desmonster1018

I don't know what to make of the lack of official budget email this year. Maybe it's specifically to torture everyone. cm125, I don't know that the Boren staff would outright lie, but they do tend to be cryptic about communication (as aepafrica kindly put it ). If you check the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 threads, the staff said the exact same thing to people who called to inquire about 'the' budget email, and we know in retrospect that this was not the case. I also included my home institution, etc. fees in my original budget and justification (and went back to check), and still received one of the odd budget emails. Still not sure how to interpret any information thus far, but I'm glad we're all hanging in there!

Really sorry to hear the news about the program in SA, aepafrica. I agree that it makes complete sense that they're obviously still interested or wouldn't give you an opportunity to change. Good stuff!

mcelone, nice work on the Swahili! I haven't taken the OPI yet, but I imagine I'm hovering somewhere around low- or mid-level intermediate, so I would definitely need to take the summer course if I were to receive the award. I applied for a Tanzania and Kenya combination, and identified a language center in Kenya after the SUZA program. (Admittedly, I'm excited to be exposed to Sheng in Kenya, having developed a recent love of East African hip-hop!)

Mcelone, I received the same email, but I'm also unsure what to make of it. I wonder if they're mixing things up a bit this year and separating in some ways based on region? I don't know what to make of the dates email. It seems odd that something would be sent to *all* applicants after a selection panel met last week. Also, regarding the weeding out of applicants, there is likely a strong response bias. Many people seemed to join the forum to post after receiving the dates email from Boren - applicants who did not receive any emails would not be prompted to find a place to discuss/exchange information. That said, all still speculation, and I hope we all start hearing more concrete information soon!

Do we know for sure if the selection committee met last week, as was stated earlier in the forum? This might add some insight...

I got the email as well. I agree with nm2233 - I can't imagine writing specific names/dates to the general applicant pool (that would be ridiculously cumbersome for staff), so I think this might be a step in the right direction! Fingers still crossed for all of us!

Agreed! I think the fact that we're still hearing anything is a good sign, and there are likely different forms needed for various programs, multiple country applicants, etc. It sounds like there are more emails to come, so we just need to hang in there at this point.

I'm not sure that this is useful at all, but just in case, this is the email that I received last week. (I'm guessing that this is similar to what postidentity and paperhead received, but certainly do not want to make assumptions.) It does not seem to be *the* budget email, based on the language of last year, and I could have forgotten a line/budget item...I'm just too much of a wimp to look at the PDF file of my submitted application. (As an FYI, I applied for the fellowship to multiple countries - Tanzania/Kenya.) Still keeping my fingers crossed for everyone! Hope we all receive good news soon! -- Hello from the Boren Awards. We need to see a budget breakdown for your non-AFLI program related expenses. We don’t need the program costs itself, just any additional home institution fees (What you might be paying your U.S. university) and changes in spring program expenses you might have (Assuming you have an extra spring or summer semester). Please attach a spreadsheet to this email and send it back to me by Friday. Please use the same format you used in the application when you make your budget. If you need a copy of your budget please let me know.

Thanks for starting this thread! Like postidentity, I received an email asking for a further breakdown of overseas expenses, to be submitted by the end of the week...but I did not receive the formal email that seems to have gone out in past years. Keeping my fingers crossed for all of us - good luck, everyone!