NSF GRFP 2011-2012

[Teelee]

I believe if someone declines an offer, HM will get it.

[maath805]

No award or HM for me. This really sucks; I was always dreaming of what it would be like to get the fellowship. I'm disappointed but am slowly realizing that life is still the same, which is completely OK. I'm in my first year of a great PhD program, and I'm definitely applying again next year

[withoutwords]

Hi All!

-also, is anyone familiar with what had happened last year...i know of at least two people who initially received HMs, but their awards were later converted to the full award. how does that work? would you only know that when it happened or do those that are being considered receive some sort of a unique email?

Thanks.

Bump

Edited March 30, 2012 by withoutwords

[Dynamom]

So... is there a way to find out how many applicants there were? Especially by subject? I guess you're going to do the best you can regardless of who else applies, but it would be nice to know... and might give us (me) some sympathy for the lengthy process...

[Jimbo2]

it's in the excel file on the awards announced page

[vertices]

Dynamom: The powerpoint presentation for the program says there were 12,000 applicants for the 2011 program and 2,000 awards. I would assume similar numbers for this year. Each general field of study category (e.g. chemistry, social sciences) receives awards in proportion to the number of applications in that field, so each field's winning percentage is roughly the same.

[proteinnn]

Got it!

Does anybody here know the details regarding TAships while on the fellowship? I thought I remembered reading that NSF changed their policy to explicitly forbid TAing while being supported, but now I can't find where I read this and am wondering if I'm just cracked out from reading so many web pages through this whole experience....

edit: I browsed through the administrative guide and found a couple of tidbits... any thoughts?

http://www.nsf.gov/p...31/nsf11031.pdf

At one point, it mentions the ability of a fellow to go on "Reserve Status" to take advantage of teaching assistantships, interships, research assistantships, etc.

At another point, it states, "However, because it is generally accepted that teaching or similar activity constitutes a valuable part of the education and training of many graduate students, a Fellow may undertake a reasonable amount of such activities, without NSF approval. . . . Compensation for such activities is permitted based on the affiliated institution’s policies and the general employment policies outlined in this document."

Edited March 31, 2012 by proteinnn

[lisa333]

Hi all, longtime gradcafe lurker here, first-time poster.

Anyway, I got accepted for the NSF-GRFP for a Materials Science PhD but don't feel quite ready to celebrate because I haven't been accepted to grad school yet! I applied to 6 programs, was rejected from 2, and have yet to hear from the other 4. I emailed my top choice professor to let him know I'd won the award (I hadn't heard from that school yet) and he replied that he didn't think it was likely I'd be admitted.

Has this happened to anyone? Any advice on who I should be contacting at the schools to "update" them about my status as a NSF-GRFP recipient?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Lisa

[gin7890]

Hi all, longtime gradcafe lurker here, first-time poster.

Anyway, I got accepted for the NSF-GRFP for a Materials Science PhD but don't feel quite ready to celebrate because I haven't been accepted to grad school yet! I applied to 6 programs, was rejected from 2, and have yet to hear from the other 4. I emailed my top choice professor to let him know I'd won the award (I hadn't heard from that school yet) and he replied that he didn't think it was likely I'd be admitted.

Has this happened to anyone? Any advice on who I should be contacting at the schools to "update" them about my status as a NSF-GRFP recipient?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Lisa

Wow, I think that's pretty unusual. I would contact all schools you applied to (including those that sent you rejection letters already) to let them know you got the NSF. I would contact professors you want to work with and program directors. With the current funding situation, you would think they would not turn down someone who is funded.

[firefly luciferase]

Reviews (at least mine) are up!!!, even though they're still not *officially* linked when you log in.

https://www.fastlane...hod=loadApplRev

I found this link after browsing last year's thread:

Edited April 1, 2012 by firefly luciferase

[Jimbo2]

awesome find. not the most helpful reviews (didn't really say what I could do to improve anything), but it was interesting to see.

IM/BI

VG/VG

G/VG ("applicant has a good but not outstanding academic record" -- thanks dude!)

VG/E

got HM

[vertices]

Oh I'm curious... but paranoid so for now I'll wait.

Jimbo2: Most of the reviews I've read read more like reminders to the reviewer for when they're discussing the candidate later. I try interpreting them like recommendation letters--thinking about what's not being said or what's not being said as strongly as it could be.

[eeb2012]

Got the award

Im: E/E/E

bi: E/VG/VG

Two of the reviews made really good suggestions i should fix in my thesis lol. Who knew a 3.5 gpa was "excellent" im. BTW, award was for biological anthropology, still an undergrad. Seemed to emphasize my recommendations and the unique approach in my proposal.

Edited April 1, 2012 by eeb2012

[kdilks]

Got it!

