Kathiza

My local Fulbright officer just told me that she heard on a webinar (with over 40 other Fulbright officers from around the world) that the situation this year is worse than it has ever been before. Usually PhD students got fully funded, which means a tuition waiver + a stipend to cover all costs of living. This year they see many offers without funding or without sufficient funding (i.e. only a tuition waiver without a stipend or a TA/RAship to cover living expenses). Endowment at private universities has decreased by 93 % (!!!) and public universities have been facing budget cuts for some time now. Did anyone of you got more funding than a tuition waiver? I didn't and it really makes me question if I can afford to study in the U.S. I have the Fulbright grant to cover for my living expenses in the first year, but what about years 2 + 3 (+4, depending on the program)? It's really sad... I'll have to do a lot of thinking until April 15, unless some great offer from the two schools that didn't announce admissions or funding info yet comes in... Keep your fingers crossed for me, please ;-)

As far as I know, for most countries Fulbright is a grant with a fixed sum of money. For me it's up to 25,000. But only for one year. So you can use that 25,000 as you want (for tuition if you didn't get a waiver by the university, for living costs etc.) - but for the second and following year(s) you need funding just like any American student needs funding. Master students can extend their grant and can use a small proportion of their grant sum for the second year. But PhD students can't. I have the same problem. I got admissions to three schools together with tuition waivers. BUT: What shall I do the second and third year? Also my visa doesn't allow me to work for an employer other than my university. So if they don't give me a job or a stipend that covers the cost of living for years 2 + 3, I can't accept, even though I have the Fulbright....

To me, 21,000 seems great. I'll probably have to live off of 15,000/year and I'll HAVE to manage that because I'm not allowed to have another job... I didn't even have a look yet (I'll start once everything is official), so please tell me: What's the range of rent prices for a room in an apartment close to campus?

Exactly: (one of the main news anchors in my country ;-))

I sent a panic e-mail to Fulbright yesterday, asking if there's anything to speed up the process. Because I still don't have funding info from 2 of the 3 schools where I've been accepted and one school didn't reply at all yet. I feel like with me it comes down to the very last days.... I guess I won't be able to make a decision before April 15

Right! Only 15 days to go and still no funding infos from 2 of my 3 schools. And no info at all (i.e. no admission decision) from one of my schools). AAAAHHHHHH!

We talked about this in our Fulbright meeting as well and unfortunately there is no way around a marriage.

Oh my god, this is fantastic. At least it looks like it. But I just discovered there is no Windows-Version :-( I would have even spent the money, because this program does exactly what I want a program to do...

He guys... Does this work? I mean did someone of you already get more storage space? So, here's my link: http://db.tt/XVwaw33

Any suggestions on how to keep PDFs (Articles, Papers, different stuff...) organized for Windows-users? I'm going crazy, I can't find anything anymore... I'm using EndNote and started to import the files and attach the full text to the references. But that does not really help because they are still all over the place... I've heard good things about Mendeley. But what does it do exactly?

Good luck, Sputnik! Do you want to share where you'll be going?

Well, I'm not quite sure anymore. I didn't receive the material yet. But I think I've got a CHANCE on RA/TA for the second and third year. But no guarantee on anything (besides the tuition waiver). I don't know... I'm just feeling down today. I'm sorry.

Got the final confirmation today: Tuition waiver, but definitively no chance on any other funding/RA/TA from Mizzou :-( Still waiting on news from UNC and on funding info from Indiana and some more detailed info from Miami. So basically I know nothing. Because those acceptances are of no use to me without funding... I feel kind of frustrated right now...

I was talking about this to my mom and she said (and I totally agree): This could happen to anyone. (Okay, maybe not dementia... but still) A young professor could have an accident and die. He could have a heart attack or whatever. This could happen to any one of us any day. So I'm not really worried too much about these things. The younger professor mostly works with undergrads. I haven't done too much research on her yet (I'm still waiting on funding from that school...), but I don't know if she's allowed to be part of a doctoral committee or things like that.

Wow, you were allowed to apply to other programs besides the ones chosen by the IIE? In my country, IIE chooses 5 programs (4 for Master's applicants) and you are not allowed to apply to any other schools yourself.

