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brianli888@gmail.com

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Posts posted by brianli888@gmail.com

  1. 1 hour ago, wildchartermage said:

    Thanks for the informative post!

    If you're a finalist to an European country, especially in Western European countries, such as Italy, Germany, etc, as a student, you can pay to enroll in the national health system to have your pre-existing conditions and routine exams covered...Also, while you travel in Europe/EU outside of your country, you're covered (once you get the European Health Insurance Card...just request it from your local health center).

    This is a pretty good and inexpensive option, especially if you're poor like me and have no health insurance in the US. 149 euros per year is a bargain in Italy compared to whatever we pay in the US. 

    That's really awesome to know. Thanks! 

  2. 1 minute ago, Neuronerd94 said:

    Has anyone gotten approval for the Terms document after they uploaded it to the Portal? Also,  the guidelines say we must email the Terms document to our Commission country. How exactly have you all gone about doing that?

    Thanks for the help!

    I got my terms document approved a few days after submission (I'm going to Spain). As for emailing the Terms document, are you referring to the following line? 

    "Print, sign and upload the document into the Fulbright Self-Service Portal AND return a copy to the Fulbright Commission as instructed by your contact at the commission."

    In that case, I was going to ask the exact same question haha.

  3. 33 minutes ago, wildchartermage said:

    Care to elaborate on how it was more than enough? Are preventative/routine care included? Any coverage for medical devices, etc? What about dentists?

    Here's the link to the Seven Corners insurance: https://www.sevencorners.com/gov/usdos. Some of the main points:

    • $25 copay for every office visit, and $75 for each ER visit, to a maximum amount of $500. Any co-pays beyond that are reimbursed.
    • No coverage of pre-existing conditions, period. This includes any diagnosis, testing, treatment, etc. that stems from problems with this condition.
    • From my reading, the insurance has basic coverage for diagnostic testing, lab testing, prescriptions, etc. Obviously, you'd want to read on their website for more specifics.
    • Sickness/injuries not related to pre-existing conditions are covered, but must occur in the country where you're studying. So if you got injured while traveling, you're out of luck. 
    • For a given sickness/injury, the maximum coverage is $100,000. 
    • As far as dental work, it says mouth and tooth injuries are covered, but they don't seem to have coverage for routine dental work. 

    I apologize if I exaggerated with my use of "more than enough". Obviously, the insurance isn't as extensive as what you have here in the U.S. But, my overall impression is that if you're a reasonably healthy young person without a serious pre-existing condition, this insurance will cover most injuries, illnesses and medical emergencies that I'd be worried about. Routine care, not so much.

     

  4. 11 hours ago, wanderingbutnotlost said:

    Would someone mind explaining what the deal with Fulbright's health insurance is? I assumed grantees would get full coverage, but upon reading the different information, it seems they call it "supplemental" insurance and advise grantees to continue their regular insurance. As a Peace Corps volunteer, my insurance will be ending soon, and I was hoping to move right into my Fulbright insurance. I've emailed someone at IIE, but I would love to hear about the experience of past Fulbrighters with health insurance. Was the coverage not enough on its own? Did you maintain the insurance you had prior to starting Fulbright?

    And if some saint can explain to me how this all fits in with Obamacare and tax penalties, I will adore you forever. Help!

    I've emailed 4 former Fulbrighters who used only the Fulbright health insurance (no extra coverage) and they all told me it was more than enough. The Fulbright website almost makes it feel mandatory to have additional coverage, but obviously that isn't the case. Maybe if you had some pre-existing health condition it would be more useful, but I'm not sure. 

  5. Where did you see the 2.5 option? When I checked the website, it said 2 max for the SoGP for a Research Grant.

    The page limit is strictly 2 pages for the English version. But, if your country also requires you to submit a host language version, it can be up to 2.5 pages.

    Also, I emailed Fulbright, and they said my Spanish personal statement could go a little over as well.

  6. Hey guys,

    Has anybody here applied to a country that required their Personal Statement and Grant Purpose in both languages? I'm having a really hard time condensing my Spanish version of the Personal Statement into 1 page. The instructions for the Grant Purpose stated that it could be 2.5 pages instead of 2 for the Spanish version, but the Personal Statement didn't say anything about page limits, so I'm kinda worried there.

  7. Hi Brian,

    I just received a research student award for this year (I'm taking a later departure date so I'm leaving in a few months). I meant to peek in on last year's forum, ended up here instead, started nostalgically thinking about how awful this process was....

