GnosisExchange

As another work week will start in just a few hours (and probably has in some of the countries still waiting), I sincerely wish everyone still waiting good luck! Let's make May 5-May 9 a great news week!

Kj002, I know i must suck that this is going on, but if conditions are that dangerous then it is probably for the best that the program is cancelled. I had no idea things were so bad (the N.Korea of Central Asia, really? Wow!). If nothing else, congratulations on getting me really interested in what is going on there right now. Once I am finished with my final papers on local education reform in Cambridge, MA and race in Japanese apocalyptic narratives as represented in Attack on Titan, I am definitely researching on Turkmenistan.

My BA degree titles aren't too long (Political Science and Asian Languages & Civilizations), but whenever I have an interview I feel the need to explain my concentrations as well: American Constitutional Thought and Jurisprudence (for PoliSci) and Japanese language and East Asian Popular Culture Studies (for AsianCiv)

I love this video.

I didn't mean it in a judgmental way. I was just trying to verify I understood your meaning. Since these forums aren't face-to-face, sometimes I get a bit confused as to which specific things people are referring to. Of course you should explore the forums to learn more about potential programs!

Thanks Mozartgirl53, I'm just trying to keep things in perspective. I feel bad for all of the people still waiting--I know it sucks, but it seems better to look at all of the things that have been going well. This year does seem to be exceptionally troublesome. Not to mention, with the budget cuts taking place for the next cycle there seems to be an added sense of urgency to get it this year for fear of even tougher competition.

That seems like a cool idea. Did you also post it in the 2015-16? If not, you should.

I think someone posted an email like that about a month and a half back. I think maybe your country was just delayed in sending it out. If it said you were a preferred candidate, there is really no reason to think other wise. If you are really worried, ask.

Really? They are still pending? Interesting.

You will be contacted with more information (probably over mail). If it has been a while, consider verifying that they have the right mailing address (my award acceptance forms were lost in the mail for a while because there had been a mistake in the address). I would also recommend getting started on the medical clearance form stuff. It can take a while if you need to update your vaccinations or take multiple medical exams--like if your country requires HIV tests for visas or if, like me, you need an x-ray for the TB test (the country I was born in vaccinates everyone against TB so the skin test comes back positive no matter what). Congrats on Mongolia, BTW!

That seems like a really smart plan. It's good that he had useful advice and that you are keeping a positive (yet realistic) attitude.

I didn't have an interview (and was shocked to hear that someone else on the forum had!) and I got my ETA.

Congratulations!

Hi! I write because I will be graduating college in a little less than a month (it went by much too quickly!) and am concerned about retaining my language skills. I started taking Japanese as a freshman and have continued to do so since, but don't know how I should self-study after graduation. I received a Fulbright ETA grant to Korea and my Japanese professor said it would be good because since the two have similar grammatical structures learning Korean wouldn't cause me to forget Japanese. Does anyone have any advice on the topic? Any tips on how I can retain my Japanese? Thanks, GE

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I like your attitude!

Thank you so much for giving all of this information. It is really good to be informed even after finding out our statuses. I know several people with really cool project ideas who are applying next year and will make sure to pass on some of this stuff. Even though we've all been complaining about how late notifications have been this year, it is pretty amazing to think about this program. So much work goes into it every year! It is actually a huge accomplishment that so many more things don't go wrong considering all of the coordination between various US government agencies as well as with all of the other embassies.

YEAY!!! It's great to know alternates are starting to get good news! Now if only we had good news for Oliowoo...

I'm so sorry to hear this guys, but at least the wait is over. You guys are destined to do amazing things I'm sure. Good luck!

I just checked for my country and Korea decreased the ETA's by 10 (from 80 to 70). It's still a big program, but considering that it always has 250+ applicants it is a major decrease. Apparently there was also a decrease in research since the total for 2014 in statistics seems to be 35. While 35 is higher than previous years (around 20) that is also because Korea added an entirely new program this year with about 10 grants for graduate degrees in Korean studies.The sum of the new program and the traditional research grants for Korea next year will be 30. Looks like we are seeing the budget cuts in action. I feel so bad for next year's applicants.

It does seem notifications are going out later and later. My own arrived around 4:45-ish, so it wasn't too ridiculous; but, it seems like many people have posted that they have been notified pretty late in the day. My guess is that they are aware that notifications are ridiculously late this year and so they are just sending them out as soon as they can--even if that's late-ish.

Huh? What do you mean? Had you not heard of the Soros before?

I've been wondering about this. Is it really even a feasible solution for some of the research grants? Wouldn't some be too specific to Ukraine for it to be transferable to another country?.... I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, I'm just curious.

Mozartgirl53, thank you so much for this comment. I think because we are all so excited for Fulbright, we lose perspective every once in a while. It sucks to be waiting back from Fulbright if you applied to Ukraine, but the uncertainty of being a citizen there has to be a million times worse.