KhalifehA

They confirmed my enrollment there last week! It was the best news ever

Glad to hear that! I got a call last week from the Fulbright scholarship program confirming my enrollment at Yale Jackson. Best phone call EVER! So I guess I'll see you in August @cbx2v !!

Congratulations on your acceptances! And on the Fulbright nomination as well, from which country are you applying? I wanted to apply to Columbia originally, but a friend of mine who got the scholarship two years ago got accepted to Columbia but Fulbright wouldn't enroll him there due to the high tuition and living costs, so I went with Yale instead. So you're right. Yale Jackson is my top choice, however the final decision is not up to me. A placements committee is expected to convene at the end of the month to finalize placement decisions. They do take personal preference into consideration, but the program's total cost (tuition+living expenses) remains the primary factor behind their decision to which school to send me. So if any of my three other schools turns out costing significantly less than Yale, my chances of getting a greenlight to Yale are gonna start to look very slim.

Did the the University or Fulbright inform you of the acceptance? I checked the application status page, there's nothing there yet and I'm starting to think that they only send out emails (no notifications on the status page) which means Fulbright has my result. So I still don't know where I stand.

Thank you Habibi! Mabrouk to you too! Where did you apply other than SAIS bologna?

I'm applying through the Fulbright program. Other schools that I've applied to are: * Yale Jackson - accepted * JHU SAIS - accepted (with prerequisites) * Pitt GSPIA - accepted * DU Korbel - ??? They gave us access to our applications to fill the necessary data, they were supposed to change the log in details. Apparently they didn't. Where else did you apply to?

Just checked again! Accepted to international development DC campus!

Are you guys receiving emails or are the decisions posted on the application status page? I'm applying through a scholarship program so I won't be receiving any direct emails from the university. I tried to access my application status page, there was nothing regarding acceptance/rejection.

Congratulations to everyone who got in! I was also accepted into Yale Jackson, without any funding however most probably because I'm applying through a shcolarship program. Although I did clarify to them that the program will only admit me to the program that costs less. However they did mention in their email that if I'm applying through an external fellowship that I ought to to discuss this issue with the admissions director. Hopefully they can reach some sort of middle-ground "shared-funding" arrangement.

I also got accepted at GSPIA for the MPIA program. I was also accepted to Yale Jackson. Still waiting on SAIS though.

I applied through a scholarship program as well, so I won't be receiving an email from the university too. However, I did access my application status page on the school's website and I didn't find anything regarding acceptance/rejection.

I'm not really that confident in my profile's competitiveness. What pushed me to go for Yale is that in the week prior to my meeting with the advisor, I was having an email exchange with the director of admissions at Jackson. We went over my profile, scores, work experience, future plans, career goals, etc. She seemed very interested in my profile, and said that while she can't confirm that I can get in without consulting the committee that I am the type of candidate they'd love to have in their cohort. She encouraged me to apply because I'm a Fulbright from the middle east, and because they always have trouble attracting students from the region. She pointed out that my 162 quant score along with my BA in finance and my banking experience, are all attractive qualities. So basically that correspondence is what encouraged me to insist on having Yale on the list. I know it doesn't have to mean anything, but it's something at least. So this is why I'm really hesitant about replacing Yale with SAIS. I tried to put both on the list but like I mentioned earlier my advisor didn't approve. However, she did mention in a previous email that she thinks Tufts and Duke to be less prestigious. So I might use that when negotiating a replacement for SAIS in our next meeting sometime next week. If she still doesn't approve I think will just stick to GWU.

its totally different in Lebanon. When the acceptances are in, Fulbright informs you that they decided to send you to University X or Y, and ask you if you wish to accept the scholarship. There is no negotiating at that point. You either take it or leave it. I know a lot of people who were accepted to Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, etc. But ended up being sent to second tier schools because they were cheaper or because they exempted Fulbright from all or part of the tuition. So at the end of the day, it goes down to how much you're going to cost the program and how many people they can fit within each country's allocated budget.

