NSF GRFP 2022-2023

[Anthropocene]

POP THE BUBBLY, letttts go. Congrats to all, you worked hard on that shit whether you got it or not, and it’s definitely reviewer 2 not you.

[jongu]

Nothing for me, well, I’ll give it another shot again in a year or two. 
 

Thanks for keeping me company!

[Needanswers1]

Congratulations to everyone that applied and made it to the other end of this stressful process 

[dirichletprior]

Any idea why reviews won't be available until April 17? Is it usually the case that results come out before reviews? 

[ReviewerNum2]

Woke up at 4 am to find out that I didn't get the award  However, it motivated me to finally finish writing and editing my paper. So now, I will be submitting the paper for publication tomorrow! I will apply again during the 1st year of my Ph.D. 

 

Congrats to all that got the award and HM! 

Edited March 29, 2023 by ReviewerNum2

[idealchain]

3 hours ago, dirichletprior said:

Any idea why reviews won't be available until April 17? Is it usually the case that results come out before reviews? 

My best guess is that they have to go through some process of reviewing the reviews before releasing them. Last year there were multiple instances where reviewers left rude/nasty comments....

[norepinephrine]

Reminder for all of us that may not have gotten the award or HM: this award does not define your worth as a scientist. You can still be a successful scientist without be recognized as 'exceptional' early in your academic career. Plenty of successful scientists did not receive this award during their early career, yet that did not stop them. 

Additionally, all that time you spend on writing that grant does not go to waste! Now you have more experience writing and that will make your next application a little easier. Let this motivate you to keep trying and striving toward your goals, even with a bump in the road. 

[thermoflask101]

Does the current institution in the award table mean what university the student ANTICIPATES to attend/affiliate with? I’m confused since the NSF GRFP app deadline was very well before the notification dates for many PhD programs. If so, then I find the number of T10 schools listed pretty hilarious. 

[FranckCondon]

On 3/29/2023 at 9:02 AM, thermoflask101 said:

Does the current institution in the award table mean what university the student ANTICIPATES to attend/affiliate with? I’m confused since the NSF GRFP app deadline was very well before the notification dates for many PhD programs. If so, then I find the number of T10 schools listed pretty hilarious. 

It means the institution the person is at during the time of application, whether it be their undergrad or grad school.

Edited March 30, 2023 by FranckCondon

[phycocyanin]

A new countdown begins...one more week until reviews come out 🤪

[indy101]

Got E/E, E/E, and G/VG. Damn you that one reviewer always gets it 

[Needanswers1]

reviews are outtttttttt

[draglier]

E/E, VG/VG, VG/VG, E/E. Dunno why I got four reviewers but I guess it still wasn’t enough to win more than HM. 

[phycocyanin]

I was kinda hoping that the comments would be really mean things like "you are the worst scientist evar, drop out now!" so I could just dismiss the reviewers as cranks, but they're actually legitimate concerns so I just feel a bit morose haha. VG/G, G/VG, G/F, dishonorable mention (a.k.a. not recommended)

Edited April 17, 2023 by phycocyanin

[fellowshipstress]

IM/BI: E/E VG/E E/E I got honorable mention because my one weakness was my undergrad GPA. It’s silly that they still care about that as I’m a second year grad student. I’m very glad NDSEG didn’t care about that.

[FranckCondon]

4 hours ago, fellowshipstress said:

IM/BI: E/E VG/E E/E I got honorable mention because my one weakness was my undergrad GPA. It’s silly that they still care about that as I’m a second year grad student. I’m very glad NDSEG didn’t care about that.

That's so messed up! What the heck?!

[187rf6lj]

E/E, E/E, E/E… HM 

proud of the hm I really am, but it stings a little to see how close I was. Must have been in the wrong pile. 

[chemphd3]

On 4/17/2023 at 7:23 AM, indy101 said:

Got E/E, E/E, and G/VG. Damn you that one reviewer always gets it 

Had a similar issue. Some of these reviewers clearly don't read the proposal at all and write completely inaccurate, false things that aren't in the application and it's frustrating.

[chemphd3]

Has this happened to anyone where you got an HM in undergrad but nothing (not recommended, not even HM) in grad school? I had a crappy application (it's cringeworthy) from undergrad prepared in a few weeks whereas in grad school I worked months on it for a more polished app and didn't get anything because I was tanked by a reviewer who clearly didn't read my proposal/misinterpreted it. (Like stringing words from my app together in ways that don't make sense...). My first two reviews were awesome (they wrote lengthy paragraphs with positive and honest critical feedback which I didn't expect at all) and I had a comment that highly recommended me for the fellowship from one reviewer, but my overall app was tanked by the last reviewer who clearly didn't read my proposal ☹️.

I wish they had a better system to remove reviewers who clearly aren't reading the proposal because it ruins the competition. Or a better way to efficiently go through the apps, perhaps they could have 2 reviewers give one review to an app collectively instead of doing things individually? At least just write little if you don't care but don't just write falsified made-up nonsense. 

Edited April 19, 2023 by chemphd3

[nikoliole]

I just had to yell into the void somewhere. I applied as an undergrad and got E/E, E/E, VG/E, and G/G, not recommended. The first two reviewers were glowing and mentioned they were recommending, the third had a few solid constructive criticisms but overall was very positive, and the fourth wrote only one sentence which was, and I quote, "candidate publication record not competitive with the overall applicant pool." 

TBH it has kinda put me off applying in the future. I feel like reviewer 4 glanced over my CV and decided "not worth further consideration." They gave zero feedback aside from the above. I'm a non trad student who worked full time through my whole undergrad, still got a 4.0 and managed to get through 2 years of research and a pre-pub...which I wrote about in detail in my personal statement and which all of the first 3 reviewers managed to glean and mention in their feedback as indicative of the capacity to deliver on promise. Idk whether to laugh or cry but feels bad man.

[kumamaru]

Hello, I'm currently applying for the 2023-2024 NSF GRFP cycle in life sciences. I am a Cell and Molecular Biology first-year PhD with a focus on cancer biology. My proposed research is not directly cancer biology related and is more basic cell biology and gene regulation with implications for cancer biology in the broader impacts section, thus I am not too worried that it would be considered ineligible. However, in my personal statement, it would be disingenuous to not talk about my previous cancer biology research and my commitment to designing new targeted therapies in my future goals. Is this okay to talk about in the personal statement? Did anyone else with a disease or medicine background talk about that in the personal statement? Thank you! 

[BCI_king]

Does anybody have any experience with the major change of field? I applied during the 2023-2024 nsf grfp, and I applied under the biomedical engineering subfield. Is switching to computational neuroscience too far of a switch, or will I automatically forfeit the NSF GRFP?