Admissions Will a mediocre GRFP proposal hurt my Grad admission chances

[PeanutButterPuffin]

Hi All.
I was pretty idiotic and waited until last minute to prepare my NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Proposal. In under 2-weeks time, I 'slapped together' my application, figuring that even if I didn't win, I would at least obtain valuable feedback. I just submitted it. The problem is, I am not sure that my proposal is entirely plausible, since I didn't have the time to read extensive literature on the subject. Now I am wondering if a mediocre GRFP application could hurt my chances of graduate school admission.

 

[radium]

Grad school admissions results start coming out in January and the open houses are in March. The NSF winners are not announced until the very end of March, like the 30th or so. They aren't in any way related.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

Might hurt your chances for the fellowship, but not for admission itself. Odds are if you would otherwise be a strong candidate for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, you should get into a few good grad schools and likely be offered RAs, TAs, etc.

For most folks who win one of the big fellowships (NSF, etc.) it is like icing on the cake that makes a good opportunity even better.

 

[PeanutButterPuffin]

@radium and @Dr. Courtney
Thank you both for your replies! My primary worry was that the review panel may contain faculty members of the schools I'm applying to. It is relieving to hear that a bad proposal should not impact graduate school admission chances. Thanks for clearing this up!