NAC Alum

Travel grants available! If you need financial assistance in order to be able to participate in an otherwise unsupported invited opportunity (invited presentation, observing visits, etc.), send a proposal to odi@nrao.edu, with the following information:

• Overview of purpose of trip
• Information about the invitation (from whom, dates, location, etc.)
• How this travel will enhance your research and/or your academic career
• Are you willing to represent the NAC in some capacity at the meeting (how might you do so)?
• Expected outcomes (e.g., paper, collaboration)
• Budget (please provide enough detail for the reviewers to determine reasonableness of cost estimates)
• Do you have support from other sources? Are you applying to other sources for funding?

NAC alums may request student memberships in the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) or SACNAS.

If you need financial assistance in order to be able to participate in a professional meeting, send a proposal to odi@nrao.edu, with the following information:

• Name of meeting
• Link to meeting registration
• Cost
• How this meeting will enhance your research and/or your academic career
• Are you willing to represent the NAC in some capacity at the meeting (how might you do so, if applicable)?
• Expected outcomes (e.g., paper, collaboration, increased knowledge)
• Do you have support from other sources? Are you applying to other sources for funding?

NAC Alums may request reimbursement of the cost of the Physics GRE, along with score transfer fees to a maximum of 4 schools. Limited funding is available, so please request this benefit as soon as you can before taking the GRE or transferring scores.

• Option #1: If you have the ability to pay the fees, pending reimbursement (within a week or two), please send receipts to odi@nrao.edu
• Option #2: If you are unable to cover the fees initially, contact Lyndele to arrange a time to apply online together so that NRAO can pay the fee(s) via credit card.

A number of universities offer graduate school application fee waivers to NAC alumni, when a “Letter of Eligibility – Fee Waiver Request” is uploaded to the application site. Your first step should be to request this Letter from Danielle (see instructions below) 

The following list describes the process for individual schools, but is not inclusive of all waivers. If you run into problems, contact Danielle. 

On the application page, upload the Letter of Eligibility to the following schools: 

• University of Maryland 
• Howard University 
• Central Florida University 
• Cornell University 

The following Universities have distinct systems for fee waivers. Most will require the Letter of Eligibility.  

• University of Texas- Austin 
  • Request a fee waiver when prompted in the application  
  • If the request is not approved, send an email to Abby Black at UT with application ID and a note that you are a member of the NAC program with the Letter of Confirmation attached 

• University of Minnesota  
  • Students must apply through the BTAA FreeApp Program (University of Minnesota) 
  • Meet the eligibility requirements for approval 
  • Note priority deadline: November 15; otherwise, December 15 
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison  
  • Will need to contact Department directly; a coupon code should be issued based upon NAC participation 

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • When applying, select the “SROP” fee waiver option and upload Letter of Confirmation 

• University of Georgia
  • Fee waiver information  

• Cal Tech 
  • https://www.gradoffice.caltech.edu/admissions/fees 

• Columbia University
  • https://apply.engineering.columbia.edu/register/ 

• Harvard University 
  • Fee Waivers not automatically granted, but will likely be granted if you follow this process: 
  • Request a fee waiver form from admiss@fas.harvard.edu 
  • Indicate on the form that you are an alum of the NAC program, and note that the NAC program is designed to provide research opportunities for underrepresented minority students 
  • Attach a copy of the Letter of Eligibility
  • Review this website: https://gsas.harvard.edu/diversity-gsas  

• Johns Hopkins University 
  • Common Application (allows upload of letter for fee waiver) 

• Michigan State University 
  • Students should complete this form after uploading their materials. IMPORTANT: approval of the fee waiver will close your application, so be sure that you have uploaded all parts of your application. 

• Notre Dame 
  • Fee Waiver Available – Request Fee Waiver application from Physics Department http://physics.nd.edu/graduate-program/apply/ 

• Rutgers University 
  • In the “Honors” section of the application, note that you are a National Astronomy Consortium (NAC) student 
  • Send an email to Andrew Baker to let him know that you are applying (ajbaker[at]physics.rutgers.edu) 

• Stony Brook University 
  • Fee Waiver available through Center for Inclusive Education (send email to Rosalia Davi at CIE_GraduateSchool@stonybrook.edu. Be sure to tell Ms. Davi that you are a NAC alum. 
  • Check out the CIE and fellowship opportunities at http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/cie/ 

• University of Arizona 
  • In the UA graduate application, you will see the drop-down field “Sponsor/Program Affiliation.”  
  • National Astronomy Consortium (NAC) will be one of the affiliations listed in the drop down menu.   
  • Applicants will receive an email directing them to upload proof of participation in NAC. Applicants should complete the entire application and upload all materials and any other supplemental information as appropriate; do not pay the application fee. 
  • When the fee waiver eligibility is confirmed and the waiver is loaded into the on-line system, an email will be sent to the applicant to log back in to the graduate application and “submit” it. The application fee will reflect as “paid”.  
  • Waivers may take up to 7 days to process. 

• UC-Irvine 
  • https://www.grad.uci.edu/admissions/applying-to-uci/fee-waivers.php 

The following universities do not offer a fee waiver program. Contact JJ and Danielle to make arrangements for payment or reimbursement. 

• Arizona State University 
• Georgetown University 

 Letter of Eligibility from the NAC program 

Before you begin the application process, please send the following information to Danielle so that a Letter of Eligibility/Fee Waiver Request can be sent to you. You will need this letter to upload to the schools’ application websites.  If you had multiple NAC summer research experiences, please list all. 

Undergraduate Major:

Institution:

NAC Program Site(s):

Dates of NAC program participation:

Research Topic(s):

Faculty Mentor(s): 

GradSchoolShopper from the  American Institute of Physics (AIP) provides graduate school resources here: https://www.gradschoolshopper.com/gradschool/

Useful and important information on the website includes:

• Grad School Admission Deadlines
• GRE requirements
• Financial Aid Deadlines

The APS Bridge Program is a post-baccalaureate program lasting one to two years that provides students with research experience, advanced coursework, and coaching to prepare them for a graduate school application. http://www.apsbridgeprogram.org/

Associated Universities, Inc jobs board for NRAO site  http://jobs.jobvite.com/nrao/jobs

STSCI job opportunities https://www.stsci.edu/opportunities