NSF GRFP 2013-14

[clandry]

Out of curiosity, typically I separate the last line of a paragraph and the heading with one space, like so:

end of sentence.

 

Heading

 

 

On the application I changed that space to 0.5 (half as much as the above). That's okay right?

[Monochrome Spring]

Out of curiosity, typically I separate the last line of a paragraph and the heading with one space, like so:

end of sentence.

 

Heading

 

 

On the application I changed that space to 0.5 (half as much as the above). That's okay right?

I don't want to think that they would nitpick that, but their scanning software may decide otherwise. That's adding more space to your proposal, so it could be viewed as an unfair advantage. Nothing you can do now though. I think that they notify disqualifications in December.

[clandry]

I don't want to think that they would nitpick that, but their scanning software may decide otherwise. That's adding more space to your proposal, so it could be viewed as an unfair advantage. Nothing you can do now though. I think that they notify disqualifications in December.

I read all the rules and I'm not sure why this would violate the rules, particularly the rules about spacing. My previous post was pretty confusing, so I attached an image to illustrate what I meant.

 

So in the top example, there's a whole empty line. In the bottom, I reduced that space to half of the top (this is what I had in my essay). I have not seen any rules regarding this nor have I seen anything that you have to have a space between a sentence and heading though it would look better if you did. In my 3 page essay, I actually didn't even have a space between the last sentence of the preceding paragraph and the heading.

 

 

[DropTheBase]

Out of curiosity, typically I separate the last line of a paragraph and the heading with one space, like so:

end of sentence.

 

Heading

 

 

On the application I changed that space to 0.5 (half as much as the above). That's okay right?

 

 

From the solicitation: The statements must be (...) single spaced or greater.

 

I can't imagine how shrinking a line of whitespace could be considered as adding space to your proposal. It's technically greater than single spaced. Hopefully the scanning software wasn't written by a 7 year old and just measures the whitespace between text. 

 

I wouldn't worry about it, unless someone here with a sad experience can attest otherwise.

 

DTB

[guttata]

From the solicitation: The statements must be (...) single spaced or greater.

 

I can't imagine how shrinking a line of whitespace could be considered as adding space to your proposal. It's technically greater than single spaced. Hopefully the scanning software wasn't written by a 7 year old and just measures the whitespace between text. 

 

I wouldn't worry about it, unless someone here with a sad experience can attest otherwise.

 

DTB

 

Gotta agree with DTB here. I did something similar with spacing, but to hedge my bets i increased the spacing of the line previous (i.e. 1.4 spacing instead of a new line of 0.4), just to avoid potential technicalities due to that highlighted line. I really doubt it will matter, though.

[clandry]

From the solicitation: The statements must be (...) single spaced or greater.

 

I can't imagine how shrinking a line of whitespace could be considered as adding space to your proposal. It's technically greater than single spaced. Hopefully the scanning software wasn't written by a 7 year old and just measures the whitespace between text. 

 

I wouldn't worry about it, unless someone here with a sad experience can attest otherwise.

 

DTB

Okay phew. I'm not that great with Word.Doc terminology. When I specified the size of the white line space, I set it as "0.5" instead of 1, but I don't think that has anything to do with the "single spacing." 

[M692]

Hi guys!

 

Has anyone ever experienced problems with FastLane duplicating/losing essays from their application?

 

I got an email earlier today from the GRF operations center saying my application was rejected because my research statement is 3 pages long... which is most certainly is not. It looks like the document I uploaded for my personal statement (which is 3 pages) was somehow duplicated and used in place of my research statement! I'm 100% sure I uploaded my research statement correctly (I'm sure we all looked over our applications 20 times before submitting), so this is definitely due to some error on FastLane's end. I'm not really sure how to prove this though! D:

 

Anyone have any advice? 

[Monochrome Spring]

Hi guys!

 

Has anyone ever experienced problems with FastLane duplicating/losing essays from their application?

