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Each year Google turns down many more applicants than it funds. While pre-proposal activities are key to
improving your chances of success, a poorly-written proposal is an easy way to fail. There is much you can
do to ensure that your project proposal catches the attention of organization reviewers in a positive way.
How to write a successful proposal?
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`BeagleBoard.org <https://www.beagleboard.org/>`_ has received a large number of GSoC student proposals over the years
that we have participated in the program. Some of these proposals are quite good, but many are poor proposals that would
not be accepted by any organization participating in GSoC. Unsuccessful proposals often do/have the following:
1. Try to pass off previous school projects as something to do for GSoC. The work has already done, and the project often has very little to do with `BeagleBoard.org hardware <https://www.beagleboard.org/boards>`_.
2. Roughly a half page of “proposal” that is submitted shortly before the submission deadline. These proposals are usually little more than a name, contact information, and a statement of “I will work hard.”
3. A generic proposal that was sent to every other GSoC org that has very few details on deliverables or schedule.
4. A project idea that was never talked about to the `BeagleBoard.org <https://www.beagleboard.org/>`_ mentors in `Discord <http://bbb.io/gsocchat>`_ or in `Forum <https://forum.beagleboard.org/c/gsoc>`_. The proposal was submitted without ever “meeting” the Beagle community.
In order to be successful, a proposal has to be relevant to `BeagleBoard.org <https://www.beagleboard.org/>`_, a proposal
topic that the mentors recognize (either from being proposed on :ref:`gsoc-project-ideas` page or from the topic being
discussed on our `Discord <http://bbb.io/gsocchat>`_ or in `Forum <https://forum.beagleboard.org/c/gsoc>`_), and sufficiently
detailed that the mentors know exactly what you’ll be creating and when it will be done. Successful proposals are also almost
always shown to mentors via Discord or IRC well before the submission deadline so that the mentors can comment on it and offer
suggestions that improve the proposal.
.. tip::
Start your proposal early, speak with the mentors often, and dedicate an appropriate amount of time to both thinking
about the deliverables for your project and how you can describe those deliverables in writing.
Using proposal template
************************
To make the project proposal writing process easier for all the GSoC contributors/students we have created a :ref:`gsoc-proposal-template`.
.. tip::
Start with :ref:`gsoc-contribution-guide` to simplify the proposal writing process using OpenBeagle CI. It's always recommended to create a fork
of `gsoc.beagleboard.io repo on OpenBeagle <https://openbeagle.org/gsoc/gsoc.beagleboard.io>`_ and clone on your local machine. Instruction for
setting up Sphinx on local machine are also provided on :ref:`gsoc-contribution-guide`. For any query you can reach out on
`Discord <http://bbb.io/gsocchat>`_ or `Forum <https://forum.beagleboard.org/c/gsoc>`_.
You can either open your cloned `gsoc.beagleboard.io repo <https://openbeagle.org/gsoc/gsoc.beagleboard.io>`_ using Visual Studio Code on your local machine or use OpenBeagle Web IDE. Now, follow steps below to write your proposal,
1. Create a copy of ``gsoc.beagleboard.io/proposals/template.rst`` in ``gsoc.beagleboard.io/proposals`` folder. Rename the file to reflect your project (``project-name.rst``) or your initials (``<myname>.rst``). It's recommended to follow the structure and use a filename with all smallcase letters and without any space.
2. Start editing your proposal, it should be straightforward if you already know reStructuredText. Don't worry if you are new to reStructuredText, checkout our `ReStructuredText Cheat Sheet <https://docs.beagleboard.org/latest/intro/contribution/rst-cheat-sheet.html>`_ which should guide you through writing your proposal using reStructuredText.
3. Commit your changes and push to your fork often. Share the commit links with mentors so that they can review your proposal drafts and provide their valuable feedback.
4. Check rendered version of your proposal on OpenBeagle pages, to view a rendered version of your updates you can go to ``<username>.beagleboard.org/<repo name>`` where ``username`` is your OpenBeagle username and ``<repo name>`` is the repository name you have selected while forking the project. For example, if username is ``lorforlinux`` and project name is ``gsoc.beagleboard.io`` the rendered site can be accessed live via `lorforlinux.beagleboard.io/gsoc.beagleboard.io <http://lorforlinux.beagleboard.io/gsoc.beagleboard.io>`_.
.. tip::
1. For quick review, you can share OpenBeagle pages link with mentors and community members on `Discord <http://bbb.io/gsocchat>`_ or `Forum <https://forum.beagleboard.org/c/gsoc>`_.
2. On secondry (right) side bar you will see a **PDF download button** like shown below. Click that button on your proposal page to download PDF version of your proposal which you can submit directly on GSoC porposal submission portal.
