Breenok

I just received the best news in my inbox this morning. FULBRIGHT TO GERMANY!

I applied for a different country this time around. Last year I had also applied for a different research grant (which I didn't receive) with the same institution I'm applying to for Fulbright this year and utilized some of those materials. This time around, I used the same affiliation from that grant application, but I worked with them more closely to come up with a more specific, more planned out project and they wrote me a much stronger letter of affiliation (maybe they recognized that I was determined since I was coming back for a second go at it). I used two of the same recommendation letter writers, only replacing the last one because I had someone new who I had worked with more recently and had a closer tie to German research. I didn't specifically ask that letters be re-written, but I was very specific in my updated requests about the scope of the new project. I don't know if this all worked, but I guess I'll just wait and see! I wouldn't say it felt like I was starting any of it from scratch as I had those previous materials to work with, but I don't think that much of it (outside of the general ideas/essence) ended up much like the original drafts from the previous application.

I agree. You've already done much of the networking, researching, and soul-searching the application requires. If anything, you'll likely be able to more easily put together an even stronger application. Besides, should you change your mind later it's much easier to stop the process early rather than to decide you want to later and rush through it. I actually almost withdrew my application before the campus interview. I'm glad I couldn't bring myself to do that because now I'm a finalist and at a point where I know I would have regretted not going through with my (2nd) Fulbright application.

No worries. I've been very good at finding reasons for any day to be the day. "Oh, we should hear today because that one year they heard on the 3rd Tuesday of the month" or "Oh, we should hear today because I like the number 14 and it's the 14th" and so on...

I also applied to Germany as a research/study applicant and because of this observation have been checking my e-mail pretty much non-stop today. I'm getting so antsy - even our Fulbright program advisor at my university sent out an e-mail yesterday asking if anyone had heard anything because she hadn't (the subject of the e-mail was "Fulbright Results", what a tease!). As illogical as it is, the longer this wait becomes, the more uncertain I become...even though I turned in my application months ago so everything I could do, I already did.