NSF sample essays

[wannalearnecon]

Does anybody know if there are sample NSF essays posted online anywhere? It would be nice to see what kind of quality is necessary to win an NSF.

Also, if anybody knows of a site that has good tips on the NSF, that would be cool too...

[jeeves0923]

I googled it last year and came up with some good resources, but no sample essays. The best advice I can give is take the broader impacts very seriously in your essays. All of them.

[Elly]

When I was working on my proposal last year, I used this resource from UC Santa Cruz:
UC Santa Cruz - Division of Graduate Studies - Student Affairs - NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Information

It has essays from someone who was rejected the first year but won the award the second time she applied. This is especially useful because her qualifications really didn't change, just her essays, so you can really see how you need to present yourself.

[jeeves0923]

Wow, Elly, this is great, thanks!

[wannalearnecon]

I found a useful link for an economics NSF essay that won the fellowship:
JulianReif.com

[econstudent311]

Some more links people may find useful:
Tips for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Applications « An American Physics Student in England
http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/fellowship-tips.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/~athey/gradadv.html