edie

If the funding is linked, does that mean that, essentially, all of the finalists are in competition with one another regardless of country for the funding? As in, if there are more qualified finalists in country A than in country B then more funding will go to country A than country B regardless of what the specified number of grants are?

I e-mailed Rachel to see if she could provide anymore information. She said it doesn't necessarily mean there will be fewer grants, it could be the same, fewer, or more.

Thank you so much! Would that application process in the US be confirming what the host country wants or reviewing the entire applicant pool again? I apologize if these questions have been answered elsewhere... this whole process confuses me.

Sigh. Your inclination is most likely right.

Totally agree. I was writhing on the floor when Rachel e-mailed me back. Do you think this means they have more scholarships than 4 avaliable or less? Ughhhh. I am too impatient for this.

Update for Latvia finalists: According to Rachel Holskin, the Fulbright people (I don't know what officially to call them) are still waiting on approval from the FSB and approximated that around mid-April they will be issuing letters. Question... What is the FSB? Is this in the US? Thanks in advance!!

I am far too impatient for all of this. Especially when it could end in heartbreak... sigh.

Huh. I, too, read through almost the entirety of last year's thread and one conclusion they came to was that finalists were generally given a time frame for hearing the final word that overshot the actual estimated time of arrival. Soooo... I don't know if that's relevant at all. Either way, we will hear eventually.

She said the notifications should be sent by early April. Did she tell you something different?

Totally agree! Initially, I was optimistic and hoped that because Latvia (as I assume it is with Lithuania and Estonia) is a smaller country with fewer applicants that we would hear sooner than April. Alas, I guess not.

FYI: I contacted Rachel Holskin about when Latvia Finalists can expect to hear the final word and she said that the post in Latvia has made its selections but are still awaiting clearence from the Foreign Scholarship Board. We should find out in early April. Cheers!

I did ask him about it yesterday and he, for real, compared it to "Survivor" in that the contestants, if voted off the island or wherever they are, can't tell their families about their status until the show airs (?). He said I could tell my immediate family but he asked me not to post it on facebook or twitter.

No, my advisor didn't give me any rational as to why I shouldn't tell anyone about my status. To be safe, I'll just keep my mouth shut until I get the final word

Warning: this is maybe the most hypocritical post ever because by posting in this forum, I am sure you can guess what my "status" in the Fulbright competition is. My Fulbright advisor told me not to tell anyone (besides my immediate family) about my status in the Fulbright competition as to whether or not I am a finalist or not a finalist until the final decisions are made. Was anyone else told this? Is this common practice or something my advisor made up? Just curious... Thanks in advance!