NSF GRFP 2012-2013

[guttata]

Does anyone know how to change the "graduate program" portion of your application?  Or if this is even possible?  The offer I am probably going to accept is different from the school I put in my application...!

You can't change at this point, and it doesn't matter; you're not locked in to the project you proposed, and you're not locked into the school you marked, either. They "fund the researcher, not the research," as they say. Really, you're not even locked in to the specific field you mentioned, though I suspect you'd run into some difficulty if you proposed sociology and tried to switch to chemistry, for example.

[anxiousanthro]

awesome! ok, thank you

[magpies]

What do you mean I'm "trolling"? 

 

I received my tentative offer of admission, but it's to Japan, which I think gives offers of acceptance earlier than other programs because our start date is earlier than other programs. I still have to be accepted by my host researcher and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for it to be an official acceptance...

I checked my FastLane account for comments, but I don't think they're posted yet--perhaps because it's only a "tentative" offer of acceptance so my application is still as "processing."

Edited February 17, 2013 by magpies

[Eigen]

Are you talking about receiving an NSF Award acceptance, or are you talking about the new overseas study abroad portion in Japan?

 

I think you're talking about the latter, but since you didn't specify, everyone thinks you're talking about the base award, and panicking that they haven't heard. 

[guttata]

What do you mean I'm "trolling"? 

 

I received my tentative offer of admission, but it's to Japan, which I think gives offers of acceptance earlier than other programs because our start date is earlier than other programs. I still have to be accepted by my host researcher and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for it to be an official acceptance...

I checked my FastLane account for comments, but I don't think they're posted yet--perhaps because it's only a "tentative" offer of acceptance so my application is still as "processing."

Ok, you're not trolling, you're blind. You're posting in the GRFP thread, not the EAPSI thread. Totally different programs with totally different notification times and acceptance rates.

[warbrain]

Does anyone know how to change the "graduate program" portion of your application?  Or if this is even possible?  The offer I am probably going to accept is different from the school I put in my application...!

 

I looked up where a lot of the awardees in my area who hadn't started attending graduate school yet are going now, and it seems like a lot of people are not going the school they stated.

 

Also, does anyone have any stories about people who got rejected from a lot of grad schools, but still ended up getting the fellowship?  I'm not sure if it's still worth it to be hopeful now that I've been getting so many rejections.

[Eigen]

I don't know about a lot of schools, but there have been posters here from years past that got an NSF fellowship, but didn't get accepted anywhere. 

[guttata]

I don't know about a lot of schools, but there have been posters here from years past that got an NSF fellowship, but didn't get accepted anywhere. 

 

In those cases it's not uncommon to be able to call a school (especially one where you were waitlisted) and say "So... the NSF told me I got this fellowship or something?" and the school will trip over themselves to send you an acceptance letter. Technically "not supposed to influence the admissions process," but that's bull and anyone in this situation shouldn't feel bad about doing so. Money and politics, that's all it is.

[Eigen]

In those cases it's not uncommon to be able to call a school (especially one where you were waitlisted) and say "So... the NSF told me I got this fellowship or something?" and the school will trip over themselves to send you an acceptance letter. Technically "not supposed to influence the admissions process," but that's bull and anyone in this situation shouldn't feel bad about doing so. Money and politics, that's all it is.

 

Yes and no. You can try it, but a lot of the "top" schools still often won't reverse the decision. Funding is rarely the limiting factor there, and if they decided you didn't have the right fit, getting a grant won't change that.

 

Again, see the posts of this happening the last few years.

 

It's also worth noting that an NSF fellowship still carries a large financial burden to the University. It doesn't cover (much) tuition, so the department/school still have to cover that out of their budget- and at least here, what NSF doesn't cover in tuition is more than the stipend. Also, an NSF fellowship is only 3 years, vs. a usual PhD of 5ish, so the department will have 2 years then anyway- and then there are supplies, overhead, etc.

 

It's not that getting an NSF isn't a benefit, but it's rarely the "completely turn admission decisions around" card people seem to think it is, especially not at higher ranked schools.

[SensLu]

In those cases it's not uncommon to be able to call a school (especially one where you were waitlisted) and say "So... the NSF told me I got this fellowship or something?" and the school will trip over themselves to send you an acceptance letter. Technically "not supposed to influence the admissions process," but that's bull and anyone in this situation shouldn't feel bad about doing so. Money and politics, that's all it is.

I agree 100%. And that's exactly what I plan on doing. However, luckily for me the schools I'm applying too has either an open application date or has a submission date past april.

[whirledpeas13]

Does anyone know if the Jackson School of International Studies MA Korea Studies program would qualify? I have applied for NSF in anthropology PhD programs, but was accepted at JSIS and plan to accept. Should I receive the NSF can I switch to this program? I know "international Studies" is an approved field, but what about a specific area studies program? I also am expecting good funding at this program, but would love to "save" an NSF for future PhD studies... Any thoughts?

Edited February 27, 2013 by whirledpeas13

[deepbreath]

I know the release is still a month or so away, but now that it's basically March I'm starting to get excited!

 

Here are the release dates from the past several years (copied from previous years' threads):

2006 - Thursday, March 30
2007 - Friday, March 23
2008 - Tuesday, April 1 (Results were accidentally released\hacked the day before)
2009 - Friday, April 10
2010 - Tuesday, April 6
2011 - Tuesday, April 5
2012 - Friday, March 30
 

Is it too soon to start speculating?

