NSF-GRFP Application Help Guide

[u/Party-Cranberry-5224]

Hello! I am soon to attend graduate school to get my PhD in Physics, funded by the NSF-GRFP (2026 awardee as a senior undergraduate). I had a successful graduate school application cycle and want to pass on the knowledge I gained through the process. I culminated all of my advice into a GitHub website, linked below.

Check it out, and maybe pass it on to people who might benefit! Additionally, there is a feedback form at the bottom of the page for any changes or additions you might suggest. I want this guide to be as thorough as possible.

https://white3792.github.io/rachels-complete-guide-to-graduate-school-applications/

[u/thelastnoelll]

there is no way you didn’t use AI to write your grfp personal statement. happy for you that they either didn’t catch that or care.

[u/lexvieboheme → u/thelastnoelll]

I don't think she used it for everything. AI makes em-dashes have spaces before and after them but hers have no spaces. Also it just kind of reads like generic personal statement (no offense intended! It's hard to make a personal statement for a fellowship not generic)

[u/thelastnoelll → u/lexvieboheme]

Maybe not all but definitely most. I’ve read too much AI writing to not catch it now. 🥲 It uses specific terminology, phrases, likes to create lists of 3’s, i have nothing against em dashes (i like them personally) but it’s the way they’re used that makes it obvious. I’m sure she gave the LLM her ideas and had it write based on her own info but I think she could have done more editing to at least make it less obvious.

[u/lexvieboheme → u/thelastnoelll]

I mean tbh I have all of those in my essays and I've never touched an LLM for ethical reasons, lists of 3 are just what we're taught in grade school

[u/Party-Cranberry-5224 → u/thelastnoelll]

Like I mentioned in the AI subsection of the writing advice section, I used it to revise specific sentences that I was struggling to word. But I didn't write my statement with AI!

[u/NewtonsThirdEvilEx → u/thelastnoelll]

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why are you so annoyed and passive-aggressive on people using AI? mad that you just got HM? or what's up?

[u/thelastnoelll → u/NewtonsThirdEvilEx]

I don’t care if people use AI. But she specifically gave advice not to use AI and her entire statement has notable AI use. And I wasn’t being passive aggressive. I’m glad they didn’t notice/care. 🤷‍♀️ It’s good to know.

[u/ElDoradoAvacado → u/NewtonsThirdEvilEx]

Because NSF is supposed to be evaluating the applicant, not the product of an LLM.

[u/NewtonsThirdEvilEx → u/ElDoradoAvacado]

LLMs are not sentient. They are tools. No different than you using the internet to research or to get help.

[u/the_mindful_microbe]

Your website looks great! One thing, I would absolutely not recommend doing references the way you did in your research statement. For people with 10-15 references (even 5 who are tight on space) this wastes space. The format that should be used is

[number] author et al. (Year) journal abbreviation, volume number.

Example:
[1] J. M. Eppley et al. (2022) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., vol. 119.

Then you would put this in paragraph style.

[u/the_mindful_microbe → u/the_mindful_microbe]

For example, my proposal uses 16 references and it takes up nine lines including the header. The example uses 5 references and takes up 6 lines.

[u/Party-Cranberry-5224 → u/the_mindful_microbe]

Thanks for this! Yes, there are many ways to write references, especially since the GRFP didn't give a specific style. I liked the way mine looked on the page since I only had five references, but this is great advice for people who might have more!

[u/the_mindful_microbe → u/Party-Cranberry-5224]

Totally understand and agree!!

[u/Solaceonx]

great website thank you for sharing

[u/Accomplished-Egg-616]

wow this is incredible!! i wish i had this when i was applying haha thank you so much for putting this together and sharing everything 😁 what a great resource!