hj2012

I am still checking in from time to time! I will be in Colombia and they are taking some time to send me some documents which I am patiently waiting for. I lived in Mexico for a bit and I absolutely loved it!

Promoted from Alternate for Korea ETA yesterday! I don't think I've ever been more excited! I'm thrilled to meet some of you guys.
Have any Korea ETAs received their Grant Authorization Document yet? I'm eager to know the details of the grant, particularly our departure date!

Were these all gender/women's studies programs? What are your research interests and methods? I only ask because the field of gender/feminist/women's studies in the U.S. tends to have a heavier humanities/cultural studies bent, and an MA in Economics is not usually good preparation for the kinds of critical cultural analysis that these programs demand. Your V score is somewhat low for a humanities degree as well.
If your interests are in economics, rural development, and gender, a sociology PhD program might be a better fit. You might also look into interdisciplinary programs in area studies or global/international studies. 
Hope this helps...

Alright then... how about a bet that Mexico comes out last? @hj2012, let's hope this works!

If you want to start subscribing to superstitious belief I'd recommend it...within 24 hours of using this supposed "reverse magic" I got notified! 
Worth a try eh? Seems like an awful lot of waiting left for South America and Latino countries...good luck!

It's about time!!

Congrats! Hope Mexico is next...

Woohoo! Cambodia just announced, got selected for research! So glad the wait is finally over! Hope everyone who is waiting on results/clarification on alternate status hear back soon!!

Anyone want to make bets on which country will notify last?
I'm currently waiting on Cambodia to release results...though I'd rather bet against myself for own sanity's sake!

Is anyone else still waiting to hear back? I'm sad that the 2018-2019 application page has become active and I still haven't heard for this upcoming academic year...

Is anyone else still waiting to hear back? I'm sad that the 2018-2019 application page has become active and I still haven't heard for this upcoming academic year...

Me! I too have been continuously distracted for the last couple weeks...

Is anyone else waiting on the Mexico research notification? Aye, aye, aye!!!!! Finding it difficult to focus on anything else. Good luck to everyone!

Another option is to check the university's student rental listings (if not official, many universities have listings through uloop or Facebook) and try to get a sublet for one semester while you get a better sense of the area. There's always students studying abroad for one semester or taking some time off and while it might be a pain to have to move again midyear, this might allow you to secure some place better in the long run. 

Congrats to the Korea ETAs! I'm a former ETA, so let me know if you have questions. And lots of ((hugs)) to those who didn't make it...I'm so sorry!

Congrats to the both of you! So well deserved!

I GOT IT OMG I AM DYING!

Just got notified - I got the research Fulbright to Germany!!!!!! Best possible news to wake up to here on the West coast <3 SO HAPPY!

@limones, it was ETA!

@Sarah1812, Congratulations!! Would also love to know, research or ETA?
@hj2012, I applied for Mexico Research and haven't heard anything from them today. Maybe there's hope for us still!

Mexico just emailed me! I got it!

I guess I might have misunderstood then. Yes, if your dream job is an academic TT position, then you should definitely talk to professors about what factors will help you get you there. From your first post, it sounded like you were thinking of contacting the specific programs where you would like a TT position. My point was that you can't guarantee that whoever you talk to there are actually going to be the people making the decisions later on. And, nothing is a sure thing---that program may not even be hiring when you are looking. A department may have vague plans to hire in 5-10 years but there's not going to be a lot of concrete stuff yet.
So, my point was that I think you are better off talking to a wide range of professors that you already know in order to get the information you want, instead of specifically asking strangers. Of course, if you already know these people at these programs, then yeah, ask them as you would anyone else in your network. But I'd caution against specifically seeking out people you don't know at the programs you'd want to work because 1) it might sound a little presumptuous to them that someone who is just starting grad school is asking about TT job openings at their program and 2) I'd worry that putting more weight on what these specific people say and letting that steer the direction of your research career might not be the best idea. Even if it is true that what they are saying is going to help you get a job at that particular program, I still think one should seek a graduate program that enables a wide variety of options (meaning both TT positions at other places, since a "dream job" now might not be the same in a few years, and non-TT careers). 
In other words, we academics are naturally information-seeking and info-driven. However, at some point, we really do have all the information we can use, and the rest is just noise. At this point, we should be careful to distinguish useful general information from the noise, or else we may start heading down a less optimal path due to misinformation. 
I don't know all the details of your situation and I don't mean to put down the research efforts you have already undertaken and what you plan to do next. I am just pointing out that your question is getting close to finding more noise than information for most cases. Perhaps in your case, there is still useful stuff to learn, so I am not saying you shouldn't do this, but instead, just a warning that trying to learn more information might not yield correct/useful information. 

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/20/suit-alleges-ohio-u-sat-complaints-professors-sexual-misconduct-decade?utm_content=bufferba9dc&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=IHEbuffer (This is a link to more info from Inside Higher Ed about the charges being brought against the alleged harasser- Prof. Andrew Escobedo.)
https://www.ohio.edu/cas/about/directories/profiles.cfm?profile=escobedo (This is a link to his profile on the OU site.)
I would encourage grad students, particularly female grad students, to be wary of OU's English department in light of these allegations.  It looks like he is in the process of being fired, as the Inside Higher Ed article states: "Ohio has already moved to fire the tenured full professor and says its processes ensure that all complaints are 'investigated thoroughly and handled appropriately.'"  Nonetheless, a department that would allow this type of alleged conduct to go on for a decade is one to be leery of.  (I highly doubt they would be in the process of firing him had the allegations been found to be untrue in the subsequent investigation.)

Hello @hj2012 , thank you for the links. They are quite useful. Actually, I did try to search on google but got really confused because of several conflicting information. Hence, I came to this forum to ask more knowledgeable and experienced people. Thanks again! 

The Foreign Policy ranking shows overall reputation of the IR programs among policy wonks and academics and jives with my personal experience: http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/03/top-twenty-five-schools-international-relations/
You might also find this list of MPP programs (not IR specific) helpful: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-public-affairs-schools/public-policy-analysis-rankings
Google is your friend! There's lots of info out there.