NSF GRFP 2012-2013

[fe3lg0odhit]

Hello,

I'm a first year graduate student applying for the GRFP and I get this issue when I try to submit my application:

NSF GRFP Program Information Edit

*WARNING: The information contained in the education section of your application may conflict with the amount of graduate study you indicated you have completed. Please check to make sure information in these sections is accurate

I've checked my education backwards and forwards and I know that I've put the right information in there (I graduated from my undergraduate institution June 2012 and I started graduate school in September 2012). Has anyone ran into this issue? I could submit my application but I do not want my application to be hindered because of this.

Also, for any of you first year applicants, were you able to fill-in values for graduate coursework completed during your institution? I'm a first year so I have no completed credits so I put 0 semester/quarter units but it isn't showing up after I click submit.

It did this for me too. I came to the conclusion that because I graduated undergrad in Spring 2011, but I am a 1st year graduate student in Fall of 2012, that it was making sure that I am not a second year grad student. That's all I could come up with.

[swamped]

So the deadline is finally over! Now we can rest for the next 6 months at least

[Chande]

My deadline is tomorrow night. I'm going crazy and agonizing over every detail. I keep thinking that I shouldn't even submit it because it just doesn't feel good enough. I've been reading papers and writing but the more I do the less I feel like I have any idea of what I'm talking about. I keep having nightmares that they'll read my essays and just laugh and I'll get kicked out of grad school and then I'll have a heart attack and die (...that last part of the nightmare probably came from just hearing as I was finishing up the essays that one of my favorite professors from undergrad died of a heart attack at a fairly young age). I've deleted and saved over entire papers before so I'm concerned that I'll try to sabotage myself in a moment of panic, so I've sent copies of each essay to understanding friends as a fail safe in case I do. I feel insane right now and I don't know how to deal with feeling like this.

How do you deal with it? I'm trying just to take deep breaths but I feel like I'm drowning.

[guttata]

So the deadline is finally over! Now we can rest for the next 6 months at least

Not until Monday. Life Sciences. Not quite 6 months, they announced last year in late March, I think. It was much earlier than previous years, but even the later dates have been early April.

My deadline is tomorrow night. I'm going crazy and agonizing over every detail. I keep thinking that I shouldn't even submit it because it just doesn't feel good enough.

Still submit. Even if you don't get anything, it's incredibly helpful to get any comments back from reviewers (even shitty, aimless ones), regardless of what people may have told you about the comments being unhelpful. Plus, anything you've written or got comments on means you aren't starting from square 1 next year. Heck, you could even start revising in April, if you felt so inclined (I wouldn't recommend it).

I've been reading papers and writing but the more I do the less I feel like I have any idea of what I'm talking about. I keep having nightmares that they'll read my essays and just laugh and I'll get kicked out of grad school and then I'll have a heart attack and die (...that last part of the nightmare probably came from just hearing as I was finishing up the essays that one of my favorite professors from undergrad died of a heart attack at a fairly young age). I've deleted and saved over entire papers before so I'm concerned that I'll try to sabotage myself in a moment of panic, so I've sent copies of each essay to understanding friends as a fail safe in case I do. I feel insane right now and I don't know how to deal with feeling like this.

How do you deal with it? I'm trying just to take deep breaths but I feel like I'm drowning.

Well, it helps to not be a crazy person. It's one award. Yes, it's a big one, but it's not make or break for your career. If it is, you're at the wrong school, with the wrong professor, or have the wrong priorities for getting in to science. Lots of capable scientists have gotten this award; lots of capable scientists didn't. Hell, out of 2k awards/year, some of the awardees are fuckups, too (I can think of several.... Reviewers/review processes are human). And - I've said this before, I'll say it again - at a certain point, this whole thing becomes a crapshoot and it's luck of the draw, depending on whether you get asshole/idiot/fantastic reviewers. Trust me, the assholes/idiots will show up when you try to publish, too.

[Chande]

Thanks. That does make me feel better. I had thought that this would be my only chance to apply, so I do feel better knowing that I will have another chance. I'm sure having made a previous attempt and having comments to work from will be helpful.

[synorg]

NSF site is back up. i just submitted my app no problem. good luck, everyone!

[khujeci]

Following Alex's question, does anyone have examples of Social Science essays, especially the Research Proposal. You can PM me if you prefer.

[kro7]

Can a header/footer be outside the 1" margins? Default for the header and footer is usually 0.5", so I wanted to check...

