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Originally Posted by PCG
Is this because of the money or because of the "prestige" of winning? It seems like it wouldn't be the funding alone, because then why not admit anyone who could demonstrate the ability to pay? If the prestige, does it mean that they think, "well, maybe we made a mistake on this guy when we rejected him"?
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I'd assume it's more on the prestige side of things. I seem to remember Professor Ellickson (at UCLA) mentioning that there was a UCLA undergrad. who won the NSF and ended up going to another top five university to which he wasn't originally admitted. As for the reason behind this practice, it would be my guess that there are so many applicants that have stellar applications that winning an NSF really helps one stand out, especially given that it's a highly respected award in the economics field. (And probably in most other fields as well!)