12/2    To those who got NSF funding, what were your GRE (general & subject)
        scores? I have a good GPA but my GRE scores suck so I'm not sure
        whether it is worth my time applying. Thanks!
        \_ They are primarily looking for quality research.  You should
           talk to your advisor about this.   The motd is just going to tell
           you that "you don't understand how it works" and that you won't
           get money without promising to agree with the opinions of the
           evil environmentalist jewish scientist conspiracy.  They do
           expect top grades and scores, but primarily look at the
           research project description.  I did not bother to apply
           (also because of lousy grades), but I know people who've gotten
           it who's grades were not quite tip-top, and I know people who've
           been involved in the selection process who said that grades are
           not their top criterion(although they are important.)
        \_ 1. it's too late for this year by a month already. 2. flavour-of-
           the-year research is useful. 3. write in short, non-brainpower-
           consuming sentences, at least according to my advisor. 4. apparently
           you need to claim that this work will have REAL, BIG, NON-
           CONTRIVERSIAL impact, and that this imact will apply to the world
           at large. 5. human rights and protecting people's ability to
           communicate in the face of repressive regimes is apparently
                                      \_ Are you a liberal America hater?
                                         \_ Yes, she is.  -- ilyas
                                            \_ A concise illustration of why
                                               anonymity is preferable on the
                                               motd.
                                               \_ Would you rather have the
                                                  motd consist solely
                                                  of disembodied jokes, for
                                                  fear someone will take
                                                  something seriously, get
                                                  offended and sue?  -- ilyas
                                                  \_ Disembodied jokes?  You're
                                                     a sharp guy, ilya, but
                                                     sometimes you're kinda
                                                     weird.     -mice
                                                  \_ Who said anything about
                                                     fear or lawsuits?  The
                                                     motd is just more fun
                                                     when you don't have to
                                                     worry about actually
                                                     offending anyone in
                                                     particular.
           not something you want to put in your SoP. -chialea, who doesn't
           have any NSF fellowship, but has another one, and just applied
                \_ has another what? non-NSF fellowship?
                \_ DAMN! So when was the deadline, and can continuing
                   grad students (2-4th year MS/PhD) apply? Do they look
                   at your undergrad GPA?
                   \_ oh, for fucks sake, just rtfwp:
                      http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/dge/programs/grf
           \_ chialea, I'm desperate for $ and I missed the deadline. How
              about FAFSA, is that a viable option?   -poor grad student
              \_ errr... beats me. there are lots of other fellowships which
                 have january deadlines. email me at leak@cs.cmu.edu and
                 tell me what year you are and so on, and I'd be happy to
                 give you a list culled from cmu. -chialea
          \_ You could always sell yer ass for $20.
          \_ medical research and taking sruveys are good instant sources of
             cash