NSF Graduate Fellowship

<p>hey is anyone submitting one this round? Did anyone win one last year, and have any advice? I'm working on mine right now, my proposal is done but I'm having problems with the personal statement, as a distinct essay from past research experience.</p>

<p>I have submitted my App for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, I have a pdf document I found on the internet with advice from a person who has won the fellowship. Try searching for it, I think it's called NSF Advice.</p>

<p>I'm applying... I wrote past research experience last weekend, and will write one essay this weekend and one next weekend. So much writing! (Haha, overloading on classes and research this term maybe wasn't a good idea. ;))</p>

<p>Best of luck to everybody who's applying!</p>

<p>I feel you, I have a full-time job as a sim. engr. and going to grad school part-time (2 classes). I spent the summer studying for the GRE and writing essays, so that my grad. advisor could look over them and offer any suggestions. I'm applying to about 6-7 fellowships, so my advice to everyone is....BE THOROUGH, BE ORGANIZED, AND BE EARLY(OR ON TIME)!!! It also helps to be RELIGIOUS, because I know sometimes I need PRAYER!!.</p>

<p>thanks, I will look for that, the NSF website is not exactly "user-friendly" I have two of essays ready to go, it's just the personal statement that giving me troubles, I find that its hard to not be redundant between the past experience essay and this one, perhaps I'm misunderstanding what they are looking for...good luck all!</p>

<p>Here is the link for the pdf I was talking about, it isn't at the NSF website.</p>

<p><a href="http://socrates.berkeley.edu/%7Egamble/nsfadvice.pdf#search='NSF%20Advice"&gt;http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~gamble/nsfadvice.pdf#search='NSF%20Advice&lt;/a&gt;'&lt;/p>

<p>Been working on it since August...done with personal statement and previous research...still polishing my most important essay of proposed research...</p>

<p>Have you guys tried uploading your essays to the Fastlane site?</p>

<p>I tried last night, and had a bit of trouble -- their pdf converter seems a little finicky. Make sure you try uploading the essays well in advance of the deadline -- you wouldn't want the stupid website to get in the way of allllll those dollars. :)</p>

<p>If anybody can't upload them, PM me and I will convert your essay with my Adobe Distiller.</p>

<p>I got two of my essays up yesterday afternoon with practically no problem. I had converted mine to pdf previously though, which may have made things easier. I was recommended to get my essays online before Nov. 1, I've heard the site likes to crash right before deadlines.</p>

<p>Anyone know how to make sure transcripts made it to NSF?</p>

<p>It takes awhile for them to put in the system that they have received your transcript or GRE scores, which should be checked off when you view your 2006 application status when they do, and since the deadlines are getting close, it probably takes a little longer due to the high volume. But if you get worried, you can always shoot them an email. They got back to me the same day, but that was back in late Sept. or early Oct.</p>

<p>Ah ha! I found where it is on the website. Probably should have looked carefully earlier...Just waiting on one transcript, the one from my grad school....guess I have to kick their butts! ;-)</p>

<p>My GRE scores aren't checked off because I haven't submitted yet (and my registration numbers are in the app, of course).</p>

<p>If I submit Saturday or so, will the fact that my GRE scores will probably be late hurt anything? (My feeling is no, since you're allowed to take the GRE through December or something and still have it in your app. But just checking.)</p>

<p>What do they do between early November, when everybody submits, and January, when they finally get all the letters of rec and GRE scores? Nothing?</p>

<p>The only things due in November are the transcripts and application. The three letters of recommendations and GRE Scores(which are optional) are due by Decembr 31, 2005. I don't know what they are doing between early november and late December. I guess giving us additional time to get the LOR's and GRE scores, since they take longer to get. But then, why don't they just collect everything in Dec. I don't know.</p>

<p>Heck I'm not even including my GRE scores! I think they won't help me and my essays and recommendations will hopefully over-compensate for lack of sumbitted GREs. I think they probably know that some people just plain out can't take standardized tests but still have a capacity to do amazing research.</p>

<p>As for the extended time period, I frankly don't know. The reviewers are actually professors that are pretty much locked up in a room sometime during the beginning of the year for a weekend. Each team I think is assigned something like 10 applications and it's a marathon to get everything done. They practically don't take breaks and its pretty intense from what I hear.</p>

<p>What areas are ya'll applying to? I'm applying to Mathematical Sciences, specifically Applied Math.</p>

<p>Applying Geosciences - Geology</p>

<p>Biological Sciences -- cell biology/neuroscience</p>

<p>Haha, I bet they just lock up the applications for a month and giggle to themselves. Thanks for clarifying the due date for scores... the NSF website itself is not particularly a paragon of clarity.</p>

<p>Crunch time, crunch time, crunch time!!! </p>

<p>Since I'm changing schools for my PhD and writing a proposed reserach essay on a topic that is of my choosing it's coming down to the wire for me to get this done. I'm already on my third proposed project, I hope #3 is the charm! I'm really excited because this idea came straight out of my head and to my knowledge and of those in my current department hasn't been done before. I hope it doesn't sound to wishy washy or rather than they can understand what I'm saying. I'm still worried that like a meterologist that knows nothing about geology reads it and gets fustrated...</p>

<p>Good luck everyone! My application is now signed, sealed and delivered (well...I pushed the submit button a few times...). All I'm waiting on is two of my references...and I submitted 2 full days early (I planned on 2 weeks...oh well...).</p>

<p>Cheers!</p>

<p>Yay, now all we have to do is wait.</p>

<p>Gee, my favorite.</p>