jg33
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Posts posted by jg33
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I wish I had clicked on this link earlier! I thought it was just for Fellowship applicants.
I applied for a Boren Scholarship to study in Istanbul, Turkey, next year. I haven't received any emails asking about updates - as an undergrad should I be worried, or is this just for the fellows?
Hopefully they'll tell us soon! I've been checking the Boren Twitter/Facebook pages and my email for updates every time I turn around.
Welcome! Will you please email your information (for the spreadsheet) to boren2011.2012@gmail.com?
Thanks!
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Hey guys! I have been reading the forum and finally decided to join the discussion. I wish you all the best of luck! We should be notified in less than a week now. Hopefully the Boren will send out emails on May 1. This is distracting amidst finals.
Question:
Did anyone apply for Arabic at Middlebury or the American University at Cairo?
If you're new to the forum, please see this spreadsheet: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?hl=en&hl=en&key=t3qOsagddRpBd48y-yJ-aiA&authkey=CPu-4N4N#gid=0
And then email your information to boren2011.2012@gmail.com
That way we can make an awesome spreadsheet! Thanks!
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A few thoughts:
First, on one of the webinars I attended the Boren folks told us that they receive numerous career declarations from all of the different applicants. It is only one portion of what is considered by the committees. The moderators recommended DOD career options and Dept of State options. They were careful to emphasize that, while your proposed career path at this point is obviously not definite, an applicant whose proposal included a well thought out career path that suggested that the applicant was not simply picking an objective because it was a part of the application process would stand out. The moderators recommended finding a way to distinguish yourself from other candidates by suggesting some lesser known career options and tying them into your proposed region/language and the bigger picture of national security. All in all, I took the suggestions as a way to boost your application. In no way did I get the sense that some of the more commonly proposed careers (ie: FSO) would hurt you though - the suggestions were more of the "Career specifications won't hurt you, can only help you" type.
Also, did anyone respond to the earlier post regarding mail vs email notifications for next week? If anyone knows how we are to be notified, let us know! I'll be in NYC next week and won't be home to get my mail until May 8. Talk about bad timing!
Sometimes, I wonder if I'm going to be penalized since I already work part-time (I'm still a student) in a position that has quite a bit of interaction with AF, DoD, and NGA, among others. I guess we'll see.
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I think the most frustrating thing is that at this point they probably know who has been chosen. Right now they're probably balancing budgets, stuffing envelopes and drafting the award letters/emails. Any interaction we have with them will be with them knowing our fate, although of course they can't officially tell us yet.
I have five finals over the next 2.5 weeks. If anyone wants to take them for me that would be great! Also, I am running a marathon on May 15. For anyone looking to burn off some stress and pass some time, I highly recommend running!I emailed them about two weeks ago, and they said results would be both emailed and mailed.
I second the running recommendation! Just ran a 5k last weekend--it made me feel a lot better!
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I don't know if this was a downfall, but here I was not specific as to ONE job that I would like to pursue in the future. Here are excerpts from Part 1 of my statement that I thought communicated my situation:
"The issues facing the United States on the world stage are increasingly complex and scientific in nature. ....."
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"It is vitally important that those working to further the interests of the United States on the world stage be able to rely on and work with researchers and scientists who understand the issues at hand. It is equally essential that our scientists and diplomats are able to communicate with the officials and scientists of other nations with whom we must cooperate. I hope to fill that role, and that is why I hope to further my scientific studies in Russia. ....."
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"There are several US agencies that deal with research and development cooperation with Russia, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense. Effective professionals working in areas of research internationally posses an advanced degree in a scientific field as well as proficiency in a foreign language, therefore participation in such activities requires a doctorate degree. After completing my bachelor’s degree I plan on attending graduate school to prepare for a career in biochemistry in collaboration with scientists internationally. After my experience abroad and achieving an advanced degree in the natural sciences, I would like to pursue a career with one of these agencies working with Russia. ....."
Then I listed several specific opportunities. I didn't state that I already had it figured out.
So as I am understanding, all of you mentioned a specific job???
It just seemed like in the webinars EVERYBODY wanted to become a foreign service officer .... I just listed my goals and expect that my graduate studies will give me more specific qualification and from there a position with any of these agencies can be molded to ME.
If I do not get the award, this could be an indicator.
