Damis

I also wondered this and asked the schools I got into. Here are their responses. N.B. Two of these schools are Ivies and the third is a prestigious public/non-Ivy... so these may not be the most typical examples.

School A:

"Since financial support is the shared responsibility of the Graduate School, the department and the student, you will be encouraged to apply for appropriate University and outside fellowships throughout your enrollment. All students who receive funds from an outside source are required to accept the award in place of the above [school name] award. Students will be eligible for a prize of up to $4,000 for each academic year of external funding. Outside awards with a 12 month tenure ordinarily substitute for the 10 month academic year stipend and the summer research award..."

School B:

"PhD students with an external fellowship of $15000 or more have a choice between:

1. taking the outside fellowship and deferring a year of GSAS funding for a later year (as long as it is before the student's 8th year of study)

OR

2. taking the outside fellowship, and taking the "top off." This would give the student the difference in stipend up to the top off rate ($30,000 for 2011-12). For example, if the outside award is $20,000, the student would take the $20,000 from the external fellowship, and GSAS would give her/him $10,000 in stipend. This choice substitutes for a year of GSAS funding.

In both cases, a student's tuition and basic health fees would be covered, unless it is covered by the external award. And a student on an outside award is not obliged to teach."

School C:

"Depending on the fellowship, the application of external funding blended with your university multi-year fellowship differs somewhat but is very possible. For example, a Javits recipient must accept the fellowship for her/his first four years. The [university-specific fellowship] has a four year commitment, consequently some students receive departmental funding in the form of teaching or stipend depending on their progress in their fifth years. If a student is on normative time for [specific department] they may also draw on the [university-specific completion fellowship]. There are also dissertation year fellowships that one may apply for off campus, depending on one's interests.

A different situation exists for the Ford Fellowship, as another example. Ford requires the recipient to use her/his fellowship in the first year with the possibility of either drawing on the fellowship for the final two years or deferring the second two years for as long as two years. During this time a fellow may draw on either her/his [university-specific fellowship] or departmental support, depending on the initial agreement between the student and the department.

In both cases, the University fellowship is blended with external fellowships."

Obviously this varies widely depending on the fellowships, departments and universities in question. In general, schools seem to prefer that their funding be entirely (or mostly) replaced by the outside award so that they can put that money towards financing another student's expenses (i.e. a student without external funding). In my case, I like the incentive School A is offering me (and this is the school I will most likely attend; I'm just waiting to see how my external fellowship results play out). I suggest that you contact your specific departments and the relevant financial aid offices to find out how things would work in your particular case. I hope my post is helpful!

Germany ETA letter didn't come in the mail today. Hopefully tomorrow! Not sure what to do with myself for 24 hours!

I don't understand why people must DELETE rows (i.e. the first row) when they just simply have to INSERT or ADD their information at the bottom. ARGH.

OR randomly make columns huge, when they don't need to be the 1/4 of my screen.

Ugh, had my first GradCafe dream last night... someone posted a complicated phone number that we could use to check our decisions, and a bizarre person on the other end told me cryptically that I had gotten the ETA and also a merit scholarship (which doesn't make any sense). Anyway, when I realized it wasn't real and woke up, I was a VERY unhappy camper

Well, I just got waitlisted at GWU...I have 5 years professional experience in intelligence but my undergrad GPA was a little low. What really blows is that GWU was my alma mater.

I have major doubts about my ability to get in at GT now...oh well. If you need me, I'll be burning all of my old GW memorabilia

Congrats to everyone who has gotten accepted, and my sincerest apologies to those that have been denied!

That being said, East Asia & Pacific Region, c'mon!!! We're DYING here! Lol.

