cewarren6

Okay, the last thing I want to do is set off another anxiety attack among users on this thread (see: Twitter debacle. What does "shortly" MEAN anyhow!??!?! ), but I wonder if this means we will hear today or tomorrow? How can a country have their form due before the rest of the US Fulbright applicants hear back, right? Unless they're just entirely unrelated, disconnected, don't communicate, and therefore don't care... which is possible...

I know if I get a Fulbright I will likely have to go through my host institution's IRB, and my potential adviser has already warned me this can be an incredibly lengthy process (as it should be when we're talking about protecting human research subjects, though!). My current job includes IRB Coordinator at my alma mater, so I'm quite familiar with the IRB process at our institution, and even with it being relatively streamlined, it can take upwards of 6 months to get approval on a full research project (by "full" I mean identifiable and collecting protected health information or protected personal information). If I get a recommendation, I'm actually planning on going ahead and starting the IRB approval process at my host institution. That being said, I'm actually really looking forward to seeing how IRB's work in other countries! However masochistic that may be...

You would think so, simply based off the past few years, except for that this year is already different because they're later than those years! (Of all the years!) So at this point I'm inclined to think it's anyone's game...

Does anyone know if IIE will be open on Monday, because it's a federally recognized holiday (MLK's Birthday). I'm thinking that day will definitely be a no-go if they're off, but they are an independent not-for-profit so maybe they will be open? Or are we all agreed that it will be a Thursday or Friday, anyway?

Now we're all going to dwell on what the Fulbright Ireland folks meant by "shortly"!!

I agree with this. I'm not convinced that there were just simply no FPA's this year who gave any of those who happened to be lurking the thread a heads up... but maybe that's just me rationalizing an optimistic hope!

Are there any FLTA's in the thread that might shed some light on this? It seems like if IIE is the one coordinating everything, they would want to be consistent.... right?! Right?!?

My husband will be joining me if I get the Fulbright. We are a bit fortunate, I think, because we both work in fields similar enough to justify working at the same institution. He applied for post-doc funding to work at the same institution through the NIH, actually, so best case scenario is that we both get the awards. It only happened that way, though, because we went out to this institution as a psuedo-honeymoon, and both fell in love with the ongoing research and capacity development efforts. (Yes, my honeymoon was spent on a scientific field visit, but hey! I was able to actually use that in my personal statement! )

Yes, I agree. I think this year is already pretty different, and it's either indicative of notifications being later, or that IIE is not telling FPA's anything this year... one can hope it's the latter, but it's equally likely it's the former, I think.

Ahh, I understand now why you were nervous to say anything! I would argue no one needs to know anything until you'd at least heard back about recommendation. Until that point, everything is still just too tentative to say anything with any certainty. I'm applying to Tanzania! I want to help quantify some recent community-based malaria surveillance efforts and potentially focus future efforts by mapping malaria risk "hot spots", as well teach some basic Epidemiology and Biostatistical seminars.

If you've only been working a couple of years, you are probably in a similar situation as me and would apply for the Fulbright US Student Program. I've been in the "real world" now for a couple of years (graduated with an MPH in 2012) and contacted IIE before applying to the US Student Program for clarification. They said the Scholar Program is for "terminal degree" professionals, which in their definitions are those with PhDs and MDs. Although I have an MPH as opposed to a JD, I think our situations are pretty analogous. I notified my boss/mentor of the opportunity a few months before the submission because I wanted her to write me a letter of rec. She's a researcher, herself, and therefore knows that these sorts of things are always tentative. That being said, while she doesn't want to see me leave if I were to get it, she would still be happy to see me succeed, and I'd venture to guess that any employer with whom you have a good working relationship would feel the same. My question to you, though, is why would you consider the Fulbright as a "sabbatical"? There's no doubt it will help move your career along, and it's a bit unfair to expect your employer to either hold your position open for upwards of a year, or to fire whoever your replacement is after a year. But why pigeon-hole yourself into returning to that job, anyway? The Fulbright experience may transform the way you view your entire career, and it's possible you may want to change your career trajectory, for example. After all, you can always argue when you get back that having a Fulbright Award Recipient is value added to the firm, right? Just some thoughts! PS--I applied through the University I graduated with my MPH from, because I happen to be an employee there anyway, and I would strongly encourage University over At-Large. I don't think my application would have been nearly as strong without the feedback from the on-campus interview. There seem to be no disadvantages to University applications, while there arguably are disadvantages with At-Large, so if you're able to, I'd definitely recommend it.

I agree. The chatter picked up last year on the Wednesday before notifications went out (Friday), and one person was even emailed by their host institution or something. That was more towards the end of the day on Wednesday, though. It's also possible (though unlikely) that simply by chance, none of the FPA's for users in this forum this year are sending out "heads up" emails. But I will be interested to see if any talk picks up tonight...

I didn't apply for South Korea, but I grew up in Middle TN and UT is my alma mater! Good to see another Tri-Stater on here.

You won't hear about the first "round" until January 31st at the latest. However, based off the past few years, this date may be more like Jan 17 or 18. After reading through last year's post, there were a flurry of notifications to Program Advisers before everyone found out. Most likely, if you follow this thread you will have a pretty good idea of when this first notification will occur. If you're provided recommendation to the second "round", the notification times will vary based on region. There's a useful spreadsheet lurking around that has notification dates from previous years, and may therefore provide a bit of insight. Are you referring to quals when you say comprehensive exams? I'm surprised you're having stress dreams about the Fulbright, and not those!