I didn't list a specific job either, so don't feel alone. :-]
I tried to tie in the places I want to work for and the things I want to do with the job I currently have, which is probably somewhat similar to what I'll be doing in the future.
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Well, I didn't get the Gilman award apparently, so there's no way I'm getting the Boren. This is why I don't like having hope.
Don't give up hope!
Yesterday, I found out that I didn't win Fulbright, which is a downer. But, really, there are so many other opportunities out there. There is just no sense in getting yourself down because you didn't win one thing. Especially when you have a great shot at winning so many other things!
One thing I always like to think of is this: if you've made it to the finals for anything (e.g., interview, scholarship), you have what it takes to win. At that point in time, I think it takes just a little luck. Maybe one of the things in your application sticks out to a particular reviewer (e.g., you share a similar passion, your situation seems familiar to one they have gone through), and that will end up helping you out.
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My notification just came in (for Australia) and I was rejected. I uploaded my information to the spreadsheet. Other candidates for Australia should be hearing shortly (postmark date was 4/20/2011).
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:-( It's hard but I hope I get it. There's no way I'll get into any of the grad schools I want without going abroad for a year, because the courses I'm taking while abroad are not offered at my uni.
The Boren is very prestigious. It will help with grad school and future employment but the fact that you taught yourself Russian Steph and that you've come this far in the competition means that there's not anything you can't accomplish...
I agree. Even if you don't get it (it sounds like you have a great chance though), there are other things you can do to help yourself get into graduate school. Generally, it seems that a lot of places like applicants who have done some sort of undergraduate research. So, that might be something worth looking into.
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I attended one of the online webinars last fall for Boren and the Boren reps on the webinar told us that with the new African Languages Initiative there would be approximately 10-15 extra fellowship awards given out this year specifically for the ALI program. As long as this hasn't changed since last fall that could improve the odds for everyone even if you're not an ALI applicant.
For anyone new to the board who hasn't gone all the way back to the first page, jg33 started a great spreadsheet for everyone who applied for Boren. Check it out and let him know your info so we can add it: send to boren2011.2012@gmail.com
Thanks! The link to the spreadsheet is: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?hl=en&hl=en&key=t3qOsagddRpBd48y-yJ-aiA&authkey=CPu-4N4N#gid=0
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Well, the odds are substantially different for the Boren scholarships. There are 138 being chosen from 944 or about 1/7. There are unequal numbers though drawn for each language. For Arabic, there were 42 chosen from 239 applicants so that makes your odds approximately 1/6. For Mandarin, there were 31 chosen from 190 applicants; again about 1/6. Here's where it gets tricky: for Russian, there were 118 applicants for 15 slots or about 1/8. For Japanese, its about 1/10. Of course, those are gross numbers before they were filtered by the regional board...so who knows.
Yes, that's true. And, even with the fellowships, depending on what language you applied for, your chances could be different. Also, the number of applicants for each language could change by quite a bit each year, so there really is no way to know.
One thing I suppose you could assume is that they send the right number of people for each language or country to the nationals, that way they have enough people to choose from (e.g., the 2.4 to 3.6 I listed before). For example, if they sent hardly anybody to the nationals for a particular language, they might end up having to choose all of those people to meet their goals for a particular language. So, who knows?
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Last year, there were 519 applicants for fellowships and 99 recipients, so a little under 20% of the total applicants won. This year, I think there were around 600 applicants for around the same number of grants. So, let's just assume there were 600 applicants for 100 grants. I don't know how many people get forwarded to the national panel, but here are a few different scenarios:
% of Applicants Forwarded to National Panel ::::::::::::::::::::: % of Forwarded Applicants that Win
16.67 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 100
20 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 83.33
30 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 55.56
40 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 41.67
50 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 33.33
60 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 27.78
70 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 23.81
80 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 20.83
90 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 18.51
100 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 16.67
So, take your pick of what percentage of the applicants get forwarded to the national panel and from there you can figure out what percentage of those applicants win. My guess would be that the number of applicants forwarded to the national panel ranges from 40% to 60% of the total number of applicants, that way the national panel has enough people to choose from (there would be 2.4 to 3.6 finalists per available grant). If this is the case, they could choose roughly 1 awardee out of every 3 finalists.
