ford foundation fellowship 2008

[me5000]

since it's getting close to april i thought i'd start a new thread for this year's ford. so, please, join the anxiety wagon

i've just reviewed the posts from last year, i wish i had known about this forum then! this time last year i was biting my nails waiting, ended up with an honorable mention/alternates list but didn't get the alternate. i received my mailing april 16th last year (i'm on the west coast).

will anyone who has received the award tell us when they received notification? was it early april or did you hear at the same time most of us did (close to the 15th)? i guess i figure that your response somehow will give me an idea of whether i should plan to lose sleep 1, 2, or 3 weeks in april!

thanks in advance

[rising_star]

I'm just kicking myself in the a** for not applying for the Ford. I wish I could have guaranteed money because then I could wave it in the face of some schools and get myself an acceptance...

[me5000]

I'm just kicking myself in the a** for not applying for the Ford. I wish I could have guaranteed money because then I could wave it in the face of some schools and get myself an acceptance...

I know, I wish someone had told me about it as an undergrad. This is my last shot at the predoctoral. Although there is also the dissertation and the postdoc should we wish to relive the drama of applying, getting letters etc.

I could kick myself for not getting my s*** together for the NSF or Javitz fellowship applications. The road not taken.

Best of luck with the applications and funding.

[me5000]

I'm waiting (pre-doctoral). Haven't heard anything yet. I am on the east coast so I will let you know if I hear anything. Out of curiosity, did any of the applicants on here round up all 4 rec letters or did you go with 3 (they will review an app. with as little as two)?

I couldn't help it, I called Ford today and the person I spoke with said that they're getting the materials organized right now, and will start to mail them mid-to-late part of this week, so we **should** be starting to receive them next week. There were appx. 1800 applicants, (predoc, diss, and postdoc combined) so I think we'll probably be all over the map on how soon we'll get them. She was pleasant enough on the phone, and sounded sincere. These next two weeks waiting are going to be unbearable. I wish they posted results online or by email at least.

I did request the four letters, two from my MA program and two from undergrad. I think it's kind of touch and go in terms of maxing out the letters, sometimes I wonder how it all works out...I've been told by profs who have served as reviewers for NSF that even if you have all four but they say something similar, it won't be as strong as only two people saying something positive but with different perspectives and experience.

Best of luck and fingers crossed for all of us!

[Leavinmyheartinsf]

Argh! I called this morning and the answer was "probably by the end of this week". Now I have to make a decision about where to go without that bit of info.

[Niels]

No dice. I received the letter via post today (April 11). I live in NY.

The letter was dated April 4.

1200 predoctoral applications, 60 awards.

Good luck everyone!

[meandering]

I received the letter today, April 11. I live in MA.

I'm an alternate. Does anyone have any information about the alternate/wait list process?

Last year I received Honorable Mention. This year, I had five professors writing letters for me--two from my current program, two from my undergrad institution, and one from my part-time teaching job. I think the last letter helped because it offered a perspective on my teaching. Unfortunately, though, I'm in limbo right now hoping that someone declines the award.

Good luck!

[snmack02]

I got my letter today...didn't get it. I got honorable mention, and I'm wondering if that's given to EVERYONE who didn't make it....does anyone know how many people out of the applicants get honorable mention? I feel rather lame...and sad:(

I only had two refs...this time around, I'm starting EARLIER (not submitting it two minutes before the deadline). I'll also try to get more refs. To all of you applying again, do not procrastinate like me!

Good luck to those who haven't heard yet.

oh, and ohio here.

[gracieh]

I also received my letter today. I didn't win an award, but I did make it onto an alternatives list. If anyone turns it down, then MAYBE I'll win one. As of now, I'm an honorable mention. But my question is, why would anyone decline the award?

[meandering]

There are a couple of reasons why someone might decline the award...

1) They got offered a better award. (NFS v. Ford, for example)

2a) They no longer want to go to graduate school.

2b) They have other plans. (Fulbright v. Ford, for example)

3) They didn't get accepted into a PhD program.

I wish I knew the odds of getting an award as an alternate. It seems like chances are rather low, but it really depends on this particular awardee pool.

How many alternates are there? Maybe 6? Maybe 10?

[snmack02]

would the alternates here mind posting their stats? as in g.p.a, number of refs, activities etc.? you can be broad with activities so it will conceal your identity. i am just wondering if i even have a chance at this...

[hartshorneBoy]

Does anyone know if LGBTQ advocacy and rights work counts for diversity in Ford's eye?

I'm a Math applicant who wants to promote LGBTQ youth (as well as any underrepresented group!) in the sciences, and I work on LGBTQ work on campuses (2 different organizations, two officer spots, Student leadership advisory committee, social justice committee, etc.).

[me5000]

Didn't get it. In WA, received it in the mail Friday April 11.

received honorable mention. last year at least i got both honorable mention and alternates list (which didn't pan out).

in response to alternates this year, i would suggest calling every week or every other week to check your status b/c last year i never received follow up letters confirming that i didn't get the alternate,i only knew for sure after calling in early may.

also, for everyone who didn't get it and are interested in getting feedback, you can email them to request. i emailed last year and they sent out reviewer comments, took a few weeks to process.

good luck to all of you!

