NSF GRFP 2016

[cander49]

Just finished my PhD, but didn't ever have enough concrete ideas together to apply when I was 1st/2nd year. Fortunately, I can live vicariously through my wife.  She got it this year with E/E, E/E, E/E. She applied last year and got honorable mention with 2 E and a VG in research and 2 VG and an E in broader impacts, so it was really nice for her to get it. From last year's reviews, the VG research had nothing negative to say and the two VGs in broader impacts commented that she focused too much on things she had already done and not enough on future plans. This sucked for her because she had great future plans, but figured they would appreciate more of what she had done - really good stuff - than what she said she was going to do. She tweaked things slightly this year to focus more on future impacts, but had an overall pretty similar application. None of the reviewers cared at all about future impacts this time; they all focused entirely on previous impacts, so it was fortunate that she had enough of it in there still. It's funny how inconsistent the review process can be, but I'm really glad it worked out for her this time around. FWIW, she is 2nd year grad student with 3.7 or 3.8 undergrad, 4.0 grad school, passed qual after 1 year, one middle author pub from grad school, and great undergrad work, which isn't yet published, but she was invited to give a couple talks at incredible venues, including the White House, based on it. I think her application was really good last year already, and we thought her chances were worse this year, since it seems harder to get in the 2nd year, but sure enough, she got it. Similar to others' experiences, her comments this time were mostly just reiterations of things she wrote on the application, with one not giving much more than a couple quotes from her submission. If your application was close to getting funded and you can still reapply, it seems as though you may not always have to change all that much, and may just need better luck the second time around.

Edited March 29, 2016 by cander49

[rhombusbombus]

I just got honorable mention! I think that's pretty good considering I didn't even know about the GRFP until September and didn't settle on a topic until 2 weeks before the deadline. I'm pumped!

[Neist]

27 minutes ago, Eigen said:

To all of you with inconsistent reviews: 

It sucks, but it's perfect preparation for every paper you will submit and every grant you will write in the future. 

I have a feeling it means I'll have an uphill climb. 

I've often gotten the impression that many historians think my research isn't even worthwhile, at least outside of the department I'm currently in.  Maybe I should take it as a sign that I should focus on more DH and library science journals.

Things to think about.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Neist

[roundmt]

I just signed up to say I got a VG/VG, F/P, and E/G.

WHAT THE HELL REVIEWER 2. 

Still, am incredibly pumped. I worked on this with peers and no advisors or professors. Now that I will start my PhD program this fall I'll make some great improvements! Too bad I can only try one more time now.

[Oxanamide]

 E/E, VG/G, VG/VG

Will try again next year! 

Edited March 29, 2016 by Oxanamide

[mobilehobo]

2 hours ago, cander49 said:

Just finished my PhD, but didn't ever have enough concrete ideas together to apply when I was 1st/2nd year. Fortunately, I can live vicariously through my wife.  She got it this year with E/E, E/E, E/E. She applied last year and got honorable mention with 2 E and a VG in research and 2 VG and an E in broader impacts, so it was really nice for her to get it. From last year's reviews, the VG research had nothing negative to say and the two VGs in broader impacts commented that she focused too much on things she had already done and not enough on future plans. This sucked for her because she had great future plans, but figured they would appreciate more of what she had done - really good stuff - than what she said she was going to do. She tweaked things slightly this year to focus more on future impacts, but had an overall pretty similar application. None of the reviewers cared at all about future impacts this time; they all focused entirely on previous impacts, so it was fortunate that she had enough of it in there still. It's funny how inconsistent the review process can be, but I'm really glad it worked out for her this time around. FWIW, she is 2nd year grad student with 3.7 or 3.8 undergrad, 4.0 grad school, passed qual after 1 year, one middle author pub from grad school, and great undergrad work, which isn't yet published, but she was invited to give a couple talks at incredible venues, including the White House, based on it. I think her application was really good last year already, and we thought her chances were worse this year, since it seems harder to get in the 2nd year, but sure enough, she got it. Similar to others' experiences, her comments this time were mostly just reiterations of things she wrote on the application, with one not giving much more than a couple quotes from her submission. If your application was close to getting funded and you can still reapply, it seems as though you may not always have to change all that much, and may just need better luck the second time around.

Congrats on your PhD and your wife's award! Looks like you picked a winner ;)

[shim12]

I am currently an undergrad and am honored to have received an HM. Do you guys think I should apply next year or wait until my 2nd year as a grad student? I am concerned that I will have only spent  a month or two with my advisor (might still even be in rotations!) before the GRFP is due. Is it okay to submit the same research proposal even if my research in grad school is different? My reviewers seemed to like it and only suggested minor edits.