Sorry about the formatting, Grad Cafe keeps deleting my spaces.
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Anyone have any clue how many of the people who make it to the national panel win?
I'm getting excited that I apparently made it but I'm concerned, say, 75% of the people make it to national and out of those 5% win or something like that. Cheesy example, but like in American Idol where hundreds "go to Hollywood" and just a few actually make it.
Last year, there were 519 applicants for fellowships and 99 recipients, so a little under 20% of the total applicants won. This year, I think there were around 600 applicants for around the same number of grants. So, let's just assume there were 600 applicants for 100 grants. I don't know how many people get forwarded to the national panel, but here are a few different scenarios:
% of Applicants Forwarded to National Panel ::::::::::::::::::::: % of Forwarded Applicants that Win
16.67 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 100
20 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 83.33
30 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 55.56
40 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 41.67
50 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 33.33
60 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 27.78
70 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 23.81
80 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 20.83
90 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 18.51
100 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 16.67
So, take your pick of what percentage of the applicants get forwarded to the national panel and from there you can figure out what percentage of those applicants win. My guess would be that the number of applicants forwarded to the national panel ranges from 40% to 60% of the total number of applicants, that way the national panel has enough people to choose from (there would be 2.4 to 3.6 finalists per available grant). If this is the case, they could choose roughly 1 awardee out of every 3 finalists.
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I got an email from Rachel today saying they were mailed out Wednesday. :/ Nothing in my mailbox today, so either tomorrow or Monday. I'm going nuts, considering some ppl got accepted in March. Who knows how many others got accepted then that aren't on this forum.
One thing you can do to get an idea of when the letter should be arriving is plug in your information here:
Although you cannot adjust the calendar to a past date, you can change the mailing date to a certain day of the week to figure out when the letter is 'supposed' to arrive. Once you get to the page that displays all the shipping options, click on the First-Class Mail option and it should display what the 'expected' delivery date is. Hope this helps!
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Again, more speculation, but: I told my campus boren representative that I didn't receive the "financial update email" and I asked if it was reasonable to assume that I have not been selected. Her response was "I think you should prepare yourself for that outcome." And then the usual boilerplate "nothing is final until it's final", etc. However in deference to jg33, I would think that a Fulbright finalist in an engineering grad program at UT-Austin would have made it past regionals based exclusively on the fact that they study engineering at Texas.
Anyway, I think I sent an email, but my info for the s/s: Country: Ukraine; Language: Russian/Ukrainian; Research area: Chem Eng/Alternative Energy and obviously: no email from iie.
Thanks for the kind words. I don't think anyone should count themselves out until they hear back.
Are you a fellowship or scholarship applicant?
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I mostly agree with you, but you're in a field that less people study (at least from what I know of it), so in general you're a more competitive candidate, so maybe that's why they didn't contact you. And congrats on being a finalist for Fulbright, hope you win it it!
Elementwil, that info you found on the University of Illinois' website I think is very telling.
Either way I hope we all get it :-)
Thanks!
I hope we all get it too!
I think the spreadsheet will prove especially helpful in answering the question regarding follow-up emails once everyone finds out about their status. Right now, we have 10 people on the spreadsheet. Out of those 10 people, 8 were sent follow-up emails and 2 weren't. There were a little over 600 applicants this year, so hopefully we can get at least 100 people on the spreadsheet by the time this is all over with (that way we have a sufficient sample size).
Thanks to Runner for posting the link to this forum on the Boren Awards Facebook page as that should bring more people to this forum (and the spreadsheet).
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Personally, I don't think this is the case. I also applied for Fulbright, and am currently in the finalist round for one of the most competitive countries (around 5% of the applicants make it to the final round). Fulbright never asked us to provide updated information. With that said, I think there are probably three ways to look at this follow-up email.
1) Not enough details were originally provided in your budget and/or timeline and you seemed like a great candidate, hence the need for updated information
2) Not enough details were originally provided in your budget and/or timeline and you didn't seem like a great candidate, so no need for updated information
2) Enough details were originally provided and you seemed like a great candidate, so no need for updated information
Again, I'm not an authority on this issue, this is just my viewpoint.
Also, it seems like it would not be in the best interest of the committee (with the number of applications there are) to notify each and every applicant that was forwarded on to the final round for additional information. Doing so amounts to having to do a lot of extra work. Either way, good luck to all!