[meandering]

Every year seems to get more competitive.

I think many of us are strong applicants. What I haven't figured out is how to get the award. I've come close, but I haven't put together that magical application, and I think my eligibility may be in question for next year so I may never find out. I don't think this fellowship is about numbers or activities, necessarily. I think these reviewers are looking for applicants who will bring diversity into the classroom, which means all of us have to explain how we will accomplish that. It's not easy to explain.

Asking for reviewer comments is very helpful. I know I submitted a better application this year than I did last year. I completely re-wrote my research proposal because my reviewers last year liked that part of my application the least. They liked my personal statement so I kept that the same.

We'll see if this year is the year of the alternate(s).

[gracieh]

Does anyone have an idea of how many alternates there are? I'd like to know so that I can determine if I should get my hopes up of winning a fellowship.

[meandering]

Gracieh, I'd also like to know the answer to that question. I called Ford and asked, but the person I spoke with said that information could not be disclosed. I asked about previous years, and was told that it varies. Sometimes alternates get the award; sometimes alternates don't get the award. So basically I have no idea how many alternates there are and if one or two or five end up getting the award... And considering that there were a few alternates last year who didn't get the award, I'm not going to get my hopes up this year. But I am going to remain positive.

What I did find out is that there's an internal ranking list of alternates, but they won't tell you where you are on that list either. So it's possible that if you are at the top, you'll get an award.

Try calling Ford if you want... You may get more information. I'm going to ask one of my recommenders who received the award, but he got the award over 10 years ago so procedures have probably changed.

Gracieh, can you PM your email address? We should keep each other updated.

[Leavinmyheartinsf]

Uggh! I didn't get it either. I am coming straight out of undergrad, so my chances were slim, but I had a letter from someone super famous. Hopefully, she'll write one for me next year, too.

[monkeywrench]

Hey all -

Well, I just got a package from Ford and I got the fellowship! (yay!) I got the letter "late" (the 16th); I had assumed that since I hadn't heard already I was a no-go, so don't lose heart if you haven't heard yet!

I also applied two years ago (as a senior in college) and got turned down - no award, no alternate, nothing - so definitely go for it again next year if you qualify!

[monkeywrench]

oh, additionally, I have three weeks to accept or decline the award. I'll definitely be accepting, but I suspect that most people who plan on declining will do so fairly soon (odds are most of those folks have other fellowships that they'll use instead - no such luck here!) So if you're an alternate, the next three weeks are the timeframe where you'll likely hear something.

[gracieh]

Thanks for the update. Congrats on winning a fellowship!

[rising_star]

any tips from winners to those of us applying in the fall?

[me5000]

monkeywrench, congratulations! that's great news.

I would echo the last post, if you are willing to share any tips for future applicants I'm sure it would be very much appreciated (I personally am not going to reapply b/c this year was my last chance for the predoc but I know there are many who would like to hear how you did it).

[monkeywrench]

hey guys, thanks for the congrats!

As for advice...I'm disturbingly tempted to say "downright luck", since it sort of feels that way (I applied for the NSF as well and got HM'd, and I don't do a particularly impressive amount of outreach or diversity work). But I applied two years ago and didn't get a Ford Fellowship, so I'll describe what changed in my application this time.

1) I *really* tried to hard to answer the question they were actually asking in my essays, especially the personal essay. I'm an astronomer - we don't do much to benefit mankind. So I really tried to emphasize how I'd be addressing diversity, outreach, teaching, etc. in my personal essay. Nothing insincere or lip-service-ish, just really detailing the outreach and education work that I would be doing.

2) I'm a second-year grad student so my Ph.D. thesis was pretty well formulated when I applied - I tried to give them a pretty rigorous description of my research while keeping in mind that most of the people reading it would not be specialists in my field. Don't just copy-paste the NSF essay like I originally planned to (my adviser stopped me) - the audience is different.

3) for what it's worth, when it comes to numbers, my undergrad and grad GPA are both solidly decent (3.4 and 3.7 or something like that - respectable, but certainly not straight-A 4.0 territory). I chose not to submit my GRE scores (general were fine, subject were pretty much as low a score as you can get without spelling your name wrong) and it looks like they didn't care.

4) I had a pretty good list of publications, which I think helped. I definitely don't think this means you need heaps of first-author papers to get a fellowship; my advice would probably be to emphasize to them in your previous and current research essays that you're a good place for them to put your money - show them that you've had solid experience in your field already and that a fellowship will be well-spent on helping you to keep up the good work you're already doing.

Okay, hopefully that's somewhat helpful (like I said, I half-believe that the secret was "I've been applying for fellowships for years, eventually I had to get lucky"!) Good luck!!

[meandering]

Congrats monkeywrench!

I wish I had been lucky this time around... But I guess it's still possible though unlikely that I could still receive an award. Anyway, thanks for the tips!

You know, I do believe that this fellowship--like many fellowships--is political. Where you go to school, where you went to undergrad... All of that plays a role.

As far as I can tell, if you go to Berkeley, your chances increase!

[gracieh]

Any updates?