UnawareInGeneral

I don't know the exact content of their arguments for their fellowships, those people who have gone that route. There's been a fair bit of noise up there though that has resulted in a lot of reshuffling and renewed talk about NATO that wasn't a thing before Ukraine really. Most of my interest in Russia over the years has been at the intersection of Russia, Central Asia, and China. I applied for the Boren fellowship in Mandarin. I study dual use technology proliferation, law, and governance in the life sciences. The list of specific things that can fall under that umbrella is really broad. The specifics are not material for an online forum. (Not to sound mysterious, but they aren't)

Yeah I wouldn't assume you are at a disadvantage. They've awarded borens for programs of study that are.... oblique. No reason one that is clearly defined and well stated wouldn't get equal consideration. Mattis did in fact say he feels Russia is the number one threat to national security. Granted, Mattis is also a cold warrior and might think that if China had recently invaded Alaska and Hawaii. Still, with Russia so in the news lately it can't hurt your odds at least. Well.... unless the government actually has been infiltrated as the news media seems to think. On which case they aren't likely to approve study of ... themselves.

So today(15th) is the first day we might expect to see results based on most previous years, I also GUESS the fifteenth is the beginning of "late February" technically. The semi finalist email said that was when we could expect to hear back. It takes something like 5-6 weeks to get results generally sooo.... we would seem to be looking more likely at next week. That would be more in keeping with the normal pattern and fit what we've been told. Last year was an anomaly, they heard about semi-finals much later than usual. But the 5-6 weeks for final word still held, they got finalist results about a week into March. Second question, that depends entirely on your language and location.every language and location will have its own start/end dates. We should expect that info no later than a week after finalist announcements. But the 15th has arrived at last. Commence the unnecessarily frequent email inbox checks.

Kenobi, Best of luck with your application. I have at least three colleagues from my graduate program who submitted their Boren fellowship applications along basically, and in one case exactly, the same lines. Russia, hybrid warfare, Baltics. I don't think it's all THAT uncommon. Three people submitted similar applications at just my institution and several others are studying and or have study/worked in exactly the area you describe. Of course I am in a graduate national security and defense program for international affairs... so maybe it just seems that way from my perspective. We might have a ridiculously high concentration of people like yourself here.

Bbuddhab, So according to the CLS Facebook/twitter/website every year for as long as I could see (I looked at maybe 2012-now) the results vary between Feb 15-25th. Dunno about the homestay thing. Japanese though, that's great. Hope that comes through for you. I'm waiting to see if I'm a finalist for advanced Mandarin. I lived in Japan for four and a half years during my time in the service, in Yokosuka. Unfortunately I worked something like 7.5 days a week so I never had time for language study. I was all set to begin studying Japanese when i left the navy to go back to college. Three days before classes started the Japanese instructor passed away. Now, I speak Mandarin.

From what I heard from the Boren-folk Russia was definitely off the table, but they were basically counseling people to go ahead and apply along with their back up institution and country. A friend at my program here submitted some sort of pie in the sky plan to go back to the Moscow diplomatic academy where he studied two years ago backed up by some place in Belarus (because Ukraine looks iffy too this year) that he had never been or actually had on sort of personal experience with.

Oh I am still assuming I didn't get it until I know either way. I just can't stop myself reading everything that's floating around out there about it. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be working on something else today, can't remember what that is though. They awarded 17 of the 101 fellowships last year for Mandarin. Don't know if that's representative of 85 applicants for that language or if a higher percentage were awarded last year than in previous years. Of the 101 listed as 2016 recipients, 1 was for Thai. Of course if they only had 4 applicants that's still 25%!

