NSF GRFP 2009-2010

[DrBones]

I don't know where you all get your ideas about GRE scores. Average GRE scores each year are reported at about a 460 Verbal and 570 quantitative. So, anything above a 1030 is above average. I know a young woman who received the award last year with a GRE score of 1120, which she submitted to them. A 1200 is a very good GRE score, that anyone should be proud of attaining. Over 1300 is statistically phenomenal. So, get back to reality and remember that we'll all smart people. I reiterate the fact that GRE scores count for very little in this program. I hope this makes some people feel better. Cheers.

Here is a good link... http://testprep.about.com/od/thegretest/f/GRE_FAQ_Score.htm

Edited April 5, 2010 by DrBones

[Neurogirl37]

I really hope the scores post tonight/tomorrow...I don't know how many more days of anticipation I can take!!!

I've gone form obsessively checking the GRFP site to obsessively checking for new posts on this forum...is that a step forward or just sideways!?

Edited April 5, 2010 by Neurogirl37

[someoneoutthere]

I don't know where you all get your ideas about GRE scores. Average GRE scores each year are reported at about a 460 Verbal and 570 quantitative. So, anything above a 1030 is above average. I know a young woman who received the award last year with a GRE score of 1120, which she submitted to them. A 1200 is a very good GRE score, that anyone should be proud of attaining. Over 1300 is statistically phenomenal. So, get back to reality and remember that we'll all smart people. I reiterate the fact that GRE scores count for very little in this program. I hope this makes some people feel better. Cheers.

Here is a good link... http://testprep.about.com/od/thegretest/f/GRE_FAQ_Score.htm

I agree, though I didn't not submit my scores because they were bad (I had 680Q, 700V, 5.5A and i'm in the social sciences), but because i couldn't even take them before the deadline.

Am I now screwed?

[dumbmatter]

I don't know where you all get your ideas about GRE scores. Average GRE scores each year are reported at about a 460 Verbal and 570 quantitative. So, anything above a 1030 is above average. I know a young woman who received the award last year with a GRE score of 1120, which she submitted to them. A 1200 is a very good GRE score, that anyone should be proud of attaining. Over 1300 is statistically phenomenal. So, get back to reality and remember that we'll all smart people. I reiterate the fact that GRE scores count for very little in this program. I hope this makes some people feel better. Cheers.

Here is a good link... http://testprep.about.com/od/thegretest/f/GRE_FAQ_Score.htm

The average GRE score in my department (not a top engineering program, but pretty good) is 1310. I would bet that the average GRFP winner has a much higher GRE score... I'd guess ~1450, but I don't think there is any way to really know. All the people I know who won a GRFP did incredibly well on the GRE.

[CarpodacusAculeatus]

I would bet that your GRE scores really don't matter if your proposal and essays are well done. They are really rewarding the fellowship based on potential as a graduate student (they're not even really rewarding this particular project; as we all know, you don't even have to carry out the one in your proposal). The GRE doesn't really tell you much about a student's potential to think about and do science (or related work), just how well you can take a standardized test.

For what it's worth, I got an HM last year (one E/VG, two VG/VG on my ratings sheets) and my GRE scores aren't that stellar.

[Language Lover <3]

I think so many other things must matter in addition to the GRE scores, just as they do in admissions considerations. I attend a first tier grad school, it's one of the top in my field, and my GRE scores were quite low (combined 1230 V and Q, 5.0 analytical). However, due to my research experience, publications, conferences, overall academic record, and letters of rec, I was admitted into one of the top two awarded positions in my department and concentration. I also received quite nice offers from several other first tier schools. So, like admissions decisions, I really think that while GRE scores may be important to some GRFP reviewers, they may be just as equally unimportant to other reviewers if you have a strong record overall.

[DrBones]

I would bet that your GRE scores really don't matter if your proposal and essays are well done. They are really rewarding the fellowship based on potential as a graduate student (they're not even really rewarding this particular project; as we all know, you don't even have to carry out the one in your proposal). The GRE doesn't really tell you much about a student's potential to think about and do science (or related work), just how well you can take a standardized test.

I couldn't have said it better. I think you're exactly right.

[olive81]

I really hope the scores post tonight/tomorrow...I don't know how many more days of anticipation I can take!!!

