kafcat
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Posts posted by kafcat
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Wow...just wow.
That is absolutely awful. I hope he does end up applying for a Fulbright in the future and showing her just how wrong she was.
He actually decided to stay at our school one more year to study abroad through the study abroad programs...because he was so discouraged.
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Um, that is an AWFUL STORY! Wow!!! unbelievable that they would put someone in that kind of position who is supposed to be an ambassador for the program... ugh! I had a horrible FPA last year but this year I did it at large, thank goodness.
Yeah I think sometimes it's better to apply at large, especially if one has an FPA like her. It's a good thing she's not the advisor anymore. But the new advisor told me this: " well, don't feel too confident just because you speak Spanish doesn't mean you can get into Spain. After all, sometimes they don't like the Latin accent over there and prefer someone to speak 'castellano' rather than Mexican Spanish."
I mean sure, that is maybe 20% true because most Spanish students that go to my school are extremely open minded. She's probably talking about the older generation or those who are extremely nationalists. But still, I don't know why our FPA's are so bad....We do have quite a bit of students getting the fulbright every year which is why I applied through my school, but seriously, it's either tough love or flat out ignorance on the part of our advisors.
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Oh yeah, same here! I wouldn't have been able to have such a life-changing experience without Gilman. I only hope that with Fulbright, I can finish what I started there. Their kimbap (Korean version of sushi) was to die for.... I loved Korea so much that even after my Master's program (if awarded a Fulbright), I'd like to stay another 5 years to a decade (if not permanently) haha
Spain~~~! I went when I was in high school with my Spanish class. Where do you plan to carry out your project? I think my favorite city in Spain was Barcelona. That sunrise over the Mediterranean was mesmerizing... not to mention the cool architecture!
I didn't have an interview with my school. I applied at-large. I graduated last Spring. I wanted to apply through my school but my adviser was super discouraging, unresponsive, and unhelpful. He made it clear that he had very little faith in me haha Plus he wanted me to take time off from my full-time job to drive 4 hours away to have the interview where a simple Skype call would have sufficed. So I went rogue haha But I received a lot of help from my college's head of the writing department which I'm super grateful for. In the end, I'm glad that I applied at-large rather than through the school. If it was up to him ranking me, I probably wouldn't have made it this far.... Using your instincts can be key in things like this lol
I've never been to Spain so it would be an exciting opportunity. I'd be ETAing in either Madrid or Cantabria, so IF I actually get it, I'd just adjust my project to whichever location I'm in. My Fulbright advisor was EXTREMELY unhelpful, but I didn't let that discourage me either. I went to the chair of the rhetoric writing department and several other professors to take a look at my statement. Our FPA was an older woman who was not open minded AT ALL. You would think that the FPA is someone who likes cultures and doesn't judge. NOPE. There was this man from a country in West Africa and he had an accent, so when he asked her in the Fulbright info session about his proposed project (to have some sort of PE activity) she said the following: First, you have to be careful because Fulbright wants people to be native English speakers, I noticed some of you have an accent (she meant him) so that could set you back. Second, as for your PE program sounds interesting....maybe you could add some hip-hop music component to it. After the meeting he was really upset because she assumed he liked hip-hop because he's black. He didn't even apply to the fulbright because of her. She is no longer the FPA at our school, they hired a new one this year, but the new one is just as closed minded. Later, other people told me that yes, Fulbright wants native English speakers but that doesn't mean that one has to have the "standard" English accent...whatever THAT means. Even in the US, depending on your location, there's different accents, so to say that they want the standard English was completely ignorant from her part. The man didn't even have that bad of an accent and if he did she didn't have to call him out in front of everyone. A nice private chat would have sufficed. The people who helped me with my statement were much more helpful that my FPA hands down.
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lol yes I re-read mine recently and was like OMG THIS SUCKS!!! D:
japaniia! Yes! I am a Gilman alumni as well! I went to South Korea with my scholarship in the Fall of 2012. It twas an AMAZING experience! Of course during application season, I asked in one of the webinars if being a Gilman alumni will help your application any. They did say that it's a big plus! But still, that doesn't mean we're guaranteed a Fulbright. But seeing that the Gilman scholarship is the undergrad version of Fulbright, I'm sure it makes the app look very..."pretty" or "kawaii" for Japanese hahaha But seriously, the IIE has been teasing me with these alumni emails. I really hope that's a good sign.....
