NDSEG 2017

[WaveFanatic]

FYI, my award notification went straight to my spam folder.  Might want to check that out :).  The awardees must accept or decline by tomorrow, so those on the waitlist will hopefully hear back soon.

[machine_learner1]

For those who got the award: How many years of funding did you receive? I was under the impression the fellowship was for 3 years, but my award says it is for 4 years of funding.

[born2cessna]

20 minutes ago, machine_learner1 said:

For those who got the award: How many years of funding did you receive? I was under the impression the fellowship was for 3 years, but my award says it is for 4 years of funding.

Mine says 4 years as well, which conflicts with the NDSEG website that says "the Department of Defense (DoD) plans to award approximately 150 new three-year graduate fellowships in April 2017."

I'm not complaining, but would also like a confirmation. Congrats on the fellowship!

[ccmignon]

Mine says four years, as well! I don't think it's a mistake, based on the stipend quoted in the award package (it seems like the annual salary would be much too high if the net stipend funds were distributed across three - not four - years). Also, offering longer-term fellowships would seem to be consistent with the DoD offering fewer fellowships this year. 

Congrats to all who received an award today, and good luck to those on the waiting list!

Edited April 12, 2017 by ccmignon

[Lyrabutterfly]

Would anyone mind sharing the offer letter for awardees (stipend amount and time length)? I'm an alternate who was awarded the NSF so I'd like to decide whether to wait to hear back on NDSEG before declining them/accepting NSF.

 

thanks!

[Argon]

@Lyrabutterfly The stipend amount is $3,200.00 for 48 consecutive months, totaling $153,600 in stipend payments. In addition, they cover full tuition and mandatory fees for that 48 months. They will pay up to $1,000 per academic year of individual medical insurance offered through the institution (at the lowest available teir). 

 

That's all the funding info.

[remi1]

@Argon  The stipend amount is $3,200.00 for 48 consecutive months, totaling $153,600

Mine shows a total of $153000 (which seems to be a typo) - can you please re-check if yours shows 153000 or 153600? 

Also, is the deadline Apr 12 or "two weeks" since notification?

[rinit]

Alright friends, I have still received no email and no award updates. Queries to NDSEG via email have resulted in a delay due to high volume of emails. Anyone else in the same limbo?

[mestudent]

Does anyone know how many alternates, approximately, have been awarded the fellowship in past years?

[throwaway41217]

How does it make any sense that they are increasing the stipend AND the years? If they are giving 150 kids 38400 a year (3200 a month) for 4 years, they could have given 34000 a year for 3 years to 225 kids...

[gcuser]

1 hour ago, throwaway41217 said:

How does it make any sense that they are increasing the stipend AND the years? If they are giving 150 kids 38400 a year (3200 a month) for 4 years, they could have given 34000 a year for 3 years to 225 kids...

The math isn't that simple . At my institution  (Stanford) the tuition they charge to external fellowships can easily exceed the stipend, and external funds are applied before internal tuition deductions. Since the ndseg pays full tuition, that's $44-64k per student that the ndseg pays for tuition, on top of the $34-38k stipend, depending on how many units are required (and most of these units aren't classes - they're empty units required to retain "full time student" status).

Tuition also significantly decreases for fifth and sixth years in some programs (because they've accumulated enough units to not be required to enroll in any units), so that fourth fellowship year can be cheaper. But not sure about this - if the ndseg requires full time student status then it'll still have to pay full tuition.

 

Essentially the dod needs to budget $75k-100k per student per year, most of which goes to tuition, but it can get much cheaper on the last year of funding 

 

This is also probably why the NSF fellowship caps tuition payments at $12k per year, and a main reason why the ndseg was considered to be much better even if the stipend was the same -- the tuition difference can easily save your advisor over 20k per year in grants and the department 10k per year in tuition deductions.

Edited April 13, 2017 by gcuser

[doctor_Kiwi]

1 hour ago, throwaway41217 said:

How does it make any sense that they are increasing the stipend AND the years? If they are giving 150 kids 38400 a year (3200 a month) for 4 years, they could have given 34000 a year for 3 years to 225 kids...

Has anyone actually confirmed with NDSEG that the amounts & length (e.g. 4 years) listed in the award notifications is not an error?

 

[ccmignon]

56 minutes ago, doctor_Kiwi said:

Has anyone actually confirmed with NDSEG that the amounts & length (e.g. 4 years) listed in the award notifications is not an error?

 

No, but it refers to the length of the award being 4 years/48 months at least six different times in the offer letter. That would be a huge mistake to make (and I'm sure ASEE proofreads)!

[doctor_Kiwi]

2 hours ago, doctor_Kiwi said:

Has anyone actually confirmed with NDSEG that the amounts & length (e.g. 4 years) listed in the award notifications is not an error?

 

For anyone interested, I e-mailed to confirm. Response from NDSEG: "Starting with the 2017 application, the tenure has been increased from 3 years to 4 years."

I'm currently an alternate...so for those with other sources of funding, help a girl out! This is my last go-around, so I'll hold onto hope 'til the end!

 

[techguy78]

Does anyone know when the awardees have to make their decision by? 

[eruwaedhiel]

We have until April 25th to get back to them.

[eruwaedhiel]

Is anyone else here also a SMART applicant?  I emailed NDSEG asking if I can get an extension for the reply date until we hear back from SMART (since they're both managed by ASEE I thought it might be possible), but was told no extensions are allowed.   I'm not sure what to do because I would love to work for the SF that contacted me for SMART (and be guaranteed a job with them in my field doing research when I graduate), but obviously NDSEG is a fantastic deal that I cannot turn down.

[Argon]

@remi1 mine says $153600 in one part of the offer and $153000 on the front page. The latter is clearly a typo though. 

[machine]

On 4/12/2017 at 7:42 AM, rinit said:

Alright friends, I have still received no email and no award updates. Queries to NDSEG via email have resulted in a delay due to high volume of emails. Anyone else in the same limbo?

Same here! I assume that means it's a no, but it seems weird not to get any info at all...

[mestudent]

Have any alternates heard back yet?

[flying_sloths]

Nothing yet here - I imagine people might start hearing after today since this was the deadline for the awardees to accept. The potential government shutdown on Friday could also make things interesting!

[doctor_Kiwi]

Nothing here, either! Still eagerly awaiting...

[deltakappa]

Anyone heard back with confirmation of received paperwork?

[Argon]

On 5/3/2017 at 1:46 PM, deltakappa said:

Anyone heard back with confirmation of received paperwork?

Yes, I heard back on Wednesday. I submitted mine very early though. 

[Lyrabutterfly]

FYI I received the award notification today (I was an Alternate)