In other news, dearest forum followers, here's my big shot (!) at pursuing my dreams should this Fulbright opportunity crumble to pieces. That link is to my video application for "Project Borneo 3D" - an unbelievably exciting opportunity in West Borneo with the man that initially inspired my Fulbright project, Dr. Willie Smits. The project will restore 120,000 hectares of badly-degraded rainforest ecosystems, build permanent sanctuaries for scores of critically endangered orangutans, and help the local communities build a sustainable economy in the process. To make matters VERY interesting, the project is being filmed and turned into a full-length, 3D documentary by National Geographic Entertainment! They are holding a *contest* to find 10 project leaders. Unfortunately, the film aspect of the project is drawing in a lot of folks that are largely interested in getting on screen. I, on the other hand, have dedicated my entire life to the cause of rainforest protection and orangutan conservation.

If you're so inclined, would you mind taking a second to watch my video? The more views my video gets between now and April 10th, the more likely I am to be selected! Thanks so much everybody. If I am lucky enough to get both the Fulbright and this project, this opportunity would be immensely beneficial to my knowledge-base and ability to help the impoverished communities I will be working with near Gunung Palung National Park in Indonesia. Thanks either way guys and gals, and best of luck to you those still waiting to hear back!

Hi,

Your first question doesn't really have an answer, as Fulbright doesn't divulge such information. Likely your ranking from your University has some sway, however, once the application is in IIE's hands, who knows what they do with it? I'd think it would also vary by country, both regarding IIE's ranking (I've read that some countries just go from how IIE scores your application) and whether they feel you're qualified for whatever (both teaching and getting into the community). Hard to put a finger on exactly how the Finalist round works, from my view anyway.

I applied for an ETA to Germany. I've been in a German classroom before (completed a year at a Germany Gymnasium through Congress-Bundestag) and am also very interested in minority [migrationshintergrund] participation within the German educational system. Probably should have applied for a research grant, but I really want to teach. I also stated that I'm a Fussball loving, Mahler singing, Ami Krautophile (in more or less words) whose life was changed by spending a year in Germany, and now I want to pay it back, and hopefully have the same effect on young people there.

Long story short, so long as the judges can see that you're genuine in your words, I think you did it right.

Ahaha. First world problems indeed!

"Waaah! I want to know if I received this Fellowship to teach English in another country for a year! I don't care how much they're inundated with other stuff, I need a decision now!"

I think I'll stop complaining now.

If I understand it correctly, the score is just an additional variable that universities send along with the applications. The top score is either 1 or A (don't remember which one). They don't have to rank students against each other, but can rather assign the score individually -- that is, several students' applications could be forwarded with a score of 1, several with a score of 2, etc. I don't know how high the numbers or letters go up. I think (based on a conversation I had quite a while ago) the incentive for the school to give accurate scores is so that their credibility isn't lost -- it doesn't want to become known as a school that just gives out 1s to every student. However -- at least at my school -- they also want to see students succeed, so, where possible, I would assume that they will give out the highest score they can while keeping credibility.

I think they must also provide some comments along with the score. Those comments and the score are what the at large applications do not include.

I would not call it stupid. I would say that assuming you make an informed, and well-thought decision, regardless of what you decide on it will not be a stupid decision.

You need to put your relationship and the Fulbright and the MA on a scale, and measure the pros and cons to any decision you make. Personally, i've been in a long distance relationship for 1.5yrs. Yes, it's LONG distance, he's in central america and I am in Calif so it's pretty long distance. We both have commitments that only let us visit each other 2 times a year, and for short periods of time. Most of our relationship in fact has been long distance. At this point, given the seriousness of our relationship, we would like to cut this whole long distance thing because YES it's complicated. It's tough. Some days are great, and other days are hard to get through. However, skype has become our best friend. We email/skype/call each other every day. The reason why we thought Fulbright would be awesome is because it would actually allow us to be closer (I"m applying to central america), but, if I don't get it he's definitely coming back to the US (he's working there). Anyways, the point is that we are serious about each other, but he also cares about my academic/professional growth.

So, talk with your girlfriend. Are you two mature enough to be long distance? And, will she go with you to your top MA program, or will that distance you all anyways (although distance is not the same from state to state in comparison with country to country).

