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Fulbright 2012-2013


Bkid-Sapps

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I wish I had found this site a year ago when I was applying. It wasn't until after I was selected that I stumbled here. These forums are a great resource--so if you are here already, you're off to a good start!

I will be heading to Austria to begin my Fulbright with a project regarding interdisciplinary music and dance studies. It would be delighted to offer my experience if anyone had any questions about the application, process, preparation, and of course the wait, etc.

You can message me or check out the blog I started recently. www.adrienneharding.com Best wishes!! :D

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Hello, friends and competitors.

I am applying for a full grant to Russia in the natural sciences. The Fulbright application is very challenging and difficult to complete. I have been trying for several years to put together a complete application, but this year is my year. I finally have a letter of affiliation.

I learned from Rachel Holskin that the length of the grant is strictly ten months and begins in September. Apparently visa regulations make for inflexible dates. Once question I have been afraid to ask: how much is the stipend for Russia. Yes, I know it varies depending on the location within Russia. Can anyone ballpark it?

Good luck to everyone, and thank your lucky stars that Fulbright funding is still intact. The poor Title VIII applicants were hung completely out to dry this year by Congress. Not a single applicant will be funded.

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Hi! Is it cheating to say that I only discovered the Fulbright ETA program a few days ago? I feel like I jumped on the bandwagon when others have planned this step for years. Guilty or not, I'm applying to the ETA in Croatia! So far, I have two recommendations set up: one from a former professor who is teaching English in China for the month and the other from a former professor who spent the last year teaching in Slovenia thanks to Fulbright (I feel like I hit the jackpot with that one!) Still searching for a third reference...

Like a lot of people, I am stumped on the Personal Statement and Project Proposal aspects. As far as the personal statement goes, I feel like I might not be the typical Fulbright ETA-er. I've graduated in May of 2010. I'm 25. I was unemployed all of 2010. I have no plans to go to graduate school. I'm looking into becoming TEFL certified through Cambridge's CELTA program, but that is about it. I'm not sure if my lack of direction will hinder me, or might perhaps make me stand out?! Probably not...I'm not sure how to be honest about myself without sounding like I am looking for a paid year in gorgeous Croatia!

All in all, I am going to keep plugging along, learning as much about Croatia as humanly possible and talking (via email) to as many past Fulbrighters as I can. Now, if only I could come up with an awesome project!

I'd love to hear back from any and every one!

Kendall

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Hello!

I am from the UK, I applied a few months ago to study an MFA in the US. Still waiting to hear back... Is there anyone else from the UK waiting too or anyone who has successfully applied for an Arts masters from the UK or europe?

I've spent hours trawling the internet this site is a fantastic resource.

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I have considered applying for the Germany ETA, but am not sure my chances are good, as it seems geared more toward German majors and future German teachers. I'm a masters student in Religion and did 2+ years of German in college, studied at the Goethe Institue in Berlin, and speak pretty good conversational German thanks to having German family and a German boyfriend in the past. At this point, I think living in Germany for a year would take me a long ways toward fluency, but I don't know if its worth going for it?

I am planning to appy for the separate Austrian program, and if I decide not to apply for Germany I would apply for an ETA somewhere much more "obscure" such as Armenia, Georgia, or Cyprus (I'm interested in Eastern Christianity), but I'm not sure what the applicant pool is like for those countries... Thoughts?

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Hello!

I am from the UK, I applied a few months ago to study an MFA in the US. Still waiting to hear back... Is there anyone else from the UK waiting too or anyone who has successfully applied for an Arts masters from the UK or europe?

I've spent hours trawling the internet this site is a fantastic resource.

UK here too. I check my email every day since they said late July/Early August, but nothing yet. Good luck, hope we both get an interview :)

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Hey there! I'm applying to the ETA for Azerbaijan, which appears to have the same requirements as Armenia (I was also considering Armenia, but changed my mind at the last minute). I am not Azeri or Russian either, but I did take a year of Russian. However, both countries seem to want to distance themselves from Russia and are trying very hard to replace Russian with English. I read that, at least in Azerbaijan, locals would much rather speak Azeri than Russian. In other words, while Russian may be somewhat useful as you try to adapt once you're there, I don't know how much it should affect your application. At least that's my opinion. Good luck!

Thank you so much!!! Perhaps we'll see each other in the Caucasus!

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Hello all! Anyone else applying to the UK to obtain a master's degree at a specific university? Just looking for any advice about how to weave that intention into a proposal that is compelling - obviously the goal is to say more than "I am interested in abc and getting a master's degree at so-and-so university will help me do xyz." Any feedback would be awesome, thanks!