[psycspy]

I wouldn't put anything in the margins, just to be safe! The formatting instructions state you cannot have text within the 1" margins.

Reference letter question-- it says we should rank the letters. The first will be from my current graduate advisor, but I am wondering on how to rank #2 and #3. One of them will be from my undergraduate research advisor (not sure how much he really liked me; I don't know how strong his letter will be) and the other from my internship supervisor (the position was within my field but not research-based- but I feel her letter will be strong).

Feels like the wrong decision either way. And how important is the letter-ranking anyway??

[Lyra Belacqua]

Nobody sees the ranking except you, I think. I'm pretty sure that its only purpose is if you have more than 3 letter writers: only the top 3 will get read, but if one is missing, they'll go to number 4 or 5.

[schoolpsych_hopeful]

Can a header/footer be outside the 1" margins? Default for the header and footer is usually 0.5", so I wanted to check...

I used headers last year to label my statements and include my name, and it wasn't a problem. Unless something has changed this year, it should be okay, but as psycspy said it's better to err on the side of caution.

[phrygian777]

I submitted my application for yesterday, two minutes before the deadline. To my horror, after reviewing my submitted application I noticed that my tex editor decided to mess up for the first time after compiling about 50 times that day, and placed 2 letters of 1 sentence past the 1 inch margin. Do you think this will automatically disqualify me? I called NSF today and they said they could not confirm whether or not my application would still be reviewed, and were very firm that nothing could be changed past the deadline. Any advice on what I can still do at this point would be very much appreciated!

[Lyra Belacqua]

In particular, someone I know who got it a couple of years ago showed me her essays, and they all had title/keywords on the page itself. I see that on the application I'm filling out, they give space to put those in the online form. I think I remember hearing that this changed last year?

[guttata]

In particular, someone I know who got it a couple of years ago showed me her essays, and they all had title/keywords on the page itself. I see that on the application I'm filling out, they give space to put those in the online form. I think I remember hearing that this changed last year?

There's no requirement that these be on the page, and as there are blanks on Fastlane for them, I assume they're not needed. I also don't have space for them, so I'm not putting them on.

[naholt01]

I just noticed that they changed the program solicitation eligibility criterion for second year grad students to those with 12 months or less of graduate study as of August 1, instead of July 1. Technically I started working in my lab (and received credit hours for summer research) in July of 2011, but I wasn't enrolled in courses until August. Does anyone know whether or not this will disqualify me?

[Lyra Belacqua]

I just noticed that they changed the program solicitation eligibility criterion for second year grad students to those with 12 months or less of graduate study as of August 1, instead of July 1. Technically I started working in my lab (and received credit hours for summer research) in July of 2011, but I wasn't enrolled in courses until August. Does anyone know whether or not this will disqualify me?

It looks like it won't: http://www.nsfgrfp.org/applicant_resources/frequently_asked_questions#summer2011

There's no requirement that these be on the page, and as there are blanks on Fastlane for them, I assume they're not needed. I also don't have space for them, so I'm not putting them on.

Yeah, that's what I figured as well.

[khujeci]

Nobody sees the ranking except you, I think. I'm pretty sure that its only purpose is if you have more than 3 letter writers: only the top 3 will get read, but if one is missing, they'll go to number 4 or 5.

Exactly, only relevant if one of your writers does not come through.

[khujeci]

I submitted my application for yesterday, two minutes before the deadline. To my horror, after reviewing my submitted application I noticed that my tex editor decided to mess up for the first time after compiling about 50 times that day, and placed 2 letters of 1 sentence past the 1 inch margin. Do you think this will automatically disqualify me? I called NSF today and they said they could not confirm whether or not my application would still be reviewed, and were very firm that nothing could be changed past the deadline. Any advice on what I can still do at this point would be very much appreciated!

I would find the email address for nsf, and email them a note explaining what you said on phone. That way there is an actual paper trail of how the mistake happened.

[yaey]

So now I'm terrified that the NSF people will read my proposal and be like "HAHA YOUR PROPOSAL SUCKS"

I didn't actually ask anyone to look at it. I probably should have, but I finished it the day it was due.

Edited November 16, 2012 by yaey

[InquilineKea]

So a lot of people say that they'll distribute their research to [Conference X] or [Journal Y] in their proposed research. The thing is - do the reviewers care whether or not their research will actually make it into [Conference X] or [Journal Y], given that the vast majority of papers get rejected anyways?

Also, if a citation has multiple co-authors, at which point does it become a [first author et al] citation?

