BeeKayCee

Applied to UChicago's Middle Eastern Studies MA, Oxfords Mphil in Islamic Studies, HDS's MTS, Columbia's Islamic Studies MA (which doesn't answer until APRIL?!) and SOAS MA in Middle Eastern Studies. Already heard back positive from SOAS in December, but getting nervous about the others as they are reaches for me. Most reply in Mid-March, Chicago says "early March" I wonder if that is the same as the Div results in being a little later than expected/usual, or if it may be next week. Needless to say I'm compulsively checking gradcafe results list, forums, and my email. Good luck everyone!

So I know there's speculation and it COULD be only certain countries and it COULD be all of them, but what's everyone's gut feelings about delays in answers this year? Do we think they're all going to be late? Or do people have faith? I feel like I'm a kid waiting for my birthday with multiple grad answers, and Fulbright coming up. But more like, a kid waiting for a birthday except no one remembers exactly when that birthday is...

Out of Curiosity, which Columbia program did you apply to? I applied to the Islamic Studies MA and would LOVE to find out they have 'rolling admissions' as I thought I wasn't going to hear for YEARS.

Im in Georgia and theyre letting me request an early cos (granted by like two days) if i hear back positive. Its worth asking your CD if theyd let you do the same. Good luck!

Hey! Congrats on semi finalist status! I'm also a semi finalist currently applying to grad school. I would say no, theres no reason to let schools know at this point. Yes it is impressive but in my opinion not impressive enough if you dont have answers from them yet. If you get a finalist status then I would certainly tell them, but at this pointI'dd say no. I don't know though, maybe someone else thinks differently. Best of luck for both Fulbright and Grad! Im jealous tbh all the grad programs I've applied to dont accept deferments...

Same boat. Good luck! Take up a hobby! (It's what im trying to do)

I agree with you there, I think thats why I was thrown for a loop with the March 3rd deadline. Though when do Germany results come out? They have 75 grants and seem to be much more on the ball with earlyish announcements. Morocco has 12 and results are mid April. Why do I always pick the countries with slow Bureaucracy? It must be my inner impatience trying to test itself...

Also a long time creeper, new poster. Hello all! I'm applying to Masters Programs from Chicago, Columbia, HDS, and Oxford. Also the Fulbright ETA in Morocco... I was accepted at SOAS so thats my backup if the other reaches fall through. I figure I've lived in the Middle East so much at this point that If i dont get into a good masters program I'm not gonna waste the money on an MA program im not in love with, I'm just gonna go over there and work. Good luck to everyone this year!

So I was reading this the other day too and maybe im just not well acquainted with the admissions process. But if all countries have their selections due on the same day, why do they have such different final notification dates? Is it just reflective of relative bureaucracy speed in whatever country? What is this mythical FFSB doing that pushes notification for countries like morocco well into April?

Wow! After all your credentials I would have high hopes too! Good luck and thanks for the detailed answer!

I've been having those crazy dreams too. I'm applying to Universities as well and I had a dream I got turned down and they sent back all my applications covered in red pen explaining exactly what was bad about my application. and EEEEK PDO dates? It's causing anxiety for me just to have exact dates that I MAY have to plan around but am not sure yet.

I was worried about the same thing as it delayed my Peace Corps Application status for about a year (mental health), from what I've gathered there is a medical check AFTER they have decided you are a finalist. I don't know about the Fulbright Process but for Peace Corps I had to write a mini essay on my condition and how I am well equipped to handle it, as well as having letters from any previous doctors who treated me directly for the condition. This time I plan on just saying "I've been in Peace Corps for two years so it shouldn't be a problem", but I too am interested in specifically the medical for mental issues. There was no particular statement that I could find on Fulbright about this.

Harvard in particular has a pretty good scholarship resource page that should make it clear which scholarships and funds you can apply for. A lot of them are internal. Also once you complete your application you will get a form to fill out to qualify you for all other merit/restricted Harvard Scholarships.

I don't think there's harm in listing all the schools. Most schools require the FAFSA even for merit scholarships, at least in my experience. You can always add to the list of schools after and submit a change to it, as far as I know there is no harm in that. The ONLY reason that a FAFSA could harm you is if the school is SUPER stingy and you have a ton of money, which the FAFSA would show them. But that just means that you don't qualify for aid from them, and that should never negate you from merit awards/fellowships. The one thing to be wary about is that if you ARE applying for federal aid from a particular school and you come from certain states, the order that you list the schools in is actually important on the FAFSA. There should be a link when listing/ordering schools that tells you which states take note of this, and which ones don't care.

Hello all, I'm a prospective Masters student in Theology and Middle Eastern Studies, focusing on Islam and Arabic. First of all, how many people are applying for the FLAS? What kind of information did you put in your statements? I felt that it was really difficult to fit everything I needed to say into 1 page. Second, a question: Does anyone know if FLAS committees have access to applications for individual schools? I asked two schools, Harvard said that their FLAS was a separate committee and therefore did not see apps, but Columbia hasn't responded yet. Does anyone know, is the process the same across the board in general or does each school have their own FLAS process? Good luck everyone! B

Hey All! I'm a semi finalist for Morocco ETA. Congrats on people who have already heard about interviews! And congrats for those who also got Semi-Finalist status! It seems like we're in for another long wait, but I was wondering if anyone knew about if Morocco has interviews normally. There isn't much on the ETA site itself, and in the google spreadsheet it doesn't seem to have anything about Morocco ETAs getting interviews. I'm curious cause I'm currently in another country as a PCV and so my Arabic and French have fallen by the wayside, if I need to do an interview using language I know that the third language is going to invade my speech and it's going to reflect pretty poorly on my actual language skills. I'm wondering if I should start brushing up... yesterday. Thanks for any insight or direction!

There is contact info for a woman on the Columbia Middle Eastern Institute page. I emailed her about when results would be announced and she was pretty good with replying. http://www.mei.columbia.edu/ma-program-2