I also have been re-reading my app. I think my project is pretty innovative, but now that I've done so much more research on my topic, I see where I could have written an even better proposal with more exciting components. But hey, we all were recommended right? So I guess someone thought it was pretty good the way it was haha
Gotta stay positive ( in between the mini Fulbright freak-outs that is hahaha) 
Lalakey: Yeah I know, the longer I wait for the results the more paranoid I become about my statement. According to the spreadsheet Spain finds out in the week of April 14-15th so I still got some time till I hear but still, I'm just biting my nails in the meantime.
ginagoestokorea:Yay!!! Another Gilman alumna!Same here, without the Gilman I wouldn't have gone to Tokyo at all which is the reason why I was extremely grateful for the scholarships. It helped me out heaps! I was actually surprised I got it because I literally clicked on the "submit" button MINUTES before the deadline. I was already thinking of withdrawing my application when I finally got the notification that I got the Gilman. Yeah, I heard that having the Gilman behind your back could look, as you said very "kawaii" on the application but Spain is still one of the most competitive places for the ETA programs so anything goes. I'm guessing you're applying for the Korea Fulbright research program? That's awesome btw, I didn't have a chance to go there but I heard its super fun. I miss legit Japanese food too, I'm kind of ruined for life since my taste buds refuse to like American sushi. Did you have an interview at school too? I was recommended by my interviewers so I was a little happy about that, but still...I'm super nervous.
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Is anyone else reading and re-reading their fulbright statements to see if there's any errors? I've been obsessively reading mine. I don't find any errors but I try to imagine what they think as they read it. Also did anyone get the Gilman in the past? I got it when I went to Japan so I dunno if that will work in my favor :/
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I wonder if the Ukraine Fulbright will be put on hold due to the recent turn of events ....thoughts?
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Has anyone heard back from Brazil yet?
Also, do you have to get your BS/BA degree before they can notify if you are accepted or not?
No you don't have to have a BA before they notify you, but you have to have graduated by time you start your assignment. So your graduation must be in May or August if you're going on September. If your assignment starts in the spring I'm assuming you can graduate by Dec.
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Yeah I've applied for an ETA pos. in Spain, haven't heard back yet but in the case I'm denied, I'd be applying for a research grant instead in the future prob. in Chile or Peru
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Japaniia,
I think I read several pages back that not all the countries include the letter in their subject line. I don't know about Spain, but good luck.
GE
Oh okay, I hope this is truly not the case for Spain then because otherwise I'd be out of breath the moment I see "A" on the subject line. D:
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First of all-- thank you everyone for the congratulations! I hope everyone here hears some good news as well
And it was from the research grant in Paris!!! I can't wait to live there again!
Also the Fulbright advisor from my university told me that someone else from my college got into France ETA, so I suppose they heard back as well!
Good luck everyone!
PARIS IS AWESOME! My favorite city!!!!!!!!! you're so lucky!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!
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Here's what the email looked like for the curious and future Fulbright applicants:
Subject: Fulbright Application Status (A)
We wish to inform you that you have been designated as an Alternate for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Thus you would receive an award only in the event that someone withdraws or additional funding becomes available. While you have not currently been selected as a Principal candidate, your selection as an Alternate for a Fulbright award is, in itself, an achievement for which you can be justly proud.Please know we have no way of predicting the chances of an Alternate’s promotion to Principal, nor do we maintain ranked lists of Alternates. Promotions may depend on the profile of the Principal who declines a grant offer or other factors.The majority of Principal candidates are given one month to make their decisions regarding acceptance or declination of an award. You can assume that the Principal candidates for your country are being notified simultaneously with this notice to you. Therefore, you can estimate the time frame in which most students will accept or decline their award offers. The chance of promotion will be greatest during the spring months, and then steadily decline as time goes on. However, we maintain Alternate lists until the grant year closes and will ONLY contact you if an opening occurs.
It is our hope that you would be available to accept a grant should it be offered. In the meantime, it is important that you advise us immediately if there is any factor that could preclude you from accepting an award. You will remain on the Alternate list unless you withdraw, in writing, from the competition.
No additional information should be sent to us in support of your application, as it will have no effect on your status. Also, please be advised that in the event that we can offer you a Fulbright award, we will try to contact you by telephone or email first. If you need to update any of your contact information, please email your IIE Program Manager. You will receive no further correspondence on your status unless potential funding becomes available.
I want to emphasize that your Alternate status in no way prejudices your chances for success in future Fulbright U.S. Student Program competitions. Each year's selection is separate. If you are not promoted to a Principal candidate and you wish to apply again for a Fulbright Award, your application will be considered solely on the basis of eligibility requirements, merits, and the placement possibilities in the country of your choice.
We appreciate your interest in the Fulbright Program.