I've gone form obsessively checking the GRFP site to obsessively checking for new posts on this forum...is that a step forward or just sideways!?

I think maybe it is just a vertical hop.

[zonko]

Do you think GRE writing matters at all? I got a 3.5 the first time I took it and a 4.0 the second. I would assume that the quality of my essays wold trump the bad scores, but you never know.

[meankney]

BLARGH!! I JUST WANT TO KNOW. Not a very original sentiment, but I can't help it.

[sundevil2013]

I agree with everyone else that your GRE scores really don't have a big impact. My scores were 800Q 800V and 5.5AW, but I got no comments on that from the reviewers last year. The comments I got were focused on my research proposal and research background. I got an HM.

[Steven]

Average winning GRE was 753.2Q/633.9V from 2000-2004.

But I agree that it is just a part of the package. Personally, I am hoping that my high GRE scores offset the fact that my degree is from a lower tier university. Conversely, I'm sure an excellent GPA from a highly ranked school would make up for a lower GRE.

This data is from the pdf mentioned above. I linked to this document once earlier in this thread, but here it is again since it is easy to miss in so many posts.

http://www.nber.org/...Proceedings.pdf

Edited April 5, 2010 by Steven

[Hekog]

Do you think GRE writing matters at all? I got a 3.5 the first time I took it and a 4.0 the second. I would assume that the quality of my essays wold trump the bad scores, but you never know.

I think people understand that GRE Writing scores seem to be tallied by disgruntled humanities grad students. I've been told by a few professors in college admissions that they don't really care about your GRE writing score, especially since they have writing samples (in the form of your personal statement, etc.) that tell them a lot more.

[Rails111]

For those of you who read last year's thread, do you remember the guy who got all the awardee names before NSF posted to the website? Did he figure out the "excel export" thing or was it more sophisticated than that?

[DrBones]

For those of you who read last year's thread, do you remember the guy who got all the awardee names before NSF posted to the website? Did he figure out the "excel export" thing or was it more sophisticated than that?

I really don't know what they were doing last year. It was some kind of weird hacker crap that I did not want to involve myself with. In the end they got their rating sheets like 2 days early. No one ever got the actual awardee list early I'm fairly sure. So... I'm just going to wait it out like everyone else. I have a good feeling that by tomorrow afternoon I'll get an e-mail from the National Science Foundation.

[csphd]

i just saw this now:

GRFP will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET Monday April 5th - 5:00 AM ET Tuesday, April 6th for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

[jollieduck]

I dont understand why it's so hard to pick a day, tell us they're going to let us know on that day, and do it.

[csphd]

well, i think you don't want that either because it means they might have to hurry through the apps.

[jollieduck]

well, i think you don't want that either because it means they might have to hurry through the apps.

but at this point, i think they know if they're done and going to send it out tonight, or closer to friday.

[btown]

but at this point, i think they know if they're done and going to send it out tonight, or closer to friday.

They ranked all of us in January, so they already made the decisions...

[sarajune]

They ranked all of us in January, so they already made the decisions...

Actually the panel sessions were in Feb., with some delayed until March because of snow. It's possible the blizzards pushed the announcements back until April.

[Coffee_Wine]

Do you think who your adviser is plays an important role in the decision making process?

[DrBones]

They ranked all of us in January, so they already made the decisions...

That's not entirely true. Part of the hold-up this year is that the meetings for the application reviewers were canceled in February due to a snow storm, and were rescheduled for March. I'm not saying that is justification for the amount of time they make us wait, but it's a factor.

[DrBones]

Do you think who your adviser is plays an important role in the decision making process?

I don't know that it's an "important" part, but certainly the reviewers want to see applicants working with advisers relevant to their fields of study. I also can't see it hurting to have a well known scholar in your field as your adviser. Just my two cents.

[Coffee_Wine]

I don't know that it's an "important" part, but certainly the reviewers want to see applicants working with advisers relevant to their fields of study. I also can't see it hurting to have a well known scholar in your field as your adviser. Just my two cents.

Yeah, probably right. It's just that the stats of the people who get the award vary so much. For example, some people have awesome essay scores, gpas, etc. and still don't get it. Sometimes I wonder if it's just a who do you know thing.