes ago, ray92 said:

@becs_granola You can send your transcripts now if an employer has selected you, It will say 0 transcripts received or so. There was an email sent out a couple weeks ago with information on how to upload a photo, the photo probably just goes on their website with the others. Your employer should be sending you forms. There is also a call even tomorrow if you received the email with the information.

yeah sorry I just realized all that was in the email, although I wasn't aware of the call

[ray92]

@becs_granola They sent out an email about a two weeks ago, you should have received it if a company sponsored you.

[sirTintin]

3 hours ago, Moods said:

It was mostly a Q&A call, but at the beginning they mentioned the things you need to do in order to confirm yourself as a GEM Full Fellow, such as send in your transcript, post the professional photo, get a letter from your employer and give it to GEM, and accept a university. All of that stuff you can find in the email they send a few weeks ago. Also, a couple answers they gave that I found useful.

1. If the schools that you applied to haven't verified that you are an applicant by Feb. 1st, contact GEM and let them know. They will try to get you verified, but there are no guarantees. Also, a week or so before this due date, you can contact the GEM Rep for that specific school to ask about your application's verification.

2. GEM is stackable with other fellowships. You have to ask the other fellowships you may receive if they can be combined with the GEM Fellowship.

3. The only way you can become a full fellow is that you have both a employer sponsor and a university sponsor. If you don't have an employer, then you still have a chance of getting the other two fellowships. However, if you don't have a university sponsor, you can't get any fellowship and have to give up your internship.

4. For the first year, PhD students get a $16,000 stipdend from GEM, which will be given directly to the university and will be paid out to the student in two terms. The university gives you the money the form they want, such as cash, check, or direct deposit. The university can give you more money than that stipend amount your first year, but it all depends on the university and your agreement with them. Years 2-5, you will receive a stipend from the university only. If your a full fellow,  tuition and fees will be paid for those fives years.

5. Make sure that you stay in good standing with your university. For PhD students, the minimum GPA you need in order to keep the GEM Fellowship is 3.0, however the minimum GPA you need to stay in good standing with your university may be higher. If you aren't in good standing with the university, you can't keep the fellowship.

I hope this helps!

Excellent recap of the discussion covered during the call. There's another one tomorrow at 2pm (EST) if you didn't have a chance to attend today. I counted about 25 or so students who dialed in.

[Letsgethisbread]

Hey everyone I’m super excited to say I’ve been selected as a fellow. I didn’t get any correspondence or anything I just happened to check the gem portal and it said I was selected. I got a follow up email the next day. For those of you still waiting I was on “matched” till now, so don’t loose hope!

Edited January 24, 2019 by Letsgethisbread

[Letsgethisbread]

Also I still haven’t heard from any grad school, does anyone know if the fellowship increases your chances? And if I should email each school and them to tell them. 

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

7 minutes ago, Letsgethisbread said:

Also I still haven’t heard from any grad school, does anyone know if the fellowship increases your chances? And if I should email each school and them to tell them. 

I actually haven't heard anything either, and I am wondering the same thing. I was think of contacting each school saying that I have been selected for as a full fellow, but I don't know.

[ray92]

@LetsGetThisBread @Moods I would defiantly contact the rep! I would mention that you have been selected by a company x but I dont know if you are considered yet to be a full fellow yet due to not getting accepted yet by a university. I would defiantly contact them thought, the worst that will happen is that they ignore you email. What I did once I found out that I was selected by a company is that I put that in my personal statement