Sincerely,Daniel KramerDirector, U.S. Student ProgramsI just hate the fact that the subject line l included the (A). I am so frightened my decision will include the letter in the subject line. I don't want to be accosted with my status; I want to have a least a few seconds to mentally prepare.
Oh my god now I'm seriously freaking out because the subject line has the status.....like GnosisExchange said...I would need some time to prepare before reading the message and take a deep breath before opening it. Darn, that's not cool at all haha. Man, I wasn't thinking too much about it until it dawned on me that results are just around the corner for Spain. I know some of you have said that everything happens for a reason and I so totally agree with it...I know time heals everything but yeah, it would be a huge disappointment if I don't get it. In any case congratulations to all of you who have been designated as alternates and my sincere hope is that you're promoted to principal status. You earned it.
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Omg, I'm having a heart attack! I just found out I got into France!!! Has anyone else heard back as well?
Awesoooooome, is this for the eta or research grant in France? Also what city!!
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I'm curious if there's any NatGeo applicants here? If so, what is your project? Super curious about who's going to be a recipient of the grant.
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I'm just shooting some thoughts out into the atmosphere really. lol Pay no attention to my worries. I'm just the type of person who likes to braise myself for the worst outcome in case it happens (as well as prepare for plan B through J haha). But whether I get a Fulbright or not, I definitely won't let that stop me! I think this is just the first time I've actually put my life on hold for something like this. And yes, I am one of those people who constantly refreshes her email every hour haha I know there are some others out there that feel the same way. I am proud of making it to the preliminaries though. We all should! It is an honor. But this waiting process feels like i'm a little kid again playing with a Jack-in-the-box with that annoying song playing non-stop and you're just not sure when it's going to pop out! I feel horrible for anyone who has to wait all the way until May! haha
Aside from this, I saw that there was a new forum on grad cafe for Fulbrighters who want to quit their study/teaching early and go home. I just stared at the screen like this -------->
Unless someone close to me passed away (God forbid!) I could not imagine that....but I know life happens... :-/Anyway, I can't wait for next week! Hopefully there will be tons of notifications for lots of people on here whether it's my country or not. I wanna see results!
Really??? Can you post the link of the forum to see what that's all about? I couldn't imagine wanting to leave the program :/
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Yeah, the application seemed kind of vague in that it left it open for us to decide what direction to take regarding the two locations in our essays. I'm also curious about the supplementary project, because I barely referenced a proposed project in my writing, so I wonder how much weight it holds. I mainly focused on Spain itself, my interest in languages and any resume experiences that I found pertinent to the essays.
I also applied for the Spanish Ministry English language assistantship, which I'm guessing some other potential fulbrighters also applied to, as well as a couple other teaching posts in Spain. So all my money's on Spain for the upcoming year! I suppose I'll (begrudgingly) have to look into grad school after that, since I probably shouldn't prolong real life forever. Something along the lines of international relations/development or public policy is my guess as to what I'll look into.
Yeah I believe there are some countries that want you to pick a place, but Spain didn't so that's why I didn't reference anything. Again, about the project it really depends on the applicant. Since I've never been to Spain, I focused more on my experience in order to balance that out. In your case, I think it will in fact work in your favor because you know more about Spain than I do. I just wrote briefly about why Spain interests me more than any other country (cuz of the Model United Nations portion) since I had to justify why i'm applying there and not France or some other country. Oh good for you! So looks like you'll be in Spain regardless
!!!!!! I only applied for the Fulbright since I didn't know about these other options, if I don't get it this year I'll do the other ones next year then! I'll never give up!! And grad school is awesome if you know what you're passionate about!!!!!!! Education moves the world! -
Well of course Fulbright cares I never said they didn't!
I'm just trying to see if there's any other people here are constantly refreshing their emails and bitting their nails as they wait for the "ok" or "rejected" message (I need to hear I'm not insane for wanting to hear faster)! And of course...I can imagine the politics that goes beyond this...I think all of the fulbright applicants are aware of this. Just wish the process could be accellerated but again, that's a "wish" and not a demand haha. In my case, I know Spain takes forever to come up with decisions. I work at the study abroad office at my school and we have partner universities in Spain, and they've taken as long as 3-4 weeks to respond back to us when we have inquiries about the students we send abroad...so I KNOW that Spain is definitely one of those countries that takes longer to make decisions and I applied for the fulbright knowing this already. Obviously, we all want the same thing here: to hear asap, so like all of you, I'm waiting paitentily for the results 
I'm kind of like the annoying kid parents take on a roadtrip and is constantly saying " are we there yet, are we there yet?" 
