AmyClare

If I remember, the application asks whether you have ever applied before. So maybe it's better just to address the issue rather than ignore it. If you don't mind my asking, did you say anything beyond you had applied before (and would apply again, if needed)? Such as,how you had evolved persoanlly, or in terms of your qualifications, maybe.

Oh - one other question. I know this was addressed a while back, but does anyone know of a good TEFL program that is taught over the summer?

Hi all - I was recommended for an ETA to Taiwan this year but ultimately not selected. I am not sure whether I will reapply next year, but since I know that a number of people here did reapply and were successful, I have a question: How much did you change your personal statement? My thinking is that what was wrong with my application was something that mattered to the country, because I "passed" the first stage, where the reviewers are in the U.S. SO I am thinking, if I made it to the recommended stage, the personal statement probably wasn't too bad. Assuming that is true, would it be bad to resubmit essentially the same personal statement? I would re-work the statement of grant purpose because I recognize that there are things that Taiwan was looking for that I did not emphasize. Or should I plan to rework both essays just so as not to appear lazy (in case someone would remember my personal statement from this year?)? Also, those of you that applied a second time - did you mention that in your essays?

Not selected for an ETA to Taiwan I have a favor to ask those who were selected for a Taiwan ETA, in case I decide to apply again - can you all say whether you had teaching experience/want to be teachers? I think that was the weak part of my application - I am a business major and although I have had some volunteer experiences with kids, I am not an education major and don't plan to teach as a career. If that does matter a lot to Taiwan, not sure it would be worthwhile to apply again.

I thought every country had a designated number of awards . . . Can you enlighten me--where are you finding the list that has designated and non-designated awards/countries? Thanks.

"Reliable sources"? I don't have any reliable sources about the effect of sequestration, but I would be interested to know what reliable sources you have. I looked at the spreadsheet of notifications for last year, and so far (if I recall correctly) only two or maybe three countries had sent decisions by this date last year.

Question about transcripts: Has anyone called to verify that their transcript was received? For some reason, I have been super worred the past few days that my transcript did not arrive.

Thanks, this was good advice. Good luck to you to! My other stressor is that my career plan is not to be a teacher . . . it was hard to say anything specific about how being an ETA would help me further my career plans. I did talk generally about language skills and cultural understanding, but those are things anyone could have written about so that worries me. But the application is submitted (including all references!) so whatever it is, it is.

I would really, really appreciate hearing from anyone who knows how Taiwan considers prior overseas experience for ETA applicants. I found this information on a Fulbright website, and of course there is nothing specific about Taiwan: "Contrary to the general guideline favoring candidates without prior overseas experience, regional prior experience within Central Asia is seen as an advantage. Candidates are still recommended to select a country within Central Asia different from that in which they previously studied or lived, but any prior experience in one of the four countries can be beneficial to an application."

It is a bit close, but I am not quite as behind as I maybe sounded . . . . First, letter-writers agreed in August to write letters. I am just worried that the letters won't be uploaded by the deadline. I agree that knowing the language can be helpful in being part of the community. But I have read that people can have spent too much time in the proposed host country. I guess there's some kind of happy medium here. Also, for a Taiwan ETA, I have read that the community project is really very much secondary to being in the schools, whereas for ETAs in other countries, the community service is much more important. A very focused question; Did anyone write anything in the comments section for the travel information, and if so, what did you write? I don't know what I would write, but it seems a waste of a possibility to provide information to not say something.

Just found this forum and not sure whether it will help decrease my stress about this process or just make it worse! I am applying for an ETA position in Taiwan and my application is still several steps from being complete--so jealous of those of you who have everything in. For starters, two of my recommendation letter writers are on sabbatical and I just have my fingers crossed that they will submit the letters on time. And I am still revising my statements. One thing I am going back and forth about is the laguage issue. Taiwan says no language requirement but I have three years of Mandarin plus a summer study in China, and I am not sure how much to talk about this. Also, there are a few places on the application for "comments" which sound optional but will it be bad to not write something?