Prof. Kristin Stephens-Martinez

It is/was graduate application reading season! And you know what that means? Reading a bunch of statements and sometimes wondering where the applicant’s mentor led them astray. So I thought I’d write this post to voice my opinion on what part of what makes a good statement. [Also posted on  medium .] Show, do not tell A good statement should show me, not tell me about the applicant. And that’s a nuance that might be hard to picture at first. What I mean is the statement should provide enough information and detail that the reader can picture the applicant doing things as a grad student and researcher. It cannot simply say, “I’m a good learner.” It must show me they are a good learner by giving me an idea of what a good learner means to them, hopefully without actually saying it outright. An applicant should leave to their letter writers summary statements like “he is a hard worker” and “she is quick to learn new things.” Those letter writers have the reputation and experie...

I just submitted a grant proposal to NSF CRII . This is a solo grant, which means I wrote the proposal all by myself. I submitted a CRII proposal last year that wasn't accepted. However, I got a lot of good feedback on it. This year's proposal is on a completely different project. However, I was still able to use some of that feedback, which hopefully made this year's proposal stronger. Before too much time has passed, I wanted to reflect on what I did while working on this proposal and how I could do better next time. First, I want to celebrate that I at least got it done and submitted. While it may not feel like a victory, logically, I know that it is a victory. A lot of effort went into writing the proposal, and seeing the effort completed by submitting the proposal is a win in itself. Second, I want to thank everyone that gave me feedback. You are all on a list of names that I plan to notify whether I got the proposal as soon as I find out. In this reflection, I...