catsushi

For those interested, the young professional program for the United Nations test will be December 2015..Great program to look into.  I was an alternate two years in a row for a Fulbright Scholar grant..Different then the ETA, as I've been working for past 5 years after graduate school. I am fighting for 1 grant, so it's little harder. Anyhow,  I'm a bit irritated, but oh well!!!!! things work out in the end. I was just offered a job with the UN in Vienna. Thus, I am leaving the US in a month to start.. Great job, with the locality pay, 95,000 euros a year to start.. Anyways, I will try one more year for the Fulbright, but I will do it in conjunction with my job, and teach at a University in Vienna..
 
I did not go through the YPP program, but I see it as I have progressed through this process. 

got bumped up today from alternate status! received an ETA grant to Indonesia!!!!! 

Happy Monday everyone! Good luck this week! Wishing you all the best.

Hi everyone!

Longtime lurker and first time poster. I recently found out I was selected to do research in the Philippines; are there any other Fulbright Philippines out there? Would love to reach out!

Congrats to everyone that received (P) and best of luck to those of you still waiting!

Not Fulbright (obviously, because it's the weekend) but I did find out that I'm getting a poem published in a poetry journal coming out this fall! So at least it's something. 

Hi everyone!
 
I'm a Fulbright finalist for South Africa's ETA program and I found this forum just in time to give me even more anxiety about the waiting process! Yay! Lol. I think this is a neat community, and so I just wanted to introduce myself, see if there are any other SA ETA applicants out there, and of course congratulate those who have been accepted! 
 
P.S. - I'm pretty sure I check my inbox, sent mail, spam box, trash, etc. at least 39,000 times a day and it is becoming a slight problem lol. Anybody else?

Sadly, that's what I've believed since March 1st...going on day 33 of insanity. But really, it must be any day now

Hi AmyAnne,

If you don't know any foreign languages, I would maybe advise you to apply this strategy: 1) identify which countries do not have a language requirement and then 2) out of those countries, which countries are less competitive (http://us.fulbrightonline.org/studyresearch-grant-application-statistics) that you could apply to. South Korea, for example, I would think gets plenty of applicants who have studied or know Korean, and there seem to be a lot of applicants for that country in general.

I would encourage you to think of a research project, if possible. Is there some kind of academic mentor you could reach out to? Think of it as though you are planning/pitching a "thesis"--what topic really interests you? Maybe browse through the Fulbright website and see what projects have been done that are related to poli sci.

My strategy involved knowing that I wanted to do a public health-related project, specifically in mental health. I then looked into the countries where my language skills are relevant, and narrowed down the countries even further by seeing where that health issue is most relevant out of those countries (by searching for research articles and etc). For me, it's a great chance to learn about a new country while exercising my skills in public health.

As an above poster said, however, I really don't think you need to want to be an English teacher to want to do ETA in a country. If you do consider ETA, I would think you would focus on how you can be a great "ambassador" for that country (how you would help build relations between the US and that country).

Still waiting on a final decision, so I'm happy you asked a Q that allows us to take our minds off the wait a little bit! Good luck!

Oh no, I'm so sorry Meowsica. Devastation was what I felt back when I got rejected form Fulbright (three times) and it was very, very painful. However, what helped me was to realize that this is just one of the many, many hurdles that I will have to go through in life. And there's no good time for rejection, but it's so necessary to build up our resilience and determination.
 
If it made you feel any better, when I was rejected my first time I actually got a Boren scholarship to go to Taiwan, which was one of the best experiences of my life. Then when I got rejected a second time, I got a job away from my home state (MN) and moved to California. When I was rejected a third time, I got a position teaching English in Korea (but then miraculously I got a phone call from Jonathan that made my Fulbright dream come true).
 
Life is beautiful, and life is full of opportunities for those who are brave enough to risk their time and feelings to get it. Keep up your spirits! If you were truly meant for it, it will come. Trust me.

Congrats to all the new Fulbright recipients!!
 
Meanwhile, the rest of us checking email/this forum daily are like...