Those numbers are interesting, but I feel like they are probably not very pertinent this year. Still, roughly 1 in 5 admitted for Mandarin in China is what I read regarding pretty much every other year as well. There's some consistency there over several years. In the past 3 years what passes for the most important locations, most important areas of concern, has certainly shifted. Not to mention, has the political climate of late resulted in people pulling their applications owing to no desire to go to work for the government at the moment or a flood of people deciding to submit applications in the last two-three weeks in order to have a chance st delaying dealing the hiring freeze/political climate? Or has it not affected it at all? 2014 was a relatively "normal" year compared to this one in regards to anything federal. I'd be surprised if there were no impact one way or the other. That would be interesting data to have. I understand about dwelling on it. I'm doing the same despite my best efforts not to. I was over there for four months in the fall at a school where two borens had gone to study, one of whom was a friend a year ahead of me at my college. The progress they made being able to focus on language exclusively was exceptional, would be nice to get that chance for sure. I loved Thailand the few times I've been, but it was never for longer than a couple of weeks. Had a friend teach English there for a couple of years, same one who received a Boren for Mandarin.

Yeah, browsing last year's Boren thread there seems to be zero correlation between awards and the budget update notification now. Why does the one government appendage that evolves have to be this one?

I received a reply pretty quickly from the program manager. She said to just wait to see if I'm a finalist, then submit it. She said they'll pay the deposit and everything once they know you are a finalist.

Well, I'm pursuing a second masters degree part time via correspondence after I finish my full time program this semester. I will continue to apply to these sorts of programs until I either find myself in the place I want to be employment wise and don't want to take a break to accept a fellowship or I get past a certain age.... (which is not as far away as I'd like) I didn't spend much time on my personal history in the essays except where it was relevant to the thread I was weaving between my country of interest, the US, my work and academic experience, my career goals, and ultimately language study. The CLS questions seemed more toward a, tell us about your life sort of question than the Boren. If you can show commitment to your studies and professional goals through your approach I don't imagine it's detrimental at all. Dunno if it's helpful, but I think it's important to communicate your commitment as well in these types of things. However that manifests in your writing in the most natural and concise way, can't see anything wrong with that. I know some scholarships/fellowships are looking for that specifically, I never asked that sort of question when I had the opportunity to with the Boren reps however. I have gone to my submitted application page twice since submitting the thing to re-read my essays for spelling, grammar, or logic errors though. Just to reassure myself I didn't screw up and submit an unedited essay...

Swiss, I am waiting to find out if I got in as a finalist for CLS this summer. I'm through the first round of cuts but there's a window between 15 and 25 February when they normally each year tell you if you are definitely in. Basically, there are a series of short essays where you answer questions which I imagine are designed to make you talk about yourself, your commitment to the language, and your reasons for doing so. They all come at it from slightly different angles, maybe the questions are designed to particularly revealing about a candidate in the aggregate, I dunno. They ask things along the lines of.... how do you adapt to new and unfamiliar situations, what will you contribute to your study group if chosen, career goals and why CLS helps with them, and then there's the personal statement which is... just that. Kind of free form on that last one. I didn't have anyone read over my essays, I just made a point of explaining in well edited and extensively spelling and grammar checked language my years... and years... of international experience, my work ethic, military experience and how it taught me to cope with the unfamiliar and the stressful, my previous language study and my commitment to the pursuit of it. Emphasized anything that I thought made my case in as succinct a manner as I could. That one was due very early in the cycle for awards this year, always is. I had only finished about half of my four month intensive program in Guilin last year when I had to write the essays. Any excuse/opportunity I find to get back over there though, I pursue it.

Well, it's not that there's an absence of alternatives to language study. I have job offers contingent on finishing my degree. I would just rather get the chance to really add something substantive to my language level before I return to work and what will al last certainly be the end of "studying" without distractions. I did did not apply to ICLP yet, and the application fee is 100 dollars yes. But the deposit they expect from you is 500 for the summer and 500 for the following year. It's borderline silly to expect you to drop 1,100 dollars for a faint hope of receiving funding. I sent the program coordinator a message about that yesterday actually, asking about it. I have to wait till Monday to get an answer I'm sure.