[anxiousanthro]

I know the release is still a month or so away, but now that it's basically March I'm starting to get excited!

 

Here are the release dates from the past several years (copied from previous years' threads):

2006 - Thursday, March 30

2007 - Friday, March 23

2008 - Tuesday, April 1 (Results were accidentally released\hacked the day before)

2009 - Friday, April 10

2010 - Tuesday, April 6

2011 - Tuesday, April 5

2012 - Friday, March 30

 

Is it too soon to start speculating?

 

Thank you so much for posting this!  My choice is really riding on whether or not I get the NSF... if we hear back by March 23rd I will be SO happy!  lol @ someone hacking the results haha...

[InquilineKea]

Ugh, does anyone know if the budget sequestration will hit NSF Fellowships hard?

 

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2013_02_27/caredit.a1300029

[TrainDreaming]

I see in the NSF's "Notice No. 133" released on February 27, 2103 regarding the "Impact on FY 2013 Sequestration Order on NSF Awards":

 

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/in133/in133.pdf?WT.mc_id=USNSF_80

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

We intend to make the necessary FY 2013 reductions with as little disruption as possible to established commitments, and are using the following set of core principles to guide out sequestration planning activities:

 

* Protect commitments to NSF's core mission and maintain existing awards;

* Protect the NSF workforce; and

* Protect STEM human capital development programs

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I hope that NSF GRFP falls under the 3rd core principle....

Edited March 1, 2013 by TrainDreaming

[Pez]

I emailed the GRFP general info address about whether the sequester will impact the number of awards, and I got this response -

 

 Thank you for your e-mail. To date we have not received any information about the impact of the sequester on the GRFP.

[InquilineKea]

Ugh... I hate the suspense.. ****ing republicans

 

(granted, the democrats are also partially to blame too)

Edited March 2, 2013 by InquilineKea

[franks98]

For the GRFP, I think they will just hold funding at last year's level (i.e. 30k/yr, 10.5k institutional support).  The nsfgrfp.org website doesn't have the info about the stipend and support increase for FY13 listed anymore, so my guess is that they'll keep the number of awards the same and decrease the award amount.  That sucks, but I suppose it's better than thinking that you maybe could have gotten an award if only damn politicians didn't screw everything up.  

[guttata]

For the GRFP, I think they will just hold funding at last year's level (i.e. 30k/yr, 10.5k institutional support).  The nsfgrfp.org website doesn't have the info about the stipend and support increase for FY13 listed anymore, so my guess is that they'll keep the number of awards the same and decrease the award amount.

 

 

Yes it does.

 

 

- $30,000 annual stipend (anticipated to increase to $32,000 for FY13) - $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the institution

[franks98]

nevermind. I thought it had been on the about page.  

Edited March 7, 2013 by franks98

[Queen of Kale]

I know, it's really really early to admit this, but the wait is making me crazy.  Now that I don't have any more schools to wait on I catch myself having these NSF daydreams all the freaking time.  Also, dreams about the NSF that usually have some sort of Wonka element (finding the NSF letter in a chocolate bar, etc).  I've gone round the bend.

[InquilineKea]

Does anyone know if I can apply for the NSF GRFP in my second year of my new grad school if I transfer from one grad school to another in my 1st year and if none of the graduate credits transfer over?

[guttata]

Does anyone know if I can apply for the NSF GRFP in my second year of my new grad school if I transfer from one grad school to another in my 1st year and if none of the graduate credits transfer over?

 

No, you can't. I'm assuming from your slightly ambiguous year you're wording this as: Year 1, School A; Year 2, School B; Year 3, School B and apply for a 3rd time in School B. You can only apply twice during your graduate career.

Edited March 8, 2013 by guttata

[guttata]

Just because I enjoy watching people squirm, I'd like to call attention to the message on the front page of FastLane:

 

 

FastLane will be unavailable Sunday, March 10, from 12:01AM ET to 8:00AM ET for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

 

This is the message they will put up prior to updating the system with GRFP announcements. In the days leading up to the announcements last year, this message came up about 3 or 4 times IIRC, with several false alarms.

 

It may be a little early yet, but then again, you never know...

[vertices]

Just because I enjoy watching people squirm, I'd like to call attention to the message on the front page of FastLane:

 

 

 

This is the message they will put up prior to updating the system with GRFP announcements. In the days leading up to the announcements last year, this message came up about 3 or 4 times IIRC, with several false alarms.

 

It may be a little early yet, but then again, you never know...

For the past three years, the hours have been different on the GRFP night. It's been 11pm to 5am. The midnight to 8am has been for other stuff.

"GRFP will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET Monday April 5th - 5:00 AM ET Tuesday, April 6th for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience." ( )

and

"04/04/11 - GRFP/FastLane will be unavailable from 11:00PM ET Monday, April 4th - 5:00AM ET Tuesday, April 5th for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience." ( )

and

"FastLane will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET Thursday March 29th - 5:00 AM ET Friday, March 30th for scheduled maintenance." ( )

...but to support guttata's enjoyment, you never know...

Edited March 8, 2013 by vertices