 

I got an email earlier today from the GRF operations center saying my application was rejected because my research statement is 3 pages long... which is most certainly is not. It looks like the document I uploaded for my personal statement (which is 3 pages) was somehow duplicated and used in place of my research statement! I'm 100% sure I uploaded my research statement correctly (I'm sure we all looked over our applications 20 times before submitting), so this is definitely due to some error on FastLane's end. I'm not really sure how to prove this though! D:

 

Anyone have any advice? 

I doubt you can change anything now, but you can try emailing them.

[M692]

I doubt you can change anything now, but you can try emailing them.

 

The thing is, everything in my application looked like it was uploaded correctly before I submitted it. I think this must have happened after submission. Sigh. 

[guttata]

Unless something has changed after your disqualification, you can still log in to the portal and look at your completed application form. Links are provided to each of your essays in the slot they were uploaded. I would suggest you double check before emailing anyone (which won't do you any good, anyway).

[clandry]

Hi guys!

 

Has anyone ever experienced problems with FastLane duplicating/losing essays from their application?

 

I got an email earlier today from the GRF operations center saying my application was rejected because my research statement is 3 pages long... which is most certainly is not. It looks like the document I uploaded for my personal statement (which is 3 pages) was somehow duplicated and used in place of my research statement! I'm 100% sure I uploaded my research statement correctly (I'm sure we all looked over our applications 20 times before submitting), so this is definitely due to some error on FastLane's end. I'm not really sure how to prove this though! D:

 

Anyone have any advice? 

I've encountered this. it is what happens when you try to upload 2 documents at once. The document that you try to upload first is uploaded for both essays for some reason. 

[getsai]

Hi everyone,

 

How strict is NSF with the margins of the statements?

 

I just realized that my research statement has a figure and two tables that are just barely over the 1'' margins. The parts that extend into the margins are the borders, so not actually part of the text or image. I'm guessing this happened when I converted the document from Word to PDF, since I was pretty sure my margins were fine before. I also put page #s in the footer of the documents.

 

I know there's nothing I can do now, but I might get some peace of mind if anyone has had experience, or heard of others, that have still gotten the award even though their figures/tables running slightly over the margin. Also, when are people normally notified if they are disqualified?

 

Thanks in advance!

[YaBoyAR]

The thing is, everything in my application looked like it was uploaded correctly before I submitted it. I think this must have happened after submission. Sigh.

What's most surprising is that their software didn't catch this issue first. When I originally tried to upload, I was over the page limit and their software caught the issue and wouldn't accept my submission until it was edited.

[Igotnothin]

I think they would have to be unreasonably strict to not consider your application after you contact them. Like another poster said take a look on fastlane to see what happened and then absolutely e-mail or call them. There's no reason your many hours of work on this should be wasted because you clicked a button twice. Good luck!

 

Hi guys!

 

Has anyone ever experienced problems with FastLane duplicating/losing essays from their application?

 

I got an email earlier today from the GRF operations center saying my application was rejected because my research statement is 3 pages long... which is most certainly is not. It looks like the document I uploaded for my personal statement (which is 3 pages) was somehow duplicated and used in place of my research statement! I'm 100% sure I uploaded my research statement correctly (I'm sure we all looked over our applications 20 times before submitting), so this is definitely due to some error on FastLane's end. I'm not really sure how to prove this though! D:

 

Anyone have any advice? 

[Queen of Kale]

I know it will torture some of you that I'm posting in this thread with no real news to share, but I had to say two things (to people who would understand):

1) Every time I see the NSF DIGG thread my heart skips a beat and for a moment I think a miracle has occurred and our decisions were released early

2) Today I was so distraught when that happened I calculated how many days between today and when I expect our decisions based on last year (March 31st is my guess) - 77 days.  Groan.  I am going to be unbearable for my poor husband & lab mates.