Does anybody here know the details regarding TAships while on the fellowship? I thought I remembered reading that NSF changed their policy to explicitly forbid TAing while being supported, but now I can't find where I read this and am wondering if I'm just cracked out from reading so many web pages through this whole experience....

edit: I browsed through the administrative guide and found a couple of tidbits... any thoughts?

http://www.nsf.gov/p...31/nsf11031.pdf

At one point, it mentions the ability of a fellow to go on "Reserve Status" to take advantage of teaching assistantships, interships, research assistantships, etc.

At another point, it states, "However, because it is generally accepted that teaching or similar activity constitutes a valuable part of the education and training of many graduate students, a Fellow may undertake a reasonable amount of such activities, without NSF approval. . . . Compensation for such activities is permitted based on the affiliated institution’s policies and the general employment policies outlined in this document."

There's probably going to be some confusion in the literature because they did change their policy last year, but then changed it back a few months later (presumably because it was a very unpopular change). You are still allowed to take on half of a regular TAship for pay during a fellowship year, but only for the sake of getting teaching experience, and only with approval from your adviser (ie, don't plan on doing this every fellowship year so you can get more money).

[Cheryl Page]

Thanks to the person who gave the link to find score sheets!

IM/BI:

VG/E

VG/VG

VG/E

= Honorable mention

Hopefully I can bump those up to more excellent's next year. I made the mistake of not listing my presentations I have done (because I thought they were insignificant) and two reviewers mentioned it. I'm going to start looking for a conference to present at this summer pronto!

[Chronos]

Intellectual Merit/ Broader Impacts:

VG/G

E/E

VG/E

= awarded

This is so silly. The first guy gave me only a "good" in broader impacts, while the other two gave me excellents. They contradict each other in their reasonings. Thank Merlin's pants that there are 3 reviewers!

[biostats525]

Reviews (at least mine) are up!!!, even though they're still not *officially* linked when you log in.

https://www.fastlane...hod=loadApplRev

I found this link after browsing last year's thread:

Super helpful, thanks!

IM/BI:

G/VG

VG/E

VG/E

I think it's clear that I didn't get it. What sunk me is that I didn't do very well in undergrad (although I went to an Ivy), although in my last semester and a one-year math program afterwards, I had a 4.0. It's sad that I can't overcome a low undergrad GPA (3.17) but that's ok.

Edited April 1, 2012 by biostats525

[redcar098]

E/VG

VG/VG

VG/VG

My comments were all praise and had no suggestions whatsoever... but still didn't get it (or at least HM)?

Guess that's the NSF for you.

Edited April 1, 2012 by redcar098

[FertMigMort]

Got it!

Does anybody here know the details regarding TAships while on the fellowship? I thought I remembered reading that NSF changed their policy to explicitly forbid TAing while being supported, but now I can't find where I read this and am wondering if I'm just cracked out from reading so many web pages through this whole experience....

edit: I browsed through the administrative guide and found a couple of tidbits... any thoughts?

http://www.nsf.gov/p...31/nsf11031.pdf

At one point, it mentions the ability of a fellow to go on "Reserve Status" to take advantage of teaching assistantships, interships, research assistantships, etc.

At another point, it states, "However, because it is generally accepted that teaching or similar activity constitutes a valuable part of the education and training of many graduate students, a Fellow may undertake a reasonable amount of such activities, without NSF approval. . . . Compensation for such activities is permitted based on the affiliated institution’s policies and the general employment policies outlined in this document."

We're not allowed to TA at all in my program because they only off full year TAships. I can teach in the summer, but that's all. It's very confusing though and the guidelines are really unclear. It seems to be up to the fellowship officer at your individual school. Basically they don't want teaching to make up the majority of what you do.

Hi all, longtime gradcafe lurker here, first-time poster.

Anyway, I got accepted for the NSF-GRFP for a Materials Science PhD but don't feel quite ready to celebrate because I haven't been accepted to grad school yet! I applied to 6 programs, was rejected from 2, and have yet to hear from the other 4. I emailed my top choice professor to let him know I'd won the award (I hadn't heard from that school yet) and he replied that he didn't think it was likely I'd be admitted.

Has this happened to anyone? Any advice on who I should be contacting at the schools to "update" them about my status as a NSF-GRFP recipient?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Lisa

Definitely contact your schools. I would be shocked if it didn't change things. I had a friend who was rejected across the board and then got the news about his NSF and he got into Stanford fully funded on top of his NSF award. I would contact the Director of Graduate Studies for the departments you applied to, not individual professors.

[DJLamar]

Intellectual Merit/ Broader Impacts:

VG/G

E/E

VG/E

= awarded

This is so silly. The first guy gave me only a "good" in broader impacts, while the other two gave me excellents. They contradict each other in their reasonings. Thank Merlin's pants that there are 3 reviewers!

Funny thing is, the third review only occurs if your application is deemed "good enough" by the first two. Last year I only had two reviews (one was E / VG, the other I think was VG / Fair or VG / G or something, for IM / BI respectively).