I got news on Friday (I think) that I got accepted to Mizzou, but with some incomprehensible information on funding... (à la "yes, there is the possibility for funding. but there is no possibility.") But no news since then.... I hope UNC makes their decisions soooooon.... Is it normal to always feel like the dream school is the one that didn't answer yet (even though I don't have a ranking for all of my schools, because they are all great and I'll be happy wherever I'll end up...)?

Do people need recommendation letters when applying for industry or tenure track positions? Honestly, I've never heard that. At least in my country this seems not to be the case. And even if we do need them... Does it matter if there's the official letter head on the top? I mean it's the person that recommends us... Who cares if he's still an active faculty member at this school or not? He has decades of experience, he worked with us, he knows us and he can recommend us... I hope that employers don't care about the letterhead...

To each their own, as jordanami said. Some people just feel better when they wear makeup. For example, I have had skin issues for 10-15 years now (and I'm only in my mid-20s). I would NEVER have the courage to speak in front of a class or to even just ask a question without at least covering up some of my skin problems. So yes, to me makeup even helps at school, because it makes me more confident and I can concentrate on my schoolwork instead of feeling insecure because of my skin and feeling like everyone stares at me. And about the time issue: It takes a couple of minutes. If you have time to drink a coffee, if you have time to smoke, if you have time for any other habit, you also have time to do your makeup. I am NOT saying everyone should wear makeup. I just say I chose to because it allows me to be more confident and after those 5-10 minutes in the morning it allows me to devote my attention to more important stuff. That being said: If I had great skin, I probably wouldn't wear makeup at all. So all of you who have great skin: be happy! ;-)

I know I'm not the person asked, but I just wanted to say: They've been doing this for many decades. They are the real experts when it comes to schools. They know where you have realistic chances and where you can get the best funding etc. I was extremely happy with the schools they picked for me. And if people weren't, it's just because they probably were looking more for the "big names" than for academic fit. I'd just say: Trust them. They know what they're doing and they're doing it well. If you're not happy with your schools, do some research, read faculty profiles, read curriculums etc and I'm sure you will understand why they chose these schools for you.

Thank you for all the tips. Especially for the one of PosterSessions.com - unfortunately they don't deliver to Europe. But nevertheless, I have access to all the templates. And moralresearcher was also so incredibly helpful. Thank you!

Just got accepted to Mizzou with tuition waiver, but not assistantship/fellowship/stipend/whatever possible after the first year :-(

Thank you so much, this helped a lot. I'll PM you my e-mail address.... I guess it's easier to imagine (especially the "3-panel-design") when i could see a photo...

I have the opportunity to do a poster presentation (not even a "real" one, but at an event with very few people - it's basically just Fulbrighters and some professors etc.). I would like to do this as a "dry-run" for real poster-presentations. But to be honest: I have no idea what this is exactly. I have never seen one. So please forgive my probably stupid questions, but... The poster should be quite big, right? Which format? Which programs are used to design those posters? Can I learn them in 5 weeks? Or: Can I even do a complete poster and everything in 5 weeks? (That's how long I have time) How do you transport them? What should be ON the poster? Just text? Mostly images? Should it be structured like the chapters of my thesis (which is the basis of this poster)? Or should it be more like a mindmap? Does the name of my university need to be on the poster? Is there any other content that MUST appear on the poster? (my name? my adviser's name? date? anything?) Am I supposed to do the poster in black-and-white or can I use colors? Or do I HAVE to use colors? So, then I just get there and display my poster. What now? Do I have to prepare a presentation? Do I have to tell the people who come look at my poster something? Or am I just there to answer questions and should keem my mouth shut when not being asked? Do I have to stay with my poster at all times or can I go and take a look around? How long are these poster presentations? 30 minutes? 6 hours? I have absolutely no idea... Please don't laugh at me.... I'm really VERY inexperienced in this field and I hope some of you can provide some insight... Thank you!

Thanks for your advice. I'll tell him about my concerns. I'll just wait until the funding offer is in and if it's okay, then I'll just tell him....