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UK scholar here, applying for Scottish Studies Scholarship. Just found out this week I've been short-listed for an interview, so pretty jazzed about that, although the hard work starts now... >.<

Anybody else in this boat?

SB

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Anyone know how many apply to Germany and how many are accepted?

I am looking at the Max Plank institute to do research on a particular type of protein. However, I could easily do that research in the U.S. or Canada. Does my application have to be on something only possible in Germany? Or could I say I will run a blog on Germany vs US and stuff to cover the needed differences.

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Anyone know how many apply to Germany and how many are accepted?

I am looking at the Max Plank institute to do research on a particular type of protein. However, I could easily do that research in the U.S. or Canada. Does my application have to be on something only possible in Germany? Or could I say I will run a blog on Germany vs US and stuff to cover the needed differences.

Here's a helpful link for acceptance statistics from last year:

https://us.fulbrightonline.org/statistics_country_europe.html

And Kendall,

I've heard not so great things about applying for the ETA program at-large. My former FPA said that the committees worry that someone applying after a year or two of floundering about and then no concrete plans for the future just wants the experience. My thoughts are that I'll kind of explain how a Fulbright year would affect what I would do in grad school, but I don't know if I have enough room for that.

Croatia is on my list of potential countries. But right now, Slovakia is top.

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Here's a helpful link for acceptance statistics from last year:

https://us.fulbright...try_europe.html

And Kendall,

I've heard not so great things about applying for the ETA program at-large. My former FPA said that the committees worry that someone applying after a year or two of floundering about and then no concrete plans for the future just wants the experience. My thoughts are that I'll kind of explain how a Fulbright year would affect what I would do in grad school, but I don't know if I have enough room for that.

Croatia is on my list of potential countries. But right now, Slovakia is top.

Hi Magdalena,

One of my references (who recently spent a Fulbright year teaching in Slovenia) said that my biggest obstacle will be manufacturing a history/desire to teach English. Not that it isn't something I am directly interested in, but seeing as I have no previous teaching experience, it is going to have to be a tough sell. I shared my worries about my lack of competitiveness (no plans for grad school) and she said from what she gathered, the committee is more interested in diversity than prestige. That's not to say that I won't have to come up with a damn good reason why I think I would be a good candidate for this program, and why I am choosing Croatia over dozens more locations. The totality of it all is making my head spin!

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If there are any current/previous Fulbrighters out there...

I am a PhD student applying for a research grant to France. I have very basic conversational skills (really basic!) because I have some french friends teaching me a few things. I will also be taking two semesters of French beginning this fall (in a week! AHH!).

I was told that filling out the language self evaluation would be helpful but I was wondering if I should also get the language eval filled out by a French faculty member here at my school. I don't know who my professor will be (probably a grad student) but they wont know me for very long before the evaluation would be due and so I am not sure it would be a very accurate representation...comments or suggestion?

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For anyone who is applying for one of the Near East and Africa countries, Fulbright is hosting a webinar with Jermaine Jones from 2-4PM EST today: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/789860531

The Fulbright Program actually has these kinds of webinars fairly often, and the info is useful in the application process. I find out about them by following on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/FulbrightPrgrm

How far along is everyone in the application process? I just joined the forum recently... this is my first post. :)

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If there are any current/previous Fulbrighters out there...

I am a PhD student applying for a research grant to France. I have very basic conversational skills (really basic!) because I have some french friends teaching me a few things. I will also be taking two semesters of French beginning this fall (in a week! AHH!).

I was told that filling out the language self evaluation would be helpful but I was wondering if I should also get the language eval filled out by a French faculty member here at my school. I don't know who my professor will be (probably a grad student) but they wont know me for very long before the evaluation would be due and so I am not sure it would be a very accurate representation...comments or suggestion?

I have the same question for the Germany Fulbright - it says "Knowledge of German commensurate with the nature of the proposed project", which isn't much for a science project. So do I need to fill out both evals?

Thanks for the help guys!

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Is it necessary that your project relate to your host country? My project is at a place that has the connections to allow my project to succeed but has no connection to the host country. Will I be axed?

Probably. The Fulbright program is about cultural exchange but, you have to remember that people from your proposed host country will be reviewing your application if you make it to that stage. Why would they want to fund a project that helps you but not them? You're going to need a compelling answer to avoid getting axed.

If there are any current/previous Fulbrighters out there...

