EPA STAR Fellowship 2012

[FunkySoFresh]

....I'm on this website way too much for my own good.

[marshymarsh]

....I'm on this website way too much for my own good.

...THIS. Seriously. I'm trying to limit myself to once a day. Good luck everyone! May the odds be ever in your favor.

Edited April 18, 2012 by marshymarsh

[Ento]

Heads up all!

Got my package of doom today. Letter dated 4/12. General comments were that proposal wasn't specific enough (they should have seen my first draft). Oh well...feels good to know

Good luck to all the rest!

[FunkySoFresh]

Sorry, Ento. But I bet it does feel good to know something! Good luck everyone!

[withoutwords]

Heads up all!

Got my package of doom today. Letter dated 4/12. General comments were that proposal wasn't specific enough (they should have seen my first draft). Oh well...feels good to know

Good luck to all the rest!

What did you apply under?

[Ento]

C3 - pesticides

[jgord13]

C3 - pesticides

How were you notified (i.e.: e-mail, snail mail, etc.)? What was the title of you proposal?

[watery]

How were you notified (i.e.: e-mail, snail mail, etc.)? What was the title of you proposal?

My experience last year (I'm applying for a 2nd time), was that I got a big, yellow envelope in the mail some time around now. I thought a big envelope would be good thing...but it was just a letter saying, "I'm sorry to tell you..." and a packet of comments from the reviewers noting what they liked/didn't like about my application.

I think if you get the fellowship you receive a phone call (but I don't have any personal experience with that!).

[docGrad654]

Heads up all!

Got my package of doom today. Letter dated 4/12. General comments were that proposal wasn't specific enough (they should have seen my first draft). Oh well...feels good to know

Good luck to all the rest!

Hey Ento, do you mind telling us what it says when you click on "check my application status" after logging in to grants.gov? Mine still just has "Agency Tracking Number Assigned." Anyone else with a different experience?

[Ento]

Same, no updates since Nov. sorry, doesn't look like that will give any leads.

[rabidbadger]

I applied under C3 and received my rejection packet via snail mail today. Dated 4/12/12. Overall, I received good comments from the reviewers, and an overall score of "very good" on a scale of excellent, very good, good, fair and poor. Basically, you would need an "excellent" for it to reach the internal review at EPA and then they would deliberate over those applications for who would be funded (I'm assuming). Best of luck to everyone! I am not eligible to apply next year since I am too senior of a grad student but hope that those of you who are rejected, and are still eligible next year, continue to apply! You can't be awarded if you don't apply

[zhang22]

I'm going back home soon. I hope that I don't find a package but I'm not expecting good news either. Just takes one judge to give you a "very good" to count you out of the running. I'm also checking here too often. If I get the letter of doom today, I'll post an update.

[wmorgan30]

Got the rejection letter just now, for B3: Green Energy/ Natural Resource Production and Use. The letter was dated April 12. Good luck everyone!

[zhang22]

To all those who got rejection letters so far...I really feel for you and wish you luck next year if you apply. Can you tell me where you'e located though? The EPA office is in Washington D.C. Are you guys on the East Coast by any chance?

[FunkySoFresh]

For those of you who have seen your review results, do they happen to mention if they consider any other criteria other than the propsal (letter of intent, recommendation letters, work experience, etc)?

[FunkySoFresh]

For those of you who have seen your review results, do they happen to mention if they consider any other criteria other than the propsal (letter of intent, recommendation letters, work experience, etc)?

[dornos]

For those of you who have seen your review results, do they happen to mention if they consider any other criteria other than the propsal (letter of intent, recommendation letters, work experience, etc)?

Yeah they do (at least they did last year). The actual proposal is "technically" only a third of the overall evaluation (although I suspect they might weight it a little more in the long run). But they also look at "potenial for a career in env sci," which mainly focuses on your background and your career goals. The third part is "broader impacts" which is basically applied (management) benefits, public outreach, mentoring, etc. Background and letters of rec are important for that part too.

[rabidbadger]

I am on the east coast and yes, the reviewers did summarize each of the 3 criteria. To be honest, I'm kind of disappointed that the reviews weren't more critical, because if they are going to reject it and not give the money then they should be more descriptive about what was wrong with it, haha. For each of the sections they summarized what they liked, said the science was very organized, well-written and that my career goals are aligned with the environment and mentioned how my rec. letters backed that up. I took a hit and was score "very good" because they felt my proposal wasn't a "broader societal impact" project. Perhaps they thought my project is part of a larger one that is more transformable, but that's unfortunately not the case, this is all my lab is really working on so far. Good luck to everyone and apply to as many things as you can. I wish I did more as a more junior graduate student because now it's too late. Hope there are more opportunities in the future!!!

[marshymarsh]

Hey all. Has anyone gotten *good* news yet? Or only rejections so far? Is it a good or bad thing if we haven't gotten anything yet?

[waterworld]

good thing if you haven't received anything. went through this last year (unfortunately, wasn't awarded)...basically, the longer that you don't hear, the better. strange, i know.

[zhang22]

Hey Marsh, here's what I think happened. Letters were dated 4/12 (Thursday) but probably weren't sent out till the following Monday. Makes sense if people on the East Coast got them yesterday. There are two cuts; one major cut and one final cut from what I've heard. If the letters were just sent out from the first cut, it's likely that there's discussion over the final cut going on right now. I'd expect the phone calls to start next week.

[withoutwords]

Has anyone not from the East coast received a letter?

[Heat_her_bee]

some friends in my cohort received their letters on the west coast yesterday.

[FunkySoFresh]

Heat_her_bee, do you know what FON they applied under? I'm just curious if they're sending out all rejection letters at once, or if they're sending them out by FON...

[Heat_her_bee]

I know one was pesticide stuff, so I think they are sending first round out together. That is what they did last year. Only advice I can offer is not to stress out. Last year they took their time and sent out rejections in two or more batches. The first batch came mid April and I didn't get my letter until early June. Phone calls also came from mid April-early June.