Ford Foundation Fellowship

[vall718]

14 minutes ago, Large Chai said:

I totally agree! That sounds frustrating. That made their decision look somehow arbitrary.

Are you applying again next year?

I am not sure..

I also applied to the NSF GRFP and NIH F31 Diversity (longest and most excruciating application of all the fellowships). Hopefully I can get one of those and not worry about predoctoral fellowships for the rest of my graduate career. 

On the results page, they said 70/2100 received the Ford, that's only 3.33% of applicants. Those are very low chances.

If I don't get anything this year, I will probably re-apply for the NIH F31 Diversity or AHA Predoctoral. Both of these have much higher success rates. The NIH depends on your field but its around 40% for me, while the AHA is 37%. Since it's a numbers game, I rather take my chances in those two.

Edited March 19, 2020 by vall718

[Alma1350]

Hi all

I received an email at 10:02 (ET) to check my online application. I am incredibly surprised to have received the Fellowship. 

reviewer 1: no comments

reviewers 2-5: all had 3-4 sentences worth of comments. 

I am not really sure if there is one section that weighs more than the other, but overall I scored between "very good" and "Excellent." I only received one "good" (prob reviewer 1), but the rest are above that. 

If you are looking to apply again, there's a pre-recorder webinar on YouTube. The awardees discuss how they prepared for the application and what the Foundation has helped them as grad students. I re-watched it last night assuming I wouldn't get it, and was planning on emailing one or two of them my applications to get some feedback.

 

[refreshingmyemail]

4 minutes ago, Alma1350 said:

Hi all

I received an email at 10:02 (ET) to check my online application. I am incredibly surprised to have received the Fellowship. 

reviewer 1: no comments

reviewers 2-5: all had 3-4 sentences worth of comments. 

I am not really sure if there is one section that weighs more than the other, but overall I scored between "very good" and "Excellent." I only received one "good" (prob reviewer 1), but the rest are above that. 

If you are looking to apply again, there's a pre-recorder webinar on YouTube. The awardees discuss how they prepared for the application and what the Foundation has helped them as grad students. I re-watched it last night assuming I wouldn't get it, and was planning on emailing one or two of them my applications to get some feedback.

 

Congrats!!!! That is amazing!!! 

I just checked my account and still have the generic message "Review results will be available one to two weeks after the review." I wonder if they are doing it by fields. Alma1350, do you mind sharing which field you are in?

[TimTheEnchanter]

Did not receive the scholarship, but my reviews were fairly encouraging, and were specific on what I can improve.  I will definitely apply again next year, and I'll actually be enrolled in a program and can get help from professors then. The odds are astronomically low anyway.

 

And congrats Alma! That's amazing!

Edited March 19, 2020 by TimTheEnchanter

[Iced decaf americano]

Did you all apply for predoc? I'm thinking dissertation fellow results aren't out yet...

Edited March 19, 2020 by Iced decaf americano

[refreshingmyemail]

6 minutes ago, Iced decaf americano said:

Are you all Predoc?

Yes, I applied to predoc!

[CeXra]

12 minutes ago, Iced decaf americano said:

Are you all Predoc?

*deleted comment*

I will have to say thats kinda of weird if they were... traditionally everyone was told at the same time/same day... and comments regarding reviews were never posted along results until two weeks after. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by CeXra

[Iced decaf americano]

5 minutes ago, CeXra said:

*deleted comment*

I will have to say thats kinda of weird if they were... traditionally everyone was told at the same time/same day... and comments regarding reviews were never posted along results until two weeks after. 

Okay, I'm waiting to hear about the diss fellowship.

[bballkingcav]

I’m a 2nd-year predoc and was informed I was an awardee via email earlier this morning. Feeling really happy but also understand the disappointment some of you might have. I was in your shoes last year. During my first year of grad school, I applied and wasn’t awarded. I had two reviewers with no comments, but I used my scores to improve my application this time around. Congrats to everyone who applied! 

[JoePianist]

20 minutes ago, Iced decaf americano said:

Did you all apply for predoc? I'm thinking dissertation fellow results aren't out yet...

I applied for dissertation and haven’t received any emails yet. Fingers crossed for us to win ~

[Physicsisphysics]

Applied for predoc and no email yet either.

