NSF GRFP 2013-14

[longears24]

For what it's worth- this is the first year that the panel have convened virtually, instead of in person. Perhaps this could speed up the review process?

[stmwap]

For what it's worth- this is the first year that the panel have convened virtually, instead of in person. Perhaps this could speed up the review process?

https://twitter.com/NSFGRFP/statuses/434361088675942400 

Edited February 20, 2014 by stmwap

[fosgfp]

Hmm, someone asked NSF on their twitter about the one page supplament:

 

Stephen Ferguson ‏@RattleCall Jan 25

@NSFGRFP I've heard reports of applicants asked to provide another 1 pg statement. Any info on what that would be about?

 

NSF GRFP ‏@NSFGRFP Feb 14

@RattleCall there is also the 1pg eligibility statement that some applicants submit per the requirements of the #GRFP Program Solicitation

 

Stephen Ferguson ‏@RattleCall Feb 14

@NSFGRFP Fair enough, but that wasn't what these were asking for... Just was curious.

 

Stephen Ferguson ‏@RattleCall Feb 14

@NSFGRFP Thanks for the responses - may have been a hoax!

 

 

Were we all punked?? Or maybe if they actually requested a 1 page statement it was just eligibility requirement information??

[guttata]

Were we all punked?? Or maybe if they actually requested a 1 page statement it was just eligibility requirement information??

 

With this info in hand, I lean toward punked. The eligibility essay is requested at the submission deadline, not months later, and it seems to be out of character for them to ask for more materials. Add to that the fact that no one posted after that initial grouping of 5 and no one ever came forward in the forums....

[Faraday]

I will be in another country during that period, doing field work. I have no idea how much internet I'll have. Poop.

 

You should consider this a blessing as now you don't need to stress out about hearing the results right away, and you'll get to it when you hae time.

[fosgfp]

With this info in hand, I lean toward punked. The eligibility essay is requested at the submission deadline, not months later, and it seems to be out of character for them to ask for more materials. Add to that the fact that no one posted after that initial grouping of 5 and no one ever came forward in the forums....

 

 

agree!!! I found it curious that no one was posting on the forum about it, that ALL the posts on the results page came on the same day (even if all the emails were sent the same day I doubt everyone would post there the same day), and I search twitter/tumblr/etc that day and NO ONE posted there about it either. Also I thought it weird that people's first instinct would be to post on the results page instead of coming to the forum considering additional information has never been asked for before.

[Faraday]

Am I the only one who has pushed this to the back of my mind and I never even really think abou it? Someone asked me about it today so I checked in but otherwise I just tell myself there is nothing I can do right now so why worry? You guys are stressing me out!

[iheartplants]

That moment when you're re-reading your proposal and you find a stray piece of punctuation in one of your sentences....oy vey. Haha noooooo

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

That's why I haven't looked at mine since.

[iheartplants]

That's why I haven't looked at mine since.

Haha I had made a point of it until today....wrong choice lol

[Veet Voojagig]

I had a couple different people edit my statement, some edits I went with, some I decided not to. However, there is one edit which I didn't spot at all and that made it into the final submission...

[was discussing experiences learning the scientific method]

"...how hypotheses are formulated and tested..."

 

(this by the way would be an edit I would not have went with)

So, as long as the National SCIENCE Foundation is cool with not testing hypotheses, I should be golden.

[bathingintheneon]

Anyone else starting to freak out that we're going to find out decisions in a couple of weeks?

A few days ago, I had a dream that I got the NSF. The same night, my friend who also applied had a dream that puppies were drowning. Is this foreshadowing?

[jmu]

Veet - that sucks. In geography they don't want hypothesis testing but can imagine it's a major issue in other fields.

Bathing - no time to freak out. Between recruiting incoming students, the department hiring a new faculty member, and turning a paper I presented into an article I don't have the chance. It's just another mark on a very full calendar this month. I also have three other smaller but more competitive funding applications out.

