dontor

just for any future readers... i will add that after visiting uva and meeting the bme students and faculty, it seems like a great environment that is working hard to increase their diversity and be inclusive for everyone!
 

What about places in India? I see you are from there.
Also I would say don't get caught in the prestige. It is an incredible honor to just do a phd and get to contribute to society. But best of luck in whatever future direction you take your life.

i believe so. yale sent out decisions today, waitlisted  oh well BU was my top choice anyway
for BU all students for all weekends have been invited so i think they are done for now...

I am not sure about the amount. I also applied, so I figured maybe that would be mentioned in the interview. Maybe I'll see you at a visit!

@dontor They do like three visit weekends! You should get another email with more details on which weekend you've been assigned. Congrats! 

Congrats as well!

I got acceptance from Boston University and Its midnight where I live, I  just can't wait until my parents wake up to call and share the news!  Sharing with you guys to relieve me of the burden

Finally caved and made an account here after being a long-time lurker...I am also a semi-finalist for research in Germany and am in the same situation where all my research would be at an English-speaking institution. I am a beginner in learning German too, but I have been trying to do Duolingo lessons lately.

Just to follow up on the other responses I'd like to add that Germany has not done interviews in the past, and I don't think they did them this year either (at least I didn't have one). The language requirement is different for research vs. ETA. For research, it says that they recommend 1 year of study (or novice level), whereas for ETA they require 2 years (intermediate level). You can find those details under the award descriptions here: https://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedcountry/germany

I'm not sure how much they care about German speaking ability for research semi-finalists. Hopefully not too much!

I don't speak German/never have taken it. Germany doesn't require it but recommends it. I applied for research study grant and all of the scientific community speaks English there. Anyone know how that affects an applicant, particularly with Germany.
And my cultural immersion was that I am into stand up comedy, I contacted a comedian there who agreed to take me with him on tours throughout the country. So would be an awesome opportunity if I got the scholarship.

what are some ways you guys said you'd immerse yourself in the culture of your country?

The professor was very nice and found sources of outside funding I could apply for. I think if I had applied and said no to needing funding, the outcome would have been different. 
Generally international PhD degrees aren't well liked in US except when they are from Cambridge or Oxford (well known universities like these)

I hate that we don't know when schools send out invites. Like we find out by checking the forums cause we haven't received one and hope they stagger ahhhh