NSF fellowship?

[child of 2]

I'm wondering if I should even apply to this fellowship at all. I realize that have ZERO broader impact working for me on the essay parts. When I read essays of others who have received this fellowship, I see these extravagant volunteer work where they reach out to the community and elementary/middle/high school children. Hell, one guy went to Africa to help them construct aquifers to help provide clean drinking water to a small village. In addition, they all have kept busy over the summers with VARIOUS internships, REUs, etc.

Me on the other hand: two undergrad research positions, and a TA position over the course of three years. Nothing fancy, or significant, other than two publications which haven't even been submitted. I think that if I do my leg work on the intellectual merit, I can come up with a decent research proposal. But I feel like I will be severely lacking in broader impacts, mostly because I've been busy busting my ass in school and working to keep up with rent.

Should I even try to apply for the NSF, or should I just focus on my grad school apps?

Also, aside from the NSF, are there other fellowship opportunities that I should look out for? It would be extremely helpful to get some financial support, or at least show grad schools that I'm serious about this.

Any input is appreciated.

[Eigen]

There's no harm in trying.

You can always get good feedback for the next cycle, and apply next year.

That said, my impression has been that broader impacts are very important- they won't win you a fellowship if the intellectual merit isn't there, but given that you have a solid proposal, you'll need them to win.

And I think it's also important that you show both a history of service work and outreach, as well as future plans. If you just have good plans but nothing to back it up, it's similar to a grant proposal in which you have an interesting idea, but have no preliminary results/prior work published in the area.

I'll also mention that your use of "extravagant" and the tone of your post seems to suggest that people who did these things weren't also busting their asses in school and working to keep up with rent.

[child of 2]

I assumed that these students probably had scholarships or financial support that helped them have more time to focus on other aspects of their lives. What I'm trying to say is that I feel like I'm not in their league in terms of accomplishments. I have a friend who (unlike me) lives on campus, has full ride, is involved in a bunch of clubs, leader of several, volunteers at the farmer's market and whatnot, all the while managing to get a 3.9+ GPA, and STILL have time to play tennis and lift weights with me. I couldn't do that if I cloned myself.

Edited October 22, 2012 by child of 2

[juilletmercredi]

Always try, I think. You can rack your brain to think of smaller things you might have done - for example, although I did have significant volunteer experiences in college, I also highlighted how I tutored people on the GRE for free (mostly friends). Broader impacts also has to do with the impact you plan to make in the future. Not only did I talk about my past efforts, I also talked about things I wanted to do in the future to make an impact on the science pipeline (teach statistics, mentor younger researchers). Your broader impacts also have to do with the broader impacts of your research itself, so start thinking about how your research proposal has an impact on the human condition.

The other thing is, you may want to start doing a little outreach now - nothing huge, but maybe mentoring or tutoring or volunteering? It's rewarding!

I agree that the feedback in itself is a good reason to apply. You can improve yourself for next year!

[child of 2]

nope... application is due in less than a week, and I haven't even started the research proposal. The publications I thought I was going to have haven't even been submitted. But if I get into a good program this year, I can use my whole spring and summer to beef up for the following year as a 1st yr grad student... and chill, because these classes are driving me nuts. holy buckets.