I know it's very frustrating. And to make it even more frustrating, beyond this point in the application process I no longer have a say in where I go. So when the acceptances start coming in, Fulbright have the final and only say in where I get to enroll. So even if they greenlight my application to SAIS, and I get accepted there, there is a big chance Fulbright will refuse to enroll me there. DC has a high concentration of Fulbright scholars, and JHU is an expensive school. So they will definitely be less inclined to send me there, as compared to Denver or Pitt.

ok so i had a meeting with my adviser from Fulbright HQ to discuss my universities placement choices. i presented her with the following list: 1- Yale Jackson 2- JHU SAIS 3- U of Pittsburgh GSPIA 4- U of Denver Korbel she agreed to choices 3 and 4, but had a problem with 1 and 2. I made a good argument for Jackson, so she agreed to keep Yale on the list. But said that i can't keep JHU and Yale together on the list. She cited issues regarding having more than one "prestigious university", that both schools are expensive, and that my list will not be 'geographically distributed' well enough. She asked me to consider other schools, and specifically named Georgia Tech, Penn State, UW, Syracuse. After an almost an hour of negotiating, she agreed to keep option 2 for a DC school but asked me to consider AU and GWU instead of JHU, and we agreed to pick this up next week. so what do you think guys? any suggestions or advice? i don't have to stick to a DC school, i can still pick something else.

approval of the scholarship is not final until all acceptance results for all students from all schools come out. So you have to wait till the results are out and have at least one University acceptance before you can receive a confirmation on the scholarship, and turn from a nominee to a grantee. Technically, what usually happens is that (again this is for the Lebanon program) all nominees who get a University acceptance receive a confirmation on the scholarship without exception.

Okay so basically how the Fulbright program works (or atleast the one in Lebanon) is that it covers all your expenses including tuition, books, accommodation, living expenses, insurance, traveling tickets, etc. However, they encourage you to pursue some sort of assistantship/fellowship/scholarship from the universities you are applying to. This way the money they save on you ends up funding another student's graduate studies, and this actually happens more than you think. This way for example instead of sending the usual 10 nominees, they can can send 14-15 nominees. A few years ago, a fulbright nominee from Lebanon got a full ride from MIT, they literally covered everything including his travel ticket to the US, but he still went under the title of 'Fulbright' even though he cost the program zero dollars. A lot of the Fulbright alumni told me that cost is a huge factor on deciding whom to send to the US, they told me that if your preferred University's tuition is $50.000+ a year, don't dream of Fulbright approving your scholarship without some sort of discount from the university itself.

I only know one guy who studied international relations from the Fulbright alumni. His initial list was: - Columbia - UChicago - Georgetown - Georgia Tech They told him that he cannot have three of his options be in popular cities, and that he had to replace one of them with a safe school. So he dropped UChicago (because according to him the application was very long and he didn't have enough time) and picked Seton Hall instead, to be also his safe choice. He wanted to pick AU as his safe choice, but they didn't approve of having two schools in the same city. He got accepted to all of them. He was a fresh grad from a top school here in Beirut with a BA in marketing and a 3.9 GPA. Georgia Tech gave him a full scholarship. So Fulbright ended up sending him there. He had some trouble finding a job at first, like I mentioned in a previous post.

First of all, thank you for your help. i really could use any insights i could get on this. CakeTea thank you very much. Second, what you all said about me not having clear career objectives is kind of true. This is all happening so fast, i feel overwhelmed and i'm still trying to take it all in. The fulbright program in Lebanon is already running behind schedule (all other countries have already finished the university shortlisting phase), so they are squeezing us in time. Before considering applying to the fulbright program, i was trying to make a shift from the banking sector, either to consulting (and similar private sector jobs) or international organizations. it wasn't working at all, and after meeting up with a lot of recruiters and head hunters, they told me i have to get a masters degree from a reputable university or else shifting to a different sector is going to be very challenging. Hence, i applied to the fulbright program. So when it comes to having an idea about what i want to do after i graduate, i am definitely not considering public sector/government jobs. Humanitarian and NGO work is a serious option i'm considering, but it is not my priority. When it comes to passion, I prefer either to work in UN/International Organizations, or in the private sector (consulting, lobbying, IR-related public relations, analyst, etc.). In my fulbright 'study objectives' statement i talked about the youth in Lebanon & the middle east, and how there is a deficit in media (non-state & non-party funded) that appeals to the youth and that plays a part in creating a well-founded public opinion. i also talked about creating and funding initiatives for students and young adults that eases the tensions in the country and helps people understand each other and come together. You have no idea how difficult life is becoming here. I am 24 y.o. and I've lived through a couple of israeli wars, my family and i got displaced, ISIS is a two-hour drive away, bombings are happening every other month in Beirut, there are as many refugees as there are locals in lebanon, the community is literally boiling under social and demographic tensions. so getting nominated by the fulbright program is a breath of relief and i want to make the most out of it. So I have to guarantee to at least get one university acceptance to continue on with the program or else i lose the funding (i cant defer it to the next deadline or re-apply again if i get rejected). so as TK2 mentioned, i have very strict criteria for the list i choose. i cannot pick more than one top school, and the fulbright people are being very vague when it comes to what counts as 'top'. and i have to have at least one safe choice where i am guaranteed to get in. and two choices that are in between. also 2 out of the 4 schools have to be outside the popular cities (NY, DC, LA, etc.).