[iheartplants]

Guys...on the grad results forum there are posts saying that applicants received NSF GRFP solicitations "requesting additional information in the form of a 1pg statement." This is new...What does this mean, lol? http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?t=m&pp=250

 

I'm like:

Edited January 26, 2014 by iheartplants

[guttata]

With next to no information to go on, who knows! Sit and wait and hope they show up to provide some more info. In the meantime, take it as a good thing that you weren't asked to clarify your proposal.

[brownlee0182]

1) I would assume that if you got one of these emails in regards to supplying additional information it's a good'ish sign (i.e. they aren't just flat out rejecting the proposal. They are intrigued enough to request the additional information. Would they waste their time and the applicants time if the proposal was not to their liking?)

 

2) Anyone know about disqualifications? Have they been sent out yet? Have we passed that hurdle?

[iheartplants]

1) I would assume that if you got one of these emails in regards to supplying additional information it's a good'ish sign (i.e. they aren't just flat out rejecting the proposal. They are intrigued enough to request the additional information. Would they waste their time and the applicants time if the proposal was not to their liking?)

 

2) Anyone know about disqualifications? Have they been sent out yet? Have we passed that hurdle?

I agree. I would assume it is a good(ish) sign, as the reviewers are at least interested in those proposals. Although, I would also hope that not getting one is also a goodish sign too, because maybe certain proposals do not need additional clarification and/or applicant info? Haha, who knows. I'll go back into waiting dormancy until late March Good luck, everyone!

[guttata]

1) I would assume that if you got one of these emails in regards to supplying additional information it's a good'ish sign (i.e. they aren't just flat out rejecting the proposal. They are intrigued enough to request the additional information. Would they waste their time and the applicants time if the proposal was not to their liking?)

 

2) Anyone know about disqualifications? Have they been sent out yet? Have we passed that hurdle?

 

Some DQs have been sent out. At least one or two was reported in this thread - incomplete apps, technical DQs for not following the guidelines, etc. Hard to say for sure that all have been sent out at this point, but I suspect most have.

 

My take is similar - extra pages are likely requested for bubble applications. If you didn't get one, you're probably already a lock or already hosed (but just my thoughts! Nothing for sure.)

[Queen of Kale]

Now I can think of nothing else.  Day. Ruined.  

[BioBum]

It's a little unfair for readers to request extra information.

Part of the difficulty in writing this proposal was sticking to the page limit provided by NSF. Even having a quarter page more would have certainly allowed me to elaborate on my project. In my opinion it's an unfair advantage for reviewers to ask a candidate to provide extra information that could potentially give said candidate an advantage over those that aren't afforded this same opportunity.

[jacket24]

It's a little unfair for readers to request extra information.

Part of the difficulty in writing this proposal was sticking to the page limit provided by NSF. Even having a quarter page more would have certainly allowed me to elaborate on my project. In my opinion it's an unfair advantage for reviewers to ask a candidate to provide extra information that could potentially give said candidate an advantage over those that aren't afforded this same opportunity.

 

Agreed. Perhaps the people receiving these notifications have already been grouped within a certain range (i.e. only the most competitive or people on the cusp of receiving awards) and they will only be compared against others who received similar requests. Of course this is all just speculation at this point, but at least it's something to distract us from the painfully silent wait.

Edited January 27, 2014 by NYluie2424

[Monochrome Spring]

Maybe someone should contact NSF in some way, if it matters that much. I know someone made a twitter comment, but it hasn't been responded to.

[BioBum]

Agreed. Perhaps the people receiving these notifications have already been grouped within a certain range (i.e. only the most competitive or people on the cusp of receiving awards) and they will only be compared against others who received similar requests. Of course this is all just speculation at this point, but at least it's something to distract us from the painfully silent wait.

This silence is killing me. 

It would be one thing if there were a steady stream of DQ's, for whatever reason, and the longer you don't hear from NSF is actually a good thing. But not hearing anything at all is a real killer. 

Compound this with waiting on grad school decisions and I'm a wreck.