You will have other opportunities in life, but Fulbright is a big one. Most MA programs will defer you, so that you can enter after you get back from the Fulbright. They want you especially if you are a fulbright recipient. So think about it, and see what's most important to you, or what you can manage.

Best of luck

Not to rub it in, but would you mind updating the spreadsheet?

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Avu5CeaRG24EdGFXVzh4aUt2ZTFUbTZPdzZiSGRoWUE&hl=en

Sorry you didn't get the grant. But, good attitude!

I guess it depends on your priorities and what works for you as a couple. As someone who's already in a long distance relationship (California - France, yeah... LONG distance, haha), I can tell you it's definitely not easy. Mainly because there is no end in sight to the distance in the near future... there are also residency issues for the both of us, which is a huge obstacle. Not easy for an American to just go get a job in France. However, for the moment it's manageable because we manage to see each other often enough (been to France twice already this year, haha) and we both have different things going on career-wise so we're aware it could last like this for a few more years and neither of us are in a rush to get married. Education/career is our priority right now. Obviously, these are all things you need to discuss as a couple, because I'm sure everyone on this message board will tell you to take the Fulbright haha.

In the case you received the Fulbright, would you be able to defer your acceptance to the MA program for a year? Personally I would take the Fulbright and defer. The distance is hard at first but you get used to it, and it's only 10 months (thus there is an end in sight to the distance).

Anyway, this isn't a relationship thread so I'll try and make this post somewhat relevant by saying I cannot stand waiting anymore! Every day I go through an emotional roller coaster... happiness to go to bed and excited to wake up in the morning to check the mail. Then I freak out because there's no large manila envelope, so I fear all that's left is the alternate/rejection letter. But there's never anything, so I'm just disappointed for the rest of the day, and the cycle continues every day! Anyone else been having dreams about getting packages in the mail? I've had dreams 3 nights in a row. In one, I got a fat manila envelope addressed from Fulbright but it had my bank statements in it. I had another dream I was an alternate, I woke up horrified but was so relieved when I realized it was a dream! See...? I'm going crazy...

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

Unless you're marrying her, no one is worth giving up a Fulbright grant for. It's only 10 months, not 5 years.

On the bright side, I received my very own acceptance email this morning: with my name on it
I guess I will just pretend yesterday's email didn't happen.

I've now heard back from all 8 of my schools so it's decision time!

Should have just thanked them warmly, and asked who you should contact to make sure your name is updated in their database. And then told them you've just quit your job so you can focus on the program 100%, starting now.

This kind of advice is relatively meaningless without specifying a discipline. In Political Science, it's fairly common knowledge that the top programs use the GRE as a filtering mechanism. Throwing out all the applications with a V and Q below 700 is an easy way to make your originally huge pool of applicants a bit more manageable.

Even beyond that, it varies widely by subfield and the nature of your research. The standard for the Q section is quite different for those studying theory in a more philosophical way compared to those who do formal theory.

That said, it's certainly not all about the GRE. Again, in Political Science, the GRE is generally just a filtering mechanism. It keeps people from getting in, it is not sufficient to warrant admission.

However, I'm very excited for your success. I only intend to communicate that in some disciplines and their subfields, poor performance on the GRE very well could preclude admission at top programs.

Look, I'm really not looking for a fight. That wasn't my intention at all and if I gave you that impression then I apologize, but I've already made it clear that I didn't mean it the way you took it, so you continuing to get pissed off about it isn't going to do anyone any good. And there's really no reason to get all hochnäsig about it. (And comparing my "coming in here" to the thing about pregnant women? THAT'S a bit "stark übertrieben", nicht wahr? ) You're reading between lines that don't exist to read between in the first place. I was just offering my reasons for not continuing with German right now. I am still very much a Germanist at heart. The last thing I would call you for following your heart and doing what you want to do is an "idiot" . . . we're all in an "interesting" boat (to put it lightly) with this job market, but I don't think anyone can make a mistake as long as they're doing what they see fit for them.

So, I truly wish you the best of luck and success and make of it what you will.

Chill and don't mind the troll, folks.