Oh - and yaey - are you who I think you are?

Edited November 16, 2012 by InquilineKea

[guttata]

So a lot of people say that they'll distribute their research to [Conference X] or [Journal Y] in their proposed research. The thing is - do the reviewers care whether or not their research will actually make it into [Conference X] or [Journal Y], given that the vast majority of papers get rejected anyways?

Also, if a citation has multiple co-authors, at which point does it become a [first author et al] citation?

I don't think specifics matter terribly (may vary by field), but as part of my broader impacts I have a rather general line about "will publish and present at meetings."

As for citations, I don't use an in-text citation at all, only superscript. I'll switch to "et al" for anything more than 2 (e.g. Smith and Jones vs Smith, Jones, and Smith = Smith et al)

[Dynamom]

Wow. App due tomorrow and I actually feel ok about it. It's not earth shattering or transformative - I actually liked my last year's project better - but it's good and original, I listened to reviewers, and I'm a better applicant. I feel like I should be more optimistic - having been through this process last year, however, I can't help but think about the 6 months of anticipation then the let down of not winning, then the encouragement of at least getting HM, then the daunting task of starting over... I'm a pretty resilient person, but I wonder about the psychology/character needed to make a career of this sort of thing (funding dependency)... I suppose, if we remain committed to an academic career, we get battle-hardened?

Edited November 16, 2012 by Dynamom

[kro7]

I was a little confused by the "Proposed Research Title" section; are you supposed to list key words along with the Proposed Research Title? Or do they key words go in the Short Research Title? (or is there no list of keywords...)

When you're on the actual application, the instructions say:

The title should be brief and informative. It should describe in succinct terms your proposed research, reflecting the contents of your proposal. Include a list of key words, and do not use abbreviations and chemical formulas (in 255 characters or less). This title will be used for searching research topics using the key words you supply.

But when I look at the pdf version of the entire application, it's a little different:

The title should be brief and informative. It should describe in succinct terms your proposed research,

reflecting the contents of your proposal. Use key words, and do not use abbreviations and chemical

formulas(in 255 characters or less). This title will be used for searching research topics using the key words

you supply.

i.e., it says "use key words" vs. "list key words"

[dendy]

Are you guys using "we" or "I" for your proposed experimental plan? I was leaning towards "I", but I talk about unpublished data from "our lab" and I want to have a consistent "voice" I guess... Speaking of which, how should I cite unpublished raw data? I've just been writing (unpublished data) after each statement but should I put something in the citations list--if so, what? I can only find formats for citing unpublished papers.

Also, I am currently working as a research assistant (applying to grad school right now) and I am proposing this project as if I was staying in this current lab/university for grad school which is unlikely but not outside the realm of possibility. This project IS specific to the lab/its interests and while I could perform it at a few other schools, where I am at now is best suited for it so I listed my current department as my proposed graduate program. Do you think reviewers could view this as weird for some reason?? Should I emphasize why this school really is the best place for this project (one technique was developed here and is still not widely disseminated and I am also using preliminary data from this lab)?

Edited November 16, 2012 by dendy

[rexcordium]

Are you guys using "we" or "I" for your proposed experimental plan? I was leaning towards "I", but I talk about unpublished data from "our lab" and I want to have a consistent "voice" I guess... Speaking of which, how should I cite unpublished raw data? I've just been writing (unpublished data) after each statement but should I put something in the citations list--if so, what? I can only find formats for citing unpublished papers.

Also, I am currently working as a research assistant (applying to grad school right now) and I am proposing this project as if I was staying in this current lab/university for grad school which is unlikely but not outside the realm of possibility. This project IS specific to the lab/its interests and while I could perform it at a few other schools, where I am at now is best suited for it so I listed my current department as my proposed graduate program. Do you think reviewers could view this as weird for some reason?? Should I emphasize why this school really is the best place for this project (one technique was developed here and is still not widely disseminated and I am also using preliminary data from this lab)?

If you use "we" make sure the we makes sense in context. So first say something like, "My graduate student mentor John Smith and I..." and then you can switch to "we." Otherwise it comes out of nowhere. I used "we" in mine in a few places, but I used "I" when I specifically did something (like designed a figure or ran an experiment etc. etc.)

I read somewhere or talked to someone that someone once submitted an application saying that and the reviewers weren't too happy about that...so I'm not sure. I might just look for another program you can do it at. there's always another school working on something (see if your lab is doing any collaborations for instance)