[CeXra]

Are you a winner from 2019? Or someone who received the award this week (like 2020) announcement..  Idk I highly doubt that its for this week. @Alma1350@refreshingmyemail

Even the post indicated stuff for 2019.... I am a skeptic but I don't think awards were announced for 2020 as of yet...

Edited March 19, 2020 by CeXra

[Large Chai]

 

 

34 minutes ago, Alma1350 said:

Hi all

I received an email at 10:02 (ET) to check my online application. I am incredibly surprised to have received the Fellowship. 

reviewer 1: no comments

reviewers 2-5: all had 3-4 sentences worth of comments. 

I am not really sure if there is one section that weighs more than the other, but overall I scored between "very good" and "Excellent." I only received one "good" (prob reviewer 1), but the rest are above that. 

If you are looking to apply again, there's a pre-recorder webinar on YouTube. The awardees discuss how they prepared for the application and what the Foundation has helped them as grad students. I re-watched it last night assuming I wouldn't get it, and was planning on emailing one or two of them my applications to get some feedback.

 

I watch this webinar before starting to craft my application as well! I found it useful.

[refreshingmyemail]

7 minutes ago, CeXra said:

Are you a winner from 2019? Or someone who received the award this week (like 2020) announcement..  Idk I highly doubt that its for this week. @Alma1350@refreshingmyemail

Even the post indicated stuff for 2019.... I am a skeptic but I don't think awards were announced for 2020 as of yet...

I'm not sure. But I can tell you that two other people from my lab who applied to the predoc fellowship for the 2019-2020 cycle were rejected about 30 minutes ago.

[JoePianist]

10 minutes ago, CeXra said:

Are you a winner from 2019? Or someone who received the award this week (like 2020) announcement..  Idk I highly doubt that its for this week. @Alma1350@refreshingmyemail

Even the post indicated stuff for 2019.... I am a skeptic but I don't think awards were announced for 2020 as of yet...

My understanding is that both users applied to predoc which is a 3-year award. It wouldn’t make sense for @Alma1350 receive a predoc award last year AND this year 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Mister Belvedere

[CeXra]

Just now, Mister Belvedere said:

My understanding is that both users applied to predoc which is a 3-year award. It wouldn’t make sense for @refreshingmyemail to receive a predoc award last year AND this year lol

That's why I am asking to clarify if it was for this year or last year. Its not clear to me. 

[CeXra]

If it was announced today, congrats to all who received the ford predoc this spring 2020.

[moclassic]

Didn't get the predoc fellowship but got honorable mention.

Congrats to people who got it! Very well deserved!

[Physicsisphysics]

My app still says, "Review results will be available one to two weeks after the review." I haven't gotten an email either. Anybody else?

[wyopal]

Did not get predoc but got "excellent" on all categories being evaluated. Was told I needed a more specific way in which I was planning to engage with underrepresented communities. Congrats to all that got it, and best of luck for those waiting to hear back!

[CeXra]

4 minutes ago, Physicsisphysics said:

My app still says, "Review results will be available one to two weeks after the review." I haven't gotten an email either. Anybody else?

Same didn't get an email.... Am I bugging or was announcement different in previous years....

[Alma1350]

56 minutes ago, refreshingmyemail said:

Congrats!!!! That is amazing!!! 

I just checked my account and still have the generic message "Review results will be available one to two weeks after the review." I wonder if they are doing it by fields. Alma1350, do you mind sharing which field you are in?

My primary field is Ecological, Environmental, & Evolutionary Sciences

[Alma1350]

31 minutes ago, CeXra said:

Are you a winner from 2019? Or someone who received the award this week (like 2020) announcement..  Idk I highly doubt that its for this week. @Alma1350@refreshingmyemail

Even the post indicated stuff for 2019.... I am a skeptic but I don't think awards were announced for 2020 as of yet...

I am an award winner for 2020

[CeXra]

Just now, Alma1350 said:

I am an award winner for 2020

Congratz. I realized this after more people came out with their statuses.

[Physicsisphysics]

Is it possible they're sending the emails out by field? I'm in physical sciences if that helps