Ariy

That is what I was trying to understand as well. By then, wouldn't all of the slots be filled?

I noticed that in the email. I had applied to one of the FLI's though so I am assuming that if I didn't hear by late May then... ?

Now that a little bit of time has elapsed, have any of the alternates (any country, any program) heard anything?

Interesting to read through this thread as a current PhD student in anthropology. My primary focus has always been museum work, so it's never been about getting a tenure track position for me. Honestly, a lot of the jobs that I'm looking at don't require a PhD and I'm at a crossroads of wondering if I really need it. I'm waiting to see if I receive the big grant that I applied to and if that doesn't come through I don't really see a way forward at my current institution (which is an R1, not an Ivy but still a solid place). I had a nice funding package for four years and I could walk away tomorrow with two Master's degrees. It's the external grants that are a problem. I'm seeing a pattern of people self-funding their fieldwork here (I think support is really lacking because the dept. is in major transition, among many other problems). When I speak to other students they seem to think self-funding their field research is okay because they will come out of the program making $60-80K. This seems to be true only in rare cases (at least here, anyway). At any rate, it's gotten to the point for me where I have applied to a couple great jobs just in case everything goes under. I kind of wish I had the inclination four years ago that this department was slowly dying. I think that this seeps into the advice that they give which sometimes boils down to, "You can't do this or that" because they have stopped conceptualizing at the level of being ABLE to do those things. They don't see the world through a lens of possibility because they feel dead in the water themselves. It's one thing to shoot down bad ideas, but I wonder if a lot of what I have seen here is just encouraging students to aim low. Who does that help in the end? I can't speak for other fields, but if I was giving someone advice about programs I would say aim for the top 10-- if only because the benefits from start to finish are tremendous. I have seen it first hand. Again, I can't speak for every case, however, I came in with guns blazing and it feels like I might have hit the ceiling of what I could do here. Some programs are going to say they offer a PhD course when what they offer is really more of an MA. You'll always be your own expert on your topic, as well as an independent researcher, but it will become clear to you when a place has really let you down otherwise.

Anthro PhD student here. You will regret going into a program without a strong funding package. Period. What sounds good now will not sound good in 4+ years.

Alternate here for one of the FLI's. It's too early to hear anything yet, unfortunately. Students accept or decline offers this week. I asked around to others who had been alternates and they were saying that notification occurred around late May. I was hoping for mid-May, but hey, here we are. I'm sure it varies by program and what rank the student is on the list. Truthfully there is no way of knowing.

I appreciate that. I know that a lot of people apply to Boren and Fulbright together. This year a lot of people mentioned CLS too. I wonder how high the drop rate would really be for something like IFLI when it's a new flagship program. I feel like more people would say yes.

Alternate for IFLI here. I do know that they have to accept or decline the award by May 1st. The program starts in Madison around June 18th. One would imagine in this instance that Boren would notify a final status by mid May, but that is just a guess on my part. And I'm sure it all depends on where a person is on the waitlist. It's nice to be an alternate but it adds a lot of uncertainty to the process.

I also assume that I'm either a "no" or "waitlist" for IFLI. It does look like flagships have been notified from what I can tell?

IFLI waiting.

There was definitely an uptick in people going back to school (grad school or otherwise) from 2008 to 2012 related to the recession and then it seemed to drop off after that. I think Edward Snowden's case had a lot of people up in arms in 2013. You also have books like Spy Schools by Daniel Golden from 2017 (among other books on the topic) who have suggested that these kind of scholarships/fellowships are conduits to CIA work and that the government is infiltrating school campuses. Weaponizing Anthropology by David Price is another one. I enjoyed reading both of these books to get a background history on how programs like Boren came to be. No question that they're fabulous writers and that they did their homework, I just don't agree with their final "take." Ultimately, they cast a shadow on the federal gov. service requirement in relation to other granting agencies who do not have this requirement. For folks like myself who are looking at arts policy, cultural heritage management and museum work I don't really get how what they are saying applies to me. Even if someone wanted to join the CIA, that would be their call and it doesn't affect me, you know? I don't personally see academia as "pure and ethical" vs. the government as inherently "bad." That's what I've learned from spending years in academia. I've seen a lot of folks preach about "people in the government" from their tenured perch in academic posts, but times have changed dramatically, at least for anthropology. There was a study that came out recently which stated that perhaps up to 80% of Anthropology PhD's will not receive tenure track jobs in the academy. If they did not receive their PhD at an Ivy League their chances may go down even more. Personally, I've watched people take on horrible adjuncting/lecturer jobs in the "hope" that they'll make it eventually and frankly most of them never do. I would rather try my hand at something else.

I'm still a conspiracy theory fan. I appreciate the responses and I'm feeling better. I started my PhD in 2014 so it's been a journey for me. In 2007 I started my BA so I've been rambling about what I'm going to do with anthropology for over a decade now. What's another two weeks in the grander scheme of things? (?!)

I'm the broken record of this forum lol. I apologize in advance. I still haven't received a budget update email for the Indonesian Flagship (I had added a spring component). I love this program but I'm starting to apply to Plan B stuff because I'm not totally clear about what is going on. Again, it's a new program this year but we're barreling towards the notification date.

Cross your fingers and toes and I'll do the same for everyone here lol.

I haven't received any kind of update. Could be bad news. IFLI is, of course, a new program but you'd kind of think that something would be out.