Horb

This is good to know. I doubt it'll be useful for me, as I'll have a gap of a few years between applications (was applying for an MA, will now apply for an MRes) and the UK is just crazy competitive, but this is amazing news for returning applicants!

Congratulations!!!!!!!

I'm hoping mine doesn't do this, but in my acceptance letter, it states we get free health care, so if they pull this, I guess we could get legal help and fight it.

Fulbright allows you to apply for the ETA one year and the Study/Full Grant another year, so this should be possible. However, they do mention that they prioritize non-Fulbright recipients ahead of past-recipients. Considering how many applicants there are, I would say the odds are really against you if you managed to win one.

I'm currently going into my second year. My second semester of grad school, I volunteered outside the school through a local domestic violence nonprofit. If academia doesn't work out, I'd like to work in a non-profit that is social justice oriented and I also like giving back to my community. Going into my second year, I'm a fellowship advisor for my department/school (I have a job and also serve on a committee within my department). I'm going to have to scale back this coming year, but we will see.

Unless I was sick, had a conference, or really important interview (for a fellowship), I would never be able to miss class. We were never given an attendance policy, except for one professor who said you couldn't miss a single class except for an excused absence. However, like others mentioned, this seems to be a humanities only policy. I know plenty of science people who were in lectures or seminars and could skip, but skipping in a class of 25 is easier than a class of 10.

Do you mean applying for an ETA to Germany (Fulbright) and applying for USTA for Austria? Those you can do simultaneously because they are not both Fulbright programs.

I think I depends on the country. My friend got one and didn't apply until after she got the DAAD.

Did anyone apply for the university summer course grant this year? I'm trying to figure out if I should reapply to the intensive language grant or to that. I'm leaning more towards the uni grant.

You will have to take on a second job if you do not want loans. A lot of graduate students at my university do it. It is not easy, but if it is necessary, you may have to consider it or consider going to a school that offers full/more funding (perhaps even having to reapply if you are that set against loans). I too am surprised at the number of people receiving parental help. I knew more people in undergrad that had that experience, but not in grad school, unless something horrible happened.

Well, some one had said that their contact spoke negatively about mentioning it. I think it depend how eloquently you word it and how you weave it in.

Hey all, I'm trying to figure out how to apply for the FLAS award. It seems to be on an institute by institute basis. My university does not receive allocated funds, but I'm wondering if I can apply to other universities that do for summer funding? I ask because most of the places I have looked at restrict the funding to their students. Anyone have experience with this fellowship?

I think it all depends on how you phrase it.

Thanks so much! I'm actually looking at studying 19th century British Empire and how slavery operates in Victorian novels, so I was looking at the museum in Liverpool and a few other places, though I'd be based in Leicester. Thanks for the info!!!

Is it appropriate to discuss country resources? They uk uni I'm looking at has great resources but havig the British library nearby is also super useful but not necessarily uni specific

My only concern would be that some fellowships, if cut short, require you to pay back the money you were given, unless the reason for cutting it short was medical or something other type of emergency. Look for that in the fine print of your fellowship contract (or just call, as other's suggested).

I didn't know that about the quarterly taxes. Last time I read the form, it said you could incur a penalty. Glad to know that was not true.

I agree that only the person filing is responsible. It clearly states so in the part at the end of the tax return you have to sign. For me, I think the confusion this year was merging multiple jobs, fellowships, deductions (I spent about $500 per semester on books), the fact that I'm a dependent, despite living on my own, and having to figure out if I was considered a self-employed individual for quarterly taxes, as the first IRS page I looked at did not clarify what you file stipend money under. Others, it seems, had a much smoother experience, so I look forward to that next year

Yeah, I had three jobs in addition to a half year fellowship, so for me it was a bit confusing. I also had a lot of deductions to figure out. The thing I recall with quarterly taxes was that it said something like, if you think $1,000 is going to be withheld from other jobs, then you don't need to pay quarterly (there was something like this) and my estimates put me right around there and I didn't want to get penalized later on. And I still think it is a little confusing as to what items may be counted as being for education. For me, every dollar I can deduct up to the maximum counts, but I also want to prove it and know I'm doing it right.

I disagree, but it isn't worth arguing over. People have different experiences and different factors affecting their tax return.

Well, the rules on what books can count and can't count is one thing. The rule that if your program requires a computer, it is tax free, but if you need a computer for your program but it does not mention anywhere such a requirement, then it is not tax-free (as I learned from the IRS website). Also, they require specific types of receipts if you get audited, so me printing my amazon receipts do not count. There's tons of other stuff, such as what schools tell you vs. professionals vs. contradictory IRS website stuff. Also, quarterly taxes could be more clear. It is all based on estimates and I can only imagine what happens if you estimate incorrectly or something happens that makes your original estimate incorrect.

I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to computers, so thanks for clarifying.

I think my computer maxes out at 4. It says I can have up to four, but all the slots are taken. So I guess I'd have to buy a new model?

I don't know if many people do it to just "chance" it. I feel like there is a lot of misinformation that people are given and then they go to fill out their tax return and it is not a simple process. I'm all for paying taxes, but I think it needs to be made a lot easier for people to figure out what can be deducted and what cannot and what counts as tax-able and what does not. Or schools just need to be forced to hand out forms. I filled my return out to the best of my ability as I'm sure others do, but if you can't afford a professional, then I can imagine it gets confusing.

Yeah, mine only has 4. Everyone always told me Chrome was faster, but I found safari was for my mac, most likely bc of the RAM I guess.