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Posted

Honestly, I think the 6 month phrase is intentional so they can still cover themselves if it gets delayed again. But just since I haven't been through this funding rodeo before, what is the likelihood of an institution granting a "tuition pardon?" Or is that just the EPA trying to put the ball in the universities' court?

Posted

I honestly can't imagine any institution granting a tuition waiver. My tuition is fully covered so I'm not worried about it, but it is a weird place for EPA to assert that it is an option.

Posted

Maybe if they do give out acceptance notices before September as planned and funding was confirmed but just not available at beginning of semester, a university could make the decision to postpone tuition billing, but that's probably a long shot.

Posted

Here are the number of awardees under each topic from 2012: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/fellow/pubs/2012-fellow-portfolio.pdf 

 

The larger submission topics this year match with the larger groups of awardees from 2012. I'm thinking around ten people will be awarded from the combined Water Quality groups (E2 and E3) for which there were a little over 300 submissions. Figuring I have less than a 3% chance. LOL. Good luck everyone 

 

(Might be important to note that year ~80 people received awards and this year they were planning on only about 50, correct?)

Posted (edited)

I don't see the updates to number of applications on the closed announcements page. When I go to this page, the last update is from 6/22. 

 

OH so idk why this happened, but it seems chrome was accessing an old page? Opening up the same link in incognito mode worked, just in case this also happens to someone else.

 

Thanks for the update!

 

 

The closed grants website was updated to show the number of applications: http://www.epa.gov/ogd/competition/closed_awards.htm

Edited by coffee_grad
Posted

So I don't think it really matters what happened in previous years, but for those who are curious, I looked up award numbers and application numbers for the past few years (awarded/applied)

 

2015: 55/1400 anticipated

2013: 105/1396

2012: 87/1501

2011: 109/1475

2010: 137/1362

 

Looks like we were all wrong to assume the applicant pool would be considerably smaller. Good luck again to everyone! Thanks to all who post helpful updates. 

 

 

 

Here are the number of awardees under each topic from 2012: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/fellow/pubs/2012-fellow-portfolio.pdf 

 

The larger submission topics this year match with the larger groups of awardees from 2012. I'm thinking around ten people will be awarded from the combined Water Quality groups (E2 and E3) for which there were a little over 300 submissions. Figuring I have less than a 3% chance. LOL. Good luck everyone 

 

(Might be important to note that year ~80 people received awards and this year they were planning on only about 50, correct?)

Posted

Agreed - thanks for running the numbers for previous years coffee_grad!  I thought I read somewhere (maybe in the 2013 forum) that epa ended up awarding more grants than the originally anticipated amount in the last cycle?  This may be wishful recall

 

So I don't think it really matters what happened in previous years, but for those who are curious, I looked up award numbers and application numbers for the past few years (awarded/applied)

 

2015: 55/1400 anticipated

2013: 105/1396

2012: 87/1501

2011: 109/1475

2010: 137/1362

 

Looks like we were all wrong to assume the applicant pool would be considerably smaller. Good luck again to everyone! Thanks to all who post helpful updates. 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Not really- I asked if we were going to hear before September so we'd have the chance to decline teaching assistantships, and was just told it was highly unlikely we would hear before September.

Posted

My advisor (who's signed up as a reviewer) got word that they have to get through all their assigned applications by Sept. 2, after which there are a few days of web-conferencing to discuss the merits of each application. After that, I think the apps have to go back to the EPA for further evaluation. I would guess that means we wont here back until late September. 

 

Based on the delays, I'm hoping that they allow us to defer the start of the fellowship until the following fall. I have to make arrangements for other sources of funding before we hear back about the STAR, and I assume other people are in the same boat. Given that the acceptance rate is going to be 3-4%, it would be crazy not to!

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Just because I'm antsy. Has anyone heard anything? Are we all still thinking the end of September? 

Posted

At the same link I post above, you can view the current EPA STAR Fellowship Handbook. CTRL-F "defer" and you'll find some info. I'm not sure how that applies to this odd timing (i.e. everyone's tuition should already be paid for the term, and likely has a stipend source for the term), but it's a place to start looking. 

 

Posted

Looked up the info on deferment and it says:

  • Fellowships must begin in the first year after the award is made.
  • After the first year, deferrals for up to 1 year are allowed with prior written permission from the PO. This will require additional paperwork to amend to your fellowship

As coffee_grad suggested, it was in the handbook.

Posted

When I inquired about a month back if we would find out before the sem started (to turn down TA's) technical contact reminded me in the email to remember the first year of the EPA STAR Fellowship can not be deferred, suggesting no matter what/when we find out, you can't defer the first year. 

Posted

Here are the number of awardees under each topic from 2012: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/fellow/pubs/2012-fellow-portfolio.pdf 

 

The larger submission topics this year match with the larger groups of awardees from 2012. I'm thinking around ten people will be awarded from the combined Water Quality groups (E2 and E3) for which there were a little over 300 submissions. Figuring I have less than a 3% chance. LOL. Good luck everyone 

 

(Might be important to note that year ~80 people received awards and this year they were planning on only about 50, correct?)

Thanks for posting this information! I could not get that link to work for me, but I did find it by Googling "2012-fellow-portfolio.pdf" and found this link to a PDF. Is that the same link you had? Seems like there was only one proposal funded for my FON -- A2 :unsure:

Posted

Thanks for posting this information! I could not get that link to work for me, but I did find it by Googling "2012-fellow-portfolio.pdf" and found this link to a PDF. Is that the same link you had? Seems like there was only one proposal funded for my FON -- A2 :unsure:

Yup! It was that PDF of awardees :blink:

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