UnawareInGeneral

Finalist for advanced Mandarin!!!

Ah ha, THERE'S the budget update email.

Very possibly. Maybe there's been no real effect to having people send them updates. Perhaps not enough changes from January 30th to February 28th warrant an update and their process has shown this to be true. *shrug*

Yes, I fooled you with a dramatic!............ ...........pause!

Only 100 applications were submitted not the usual 500 or so and so they were all awarded..... ..... meanwhile, back in reality.

Maybe you should check your ability to read and understand English before you devote more time to another language. "There's nothing to shield people from..." Obviously, obviously meaning there's no reason to keep the process from being more transparent since it isn't going to hurt anyone to explain how it works. The metaphor alone, where first responders arrange the vehicles on the highway specifically to shield as much of the carnage of an accident from view as possible, should make it immediately clear that you are reading something into this that simply is not there. It ISNT going to hurt people to understand the process better, there's no reason for opaqueness is a completely valid point. There's absolutely nothing in that statement that says or even remotely implies that it is an emotional burden that simply cannot be sustained to have to wait longer. Expecting a government program to be more clearly administrated is not entitlement, regardless of what the program is. The question then becomes, what makes you so eager to misinterpret something and then draw your flaming sword of righteous condemnation in response? Do you honestly believe that it is somehow entitlement to wish for more clarity on a process like this? It is not a demand being made of the state department, it is a discussion of what might make it more functional for the people waiting to decide what kind of commitment they should make this summer. Some folks have more than one iron in the fire. How much of a sheep are you that when you are told to expect results by a certain point and you don't see them, you figure yours is not to question why simply to do and stfu. Not even allowed to talk about it eh? Not even allowed to express disappointment slightly at a delay or kick the idea around and talk about it. It says right there in the comment..... I realize state feels like it is under attack right now. And then it asks why the process doesn't work differently from the start, not why don't they get off their asses and change how they do it tomorrow to make me happy. Thanks for letting me know patience is valuable overseas. All that time I spent working, living, and studying abroad for years and that never quite sank in. I failed to learn the shut up and wait quietly skill too somehow. I guess we spent time in different places.

Funding for these programs is not allotted at the last second. Funding is established for this program and the other fellowships/programs in this cycle (Boren/Fulbright/etc) already. This cycle shouldn't get shafted as a result, but next year might. Still, read the entire article. Congress has bipartisan opposition to what the President is saying he wants to do here. Meaning it won't happen. If Graham, McCain, and McConnel are opposed to it, the republican majority in congress will not stand firm enough to result in these kinds of drastic budget swings. We aren't on hold because of budget concerns. Whatever is going on, it isn't that.

This particular program does an amazing job of conflicting with everything else people seem to want to do. I realize every employee at state is currently re-writing their resume, but at the very least they could make this process less opaque so that when we are being told to wait two months we have some idea why and not just "there's a delay". I mean, it's not a traffic accident. There's nothing to shield people from for their own safety and mental health.

2 weeks huh? So we are basically on for being the year that got boned the hardest, that's cool.

It's about the same as any of the other languages, at this point your chances are 50/50. And we were supposed to hear back by... well if today comes and goes without news they are late. So if we don't hear tomorrow, it's whenever they get around to it. last year they got semi-finalist news on the 28th of January and finalist news on March 8th. If we don't hear today then i think we have become the year with the second longest wait time between second and first round notification. Took two months in 2013 they say, that would put us in mid March.....

Hurry up and wait!

I might be doing that everyday if I wasn't distracted by CLS finalist notifications coming, quite literally it seems, in "late February". Whenever I find out about the CLS one way or the other I will switch to overthinking the Boren in its place.

Yes it would seem that it is not based on last year's results regarding who did and did not receive such an e-mail. The trend was there for multiple years showing that it was an excellent "soft" acceptance letter, 2016 seems to have messed that up. It's just one year however. If we see something similar this year then I think we can safely say, for the people applying in 2018 anyway, it's busted.

When I first saw who it was from I thought it might be the budget update email. Seems that is still to come.

Eh well last year or 2015, one of the two, it went well into March actually. But those folks didn't get first round notifications until early February, so it made sense that the second stage would take x amount of time longer. But we heard on what, Jan 18? I just can't see it going that far unless they are down to one person at State slowly working through every single application.

Dunno why it should go into mid-march, they got the first round notifications out on time, taking weeks longer than normal is confusing. I suppose it's just three working days shy of late February being BS though.