[cander49]

9 minutes ago, mobilehobo said:

Congrats on your PhD and your wife's award! Looks like you picked a winner

Thanks! Hopefully I can find as much success as she has with my post-doc fellowship apps.

[CMBgirl]

I was on the fence about whether I should post since this is my first time posting on these forums, but I feel like talking about the NSF GRFP results.

I'm a senior undergraduate that applied under Physics and Astronomy - Astronomy and Astrophysics. I was not rewarded anything this round - definitely because of my sour third reviewer. I got E/E, E/E, G/G.

Congratulations to all those who received it!

[ForTheLoveOfBrains]

@shim12 I was wondering the same exact thing! My proposal was for cognitive neuro but I'm entering a behavioral neuro program. Like you, minor revisions were kind of suggested so it's hard to decide whether to keep the same research statement or update with the new program. (I'd rather not risk it, honestly and stay with what I have). You know what I mean? Plus, I'm just scared that second year applicants may be way more competitive? Is that a crazy assumption?

[rhombusbombus]

So what now? Should I tell my PI that I got honorable mention or do they already know?

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

4 minutes ago, rhombusbombus said:

So what now? Should I tell my PI that I got honorable mention or do they already know?

Can't hurt to tell them, I guess?

I was really looking forward to telling my professors that I got the GRFP today, but apparently someone at the university got notified and spilled the beans all over the department before I even got to school. FU!!

[FreudianSip]

Is anyone else as sad as I am? I know other more deserving people won and I'm happy for them, but still very sad. I've never really won or been recognized for anything, and winning this would have been the solution to my financial problems (my TA stipend is not something I can live on) and a solution to how much I dislike teaching. 

Most of my comments were about how I haven't published enough to be competitive with other 2nd year grad students. I've done what I can with the resources available to me in my program, but I can't compete with people at wealthy universities on research grants. 

[uku]

21 minutes ago, FreudianSip said:

Is anyone else as sad as I am? I know other more deserving people won and I'm happy for them, but still very sad. I've never really won or been recognized for anything, and winning this would have been the solution to my financial problems (my TA stipend is not something I can live on) and a solution to how much I dislike teaching. 

Most of my comments were about how I haven't published enough to be competitive with other 2nd year grad students. I've done what I can with the resources available to me in my program, but I can't compete with people at wealthy universities on research grants. 

Yes you aren't the only one. But I think it is natural, after spending a lot of time on something that could improve your career and really change your academic life for the better, anticipating for months and then not getting it? You are allowed to mourn for a bit. But don't be discouraged! Use it as motivation to plan and work that much harder at your research!

[rhopalias]

E/E, E/E, E/VG. Honorable mention. All very glowing reviews, no criticisms. Y U NO AWARD?! haha

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

5 minutes ago, rhopalias said:

E/E, E/E, E/VG. Honorable mention. All very glowing reviews, no criticisms. Y U NO AWARD?! haha

Yeah WTF? That's pretty BS.

[pterosaur]

2 hours ago, rhopalias said:

E/E, E/E, E/VG. Honorable mention. All very glowing reviews, no criticisms. Y U NO AWARD?! haha

Same for me (though VG/E E/E E/E). We hit some weird terrible jackpot to end up there. It occurred to me that an E/E could be worth "less" if the reviewer tends to give generally high marks (it'll be fewer standard deviations above their mean), so it ends up hurting you to have a friendly reviewer because they max out the scale and end up hurting you.

[Infinito]

13 hours ago, shim12 said:

 

I am currently an undergrad and am honored to have received an HM. Do you guys think I should apply next year or wait until my 2nd year as a grad student? I am concerned that I will have only spent  a month or two with my advisor (might still even be in rotations!) before the GRFP is due. Is it okay to submit the same research proposal even if my research in grad school is different? My reviewers seemed to like it and only suggested minor edits.

 

11 hours ago, ForTheLoveOfBrains said:

 

@shim12 I was wondering the same exact thing! My proposal was for cognitive neuro but I'm entering a behavioral neuro program. Like you, minor revisions were kind of suggested so it's hard to decide whether to keep the same research statement or update with the new program. (I'd rather not risk it, honestly and stay with what I have). You know what I mean? Plus, I'm just scared that second year applicants may be way more competitive? Is that a crazy assumption?

