awayfromhere

Thank you so much @mrs12 and @kbui, the support on this thread has been so great! The Rangel is starting to feel a little more real, mostly because they just sent me about a million things for me to sign and get notarized haha. Sending you prayers/thoughts/good vibes on your Payne interview @kbui, hope we meet in DC as State employees

Apparently they worked ahead of schedule because...I just got word that I'm a Rangel Fellow. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I was at work and I sat and stared at my screen for a full minute before I reacted. It totally took me by surprise. I can't really talk too much because of the scary non-disclosure agreement we had to sign. All I can say is the written part wasn't as specific as I feared it would be, but it was still specific enough for it to be difficult to write. Rangel lets you defer if you get a Fulbright, probably because they're both State Department things. I'd be going to Austria! I'm sending the rest of you all good vibes too! I believe in you all

Thank you! I was really taken aback by how accomplished they were! The majority had already graduated and had a some good related work experience. It was easy to feel small next to them but everyone was so kind and supportive of each other! I had my interview first thing in the morning. I didn't feel like I prepared well enough going into it, but I felt great coming out. The panelists were stony faced the whole time though, which was really intimidating. I'm sure they're told not to show any sort of emotion though. Then I had the agony of waiting in the holding room for 5hrs before being able to take the written. I felt pretty good about that as well. The whole thing felt better than I thought it would, but I didn't leave thinking I had completely rocked it. I guess I'll find out tomorrow How are you preparing for Payne? Have they told you when your interview day is yet?

So I had my Rangel interview yesterday. Everybody that I met was absolutely amazing. Seriously, I have no idea how the panelists are going to be making decisions this year. On related good news I found out that I was awarded a Fulbright. I had literally landed in DC when I saw the email. I kind of wished that it had come in the day after my interview because I think it threw me off my game a little. Oh well, I'm certainly not complaining! Congrats @mrs12 and @ZebraFinch that's so exciting for the both of you!! You must be over the moon

For my accepted email the subject line was "Fulbright Application Status (P)". I think generally speaking 'accepts' have the (P) for principal and alternates have an (A) for alternate. I'm not sure about rejections though, seems a bit cruel to see an (R) in the subject line and already know what the email will say.

Was just awarded a Austria combined Fulbright. AHHHHH!! It was totally bizarre. I was getting onto a plane and I remembered reading about somebody else's Fulbright acceptance story of how she got on a plane and when she landed she had an email from Fulbright in her inbox. I thought to myself, "how weird would it be if the same thing happened to me". And then when I landed in DC I had an email from Fulbright telling me I got it! I whispered "oh my god oh my god" so loudly that the woman next to me asked if I was alright. Good luck to everyone else!!

YAY!! Payne is SO competitive, you're obviously an amazing applicant. Now we can both freak out over our upcoming interviews!

@kbui Just got the email telling me I wasn't chosen as a Payne finalist. I'm rooting for you!

I've got my fingers crossed for you! Do you have a background in public health? Payne is so much more specialized than Rangel, I'm sure that's definitely working in your favor. For the interview I've just been reading the NYT and the Economist everyday. I've practically memorized the Foreign Service dimensions at this point haha. I'm doing a couple of mock interviews with my adviser this week which hopefully will help. I haven't gotten around to practicing the 1hr written exam yet, but I really need to get started on that. The decision timeline on Rangel is insane. My interview is the 9th, they send out decisions on the 12th, and you have to send acceptances by the 15th. Talk about overwhelming!

Yeah I've checked both and there's nothing. That is strange, wouldn't they just look at the transcripts that were uploaded?

I applied for Payne and didn't hear anything but I also don't know if Rangel and Payne communicate at all about who they choose as finalists. I would take this as a good sign! I don't see why they would bother to ask that information from people they wouldn't be picking as finalists!

I'm sorry to hear you didn't get the Rangel. At least the Rangel Fellows will be removed from the Pickering pool which I'm sure improves odds some! Haha, I totally understand about wanting to compare (it's only human). I don't have a LinkedIn but you can message me any questions you have! Do you happen to know if Payne has an exact date, or is it just sometime at the end of February? Good luck!

Netflix, and lots of ice cream

I wanted to mention that I'm a current undergrad at UW so if you have any questions about the livability of Seattle, or what I think of UW as an institution (though I'd of course be speaking to undergrad programs), ask away!

I'm really sorry to hear that @kbui I wouldn't give up on Payne and Pickering, though! They may all be similar programs, but they have different reviewers who are each looking for different things. Keep your faith! I wish you all the best.