zephyri

Yes it seems like in years past, there've been multiple budget/dates emails. Strange that this year the fellowship applicants got a budget/dates e-mail in late February, before even the first panel meets. I was hopeful reading the 2012 thread that the e-mail meant something, but seeing as I received it before the panel even met, it likely was sent to all applicants. Have the others filled out the spreadsheet? I just added my stuff.

Great! Doesn't it feel good to be done? Make sure you reward yourself- take the weekend off from work and do something relaxing.

It's completely normal to be anxious about quals. Just remember that your department wants you to pass them. As the others said, if you've done the prep and you're worried about doing well, I wouldn't worry to much about running out of steam (or focus) on the exam day. Your nerves will power you through! It helped me to have a plan on both of my exams. We had 3 essay questions in 9 hours, so it was 3 hours per essay. That helped me stay on track, as did doing mock exams (half exams- I could never make myself do a whole one in a day). Good luck! Unlike the hunger games, the odds really are in your favor

I wish, but we're still over a month out from when they notified fellowship recipients last year (Apr. 18)

Hi, Looking at this e-mail, it seems like it's for scholarship (undergrad) applicants only, not fellowship (grad) applicants. Makes sense that Boren would want all that info ahead of time, since the scholarship is for a formal study abroad program, and the fellowship is more varied in terms of program structure. I hope that this e-mail bodes well for scholarship applicants, because it would be annoying to fill in all that info, and not get the award! I think the confusion on e-mails about budget updates (and the one posted above) comes from the different sets of emails that scholarship and fellowship applicants get.

Don't know when the notification date for the scholarship is, but the fellowship notification date is late April, according to the website. Still more than a month out! Notification is done over e-mail. I think spring should be called rejection-and-occasional-acceptance season, because that's what it's always been throughout my life applying for various things- college, grad school, fellowships. Already got two rejections on fellowships this year, so of course my hopes are rising as the Boren date grows nearer!

I love working as an RA, because my supervisor is excellent. Can you find out who you will be working for? That might help you make up your mind. In general though, I'd take it, because research hours can be scheduled at your convenience, whereas TAing requires coming to campus 3+ times per week, sometimes attending class and/or leading Friday sections (depending on how your school structures it). If you serve as a TA or lead instructor at least twice during your PhD, you will be set in terms of teaching experience. Having RA experience can help you get publications, and shows you can be a serious researcher (which is what the PhD is all about).

Hi, I didn't do Chinese, but I think it's generally true that the host family experience and language pledge strictness varies. Your living situation depends on how well you get along with your roommate, whether you share a room, or have separate ones, how much experience and enthusiasm your host family has for hosting American students, how far you have to travel every day to the language school, etc. As for the language pledge, upholding it depends on your CLS-employed Resident Director, the teachers at your school, but most importantly, on your cohort. My advice is to make the commitment yourself to uphold the pledge- this is the only way you can ensure you get the most out of your 8 weeks there. In my group, there were a handful of students who kept the pledge all the time, but I'd say most of them did not keep it when they weren't at school. On group trips (CLS and independent trips) everyone spoke English, even though we weren't supposed to speak English on CLS trips. I think we slid a little because we were exhausted from immersion! It happens, but don't be afraid to insist on speaking in the target language if that's what you know is best for you. Ultimately, people will accept it, and when you come home, you'll be glad you did. You want to do well on your OPI test, which you'll take right before you go home, or shortly after you get back. That's how you'll see how much progress you made during your stay, and if your goal is to boost your proficiency level, you'll be glad you kept the pledge.

It's absolutely ok to bring it up at the first meeting. Make sure you tell her/him a little about your research interests, and draw some connections between your work and theirs. That will help her/him see why you'd be a good fit as an advisee. Most advisors will tell you straight out whether they have space for another advisee. Good luck!

Hi Krolechka, I did not apply again this year as I need to do my field research this summer. I applied for a Boren though, so we'll see how that pans out. I had an excellent experience on CLS, but I know several students who did not have a great experience- some of this was luck, in terms of getting sick after eating at the wrong restaurant, or having an obnoxious roommate. But I found the level of instruction to be very good- once I took advantage of office hours and other teacher resources. I can't know for sure what made my application stand out, but I tried to paint a picture of myself that showed how invested I was in the language- and that I'd be a good investment for the scholarship. If I could hazard a guess, I'd say it was my strong graduate GPA, and research grants I'd gotten to do some initial field work in the Middle East. I also had experience learning other foreign languages (one through immersion), so I made the case that I could do well in CLS's immersion program. Keep in mind of course that I was one of only 3 graduate students in my program, which was largely undergrads. The undergrads' career interests ranged from diplomacy, to medicine, to military intelligence, to journalism. What I was most impressed with was how ethnically diverse CLS's cohort was- they really do want to recruit a range of young people into their program. Moreso than any other scholarship group I've seen.

I filled out the evaluation survey on Monday, I think, but since they're anonymous, I don't think that had anything to do with the budget email (not sure if you were asking about them as connected matters). I don't know about a second budget e-mail, but since triscuit and I both got the e-mail on the same day, it seems like they're doing it earlier this year. This is the only forum that I know of... let me know if you see another.

I won a CLS Arabic scholarship last year, and we found out on Feb. 15. I think we had a little more than a week to accept, but they ask for all this paperwork with your acceptance, so I would guess most students will take the week or so to get those papers filled out and scanned. Such a great program- good luck to all who applied!