Well, when I read the sort of questions they were asking for CLS they felt very.... undergraduate, new to the adult world, sort of questions. Don't mean that in a negative way just, they just seemed like they were asking the sort of questions you direct at an audience without much experience in the wider world and that this was perhaps their target audience for the program. I figured that might also be by way of asking one question that anyone can answer, but I can't say for sure. I have read stories from other folks, and met folks from my university who are doing their graduate work and have received CLS, but I'm a shade older than them even still. I remember thinking its got to be a small pool of candidates who can apply for Advanced language studies in the more difficult languages without ever having been in country before and the question about how do you cope seemed an especially, "welcome to college, young man" sort of question. Yeah, I saw the sort of background a lot of the Blakemore recipients are coming from. I have a solid professional background, both nuclear and environmental by way of work experience and education. I'm in my last semester of grad school now, but they did have a lot of PhD, double masters, sort of folks on their awardees list. I spent 6 months last year in intensive language programs in Taiwan and Guilin while doing more graduate work and I have clear career goals. Still, that program is exceptionally competitive and compared to other things I applied for I feel like I'm swimming with fish more my size in that application pool. If I at least get to the interview stage for that one, I just knocked out my first OPI exam and scored Intermediate High. That's right at the "you know enough to be considered" level so I can at least exhibit having put in real effort and commitment. So frustrating having to wait to find out about all of these! I feel you you on the "English bubble" issue. It's why I won't ever go back to Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, etc for language study. I will say however that that is a HUGE problem in Taipei as well. ICLP is a great program, but the city has tons of English speakers in it. (Assuming I get another chance to study that is. I'm just about to graduate so I'm months from knowing either where my career restarts or what language program I'm going to to further forestall return to the job market.) If I don't pick up a fellowship or scholarship I may never have the opportunity to return to language study. I'm doing a second masters part time while working if nothing pans out language school wise but that's another year to wait for Boren/Blakemore to cycle around. I had an application in for Fulbright, but my proposal was to study the knock on effects of the Singapore free trade agreement in surrounding areas where all the manufacturing done by Singaporean firms actually occurs and relate that to the potential for second and third order effects of implementing the TPP but since the TPP died recently I withdrew my application. There's nothing to study now.

I don't think your approach is a poor approach. Fluidity and actual essay structure are important as well of course so it may very well work! I did start out with a bit of potentially unnecessary macro language then bring it into my specific are of interest. I'd say I don't care if I get one of these things I've applied for, and that would've been mostly true before the hiring freeze. Their value in delaying going looking for work went up when that was officially signed and lots of job offers and job openings were pulled off the the table. I am in my final semester of graduate school, I had to drag myself back from 6 months spent in China studying language and doing graduate work at the same time. I was in the place I want to get back to, and being back now it's been hard to focus on my work this last semester with job/fellowship applications that would get me back there all up in the air. I wish the CLS people didnt do semi final notifications, I would like to understand their rationale behind getting people's hopes up. Good luck to you as well, was it Bahasa you wanted to study? I don't think I've ever seen that on offer at a school in the US (any school I ever considered going to anyway). How do you get started on something like that?

Kbui, are you trying to get back to China for your Boren or to one of the parts of "greater China"? I think I saw some of your posts in the CLS thread but don't remember what your area of interest is. I applied for China with CLS and Boren, Fulbright wouldn't send me back as I spent too much time in China on my own of late.

