Skyfire

From what I understand you are responsible for gaining admission to any institution you plan to study at. Fulbright does not automatically mean admission. I had to apply to the university in Spain that ill hopefully be attending. They told me that on the past unaware people have gained the Fulbright but not admission. Thankfully I was admitted. If you haven't done so already I'd get tight on it. Depending on how prevalent You institution is in you proposal having admission o think makes your Fulbright app stronger.

Oh man. It seems like the European countries are all announcing... come on Spain! Lets see some results! I'm going to be making the 15 minute drive to the PO box everyday now... ::crazy eye twitch:: soooo tired of waiting!

This is a good piece of advice. I think I would be going absolutely bananas right now if I wasn't in the middle of planning my wedding. Get yourself a new hobby, immerse yourself in an engrossing book, start a project, clean the attic - basically anything that will keep you busy and away from the computer. I applied to the JET program two years running - I was an alternate the first year - I waited ALL YEAR LONG. and I didn't get it at all the second year. I learned a valuable lesson after chewing my fingernails to nubs and sprouting a few grey hairs: distract yourself and remain emotionally detached. then if you don't get it you're not devastated.

Wait are you saying that you've received the grant or that you found out you're a finalist?

I am planning on taking my hubby to be and our daughter. From what I understand when we receive confirmation that we have received the grant it is up to us to obtain a dependant's visa for those accompanying. I gather rom what I've been told that the possibility of them being able to work is rather slim. But it depends on the country you're going to I'd imagine. maybe if they casn line up work once you're there you can have your visa changed. It's the old chicken or egg thing - you need a job lined up to get the visa, but you need the visa to get the job line up. wa wa waaaaa.... I know what you mean about the whole waiting on the small white envelope... I've been denied a lotof international type programs because I have a family I'd like to bring along. It's very upsetting.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=taWW8xiKve1Tm6Ow6bHdhYA#gid=0 just posting last year's spread sheet so that we don't have to go digging through the post pages to find it ^.^ It will probably have to be posted again as it gets buried lol!

well no actually, since it was an interview for the school, they were asking me about my application to the school, and what I could bring to the school if I was admitted. I also own my own import business, so I was asked about that a lot as well. I think I was also asked about how I was planning on financing the program, and that's when the Fulbright scholarship was brought up. I think other than that, it wasn't mentioned at all. She also seemed particularly interested in why I was persuing the program, and what would happen to my company if I attended. The interview wasn't that long, maybe a half hour. I did explain to her how I had learned Spanish, and my background etc, but like I said she didn't seem to interested/worried about my proficiency. Of course I was freaking out after I hung up because I was worried that I had stumbled too much over what I was saying. but you know the old saying... you're your own worst critic... lol.

I did an interview for my host institution - it wasn't for IIE, but it was for the whole Fulbright process. I needed to be admitted to the University in order to be eligable to receive the Fulbright grant. The interview was over the phone, in Spanish. Since my spanish is pretty good, I think I did okay. I tried to plan ahead for what questions they would ask and predetermine my answers and then correct them for grammer/pronounciation errors. But in the end, she did throw a couple of unanticipated questions at me and I did stumble a little bit, but she seemed pretty understanding. She even gave me some suggestions of things to read and study to learn the necessary jargon to speak. See I speak Latin American Spanish, and she was speaking Spain Spanish, and those of you spanish speakers out there know that there is a huge difference. So there were a few words she used that I didn't clue in on. Suffice to say I was admitted to the university, so I must have done okay. Does this help?

Yes, but if you look on the Spain Fulbright MBA site, it says they're hoping to get the results out before April first. And also, keep in mind that I am applying for a specific program - the MBA program. Not the general research grant program. It is a much smaller program with only 3 available spaces. It could be that it runs on a different timeline then the regular grant. I would have agreed with you on the whole transcripts thing, except that I got this email from the University in Spain - the horse's mouth so to speak. I mean, it doesn't mean anything really, just because they're meeting next week doesn't mean a decision will be reached. I just wanted to spread the latest that I'd heard. Each country and program is different though. So, really I suppose this would just be for the 4-5 other finalists out there for my specific program.

I applied to the Spain MBA program.

OH EM GEEE!!! I received an email from the university program that my Fulbright scholarship will pay for yesterday saying that I had to put down a humungous deposit in order to reserve my place in the program for the fall intake. I don't have that kind of money... So naturally I freaked out and called everyone I could think to call. I received an email back from the school today saying that they were told that the Fulbright Comittee would be meeting NEXT WEEK, and that I should hear in the next couple of weeks!!!!

I received and email from my campus advisor way back when saying to update them with any relavent information concerning the grant. So, for example, I'm applying to a specific program that allows me to get a grad degree at a specific college. When I submitted my application to the Fulbright commitee, I hadn't received word on whether or not i was accepted into the college itself. When I did receive my acceptence letter, I was advised by my campus advisor to send the letter to the regional director at IIE that commands my area. If I were you, I would send in an email to your campus advisor and ask what you should do.

