jpar23

I faced the same issue in my application. I have spent 2 separate academic years living in Austria (in high school as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student, and with my University's study abroad program)...I tried not to emphasize it too much in my applications, but it certainly influenced my essays and overall application. I was selected for Germany, but only given Alternate status for Austria. So maybe there is something to it for someone like me, but I feel like less than 6 weeks isn't a big deal at all!

This post is for my mom, who has also been stalking these forums...let's see how long it takes her to notice: ACCEPTED for FULBRIGHT ETA in GERMANY!

I really hope that ranking the Bundesländer wouldn't hurt our chances, I am putting my faith in those at the Fulbright commission as well. I probably could have contemplated a bit more, seeing as we have until February 1st, but I got really excited and sent my questionnaire. I listed Bayern as my first choice (have studied abroad in Austria twice), Baden-Württemberg, and Nordrhein-Westfalen. Bayern was a no-brainer for me, and both Baden and Nordrhein seemed like interesting places to live, plus multiple bordering countries to potentially visit!

I found this forum after hearing from my school on Wednesday that we would receive our application status e-mail by the end of the day today. I hadn't really been worried about hearing, at least until the end of January, until I received that message from my school. Happy to find a community of people worrying like myself! Of course, this also meant I was checking to see if anyone had heard every 10 minutes or so. Regardless, I have been recommended for a Fulbright ETA to Germany! On to the next few months of waiting...