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I for one am glad that Fulbright doesn't make us take an arbitrary test like SAT or GRE in order to weed out the stack of applicants
I just need to know if I got the fulbright or not because I need to make plans for next semester so I'm not completely penniless once I graduate...
I'm applying to grad school in the fall of 2014 so I need to start looking for job options in my area if I don't get it -
To be fair, they had 864 applicants for 5 spots versus for NatGeo and about 10,000 applications for research/ETA for well over 100 different countries. That just exponentially complicates things in terms of politics, budgets, time zones, and the number of people involved in a single decision.
Woah that's a lot of NATGEO and yeah I know there's limited people... But even college admissions make faster decisions and they get way more applications than 10,000 haha. It's just nerve-racking :/ but we can only hope we all get spots!
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That's good to hear! I didn't preference an area either even though my FPA told me to. I guess I sort of took a risk in not listening to her, but hey-it's worked so far! It didn't say anywhere on the website that we should preference any particular region in our writing, so I wasn't too specific in my essays. I know for countries like Germany, they ask that you preference certain regions. Anyway, like you said, we will find out soon enough!
I'm not too sure about the $$ situation, to be completely honest. I would assume they pay enough to help with housing and whatnot. I can tell you that Madrid will be slightly more expensive than Cantabria in terms of housing and food, so that's something to keep in mind should you receive a grant. Either way, you'll make it work, I'm sure!
Regarding grad school, I applied for fall 2014. So far I haven't had much luck. I applied to masters programs in Hispanic linguistics. I've been wait listed at two schools and rejected from another and I am still waiting to hear back from a few more programs. I sort of just feel like I'm in limbo right now! Also I am currently teaching high school through the end of the school year but it's not a permanent position, so next year is COMPLETELY up in the air for me! Woooo!
Yeah I don't think you had to reference any place but it's really up to the applicant. I just decided to focus on writing about my experience teaching English and my project. I was so busy with the Fulbright app and doing my undergrad senior thesis that I was going crazy with studying for the GRE, so I simply decided to put it off for a year and then apply. I'm just stuck on whether or not I should apply to my masters first and then go to a PhD or go straight into a PhD program. I'm interested in border politics so I'd like to stay in San Diego to expand my current thesis, but then again I really don't want to do 10 more years of school..I'd rather do 7 instead of 10 lol. In any case I'll think about that later...
Looks like we are both on the same limbo boat...I absolutely HATE that we have been waiting since September to know what's up. I really don't understand why they need to torture us like this because we need to have a plan if things don't work out with the fulbright! I know the National Geographic fellowship was due a couple of weeks ago and they'll hear back in less time than us :/ !!!!! I was tempted of getting out of the ETA assignment to apply to the NatGeo one but I'm glad I didn't cuz I heard the NatGeo one was insane. I've actually never been to Spain so it would be cool indeed if I got it (all of us)!
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Been lurking for a while, so I figured I should contribute. Happy to see other Spain ETA candidates! I referenced both Madrid and Cantabria in my writing, something that probably helped but also something I have come to second guess, given I'd love to be in Madrid over Cantabria. So no, I didn't express a specific desire for one or the other necessarily. I've been wondering the same though, as to how much they take that into consideration. I suppose we'll know in the next month or so!
Yes! I am also a Spain ETA hopeful! Judging by when Spain applicants found out last year and in 2012, I assume we'll find out mid-April. Just out of curiosity, did you make your application location-specific? I guess what I mean is, did you express a desire to be specifically placed in either Madrid or Cantabria or did you leave it general?
Hey both of you!!! No I didn't reference the area because my school advisor told me to be as flexible as possible. I'd prefer Madrid over Cantabria as well but both locations have their perks whether its to know more about the local culture and the mountains (cantabria) or the city life (madrid). I just wrote that I've been part of the model united nations at my uni and my project, which is what I focused on more. Honestly, I'm just wondering if the wage they give us will be enough to get around? I've contacted previous Spain ETA fulbrighters through the Spain ETA groups out there on Facebook ad they've said it's no problem at all...however I'd be going pretty much penniless since I support myself and all $$ I have is from Financial Aid..so once that's gone I have nothing :/ But right now I'm just trying to see if I get the program and then apply to grad school. What about both of you?
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Hey hey I'm new to this boat, did anyone apply for the ETA program in Spain? I got told in January that my application got referred but like most of you I'm DYING to know when they tell us if we got the award or not! I feel like I'm stuck in limbo not knowing what to do...I hate how we have to wait so long to know the results
! In any case, any Spain ETA (hopeful) fulbright applicants out there??
Fulbright 2014-2015
in The Bank
Posted
Did she LITERALLY write only "soon" in the email??? that's super rude!