NSF GRFP

[Dudeblight]

man double the salary? You have gotta get into a cushier field

[Moxie]

Anyone notice that there are more guests than usual? Maybe something's brewing.

[denidzo]

man double the salary? You have gotta get into a cushier field

More than double my salary, if I get the award. Scary how well grad students live, isn't it?

[meowser]

Anyone notice that there are more guests than usual? Maybe something's brewing.

That's because it's all going to go down tonight! I'm calling tonight/early tomorrow morning. Let's go with...245 additional awards (I will be so sad if tomorrow morning rolls around and I am still doing this).

[denidzo]

They don't usually do maintenance early in the week, thus....

I'd say this is it.

This may be it, really. They did maintenance last Friday night, and then they had the site down all Sunday (it came up beta and has ever since). Everyone we've talked to says this week sometime, why not now?

And like Higgins (I think it was Higgins) I almost am afraid to find out.

[nsfhopeful]

man double the salary? You have gotta get into a cushier field

TA positions in my department get about $11,700. I kid you not. No summer funding. I did get a fellowship for next year for $25,000 so most of that is going into savings if I don't get this award.

[denidzo]

So I called and asked if they were finally announcing them tonight ( hey, might as well be bold). Long pause on the phone .... more pause .... and she said she doesnt' know for sure if it's tonight, that the site routinely goes down for maintenance, but that they were told it would be this week sometime.

[denidzo]

TA positions in my department get about $11,700. I kid you not. No summer funding. I did get a fellowship for next year for $25,000 so most of that is going into savings if I don't get this award.

TA positions at our department pay a whopping $13,000, no summer funding. I feel your pain.

[unclelurker]

it is unfortunate that 'wanting' and 'needing' are not taken into account for congressional allotments. my magic eight ball has been a good friend for this time of purgatory.

it has helped to hear of the variety of funding possibilities. at my institution and department, funding is not provided. advisors may fund students if they have money, but it is rare. and those students work for that money, it isn't free. not that i don't covet it anyway. it is highly encouraged (read - necessary) to be self funded for tuition, living and research monies. the summer is always the toughest time to eke out anything. grad students compete within the department, within the college, the grad division, and the university - as well as external funding.

to be honest, i would have preferred to hear that everyone was funded up the wazoo. that would have made me more optimistic about the opportunities and conditions at places across the country. what is the optimum learning/training environment for grad students - at least for funding?

[unclelurker]

TA positions at our department pay a whopping $13,000, no summer funding. I feel your pain.

hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahha.

TA at my school. this may give it away, but for a lab class try 2100 for a semester. hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahah.

i bet you feel my pain.

[Higgins_the_Brave]

it is unfortunate that 'wanting' and 'needing' are not taken into account for congressional allotments.

In my application I explicitly stated that my project was unfunded and that I needed the award to do it. I felt that that was in the spirit of the program.

[nsfhopeful]

TA at my school. this may give it away, but for a lab class try 2100 for a semester. hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahah.

i bet you feel my pain.

For grad students?! I know undergrads who TA at another school and get that, but their grad students get paid more. Wow.

[unclelurker]

For grad students?! I know undergrads who TA at another school and get that, but their grad students get paid more. Wow.

yes. for graduate students. undergraduates are paid far far less. lab classes pay top dollar too.

[whalo22]

promise me either way this goes down, we'll still all be best friends.

Fellow NSF GRFP LIMBOERS of 2009

[Higgins_the_Brave]

promise me either way this goes down, we'll still all be best friends.

Fellow NSF GRFP LIMBOERS of 2009

OK, but I'd take the word "fellow" out of that... since most of us won't be

[sheherazade]

Has anyone thought of making a facebook group? "The Great NSF GRFP Limbo Party 2009" or something like that.

[Higgins_the_Brave]

Has anyone thought of making a facebook group? "The Great NSF GRFP Limbo Party 2009" or something like that.

I friended Friar Tuck on facebook, but then he vanished after the gay debacle.

[bioangele]

OK, but I'd take the word "fellow" out of that... since most of us won't be

lol!

[Neurone]

Out of curiosity, what fields are you people in who get so little funding and where is your university? Here our stipends are $29,000 a year. My school is in NYC, however.

[beak3chimps]

yes. for graduate students. undergraduates are paid far far less. lab classes pay top dollar too.

Okay, but clearly you're not expected to support yourself on that--either the school expects you to go into debt to complete the program (which some do, and if that's your case, my sympathy) or you have some other source of funding.

And yes, dudeblight I do need to get into a cushier field. Trust me, after a year of working to support a baby on these salaries (at a school that DOES NOT GIVE INSURANCE TO DEPENDENT OFFSPRING), my husband and I are concerned, and both praying I get this. Sounds like you're in one of those hateable fields where they pay grad students as much as my major prof (a tenure track professor) makes now.

Wow, this makes me sound bitter. I swear I'm not, I'm just trying desperately to stop imagining how sweet it would be if I got a grant so that I don't waste half a day if I'm not among the lucky winners of this crazy thing.

[denidzo]

Out of curiosity, what fields are you people in who get so little funding and where is your university? Here our stipends are $29,000 a year. My school is in NYC, however.

Yeah, see, your school is in NYC, where it costs what you make just to rent an apartment for a year. :::chuckle::: I am at a big public university, one that has been hit hard by the current financial problems our state has (read they increased tuition because of the economy and the state took the whole thing for themselves). I am a social scientist, which means that huge grants and lots of research money don't usually come our way - they go to the hard sciences at our school, we have huge medical research and engineering departments. So we muddle along as best we can. TAs usually also adjunct at other schools, making that whopping $2100 that was mentioned previously, in addition to their stipend. It's a bear to take classes, teach classes, and TA for others and still stay sane. Health insurance? Not for dependents. Job security? Re-apply for funding every year, hope you get it, and hope that your adjunct spot is till there. The best moments are all those meetings and seminars the school offers, because they always serve food before and/or after, so you go, never mind that the topic is whatever it happens to be.

[denidzo]

Has anyone thought of making a facebook group? "The Great NSF GRFP Limbo Party 2009" or something like that.

I like that idea - would anyone else join it if I made it?

[liatris]

In my application I explicitly stated that my project was unfunded and that I needed the award to do it. I felt that that was in the spirit of the program.

Why didn't I think of that? Excuse me while I spend the rest of the evening kicking myself. And yes let's be Facebook friends.

[Higgins_the_Brave]

Why didn't I think of that? Excuse me while I spend the rest of the evening kicking myself.

well, for what it's worth, I just read back over my application and what I thought was directly addressing broader impacts in my previous research essay was actually so subtle that it even flew under my own radar upon rereading. I'm sure I lost 1/6 of the points for that mistake. Should have proofread more.

[liatris]

well, for what it's worth, I just read back over my application and what I thought was directly addressing broader impacts in my previous research essay was actually so subtle that it even flew under my own radar upon rereading. I'm sure I lost 1/6 of the points for that mistake. Should have proofread more.

Ouch, except that then you probably wouldn't still be here. A friend got it last year and her reviewers said something like "The applicant has broader impacts, but not the research" so it's probably not a fatal flaw.