socrytes

I have been a semifinalist the past two years as well as this year. This is the first time these videos have been sent out in that time.

@IndoScholar, what I have seen is that approximately 50% of semifinalists get selected as finalisits, with another 25% being selected as alternates. Usually at this stage, it is less about percentile (deciding better vs. worse candidates) and more about creating a diverse and strong cohort. Honestly, having gone through this waiting game each of the past two years, I would try not to worry about it too much for the next 6 weeks or so. Getting to this stage means you have gone through the hardest filter. You and everyone else at this stage is qualified enough to be selected. Now it just comes down to flipping a coin haha

Just got my email. Semifinalist for Persian!

I did the virtual institute for Persian last year too. It was really great, don't get me wrong! But I unfortunately don't think I can justify delaying getting my PhD by doing virtual another summer. If it was in person, I would absolutely go for it though.

Notifications are out! Persian is virtual this year, though

Let the obsessive e-mail checking this week begin. Best of luck to all the other semi-finalists anxiously awaiting emails this week.

They were actually asked on Instagram and they gave this reply: I also emailed the program coordinator for one of the programs and he gave this reply:

Where did you hear they are focusing on virtual this year? I haven't heard any indication for the upcoming summer, just that they were debriefing the 2021 virtual institutes with all the program directors.

Check your emails, everyone. Semifinalist!!

The most important thing they look for in an application is that you demonstrate how this program will help you with your long-term development. They explicitly say for this program that they look for people with a variety of backgrounds and future plans. I am a PhD student in STEM who wants to study the mathematical properties of machine learning models trained on different languages. I expressed no interest or intent to go into government at all. I received a CLS for Persian last year and applied again this year. You most definitely would be eligible and I'd imagine you would be quite competitive. Just be sure to tell your story! I strongly recommend you reach out to the scholarship office at your current school though. Their advisers are often very helpful at guiding you to craft your message.

Me too! I was really hoping to learn both as well, and of course wanted to get the fully immersive experience. I accepted still though since this is my best chance to gain more levels of proficiency in Persian. Would you consider applying again next year?

So if it turns out that the time between the semi-finalist and finalist notifications is 45 days (which would be tied for the longest wait in the past 7 years), then the notifications would come out on March 5th. However, the "average" day that it was sent out the past six years was March 2nd! Those are only 21 and 18 days away, respectively. Not that I'm counting or anything...

Semifinalist for Persian!!!

Okay that makes more sense. That's good to know. Good luck, everyone!