I submitted my application for this Boren cycle a few days ago as well. I had an essay that I felt was solid and well written. An essay that had managed to say something in just 800 words about all of the things they wanted to hear. Then I put that essay aside for about two months and came back to it two weeks ago after listening to a couple webinars and talking to professors who were former Boren fellows. It just screamed vague and too birds eye view. One of the things I heard repeated from all the former borens and the staff in the webinars was don't just tell us in general terms why (your country) matters, tie your own studies/research plan/experience (I proposed a pure language study program) to a specific thread of national security that you want to dive into working on post Boren. The last part being where and with what agency you expect you can do that. They also all mentioned not being too specific or too grandiose in your NSEP plans. If you are expecting to find yourself as a consular officer working for state out a very specific consulate solving a very specific problem apparently that's a negative thing application wise as they want to see flexibility in your destination and your value as a Boren fellow. This is hyperbole, but "I plan to be the US ambassador to Laos.", probably not a realistic goal at this stage. After letting my essay sit all that time I went in and made it more specifically about the research I am doing now as a part of finishing my masters, my educational background and work experience more broadly, how those all prepare me for getting in the door with any federal agency that is involved in navigating that bilateral relationship, and that the one skill that could use shoring up is the language component. I listed some specific agencies and job titles based on my ideal destination, but left room in my explanation for an understanding that I'm flexible in where I end up. Of of course it's all just a waiting game now, but it's difficult not to dwell on it. I have about 2-3 weeks to wait to find out if I'm a finalist for CLS and that is distracting me as well. Told myself I would just fire and forget my applications but that is easier said than done it seems. I havent found any of those essays online either. I studied at a language school in the fall where there current borens studying and they had all "lost" their Boren essays. Not sure if that was an excuse to not show them to me or if they are told not to. I think they make an effort to avoid having "examples" online. They would probably just receive a barrage of essays that use those as templates, I'm sure that's not what they are looking for.

I am coming to this thread a little late. I am a semi-finalist for advanced Mandarin, thought I would say hi on the off chance this materializes favorably in a few weeks and there are folks here to make a connection with pre-departure. Or to commiserate with when the bottom falls out. You know, either way. Ive seen Hobakie's posts, any other mandarin semi-finalists? Hobakie where do you find numbers on the stats for mandarin applicants/semi finalists/finalists in previous years? Googled it in a bunch of different ways, nothing came up.

Hello hobakie, I saw you in the CLS thread as well. I am applying for both same as you. I am also a semi-finalist for Advanced Chinese in CLS. So by semi-finalist I mean, I'm one of the people they are stringing along a few more weeks before delivering the real verdict. As far as the Blakemore goes, did you apply for Tsinghua or ICLP? I applied for Taiwan personally. I've studied at Beida before and also at the Mandarin Language Traning center. I am not able to read or write 繁体字 but I loved my time in Taipei last year and Beijing is a death trap IMO. It was an easy decision to make. I didn't expect to get anywhere at all with CLS. Nor do I expect to interview for Blakemore. (Not a lack of confidence mind you, just a sense that my being an older student returning to college post military service is not a blessing sometimes) I meet Blakemore's requirements for minimum mandarin study, not by a wide margin, but I do. I don't know how much my just getting over the hump means for my chances, the answer their applications manager gave me in our correspondence may have just been a diplomatic reply instead of a realistic "your odds aren't good". I explained my study experience and they said it meets their criteria however.

Open goal

Basic background: I am a Military veteran, I spent 6 years in the service in a highly technical rate before leaving the military and going back to school to get my Bachelors. I graduate in about 2 months with my B.S. And I've been accepted to (I'm told its a good school) MIA program. I studied Geology, Environmental, and Earth sciences as well as minoring in Asian studies (studying Language and Asian Econ politics in general). I spent four years living abroad during my time in the military and have traveled extensively. Study abroad during my undergrad in India doing some work with human rights NGOs as well as spending a summer studying language overseas. My interest is in American foreign policy and security studies and so on. It's a broad field but you get the idea about my background and education I hope. I will be 33 when I graduate (I know that's actually about the average age for new FSOs but what about the rest of this sort of field? Too old considering my background?) My question for people working or studying in the IR (broadly, though if there's someone with specific experience in security that would be great) field is: Realistically, since I have a military background in a technical field and my various other assorted experience what are my prospects for finding work as a FSO or work with the DoD or in the IA community after this two year program, all things above considered? Thank you for time and any information you can provide.