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[anthaspirant]

Hello all,

I've been browsing the fora for several months, and I think I've done my due searching diligence on this topic.  Here's the situation:
I'm applying for doctorate programs in a social science.  At least one of the prospective departments strongly recommends applying for the Javits and NSF fellowships.  I've opted out of Javits, but I'm working on the NSF application right now.  The main dilemma I'm having is that the application makes me choose a school in the "Proposed Graduate Program" stage.  Now, I'm feeling a little dense because of this, but I truly don't understand if this means a) if I win, this funding will only be available for the school I choose here b) this information will be available to my prospective schools.  Honestly, I don't expect to receive the grant.  I feel strongly about my area of research, but my undergraduate GPA is not stellar, and it will be a stretch to convince a panel of the "impact" of my proposed research.  I think it is a possibility, and it would obviously make my life a lot easier, but I'm not counting on it.  The main impetus for my application is the "strong recommendation" of some of the schools I'm applying to.  Some of them include a "Have you applied for funding from...?" checkbox on their applications.  I'm getting the impression that merely having APPLIED for the NSF will make my applications for the PhD programs more attractive, and I'm not sure they'll know whether I received the fellowship by the time they're making admission decisions.

So, here is the question part:

1) I'm applying to several schools, why do I have to pick ONE on the NSF GRF app?
2) Will the other schools know which school I listed on my app? ("What?!?!  We're not his first choice?!?!")

Any advice/explanation is much appreciated.

[psychgrad816]

It’s fine to list a school on your NSF GRF app that you ultimately may not attend. I’ve looked through the awards in the past and have seen incoming grad students who listed my program but ultimately didn’t go to that school, and vice versa. You can use the funding for any school.

I don’t think any schools you’re applying to would find out if you did or did not list them as your proposed school, unless you won an award and they happen to peruse the list of awardees after it comes out in the spring (which will likely be after admissions decisions are made anyway).

[geonerd]

The NSF GRF is portable. You can take it with you to whatever graduate program you ultimately choose to attend, and take it with you if you switch universities. Most universities have "resource faculty," usually past panelists, who can answer any questions you have.  You can find the resource faculty at your potential institutions at http://www.nsfgrfp.org/applicant_resources. Good luck.

[anthaspirant]

Thanks for the replies.  That sets my mind at ease (relatively speaking during grad apps crunch time).