Due to the new changes that you can only apply once (we're grandfathered in so that we can apply in graduate school), I'm going to wait until my second year now. That way I don't have to rush the proposal, and hopefully it will be in my thesis lab. I'm pretty much keeping my original personal statement with some chronological changes.

[rdevine]

Honorable Mention here. In general a bit bummed about not winning because of the amount of effort I put in, but HM seems like a pretty solid outcome. I knew being a white male in civil engineering, I was going to have to reach on BI, but I had two very hands on faculty advisors so I expected IM would be taken care of.

The reviewers, which doesn't seem to agree with a lot of your cases, were shockingly consistent, E/VG, E/VG, E/VG. Two of my reviewers basically just left pats on the back, one sentence answers that I was detailed or well prepared, luckily my 2nd reviewer was detailed. Their major critique was the projects' broader impacts. They even were pleased with my personal statement BI. It's tough being so close yet knowing the next cycle three different reviewers could have a totally different perspective even if you fix these comments. 

Still waiting on DOD NDSEG and DOE IUP so hopefully one of those come through, but if not I feel pretty well positioned for success next year. Working on submitting a journal publication and participating in international research through NSF EAPSI in Tokyo (I will be a second year GS, did not apply while I was an undergraduate). 

To all those other HM, I hope you got more direction or reasoning from your reviewers than I did!

[biosci]

6 hours ago, rhopalias said:

E/E, E/E, E/VG. Honorable mention. All very glowing reviews, no criticisms. Y U NO AWARD?! haha

This whole letter ranking thing is so weird... Don't know how I squeaked through.  Congrats on your HM and great reviews though - that's very impressive!

[DgDeBx]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but I received the NSF award yesterday and have a question for others that were awarded this year or in the past. Is it best to accept the stipend during the first three years? Considering the stipend at my school raises a bit each year, it would seem to be best financially to use the NSF stipend the first three years. Are there any reasons to defer the three years of financial support if you are currently enrolled in a graduate program? Thanks for any help!

[sierra918]

10 hours ago, uku said:

Yes you aren't the only one. But I think it is natural, after spending a lot of time on something that could improve your career and really change your academic life for the better, anticipating for months and then not getting it? You are allowed to mourn for a bit. But don't be discouraged! Use it as motivation to plan and work that much harder at your research!

I spent more than 6 months on my proposal, so yes, I'm very sad!!! This is how it goes in academia though. There's no way to know how some things will turn out. I can't even apply again, but at least I have a good template for future grant proposals. Plus, I got into the program of my dreams. So, I try hard to see the positive when I'm upset. I know that can be easier said than done though!

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

1 hour ago, DgDeBx said:

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but I received the NSF award yesterday and have a question for others that were awarded this year or in the past. Is it best to accept the stipend during the first three years? Considering the stipend at my school raises a bit each year, it would seem to be best financially to use the NSF stipend the first three years. Are there any reasons to defer the three years of financial support if you are currently enrolled in a graduate program? Thanks for any help!

I am going to defer it for one year because Cornell offered me a first-year fellowship. 

[Storksle]

9 hours ago, rhopalias said:

E/E, E/E, E/VG. Honorable mention. All very glowing reviews, no criticisms. Y U NO AWARD?! haha

 

6 hours ago, pterosaur said:

Same for me (though VG/E E/E E/E). We hit some weird terrible jackpot to end up there. It occurred to me that an E/E could be worth "less" if the reviewer tends to give generally high marks (it'll be fewer standard deviations above their mean), so it ends up hurting you to have a friendly reviewer because they max out the scale and end up hurting you.

I am in the same boat.HM with E/E. E/E, E/VG. SO CLOSE!!!! 

I have heard rumors about this but can't find if it is true at all - if people decline the fellowship, do the top HMs get later offers or do these awards just go away? Not holding out hope really, but I am kind of disappointed that people who were awarded seem to have lower reviews than mine. 

Levi

[Cookie]

3 hours ago, DgDeBx said:

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but I received the NSF award yesterday and have a question for others that were awarded this year or in the past. Is it best to accept the stipend during the first three years? Considering the stipend at my school raises a bit each year, it would seem to be best financially to use the NSF stipend the first three years. Are there any reasons to defer the three years of financial support if you are currently enrolled in a graduate program? Thanks for any help!

Unless you have another fellowship to cover your first 1-2 years, there is no reason not to accept the award right away. There are field-specific fellowships you can apply later (ABD). You can apply for NSF-GRIP or -GROW for internship opportunities as long as you are still an "active Fellow" (5 years including the 3 years of stipend). Also, money is tight these days so your boss will be happy to have you work for free sooner rather than later.