Typically the number of finalists is roughly 1.5-2x the number of available spaces. so like my progra has 3 spaces available, so there are probably 5-6 finalist in total. Also Thanks to crimsonengineer87 for posting the spreadsheet! And thank you to the enterprising fulbright applicant from last year that made it!

I too have read about the rankings, and I am extremely curious.. but too cowardly to call and ask. Also, could someone post the link to last year's spreadsheet? I want to see when my program started putting out notices. I read on the country's fulbright page that they are intending to put out notices before the first of April, but I could have sworn I read somewhere that it's not usually until June/July...

The key word here is "many" countries... it doesn't say all. That being said, just because Spain apparently doesn't have an orientation in DC, doesn't mean that there aren't others in Europe that do. I only speculated as such since there doesn't appear to be any info about it in the official PDF. It seems a harmless enough question, so perhaps rather then ghawing your nails to a nub, just call and ask. I did read on last year's forums that while Spain does not have a DC orientation, they do have an orientation in Spain in august/september. so perhaps the other European countries operate similarly.

Well I applied to Spain, and I called the person in charge of my area to clarify, and she said that there wasn't an orientation for Spain - maybe there's just not one for European countries?

Well you're not alone in this... I put engaged too, and my wedding is planned for June. I'm tempted to just not change my name until after the fulbright period is over rather then deal with all of that. I'm also worried about it hurting my chances. I've had issues in the past with my family being the reason I didn't get into certain programs or positions. most of them were foreign based though, so I'm hoping that since the Fulbrigth program is US based that those discriminations won't apply. But how can anyone anywhere ever be certain that we're not being discriminated because of that? I mean as long as they are asking the questions about your family/marital status, there's always room for wondering.

I'm not sure about the york program, but I applied for the MBA program in Spain, which is specific and different from the open grant program, and I am only competing with other people who have applied for the MBA program. so like for my program there are only three spots available, and there are probably 5-6 finalists, so I have a 50-50 chance. Where as for the open grant program there are many more spaces, but probably many more finalists as well. I think it still calculates to abotu a 50-50 chnace though since they have the whole 1.5-2x rule for finalists. I hope this helps!

I am too! Best of luck to you! hey, what does everyone thing about announcing this like on facebook etc to our friends and family? I thought I read on the forums from last year that some people's FPA's were advising against doing this?

and this is sooooo why I pay attention to the forums... To get this kind of info that I had no idea about, nor would I have had any idea about it, since I have absolutely no reason to check my Embarkonline application. Then again, I could have NOT found out about this, and been oh so pleasantly surprised when monday rolls around and I get some sort of an email (Whether yay nor nay, at least it's SOMETHING). So hmm. I guess It's a mixed thing, because I was maintaining a mostly cool demeanor, but now I'm a nail biting wreck! So is ignorance truly bliss? or am I happier knowing? I guess I'll have to ponder this... And I sooo hear you about if for some reason I don't receive an email on monday... I'm going to be in all out panic! Which will be irrational especially considering that everything I've read about Spain says that they are notorious for being late...

I think this is an exception, not a rule, so I wouldn't be too worried about it... That being said, I bet you were waaaay surprised and delighted to have gotten your notice so early!

2009-2011??? How did you get a grant for that long?

Hello All! Wow long time no post! My summer/winter have been craaaazy! Expecially since I spent a good chunk of it in Japan! It was so weird being in Japan, but taking my entrance exams and interviews for Spain in tokyo! I kept screwing up my Spanish and my Japanese... But suffice to say I got my application turned in on time, and I was even accepted to the Instituto de Empresas (IE) in Spain. I was just wondering though, FST47 and the other person applying to Spain - Which program? I'm applying to the MBA program in Spain at IE. I was just wondering if there were any others out there who were doing the same program? I'm trying to figure out last years statistics for the program, but The website has a blank space where the number should be I'm starting to get antsy, and I still have a month to go! Not good!

Hello Everyone! I found this forum while looking for last years statistics... I just got done reading all 50 pages of last year's posts. They're really quite informative... I learned a lot about the program I'm interested in by reading them. It also plays out like a real time Soap Opera haha! Having applied for the JET program to Japan I can totally relate to the whole waiting thing. Thankfully I don't have to do that for Fulbright yet. I'm applying to the Spain MBA program at IE business school in Madrid. I've completed the english version of my proposal (took about 6 drafts) and I've prepared my application packet to the school itself. I've lined up all of my letters of recommendation, one of which has already filled it out :-D I started this whole thing back in April. I'd love to hear if anyone knows how many people applied to this particular Spanish program last year - the official page has a blank space where the number should be. Also any adivce is greatly appreciated! I loved zymurgist's post, but I'm not sure how much that applies to the MBA program as it is a set program that you follow... not research based at all. I look forward to getting to know everyone on here over the next year! Cheers! Skyfire