cessiemasque

Oh please let this be true. C'mon Jermaine, don't let us down! Also why the head exploding? Isn't this relatively good news...?

More like qq. Because that's what I've been doing.

I actually did consider this, or putting on sunglasses and a hijab or using a mask, but then I figured they would feel like it's offensive and not befitting of a Fulbright candidate or whatever. If I get alternate again this year, and they creepily ask for another picture, I will totally do that and post the results in this thread because I can't afford to wait around on Fulbright again. Even now I'm pushing it, I'm just about to be in the final interview for a job at my old internship - I thought I would know on Morocco by now. :/

I'm sorry! Right after I posted it I was like ... crap that looks like an acceptance email. SO SORRY. Just to let you know, in case you missed it - I called Jermaine... two or three? days ago and he basically knows nothing. Feel free to call him though, squeaky wheel gets the oil and all that, but I wouldn't expect much.

So I have a question for any remaining Alternates out there (preferrably ones who got their alternate email a week or two ago, if there are any remaining on the forum.) It's a mystery that's been bugging me for a year now, but I didn't closely follow last year's thread so here it goes. Last year I was designated as an alternate for Morocco. A week or two after that email, I got this email from Jermaine Jones: "Hello, Dr. Jim Miller, the director of the Moroccan Fulbright Commission, has requested recent photographs of all the candidates who’ve been named alternates for 2012/2013 year U.S. Student awards to that country. I think these will help him and his Commission colleagues put faces to your names and applications. It might be best to email these to me, so that I can forward them on to Jim. Let me know if you have any questions. (Just so you know, he didn’t give any specifications in terms of the size or quality of the photos, so I’d think that something like a passport picture would be ideal.) Regards, Jermaine Jones Program Manager, Africa and the Middle East U.S. Student Programs Institute of International Education (IIE) 809 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017" My first reaction was "WTF?" Because honestly, what exactly does a picture do for my application other than allow the commission to discriminate against me or other candidates? And with only 10 alternate positions for Morocco, it isn't like they have a whole boatload of alternates anyway - I would assume there would be 5-10, max., so the explanation of 'putting names to faces' seems like a very weak reason to me. I asked my Fulbright advisor at my school about it, and she had a pretty WTF reaction too - she had never heard of it before, either. She said she would look into it, but I never heard anything back, and I didn't send in a picture. I never got alternate - I would hope that wasn't why - but I just wanted to see if anyone else on the forum had experienced or heard of something similar. Anyone care to weigh in?

Or: Seriously though. Also, huge congrats to Turkey applicants!

Thanks for the update, Reb. Also: "There's a signpost up ahead"? Uh... what? Like, dude, if you don't know anything and have nothing substantial to say, don't be all coy about it. I really don't understand how everyone seems to be in the dark on this - or, at least, MACACE and the ME/NA program manager are, which seems like a pretty substantial lack of organization and communication.

Hi everyone - long time lurker of this forum, I applied last year as well - but I thought I would give a bit of a non-update to the other two(?) Morocco applicants in the forum. I just called Jermaine Jones about when we could be expecting to hear from Morocco (I heard from them last year on the 25th of April, and the year before that was I believe April 15th?) and Jones has basically said that he (and/or his office) are just as much in the dark as we are: he hasn't heard back from the DC or Rabat offices. He estimated maybe this or next week, but reiterated that it was complete guesswork for him as well. I don't know what is going on with this whole process, but I hope I'm not alone in believing that Fulbright (and/or IIE) really need to get their sh*t together.