    Anyway, I was told by people (not just my advisor but also folks who had previously received Fulbrights) that for the research grants, it's really important to be able to articulate WHY you have to be in THAT particular country in order to do your research. I think even if a lot of their resources there are the same as here, you might want to do some research and see if there's something specific about the climate there or specific studies they've done or if there are specific research libraries or resources that are unique to Spain that you can link into your proposal somehow.. Too many people would love to go somewhere else just to go so to differentiate yourself you have to be able to show why it's imperative to be in that country. 

    I know that's not what you want to hear -- that part stressed me out a lot, tbh. But it will make your application a lot stronger if you can demonstrate that.

     

    Good luck!

    But it's what I need to hear, so thanks haha. I think that as a first pass, I'll stress geography (Spain gets lots of sun), and that despite reduced investment, Spain will inevitably make heavy use of solar power in the future just because it has such a high natural resource.

    As far as specific things for my research, I think I'll try to stress personnel, and ask my affiliation what special knowledge and experience his staff has with my particular topic, even if the equipment is available elsewhere. I interned at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado last year, which is literally THE WORLD's premier laboratory on solar energy. So that thought always gets in my way when I try to distinguish the Solar Energy Institute in Spain haha.

  8. Hi all, 

    I'm currently applying for the UK fulbright to study at Warwick and I'm super nervous because everything I've heard about it indicates that its super-competitive. Wondering if anyone would mind critiquing my statement of grant purpose? And if anyone else is applying for the UK?

    thanks

    Hey, I'm not a pro at the Fulbright stuff (I'm applying for the first time myself), but I'd be happy to look over your statement from a "general reader's" perspective if you'd be willing to make a quick critique of mine.

  9. My thought:

       Well the reason you are doing it in Spain, even though there labs in the U.S, is exactly why J. William Fulbright created  the program. "to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries." That's why you are doing it in Spain. Spain is where your collaborator is, and it's a viable research topic which could enhance mutual understanding between the U.S and Spain. Both leaders in Solar Energy. 

     

    I think that I'll be fine from a "personal interest" perspective. I suppose the wording of the Fulbright instructions just worries me a bit, since they really push to make a strong case for a particular country, and why you couldn't do the project anywhere else. 

  10. I peeked this forum many months ago, but this will be my first post here. I'd like to get some general feedback as to whether I have even an inkling of a chance at this Fulbright. I'm a recent college grad, applying for the first time to a Research Fulbright in Spain. I have a collaborator at the Solar Energy Institute in Madrid, and my proposal will revolve around increasing the efficiency of solar cells by applying different materials to the rear surface (so materials science research). 

    I decided to apply in late July (after vaguely thinking about it for a while), so I'm way behind the curve of anyone here haha. My family and peers don't have much study abroad (physics and engineering majors at my school weren't really encouraged to do so), so I had to really convince myself to even apply. Anyways, I luckily found my collaborator quickly, but the "Spain goes on vacation in August" thing happened, so I'm basically putting together my proposal now, and have put my personal statement through multiple drafts (albeit with limited feedback). I have all 3 references lined up to write my recommendations, and my collaborator (a professor at the Technical University of Madrid) already has a semi-proposal which I'm working off of, as they've been wanting to take on this line of research for a little while.

    I suppose my biggest worry at first glance is whether my proposal is inherently viable for Spain. On the one hand, my observation is that engineering research isn't common for Spain Fulbrights, so I may get some points for the "uniqueness factor". Also, solar energy continues to be a big deal in Spain, even though the economic crisis from 2008 slowed a lot of their growth. But, I'm having trouble justifying why I have to do this research IN SPAIN, as opposed to any other country. While the Solar Energy Institute is quite respectable, all of its technical resources (lab/characterization equipment and facilities) are available at any number of labs in the US, Germany, Japan, etc. This contrasts with, for example, a research Fulbright studying the architecture of medieval Seville, which you could literally only do in Spain. In other words, my research isn't inextricably linked with geographically being in Spain. The main reason I want to study there is to become fluent in Spanish (which I've been self-studying for a number of years and am quite advanced in), and because I've inevitably become more interested in Spain and Spanish culture during the course of my studies. 

    I've attached an early draft of my personal statement in case anyone wants to review, but any feedback on what I've said above is highly appreciated.

     

    Personal_Statement_Draft_Virginia.docx

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