beak3chimps Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 People like you make me sick. You totally used the black card to get ahead. I got e/e, and vg/g and received shit. Oh for fuck's sake, math123, welcome to life. These things are a crap shoot in the first place, a. And b, all of them are looking for *something that makes you different.* For math123, that might have happened to be race. But if your didn't get one, it's on both the random aspect and the fact that *you* didn't make your application interesting enough.
math123 Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 ^^^ why are you black too? I don't see how race can be deemed 'interesting'. This person clearly wasn't good according to his rankings. But they gave him a bye because he was black. Yeah, life ain't fair, but that's total bullshit.
p-nut Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Keep in mind that BioChemGod was the guy who claimed he had received an email stating HM last Thursday. He is probably just trolling the forum.
bioangele Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 And yet again this year I am confounded by the broader impacts. Does anyone have ideas on how to "..integrate proposed research project with broader impacts" ??? How do I address that IN my research proposal, since I addressed it generally in the other essays? I mean, formation of the replisome during DNA replication = recruiting minorities to pursue graduate education? 1) E/E The Broader Impacts Criterion section of this application is very good. The personal statement was well written. The applicant proposes to foster students' interest in a world of science discovery. In addition, she looks forward to volunteering at future science fairs for at her former high school. The applicant's participation with the Berkeley EDGE program to recruit minority students and ability to speak fluent Spanish shows evidence that the applicant could play a major role in science education in the future for all citizens. She has also served as a science tutors for a middle school child in the past showing her willingness to serve. 2) E/VG Your proposal would be further strengthened by an indication of *how* you will encourage underrepresented students to pursue research careers, i.e. what specifically you will do to recruit minority students into the PhD program. (this would be after I said that I participated as a current grad student in the NSF-funded EDGE program at my school, which specifically hosts a conference to recruit minorities to our school). 3) G/G Your unique international life experiences strongly support your potential for broader impacts. However, your plan to integrate your proposed research project with broader impacts was not clear.
bioangele Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Btw, this earned an HM (obviously) since I got the G/G.
DarlinClementine Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Holy crap! 227 pages?! Anyway, E/VG VG/F (wtf? :? ) G/VG Will someone use their powers of reason and explain that one to me. I just got out of a test and I think I'm having trouble understanding... I didn't get an HM, but I am pretty stoked about getting a 3rd review. But I think I may have been robbed. I currently volunteer at a museum, I had someone from there write a LoR for me, but for that second sheet, all I could get from them is that they wanted to hear me say something like: "I plan on continuing to involve myself in getting more kids excited about science" You think they might have been able to pick that up from other things that I talked about and the LoR. I wish I could grade grub on this one... Congratulations to all who got HMs and Awards! Don't forget us little people
gb6 Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Just FYI comparing me and my friend from the exact same geographical region: HM: E/E, E/VG,VG/VG, good undergrad GPA, great grad GPA, good GRE's, strong letters, 4 co-author papers, 2 conference abstracts Award: VG/E, G/VG,G/VG, terrible undergrad GPA, good grad GPA, good GRE's, strong lettes, no papers or abstracts Although higher in every single objective metric including rating sheets, she got an award because she's a woman in engineering. Frustrating that the most prestigious grad fellowship is not merit based. Oh well, I'm over it. (Luckily, she's my girlfriend and now has to buy me dinners =P)
math123 Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 E/VG VG/F VG/VG Now I'm just confused. You got the award, right? I think I saw your name on the list. I thought it was because I didn't get two e's from different people, but clearly that wasn't it. I got e/e vg/g. Totally random.
DarlinClementine Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Did anyone reuse their essay from year's past? Or tweaked it very slightly? It seems like my research proposal is the only thing that needs broader impacts improvement. Everything else got good comments. Did you? I think I'm going to apply next year again and since I got good marks on my writing I'm tempted to try that for at least my personal statement and research experience.