Anyway, I got the award but feel like I may have come close to not getting it, even though my reviews are almost nothing but high praise. The only odd comment was where one reviewer mentioned in BI that I apparently referred to the undergrad I planned to involve in my research as "him," making the reviewer wonder whether or not I've already chosen him or if it's my assumption. I just used the pronoun him because gender neutral language is awkward and clunky >_>

I had:

IM / BI

VG / VG

E / VG

VG / E

[John12345]

IM/BI

VG/VG

E/VG

(No Award/HM)

First reviewer didn't say much. Liked the proposal, but knocked me for failing to address the broader impacts with respect to conversation. The research proposal was a straight-up basic research proposal in behavioral ecology. My references told me I should try to find a conservation impact, but I just wasn't able to find a decent link.

Second reviewer, thought I had a strong undergraduate record, which I found surprising (3.6), and liked the proposal as well. However, I got knocked on my work experience and for "gaps" in employment. I knew that was probably coming. I've worked as a short term research/field assistant for the past three years and wasn't able to list all of my positions.

[Rendy]

It was my first year applying, and I did not get it. I was kind of bummed one of the reviewers commented that I had lower grades than expected in classes I should have excelled in (got a handful of B+s over my undergraduate career), and that I was taking what they considered 'high school level math'. I just took a college Algebra course over the summer to brush up for the GRE, but I had two other advanced statistics courses. I also graduated Magna... not sure how to fix this next year or if I should just chalk it up to this reviewer and ignore it?

[Tsujiru]

Since some people have asked about whether it is worth applying in your 2nd year if you didn't get an HM your 1st year, I thought I'd post my reviews.

Last year: No award or HM (IM/BI)

VG/F

G/VG

Reviewer 1 basically asked me to explain my techniques more in my proposal (If only there were the space!) and then said that I wasn't specific enough in my BI. Reviewer 2 docked me for not discussing my controls or alternative hypotheses (again, space!) but was pretty generous on BI. But that Fair from reviewer 1 really was the bee under my bonnet that got me rewriting my essays right away (because frankly, I am totally the type of person that dedicates a lot of energy to BI activities and I was dismayed that that didn't come across in my original essays).

This year: Award (IM/BI)

E/E

G/E

E/E

Reviewer 1 called my academic background outstanding and said that I come with the highest recommendations of my mentors. Reviewer 1 also lauded the specificity of my BI. Reviewer 2 got into the details of my proposed research and said it was an interesting idea but that I don't have the key evidence to support my hypothesis yet (totally agreed, it is my "risky" project, but also the one that I'm most excited about, which is why I wrote about it for the NSF). Reviewer 2 wrote my favorite comment in BI saying, "Sometimes an applicant has come to appreciate the value of outreach almost naturally. This applicant seems to be such a candidate - maybe partly due to a family situation, but I sense mostly because applicant truly sees the value of outreach and the importance of having a broader impact. In such situations the individual continues the ’give-back’ in various, and numerous, ways." Reviewer 3 said that I would benefit from more opportunities to present my research at symposia and conferences (also, totally agreed, but my PI seems to think that any time away from the bench is essentially "vacation" so I have a hard time convincing him to let me leave, even for something scientific. Maybe now that I have my own funding (including travel funds) I can make a more compelling argument ). Reviewer 3 mentioned my global awareness and outreach.

Still feels like I'm dreaming but I guess a lot of fellows probably feel like that. To those that didn't get it this year, good luck in the years to come!

[vertices]

IM/BI:

G/VG

VG/E

VG/E

I think it's clear that I didn't get it. What sunk me is that I didn't do very well in undergrad (although I went to an Ivy), although in my last semester and a one-year math program afterwards, I had a 4.0. It's sad that I can't overcome a low undergrad GPA (3.17) but that's ok.

It sounds like you're still eligible, so definitely try again! I also had a low undergraduate GPA early in my career. I took a few sentences in my personal statement to address it and then explain how I had learned and grown from it, leading to better grades later on and an appreciation of perseverance in reaching one's goals.

[hangin brain]

I'm a 2nd year grad student who won this year, but didn't even crack HM last year. Here are my last year's reviews:

IM/BI

g/g

f/g

g/g

The basic criticisms were: 1) poor publication record (i.e., NO publication record), 2) poorly articulated research plan, 3) no K-12 outreach and 4) no plans for continued outreach. The great thing about the NSF GRFP is that they basically tell you how to win an award with the reviews and all the literature they provide as to how they judge proposals. So, I immediately just addressed each criticism, and came up with an award this year. Here are the reviews from this year:

IM/BI:

vg/e

e/e

e/e

They still said I could have published more, which is true. But I think using the reviews from last year as a guide made my application pretty rock-solid. I published, I got a ton of feedback on how to articulate a research proposal, I started volunteering with K-12 students, and I wrote a bunch of continued outreach plans.

So, if you came up short this year, hopefully they at least gave you useful reviews. Use them! They're basically instructions on how to win the fellowship.

Best of luck to everyone next year!