[GSoC-general] Writing a Proposal

Terri Oda terri at toybox.ca
Sun Mar 20 20:28:43 EDT 2016


On 2016-03-20 12:11 AM, Abdul  Junaid wrote:
>  From my understanding after reading the ‘How to compose a proposal’,
> I’m supposed to come upward with fresh ideas to forge on with the
> system. Or can we apply for any idea that an organization is already
> working on?


In general, starting from something on the ideas page is the easier path 
and the one we recommend.  The new idea thing can work if you're already 
a developer or long-time user for the organization so you know what they 
need and want. Since many GSoC applicants have very little experience, 
starting from the ideas page is your best bet!

Organizations spend a decent amount of time preparing their ideas pages, 
so those ideas are they ones they know they have mentors interested in 
and will be useful for their overall organizational goals.  If you'd 
like to add your own spin, try adding in a proposed related "stretch 
goal" that you'd like to do if you complete your work early.

Many groups are willing to consider entirely new ideas too, but it's a 
harder path.  Year after year, I see students propose ideas that no 
mentors want to do, that don't fit the overall goals of the project, or 
conflict with architecture decisions already made.  To be honest, these 
usually get rejected in favour of things from the ideas page.   So if 
you go this route, work closely with mentors to make sure it's a good 
fit, and pay close attention to what they tell you.  Make any changes 
they ask for, and if they don't seem excited about it or they tell you 
it's not a good fit, then you're probably not getting accepted and you 
should try something else.


  Terri



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