Lustforlife

I am wondering whether anyone on this board has applied for the Japan Foundation fellowship. Any news?

As far as I know, all (at least most) credit unions are linked. As a credit union member, I can use the ATM of any other credit union without penalty. 7-Eleven also has a deal with credit unions, so you can use their ATMs without a surcharge (I have even used my ATM card at 7-Elevens in foreign countries without penalty). Granted, this network of ATMs probably still won't offer the same convenience as a larger chain. Nonetheless, it is never too hard for me to find an ATM that I can use.

In terms of money, you will either get $2828, $1297 or $2026 per quarter on top of whatever amount they offered you in the fellowship. It sounds like they only guarantee this amount in the first year. Do they say what you are supposed to do for support in your third quarter? You might try to get in touch with people in that department to find out the likelihood that you can get a TAship for that third quarter. You will also need to find TAships for the remaining years in the program. Is the department willing to pay the difference between out of state and in state tuition for the first year (you can qualify for in-state after that, but start talking to people at your school about all of the steps you need to go through)? I think that this in itself is about $10,000.

Have people so far only received rejection notices? I'm on the West Coast and my mail is always a bit slow so I would imagine that mine will arrive on Monday or Tuesday. Anyways, condolences to those who received rejection letters.

Good luck. Did you apply to work with a specific advisor? You might try to ask them or someone else for some kinds of specifics. How likely does it seem that you would get the necessary RAship, fellowship, etc... You might also ask them to name the specific fellowships/funding opportunities to which you will have to apply so that you can investigate these on your own.

PS. At my institution, TAships only cover one's in-state tuition. Since foreign students can not gain residency, they can never qualify for in-state tuition and have to pay out-of-state tuition for the entirety of their PhD. Some departments offer to make up the difference (for a certain number of years). It appears that garibaldi's school will pay the difference for the first two years but will not do so thereafter. At my institution, this would add on (approximately) an extra $15,000 per year.

Be careful. The availability of RAships and opportunities to work with Professors can vary greatly by campus and department. I am in the humanities (I would imagine that the funding opportunities are somewhat similar to what you will find in the social sciences) at a large state school and I can't imagine how someone would just pick up the amount of money that you have described. At my institution, you would probably have to take out loans to cover the costs of the out of state tuition. Further, most people take classes for their first three years, which would make it extra difficult to pick up that kind of money in your third year. This does not mean that your situation will be impossible. Every institution is different and it might be feasible to pick up $35,000 at your institution. However, I would strongly suggest that you make every effort to investigate the funding environment on your campus. Hopefully, there will be someone at your potential institution who can explain the financial implications of getting a PhD.

Just when I think I'm out, posts like this pull me back in. Is it correct that SSRC sends out rejection letters in February? It would be nice to know one way or the other.

Laska's post makes a lot of sense to me. This is also how a lot of schools conduct job searches (ie they won't close the file on potential candidates until someone has been hired). While I suppose that anything is possible, I am assuming that no transcript request means that you (by which I mean we) are no longer being considered. I would of course be happy to be proven wrong. Best of luck to all.

Congrats to Nescafe and Anonymous Historian. I haven't received any contact from SSRC.

I'm starting to get nervous about this. It seems like a request for transcript is a strong indication that your application is still being considered. Good luck, all.