Yeah, the folks from my university who applied all got the same survey. It was universal it seems.

@saltpeep It was in the emails they sent us that said late February. I see the spot you are talking about, it has always said Early March there.

@mrs12 there doesn't seem to be much of a change in the login page for me. I've never applied before however, so I don't know anything about what an accepted Student page would look like after they release results. Well, I say nothing has changed. I had not logged into that thing since submitting the application in early November so... maybe I just don't remember.

You will be taxed by both the federal and California state governments on your pay as a tuition assistant. Stipends are not taxable, income as a TA, GAR, etc are all taxable. I have no idea if Canada will expect a cut as well. Depending on how much they are going to pay you to TA you may end up in a tax bracket that involves losing a fair bit of it to taxes. California has the highest state taxes in the United States at around 13% FYI. Cost of living is higher in all respects in both Davis and San Diego with San Diego being in the top ten for most expensive cities in the US. (I lived in San Diego for awhile, but it was years ago so. I can say that it was expensive then and nothing seems to have changed) Biggest hit is housing across the board in almost every single place in California. Housing is higher in Davis and San Diego than the rest of the US by wide wide margin. Hopefully his is accounted for in the level of pay you receive from the University (although that will possibly move you into a higher bracket of course) I also know know that you can expect to be taxed on any scholarships, fellowships, and grants that exceed your tuition and fees costs. For some reason anything labeled as a "stipend" is exempt from being considered income however. Also, when you file as a non-resident (not a citizen of the US) you cannot: A). file online B). Claim dependents C). Use earned income credit as deductions (to do with paying tuition and attending school while supporting child dependents specifically) D). Use education credits (can't get a reduction based on money spent on tuition) You also should not have to pay social security or Medicare taxes if you are not in he US more than 5 years (so if you come down here and they deduct that the first year or two, that's wrong) Once you get into things like claiming non-resident status in Canada so they know you are elsewhere at the moment, how you do that (although I know you can), or things like claiming tax credits in Canada or the US for taxes you paid in the other country (which you can definitely do) I can't say much other than I know these are all realities. You will have monies withheld from your TA pay before it ever gets to you though, guaranteed.

Well it would certainly be nice to know this week. It has a big impact on whether or not I take a summer course to finish my masters or I have to cram in a directed study between spring and CLS to achieve the same end.

@jclark12 best of luck with your scholarship application. I don't know anyone who used the arts and culture as a part of their argument, but I know enough about history and foreign policy to suppose it's just as valid an argument as any so long as you sold it well. I come from a military and science background before I went to study policy so I just move in different circles probably. I have no idea how your region and country factor into the scholarship, I would assume it's the same as the fellowship but assumptions are just that. As far as "diversity" goes, I know that word comes up in a lot of scholarship and fellowship applications these days. I personally have never once seen the word diversity used in a single piece of material related to the Boren fellowships, is it something they emphasize as a factor in the scholarships? During the teleconference things they did in the run up to the deadlines the people giving the talked were asked a few times about "diversity" and their answer was always, if it doesn't contribute to why your country, language, and personal background all form one solid narrative as to "why choose you" it's not what they care about for this one. That is the same answer they gave to basically any question that could be summed up as "should I talk about X" if X is not part of the straight line between national security and you. They always said include it if you want, it shouldn't be the foundation of your argument though. That is all the insight (if it counts as insight) I have on that.

That would be outside the norm for the amount of time it takes to get results. Even during the years when semi finalist notifications came out late, the time after that stays pretty consistent. If it goes into March that will be longer than usual, but nothing is impossible. I know literally nothing about funding for these programs, when it set aside, how it is determined, and who sets the priorities for when/who/why scholarships are handed out. I tried to learn more about that but every link takes you to some sort of public relations type explanation of the program(s) that tells you basically nothing in 1000 words or more.

Sooo... next week

Roommates. I don't know anything about UT Austin's graduate student housing situation, I'm a master's student at a different Texas university. I can tell you that taxes aren't overwhelming in Texas, and anything coming to you as financial aid is not taxed. If you are being paid to work as a graduate assistant, that will be taxed but at 20K or less a year you will get a lot of it back when you file taxes at the end of the year. You can get by in Austin at 20K a year. You won't starve if you find roommates to bring your rent down from 800-900 a month to more like 400-500. Dunno about your transportation situation or getting around in Austin though, I'm from Dallas originally and live elsewhere now. UT Austin is right downtown though, pretty sure legions of Longhorns don't own their own cars and they all get by just fine.