I'd like to add to this- talk to several graduate students at your potential future department. Graduate students come from all walks of life- some have a lot of support from their families or spouses, so they find the stipend affordable, even if you living alone on your own dime, would not. I think that the bigger the stipend to begin with, the more promising it is- you can always find ways to scrimp- getting a roommate, cooking more at home, traveling less- but you can't make $$ appear if it wasn't there to begin with. Also, most schools have graduate student fees, so make sure you check that out before you calculate the size of your stipend. A .75 stipend in my department is around $16,000 a year (which is what most students get), but university fees are nearly $2400 a year. That takes more than two grand off your income from the get-go. Schools also pay PhD candidates slightly more than MA students for the same work. My pay "bump" after advancing to candidacy was something like $80 more per pay period ($160 extra per month). Small potatoes, but it makes a difference when you are living on low pay!

Got the "updates to budget" email today, at 12:24 EST. Message says it was sent to all Boren applicants, and reminded us that notification is in late April. As we know from years past, this e-mail doesn't mean anything about our applications.

I reached out to faculty at every PhD program I applied to, but I don't think it's a decisive factor in any way in terms of determining admission. If you are an attractive candidate (GPA, research record, individual initiative) committees are more likely to accept you. I think we're mistaking faculty contact for the right "fit" in the program- if you have researched the grad program and can argue why it's a good fit in your essay, that will speak volumes more than a once-off e-mail exchange saying "yes I'll work with this person if she's admitted." When I got to grad school I ended up working with a different set of advisors entirely! Don't put too much stock into reaching out to faculty beforehand- it helps, but it's not a dealbreaker.

Hi Kbui, I think it really depends on where you are in your graduate career. If you are a first or second year PhD student, language study alone might be ok (paired with an internship to practice), but if you are a 2nd year MA or nearing the end of your PhD it makes more sense to be doing research while overseas improving your language skills. When in doubt, it's better to make a strong case for just language study (if that's all you know you want to do at this point), tying it to your future plans (whatever they may be, inside or outside academia), rather than trying to build in a half-hearted research plan just because it seems like they might want that. A good place to look would be previous Boren alumni who studied/researched in the country you are applying to. That way you can see if any successful applicants focused on language study only- and how you might make your case along those lines.

I applied, but unlike other fellowships, I feel like this one is very open-ended. I know one person who got it at the post-doc level several years ago (now a faculty member in my dept), but he had been in the running to be hired for a regular faculty position at the college. When they couldn't find funding for that, they had him apply through CFD and hired him as a CFD fellow instead. Seems to me like we could go months without hearing anything. They say you can contact schools yourself, but I don't see the point in that unless you know specific people you'd like to work with, who would be interested in your research. I suppose I'm viewing CFD as more of a resume-posting website, than an actual fellowship with deadlines and notifications.

I had a similar undergraduate GPA as the OP, but worked 3 years after college in a policy-related job. I think this helped make up for my low undergrad GPA. The good news is that once your foot is in the door in a grad program, you can really push your GPA up. I have a 3.96 now, (in grad school) which I never thought I'd have based on my undergrad GPA! Once you boost your GPA in grad school, it looks better on fellowship/grant applications. My low undergrad GPA is not hindering me in grad school. I think to some extent, programs that accept you understand that what you see on the transcript is not the sum whole of the student. After all, college is the time for trying out new interests!

5-7 years is the average in my Ph.D. program, but our dept only gives students funding for 5 years. We also have direct-admit into the Ph.D. program, making it possible to enter w/o a MA. I didn't have a MA, and am set to finish in 5-6 years from my start date. I would say finishing a Ph.D. (entering with a MA) is only possible if you have hammered it out with your school ahead of time that they will transfer most, if not all of your MA credits. Many schools won't do this. There's also the question of taking comprehensive exams, which tend to be written by profs at the Ph.D. program- who will give you essay questions about topics/classes they taught, not necessarily those you learned about in your MA.

I think it is a fairly common experience. I started my grad program when I was 25 too, and shortly thereafter began dating another Ph.D. student in another program- who is one year ahead of me. Next year he will most likely be moving away, and we will be long-distance. That has never been 'fun' for me, but the relationship is worth it. The good thing is you'll have a significant amount of time together before the other leaves, and outside of academia, there are more job options in nearby cities (I would imagine). As another poster here said- people in all career tracks face this kind of thing, so it's no reason to stop what appears to be a good relationship! Good luck!

I know this is past the 2015-16 deadline, but for others viewing this thread- make sure you ask your university's fellowship office. They may have sample essays of winners or runners-up from years past. I've always found these helpful. And if you're feeling really bold, reach out to a winner from a previous year and ask them if they would give you feedback on your essay/share their winning essays with you! But it usually works best to go through a friend/contact.

Hi Triscuit, I really wouldn't worry about multiple re-submits. While the person who had to open it for you probably wasn't thrilled it shouldn't matter in terms of application review. I ran the regional hub of a major national scholarship for three years, and like most programs, we kept the administration largely separate from the application review process. From what I understand about Boren, they first have our applications (I applied too!) vetted by committees of regional experts (ie Asia, Middle East, etc), and then some applications go on to the final stage where they are evaluated together with applications for study in all regions. It just doesn't follow that someone in the IIE office who re-opened your application, would be the same person judging your application when they all go out for review. For the scholarship I managed, I would make sure all the applications were in order (printing, making them available online) and then send the applications to the committee. When I did give input on specific candidates, it was on the substance of the application (not the process). To be honest, so many applicants called/emailed me questions during the lead up to the deadline, that I couldn't remember who had asked me what when it came to application review. I hope this helps, and good luck (to both of us!)