catsbloom

Also Monroe County in Rochester!

Does anyone know if the office is closing early today? In my part of the state the snowstorm isn't supposed to really start until after 8pm.

Bulgaria has announced on a Friday the last 3 years. Hopefully they buck the trend and choose Monday or Tuesday this year!

I'm going to open it immediately, like ripping a band-aid off.

Well, it's past 5 on the east coast. I guess we're stuck waiting another week?

To make us suffer

I am completely fine with Fulbright pulling a Beyonce if it means we find out this afternoon!

Fingers crossed for Bulgaria!

I am also hoping this means we hear a little earlier, if only to find a silver lining!

@edon16 - I forgot to ask, how was your interview?

@Sigwarz - Yes, you can add yourself to the spreadsheet!

We had horrible winds yesterday. My house is currently without electricity or heat. Most of the local school districts in the area have closed because of either damage or lack of power. Driving yesterday was like going through a warzone. Multiple major roads were blocked, trees and power lines were down all over the place, and there were quite a few accidents on the roads that were still open. I just want my power back!

Depending how you feel about snow, the winters could be a plus or a minus. Be prepared for a decent amount of snow! Have you ever lived in the north? You will experience all four seasons in Syracuse. If you enjoy winter activities, you can find local-ish places to ski or snowboard. Syracuse is similar to other upstate cities like Buffalo or Rochester, in my opinion. Upstate is fairly affordable compared to other areas of the state. It won't be as difficult living on a grad student's budget in the area.

I am going to try to defer. If my loan carrier won't allow me to defer, I'm not sure what I'd do. I don't think I'd be able to pay my loans back on the Fulbright stipend and we're not allowed to work otherwise. My backup plan is to start a second master's degree in policy to prepare for my PhD. If I don't get Fulbright, I'll be back in school full-time so I'll defer my existing loans

Good luck! The wait is slowly killing me, ha.

Congrats! When is your interview? Did they give a range of dates for the days they're doing interviews? I wonder if this is the last round of interviews before they make decisions.

Thanks for the info! When I asked during my ETA interview they told me that IIE will notify us in late March. It sounds like the timeline has not changed. Definitely ready to get an answer!

No, but I have worked as a para for a few years in special education. I am also completing my master's degree in education so I have completed field work as well as student teaching requirements for my program. That may be why they asked me since I am currently in the field of education.

Oops, I forgot the other question! They also asked if I felt more comfortable teaching on my own or with a co-teacher.

They asked me 4-5 questions. First they asked why I chose Bulgaria. They also asked me about my preference for a small town or larger city. I was told many of the placements are in smaller towns. My background is in education so they asked me about my general experience in teaching, and how I felt about teaching teenagers. My master's degree is in childhood education. The last thing they asked about was my host community engagement project. I felt like my answer to that prompt was the weakest. Afterward, they asked me whether I had any questions about the program!

True! @Jess2323 - I did ask about notification dates and the people interviewing me thought responses will go out at the end of March. Based on the last few notification dates, Bulgaria seems to notify the second week of March. Perhaps things are delayed in general this year?

#Fulbrightfail of the day - I thought my interview was at 8:45am, but it's really at 9:45am. I must have converted the time difference wrong.

Thank you! It is tomorrow morning so I can let you all know how it goes. From what I gathered from the e-mail I received, not everyone is being interviewed this year. I'm not sure how they developed the list of people to interview. It could really mean anything at this point! Interviews started on Monday and will end on Tuesday, February 28th. The interview will be around 10 minutes long. They are interviewing people on Skype from 4pm - 6pm Bulgarian time each day. Good luck, everyone! Hang in there!

I am keeping my fingers crossed for the both of us!

@Jess2323 - Did you receive an interview request via e-mail? I'm not sure if it's a good sign or not! I'm worried that means my application is on the cusp of being rejected in the final round if they're requesting an interview.