DarlinClementine Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 I thought it was because I didn't get two e's from different people, but clearly that wasn't it. I got e/e vg/g. Totally random. I'm with the dark-and-smoke-filled-room hypothesis. I don't really get it either. And for what it's worth, bein' a chick didn't help me out any. Your marks seem pretty good, though. You should try next year if you can!
kdilks Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Now I'm just confused. You got the award, right? I think I saw your name on the list. I thought it was because I didn't get two e's from different people, but clearly that wasn't it. I got e/e vg/g. Totally random. Yeah, there doesn't seem to be much of a correlation between how many E's/VG's/etc you have and your chances at getting the award. It's probably hard to have a consistent scale across multiple reviewers within one field, let alone reviewers from multiple fields.
blah2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 I'm asking if others reused their essays. I didn't since it's my first time.
bachikarn Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 So for next year, are there going to be more awards given? I think I read a link posted about how Obama specifically said there will be more NSF GRFP awards next year? Is that true?
ecoloco Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Just to help with the stats: intellectual merit/broader impacts vg/e e/e vg/vg (Life Sciences - Ecology) The vg/vg reviewer was the most critical and helpful with feedback; the e/e not at all. I still got in on the first round; as with most scholarships (as most who have been reviewers say), it seems like there's a good deal of chance and institutional constraints (equity in geographical and reputational representation, perhaps?) involved as to who gets it, once you get to the top 10-20% of applicants. Congrats to all.
whease Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 I got it in the first round and had: VG/VG E/E E/VG My VG/VG reviewer also gave the most comments and the E/E was the most brief. I am a woman in engineering which I have to think helped me.
bjb256 Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 I got HM...and I'm a tad bit sad after reading some of the other ratings here. But I still have another year to reapply so *shrug*, there are people in much worse situations. E/E E/E VG/VG <- This person didn't even say anything bad :<
LurkingFor3000Posts Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 I will add to the frustrated posts by people who got an HM: My rating sheets were pretty good: E/E E/VG VG/G But not as good as some. There were a total of 14 awards in my discipline. The thing that frustrates me most is my undergrad PI was on the review committee for my discipline, and he told me that my scores put me in the top 10 applicants in my field, but I was evidently leapfrogged by several people with lower rated applications. I evidently didn't fit the demographic criteria or something... It would be nice if these awards were actually given based on merit, or at least primarily on merit. If I am a top 10 applicant in a field with 14 awardees, it seems like I should get an award...
luckyengr Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 I've been checking this forum since late March, decided to join now and share my results just to add to the online info base. I got an HM for Mech E. My ratings were: VG/VG VG/G VG/G After reading the stellar ratings other HM's got I'm surprised I even got an HM. (Unless Mech E reviewers were just tougher than in other disciplines?) The comments were actually quite helpful. two reviewers pointed out that I did not justify my choice of graduate institution. I didn't know this was required (didn't see it in the essay instructions) but would have done so if I'd known. My proposed research was "not highly transformative." I expected to do better on broader impacts because I addressed it in all 3 essays and I've done a ton of engineering education &tutoring volunteer activities in the last two years. But I just kind of listed them; perhaps I was too "well rounded" while they were looking for something more focused. One reviewer stated I should address future leadership role I will play. I think it sucks that # of fellowships increased 35% over last year while Mech E fellowships decreased 21% (from 53 -> 42)!!! When did NSF stop caring about Mech E all of a sudden? although with my ratings I'm not sure I was a contender for a fellowship anyways. It also sucks that after 1.5months of limbo zero additional awards were given to Mech E applicants. They must have known this was the case a long time ago and should have notified us. I'm starting grad school this fall and may reapply next year. out of curiosity, my results said I was in 79-93rd percentile, is this the same for everyone or just mech e? Congrats to those who won. good luck to everyone!
skinkididoo Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 out of curiosity, my results said I was in 79-93rd percentile, is this the same for everyone or just mech e? my percentile was the same (and i got an award). I assume the top 7% would all have gotten 1st round awards and below 79% were probably rejected in the 1st round... liatris, for me, the percentile was listed on the first page i see when i log in to read my reviewer comments.
bachikarn Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 my percentile was the same (and i got an award). I assume the top 7% would all have gotten 1st round awards and below 79% were probably rejected in the 1st round... liatris, for me, the percentile was listed on the first page i see when i log in to read my reviewer comments. Apparently not. My percentile was 70-79th percentile. I got an HM. My ratings were: VG/VG, E/E, E/VG. It seems to me now that the ratings really aren't indicative at all on how they rank you.
whease Posted May 20, 2009 Posted May 20, 2009 I was in the 79th-93rd percentile and I got one in the first round. The same thing happened for my roommate who is in bio sci.
ecoloco Posted May 20, 2009 Posted May 20, 2009 79th-93rd percentile got in on first round anyone make it to the 93rd to 99th percentile?
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