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To be straight forward, it MOST LIKELY means your application did not make it through regionals (unfortunately). The Boren response on FB validates the claim - and they say "sometimes" to not offend anyone/dash anyone's hopes. National scholarship competitions are generally pretty secretive in their selection process, so they keep things vague and will never tell you you're not in the running until you receive a rejection letter. I'm hoping I'm wrong, but it would not make sense to NOT ask for additional financial information from a finalist.
Personally, I don't think this is the case. I also applied for Fulbright, and am currently in the finalist round for one of the most competitive countries (around 5% of the applicants make it to the final round). Fulbright never asked us to provide updated information. With that said, I think there are probably three ways to look at this follow-up email.
1) Not enough details were originally provided in your budget and/or timeline and you seemed like a great candidate, hence the need for updated information
2) Not enough details were originally provided in your budget and/or timeline and you didn't seem like a great candidate, so no need for updated information
2) Enough details were originally provided and you seemed like a great candidate, so no need for updated information
Again, I'm not an authority on this issue, this is just my viewpoint.
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If we think the emails we get from Boren are relevant to the selection process, I suggest we include them on the spreadsheet. We could have one column for the general budget update email and one for additional contacts/emails. Just to clarify, I am not saying they are relevant, however having that information on the spreadsheet would at least help future applicant pools to deduce their value from our results.
Again, best of luck to all!
Good idea. I'm adding this now.
Everyone, please let me know the relevant information if you are on the spreadsheet.
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All,
It's been fun stressing out with all of you these past few weeks. I got my notification for Bangladesh yesterday, and I'm in!
Spreadsheeters-
Status: Accepted
Which address: Temporary
Notification date: 04-18
Postmark date: 04-11
Method: Large manila
Contact: mckay.todd@gmail.com
Where will you be...: Dhaka
Congratulations on your award! I'm assuming you are Todd on the spreadsheet?
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why is australia taking so long? this is quite annoying. anyone have any info?
I emailed Akeley a few weeks ago and he said results are typically sent out mid-April, so I was hoping they would show up sometime this week. I'm not sure if they've been sent though. Does somebody else want to call or email him?
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Just wanted to repost the link to the spreadsheet for all our information:
https://spreadsheets...=CPu-4N4N#gid=0
So, if you want information added to the spreadsheet, please email boren2011.2012@gmail.com.
I would give everyone editing privileges, but random people come along and delete everything, so it is best to only have a few people with editing privileges.
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WONDERFUL NEWS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA FINALISTS!
I just got off the phone with Jermaine Jones. He said he mailed out the "Lion's Share" of letters yesterday afternoon. So we can expect our letters as early as this weekend! Keep in mind he said they mailed out MOST, so some of us might still have a little more of a wait.
Now we can set up shop near the mailbox: chair? check glass of wine? check stress ball? check
Don't forget your laptops, so y'all can email your results in as they come. :-D
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Just made a spreadsheet for all of our information:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?hl=en&hl=en&key=t3qOsagddRpBd48y-yJ-aiA&authkey=CPu-4N4N#gid=0
So, if you want information added to the spreadsheet, please email boren2011.2012@gmail.com.
I would give everyone editing privileges, but random people come along and delete everything, so it is best to only have a few people with editing privileges.
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Fellowship here.
From what I understand, the fellowship process is much less involved with the campus than the scholarship process. For example, scholarship people had to do interviews on campus, but fellowship people didn't.
If it makes you feel any better, there are several people on the Fulbright forum who did not have interviews (with the country) that won. So, personally, I wouldn't read too much into the number of emails you've gotten (of course, that is just my opinion, so yeah).
Uh-oh, 3 emails? Are you guys Fellowship or Scholarship applicants?
Boren 2011-2012
in The Bank
Posted
In columns N, O, and P of the spreadsheet, the number of applicants who received follow-up emails, the total number of applicants, and the percentage of applicants who received email updates are shown, respectively.
So far... Overall, 12 out of 20 applicants received follow-up emails, which is 60% of the applicants. For scholarship applicants, 4 out of 6 applicants received follow-up emails, which is 66.7 % of the applicants. For fellowship applicants, 8 out of 14 applicants received follow-up emails, which is 57.1% of the applicants.