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thanks Horb, couldn't agree more! Haha.

yeah, I just got an e-mail telling me to check the portal and there was a PDF of the letter.

well, I'm an alternate (or "reserve candidate") for a research grant. Sigh.

Yeah, I saw that. Things are looking dire.

Lol, no, it is not. Only Karfreitag and Ostermontag are legal holidays in Germany. https://www.berlin.de/tourismus/infos/1887651-1721039-feiertage-schulferien.html But zadigblue is right, things will likely move more slowly.

Thursday isn't a federal holiday, so all government offices/public institutions are still open.

sorry, that litany of questions was too aggressive. Fingers are crossed that we all get some sort of resolution before the holiday.

are you also applying from North America/the US? Or as an affiliate of a North American university? Were you a "priority candidate"?

Hi Veronica, I don't recall the exact time table from my last application, but it was a few days between seeing the portal change and receiving official notification, which I think came via e-mail from DAAD North America. They seem to be tweaking the process slightly every year, so I'm not sure past precedent will be much help, particularly if you're in a different country. My only piece of advice now would be *not* to look at the portal, as it only leads to misery and uncertainty. I'm sure we will hear an official answer before the end of the month. And while rejection is never fun, I would also just like to say that this grant will not make or break your life: it is not the final word on your intellectual qualifications or professional potential. Like any major fellowship, DAAD is highly competitive and no one should ever count it as a sure thing.

Hi Veronica, Sorry to hear about your news. Welcome to the club! DAAD in the US has, or so they claim to me, no idea how the portal functions or why statuses are changed for some people and not others at any given time. I applied previously and my status went from "submitted" to "selection made" but I was still rejected, and my status for that previous application still says "selection made." A representative from the US told me Bonn will send official notifications for grad research grants within the next 7 days. In light of this delay it's unfortunate (tortuous?) that Bonn can't keep the "application status" field under wraps, since it leads to so much confusion and extra stress/worrying.

argh, same here, Abyssus. Good luck to everyone else!

I'm not sure it's worth e-mailing the DAAD office folks anymore...the decisions aren't technically behind schedule yet, and they know we've got other things to plan.

ugh, negative. I am worried we will have to wait until after the Easter holiday, which of course is a four-day weekend in Germany. I'm also waiting on conference panel decisions and summer grants and other research grants in case DAAD doesn't work out. It's making my head spin!

It's kind of difficult to predict, @m@d, since DAAD administers so many different grants that all seem to operate on slightly different schedules. Furthermore, it doesn't seem clear that the "Selection made" status corresponds to a reliable outcome or even a set timeline to proper notification. We are at their whim.

someone asked the NY Office a week ago, and they said notifications probably won't go out until April. Historically they've always notified at the very end of March, so it's still early. Keep twiddling those thumbs!

calling programs--by which I assume you mean calling the department administrator, who is generally not privy to any of the information you're seeking--to learn about your application's shortcomings is a fool's errand. It's a bit like asking the price of a dress in a fancy boutique: if you have to ask, you probably don't belong there. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, it's just how it is. Along those lines, if any of you think getting a phd in art history is about being "mentored," you are in for a rude awakening. Professors don't bring you "on board" out of the goodness of their hearts; they do so if they think you will ultimately make them look good with minimal (if any) assistance, allowing them to accrue more of academia's chief currency: prestige. If you succeed (get fellowships, publish, land a job), they take credit; if you fail, it's because you weren't good enough. In any case, there is no liability: as long as their next book contract/cushy residential fellowship is secured, the rest is background noise. Nobody reaches the upper echelons of this business because they prioritize teaching or advising. Getting a phd is about internalizing rules (mostly of the unsaid variety), strategizing your relationships, shameless self-promotion, and offending as few important people as possible in the process.

negative, though the homepage of the portal says that there will be delays tomorrow (Thursday) in the "processing of application summaries," so I wonder if that means news/status changes will be coming shortly thereafter? FWIW, when I did the intensive language course a few years ago the notification came via E-mail (and that was when the application was all hard copy).

blergh

Last year grad research folks didn't find out until March 31

same here, perhaps they've just worked through the summer language course applications first? Despite the fact that their deadline was a month later than the Graduate Research one Sending good luck vibes to everyone, of course!

I received e-mail confirmation of receipt for my Graduate Research Award application from the NYC-based program officer on December 30. I'm also hoping they might notify earlier this year, as the deadline was moved from November 15 to November 4 and they only asked for one rec letter rather than two. Mal schauen...

An answer to one of the FAQs on the CCL website reads: "Once you have verbally committed to the program in April, you will be asked to sign a written contract committing to participation in the seminar in June." I take this to mean that the lucky among us will get phone calls (or an e-mail invitation to call/skype) in about two months from now.

ABD is not a degree but rather a status; your instructor likely just has a master's degree (MA, M.Phil). Is she adjuncting while she completes her dissertation? Or did she decide to drop out completely? If it's the latter, I don't think her letter will be of much help to you, but you should suss out the extent to which she's still on good terms with faculty from her former graduate program.

Kbui, congratulations! That is phenomenal. I really couldn't be happier for you.

Hi InnovativeL, I have to say I admire your tenacity and your moxie and I genuinely hope you find your way into the doctoral program of your dreams. You are clearly smart, motivated, resourceful, and resilient. However, it strikes me as utterly perverse to put yourself through this kind of financial (and nutritional!) hardship solely for an invitation to the upper echelons of academe. As Secret_Ninja implied earlier, the "goals" of Fulbright can hardly be assimilated under the heading of "professional development." Paying someone for the privilege of working for them is ludicrous, plain and simple. Furthermore, as someone who is ABD at a R1 university, I can safely say that just about none of my colleagues across the disciplines had publications or conference presentations under their belt prior to admission. We've hired assistant professors who did not have peer reviewed publications on their CV yet. There is a fine line between enthusiasm and desperation, and if there is one thing by which academics cannot abide it's the latter. I would strongly encourage you to develop a plan B--or even a second plan A, really--should you not gain admission to a PhD program next year. Barring that, you should absolutely polish your writing skills as you move forward. This is, of course, simply an informal message board, but many of your locutions lead me to believe that you are not just a sloppy typist but a non-native speaker of English. Regardless of what the case may be, if you want to be competitive in securing research fellowships or other related academic honors in the US, anything less than crystal clear writing will be a major (if unsurmountable) obstacle. I wish you more than luck.