I am a PhD student applying for a research grant to France. I have very basic conversational skills (really basic!) because I have some french friends teaching me a few things. I will also be taking two semesters of French beginning this fall (in a week! AHH!).

I was told that filling out the language self evaluation would be helpful but I was wondering if I should also get the language eval filled out by a French faculty member here at my school. I don't know who my professor will be (probably a grad student) but they wont know me for very long before the evaluation would be due and so I am not sure it would be a very accurate representation...comments or suggestion?

You should do a language evaluation with someone at your school. Contact the French department. They probably have a person assigned to this task that you'll make an appointment and meet with. The evaluation has nothing to do with how well they know you. It's really about them testing your ability to read, write, speak, and orally comprehend the appropriate language. The only time I ever interacted with the person that evaluated my language skills for my Fulbright application was via email to make an appointment and for 30 minutes when we met. The language evaluation isn't like a LOR, it doesn't need to say anything about you, just about your language abilities.

If I were you, I'd be concerned. Your evaulation is going to have to be done in September, at the latest, at which point you'll have 1 month (maybe) of French classes under your belt. How well do you think you will score, particularly when it comes to reading, writing, and comprehending orally? This is something you should be seriously thinking about before applying. 2 semesters of French is probably not enough to do a project well in France. I know that my speaking skills were minimal after my first year of Spanish, which would've made it impossible to carry out a research project in a Spanish-speaking country. In your case, it might make more sense to spend this year focusing on learning French and apply in fall 2013 for a Fulbright once your language skills have improved.

If you decide not to wait a year to apply, you'll need to do more than practice with a few friends. Find online tools to help you. Check out books or audio CDs from the public library. Pimsleur offers solid courses that will help you with the listening and speaking. Read French newspapers and look up every word you don't know to improve your reading and writing. And, keep in mind that you'll be competing for your grant against people with years of experience speaking, reading, and writing French, which will probably make them more attractive applicants than you.

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I wish everyone tremendous success with the application process!

I can't help but remember what I was doing a year ago at this pivotal point in preparing my Fulbright application. Recently, I recounted some of the most meaningful lessons I learned from months of research, drafting, language study, and correspondence on my blog: www.adrienneharding.com. I am happy to share my experience on how to get through the process like a "sane person." :blink: Thanks to everyone who stops by, feel free to drop a question, comment, or message me personally.

Best wishes to everyone!!!

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thanks for that link, I had a read it looks goo. I recently had my interview for UK-US Fulbright postgraduate scholarship and I'm afraid I found it quite hard, maybe because my chosen research area has some unusual issues surrounding it. However, I am really glad I applied and the whole proces has been a learning curve, reaffirming my self belief and beginning to understand what sort of person I am and want to be. Also, now I have done the interview I'm pretty sure I will never be as nervous interviewing again!

Good luck to everyone else, fingers crossed for all of us!

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Anyone else have a campus deadline coming up? Mine is September, 5th ... starting to go into lockdown to get these essays written

@bjs_7, I asked my FPA about it, and he's all like the timeline he gave isn't really relevant anymore, but last thing I heard its due Oct. 10th.

I went to the Fulbright Guidance Session in NYC on Thursday, they gave us a lot of good info, so if any of you can make it to one, I recommend going, they have a few next month I think, check the site.

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Hi,

I'm glad to know there is this forum. I just read through most of the 2009-10 forum, this seems like quite a process!

I have children, and was wondering if anyone knew of anyone with a family who was awarded a fulbright. I'm applying for an ETA position in Spain, I think my app is reasonably competitive, but I'm very nervous about how much carrying dependents will detract from my app.

Thanks!

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Hey all!

Michael here a.k.a. busti

While I've perused this site many times before I just decided to begin posting! So, here I am... posting!

Anyway, enough small talk... I too am applying for an Fulbright ETA - Portugal.

I've been working on my Personal Statement/Statement of Grant Purpose statements for about 1-2 months now... I'm having it torn to pieces by an advisor... I hopefully should be finished with both of them soon and by soon I'm thinking another month? ha.

I do have a quick question, What is everyone planning as far as the "side project?" I'm jumping from project to project and have yet to settle on a final idea that is both culturally relevant and specific to Portugal.

GOOD LUCK!!

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Busti06 - I volunteer as a music teacher, so my campus advisor encouraged me to propose a supplementary music education program. Has your FPA given you any suggestions? I have a friend who is an FPA at another campus and he recommended making sure to emphasize the benefit to the host country. BTW, I decided on researching attitudes toward standardized testing in Spain vs. US instead - it's more in line with my master's thesis.

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