Should I maybe broaden the scope of the universities I'm considering. - Seton Hall - Penn State - Texas, Austin - American University - George Washington - Syracuse Should I include any of these in the pool of potential schools I'm considering or should I stick to list we already discussed

sorry for the second post, that was by mistake. 1. If you think i could make a good case for myself for getting into Yale, i would definitely put it as my first choice. Everything you said about their program is perfectly right. I wasn't considering it at first because i was worried that my chances of getting in are basically nonexistent (considering my GPA and also my work experience is decent but not exceptional). Also Yale is big name here in the Middle East. 2. Tufts is an exceptional university for sure, but it isn't really that well-known here. Personally i am not that brand-conscious but recruiters here are. My friend went also on a fulbright scholarship to study International Affairs and came back last year, he ended up going to Georgia Tech which is a really good school but virtually unheard of here. It took him a lot of time to find a job, and ended up working as a field officer in some rural area here. I think Johns Hopkins is much more well-known institution here. I wonder how SAIS ranks in terms whether it's easier or harder to get into compared to Jackson, especially considering my qualifications. As for SIPA, i dont think the fulbright people will accept two ivy leagues on the list, So it could be SIPA or Jackson but not both. 3. I'm hearing a lot of good things about Denver. Although an American girl i met in Beirut this summer who works at Harvard told me that Korbel is very overrated and not as good as people assume. However, I'm wondering if I should make Korbel my safe choice, do you think that that's reasonable? (acceptance rate according to petersons is 88%) 4. UCSD is definitely much more focused on the Asia/Pacific rather than on the Middle East. I was considering it to be honest because It doesn't seem that difficult to get into, and I need to make a list that is as geographically well-distributed as possible (apparently it's a big thing for fulbright). Maybe Pittsburgh is a much more suitable option. I'll take your word on UW, but i always thought that Seattle is a better place for an international studies student than Denver. As for NYU, you're right New York is very important to me. Honestly if i get to spend the next two years of my life in NYC, that'll be a dream come true (especially that the scholarship will also cover all my living expenses). But New York doesn't really sink well with the fulbright people; it's also a cost thing because let's say i get accepted to all four of my choices, fulbright will send me to the one that costs the least overall.

Hello Everyone, I have been notified of my nomination for the Fulbright Foreign student scholarship to do my masters in the US, and I have ten days to provide them with a list of the schools that I'm interested in. The nomination is for a Master's degree in International Affairs/International Development. The program sponsors up to 4 University applications, but they have very strict criteria for approving my choices before I can start the application process. Here is where I need your help. I have already done my research, and I have a list in mind, but I could use some insights to try and evaluate my choices before I submit them to the Fulbright HQ in D.C. by October 10th. Some info about me: - 24 y.o. guy from Lebanon - I have two bachelor degrees, one is in Finance (2013) and the other is in Marketing (2014) - I sat for the renowned CFA charter exams, passed level I but failed level II - GPA: 3-3.1 (depending on how you convert it because my University uses what is known as a 'French Heading system' and doesn't have GPAs) - GRE: Quantitative 160, Verbal 155 - TOEFL: 111/120 for the internet-based exam, 670/677 for the paper-based exam - Work Experience: full-time employed as a loan officer at a boutique bank's main branch in Beirut for the past three years, plus tons of volunteering work in NGOs, Red Cross, and a couple of self-run initiatives As for the Fulbright criteria for the schools: - I should pick 1 top school, 1 safe school, and 2 in between - only one choice can be an 'ivy league level' school (which includes, aside to the ivy leagues, Stanford, MIT, UChicago, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, NYU) - not more than two choices can be in any of these cities: NYC, DC, LA, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, Miami (they are very serious about geographic diversity) The initial list I'm considering is: - Johns Hopkins - NYU - University of Washington - University of Pittsburgh Other choices I'm considering: - Boston University - UC San Diego - University of Denver I'm very hesitant about including an ivy league choice (Columbia or Yale), because if my choices of getting in are extremely slim I prefer to use that option an another more attainable University (remember I can only apply to 4) Let me know what you guys think. Remember I have till October 10th to sumbit the list.