In 2013-14 they changed the visas for Americans a little so that Americans are able to get 5 year visas (tourist), but there seemed to be some kinks to sort out...I remember that even for NGOs related to USAID there were some problems. I just remember talking to someone from the US consulate in KZ and they mentioned some kinds of problems getting the Fulbright-ers over to Kazakhstan. But never mind, you can always ask them yourselves once you are all in Central Asia!

Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania have all received notifications. Come on, Macedonia! Where y'at?!

Not selected for the Fulbright. Sad day.
 
However, I was accepted to Georgetown's Security Studies program, so I'm totally happy with what I'm doing!
 
Good luck to everyone still waiting!

To clarify, for those comments who shared they didn't get the Fulbright, I liked them because I am utterly impressed by your positive attitudes! You all sound like wonderful people, so I'm sure that other great things await you.

To clarify, for those comments who shared they didn't get the Fulbright, I liked them because I am utterly impressed by your positive attitudes! You all sound like wonderful people, so I'm sure that other great things await you.

To clarify, for those comments who shared they didn't get the Fulbright, I liked them because I am utterly impressed by your positive attitudes! You all sound like wonderful people, so I'm sure that other great things await you.

To clarify, for those comments who shared they didn't get the Fulbright, I liked them because I am utterly impressed by your positive attitudes! You all sound like wonderful people, so I'm sure that other great things await you.

I just wanted to sulk for a little bit.

Congrats to those who got it! I'm really happy you guys are getting the opportunity to go! You're really a great bunch of people

Congrats everybody!! Can't vote because I've reached my quota.

I got the dreaded "NS" email too.... I, too, had an inkling that I wouldn't get it when I wasn't selected for an interview, but some part of me still hoped I would be selected. That hope got crushed at 6:25pm PST today. My empathy goes out to you both, and I know that better and brighter things await us! I'm so happy for all of you who did get the UK Fulbright! May you enjoy every bit of your Fulbright experience!

Is there anyone out there waiting for Eurasia? (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine) Do y'all know whether any of those do interviews? 

I know someone who's currently studying SMS at Columbia, and she actually doesn't really recommend it (I guess she says that the faculty doesn't really seem to care about its students). Why not go for epidemiology? It seems like a great track that would allow you to gain a lot of technical skills and be open to a lot of job opportunities in the future. You can always work in a psychology/health-related field later.

I know someone who's currently studying SMS at Columbia, and she actually doesn't really recommend it (I guess she says that the faculty doesn't really seem to care about its students). Why not go for epidemiology? It seems like a great track that would allow you to gain a lot of technical skills and be open to a lot of job opportunities in the future. You can always work in a psychology/health-related field later.

I agree with all that has been stated here. I'm currently getting my MPH at Columbia and all my friends in the PopFam department absolutely love what they are doing. One thing I will say is that the Core curriculum here at Columbia is still getting some kinks figured out, it will be a lot of work, but it really helps prepare students thinking about public health problems with an interdisciplinary focus, rather than a departmental focus. I can't speak much about the PopFam department itself, I'm EHS, but really any MPH experience is what you make of it and the effort you put in to network.
 
The city is pretty great, the school housing is "affordable" at about $1000-$1200/month depending, but it is well worth it. There are also several other places to live in the city and there is always something to do. With that said, I'm from Washington state and I've basically grown up in Seattle, so part I can't put it down. Seattle is a beautiful place and UW is really a fantastic school. Like FreeRadical has stated, there are plenty of places to do networking in Seattle and they are all great. Also if you love just seeing nature and not transplanted nature, it's also wonderful. The cost of living there is significantly less, you will be paying about $1000 for an entire apartment instead of just a room in NYC. You should also take into consideration whether or not you want to have a car, this is a big factor, because as much as Seattle has public transportation, it really is a city where you should have a car.  The U district is a great place where there is always something going on and really fun places to eat (then again so is NYC).
 
Like Faithfullywaiting stated, make a pro- and con- list, not just about the school, but the location. When I was deciding schools I definitely noted professors I wanted to get in touch with and when I got to school, I got involved in the department with research and TAing, so make sure there are professors at both schools that you want to potentially work with.

Anyone out there have any insight between University of Washington vs. Columbia?  I got into both and I am having a seriously tough time deciding!