[fosgfp]

3 weeeeeeeeeeks

[baron23]

Oh man, that is bonkers. I read my essays again the other day, started my personal statement describing a scene from Do The Right Thing with Radio Raheem. I hope someone on my panel is a Spike Lee fan...

[saphixation]

Oh man, that is bonkers. I read my essays again the other day, started my personal statement describing a scene from Do The Right Thing with Radio Raheem. I hope someone on my panel is a Spike Lee fan...

I love that movie! I feel like I've seen it a billion times from all the classes where I've had to watch it. May I ask how you connected it to the rest of your essay?

[baron23]

I love that movie! I feel like I've seen it a billion times from all the classes where I've had to watch it. May I ask how you connected it to the rest of your essay?

 

Radio Raheem tells a story about the battle between Love and hate, clenching his fists together tightly. The struggle is "static," but finally Love delivers a devastating right hand, and the left hand hate is down and out for the count. I really like that scene. 

 

I said in my essay that the best way to avoid static, is to look for things that are unpredictable, dynamic, and disordered (in so many words). My research is in the area of X-ray crystallography where success is measured by how accurately I can predict where an atom should or shouldn't be in an imaginary box of imaginary points, or as the big kahunas say "refining structural order, from disorder." I thought my Spike Lee joint put it a bit more elegantly, but I probably should have just said my mommy put Sagan's Cosmos on full blast next to her stomach when I was inside. Such was the broader merit of my ethnically diverse dissemination of intellectual impact. 

 

P.S. If you are a movie buff (I am not), I think that Radio Raheem scene is adapted from an old Robert Mitchum movie called The Night of the Hunter.

 

May Love defeat hate for all of you over the next few weeks. If Love fails, just listen to Chariots of Fire on repeat and all will be good with the world. 

[MissAnthro]

I'm getting a bit antsy - anyone else feeling the same? 

[gellert]

I'm getting a bit antsy - anyone else feeling the same? 

 

Yup.

[loginofpscl]

After going on visits and hearing the cacophony of needing funding to have more freedom, definitely getting a bit antsy.

[knightrunner]

In just a couple of weeks our fates will be decided.  Why can't they finish earlier when it was submitted earlier and they have less pages to read.

[stmwap]

I'm getting a bit antsy - anyone else feeling the same?

I've been antsy from the beginning. But yeah.

[Queen of Kale]

So, So, So very antsy.  I don't think I got it.  I feel less confident than last year when I only got an HM.  But I would just like to have it out of the way.  

[blackpeppered]

Posting mostly to get updates on this thread, in case anything new pops up.

 

Last year, got an honorable mention in a field with few awardees (cognitive psych). 

 

VG/VG

VG/E

VG/E

VG/E

 

2nd year grad applicant this time - last shot. Here's hoping this year's improvements count for something. Anyone know if your application is compared against applicants from your year? Or how disabilities are weighted? My comments last year showed that the main reason I didn't get it was because of no publications; this year I had one submitted for review when I applied, but still no real publications. My main improvements were in mentoring, a more cohesive application, and the fact that I thought to mention a disorder or two in the disabilities section. Any thoughts on whether this would improve my application substantially?

[stmwap]

Anyone know if your application is compared against applicants from your year? 

Yes, you will only be competing against other second year graduate students.  1/3 of awards go to fourth year undergraduates, 1/3 go to first year graduate students, and 1/3 go to second year graduate students.  

 

 

Or how disabilities are weighted? 

I don't think there's any real way to know this, but I wouldn't imagine it would make much of an impact.  Maybe if they're comparing two otherwise equal candidates and one has a disability they will go with that one.  But who knows. 

 

 

 My comments last year showed that the main reason I didn't get it was because of no publications; this year I had one submitted for review when I applied, but still no real publications. 

That's disappointing.  I have no publications and it's unlikely that I'll have any before next year (I'm a first year grad student).  

Edited March 12, 2014 by stmwap