studentb2011

Hell no I am not shelling out an extra penny for additional insurance. I have been uninsured since December and I had to shell out all that money for the exam so this Fulbright health insurance better be there for me if I get hit by a car or something. As far as I know, it will at least cover emergencies? If it doesn't cover something like a doctor's visit for the flu than I guess I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it on my own. But I'm not paying any more money for medical visits! If you have additional coverage at no cost to you, I envy you. But it's not really worth it to go through things like COBRA and pay ridiculous premiums and deal with expensive deductibles for the sake of extra insurance unless you already have an ongoing condition.

You never know, it may be an opportunity for you. You'll be busy with Fulbright projects but if you have the time why not. I'm hoping to hone up my networking in Russia with Russians as well as any American expats I come across. I'm kinda using Fulbright as a pre-kickstarter to a life long career I hope to have.

Thanks Ranita, you brought up some good points. Unfortunately for me, I am pretty certain me leaving will burn bridges with this company whether I tell them early or not. My boss pretty much wanted my word that I would make a long term committment when I first started. I don't think they would fire me if I told them right now, but I my biggest concern for practical matters is that they will discharge me early. I WANT to work up until the day I leave because I need all the money I can get. If I hated everyone at my job, it wouldn't be so bad. But I do actually like my job and my co-workers. I just can't take the risk of telling them right now. Luckily, this is a low key position with a company that is really irrelevant to my career interests. Still sucks to burn a bridge I know, but there's not much I can do.

I'm not MENA so I can't help you much there, but they should've at least told you what hotel it will be in and I guess you'll go from there. We are supposed to buy our own shuttle ticket/metro ticket/bus whatever to the hotel from the airport and they will give us a stipend to reimburse + $100 for meals for the week. And I understand about the medical exam. Just got my final bill from the clinic and it looks like all together the whole thing costed me over $400. Not bad compared to people living in other areas, but when you're a broke college grad with a random low paying job and no health insurance, that IS a lot. On that note, have any of you who are currently employed foreseeking a negative reaction from your employer when you are going to tell them? Or did you already tell them? I have to give a month's notice by my contract so I will be telling them when I get back from orientation (and I told them I'm taking that week off to "visit family in DC" - shameful, I know). I know my boss is not going to be happy. I started working here only a few months ago and I kinda convinced them that I was seeking to stay with the company for a long time in order to get the job. The company I work with has absolutely nothing to do with international relations and my boss would have no knowledge of this so they would NOT be understanding. lol I'm dreading the day I have to sit in his office and tell him. It sucks because I know they're not going to hire me back when I return and now I'm just wondering what I'll be doing when I get back. I would hate to be unemployed and living with my parents for several months when I return. Fulbright is great on our resume but it's not going to help me RIGHT away when I return. EDIT: And I didn't mean to sound like I'm having second thoughts about Fulbright. It's still worth it by a long shot over this job I have now. I just don't wanna have to deal with all the drama at work before I leave.

You'll receive an email when it is finally cleared by the State dept but not when you initially mail it to Fulbright. That's why I just mailed it to IIE with tracking.

Oh, I see. Yeah most of the info Fulbright pushes out is directed toward full granters, so it can be confusing. You guys are lucky you have more of a say in what you're doing (and I think you get more money than us!).

Some of the Fulbright staff has been out on vacation this month, so don't freak out just yet. They hardly ever respond to emails. Calls are hit or miss. I would try another program officer if you can't reach your own. What happened to me back in April was they sent the letter to the wrong address so I found out a few weeks after everyone else. Just call IIE's main number and politely ask to speak to someone who is in the office. They will probably be grouchy because they are sick of getting these calls but oh well what can you do. On another note, just to be annoying I have to ask for the fourth time: anyone hear back on CLEA (besides the countries that sent out the budget cuts emails)?

Apparently Fulbright encourages us to wait until after we physically receive the letter from the university for our visa explicitly stating the date the visa begins, because occasionally dates of arrival have been pushed back by the university and I've also heard of cases last year where people did not receive the visa letters until October and couldn't leave until then. I have been emailing the people from the university I'll be at and they told me mine will begin August 30. I still haven't got the visa letter yet but I'm really anxious to just buy the ticket since the prices are only gonna get higher. Hopefully university people are doing everything correctly. That Bt-store.com that I was unsure about, BTW, I think is legit. I read their terms & conditions and its good. They also have a possibility to pay an extra fee if you need to switch flights (if the new flight is available, of course).

Wow, good deal you're gonna have in Rome. As for the bt-store site, I'm still researching them to see if they're legit. The Better Business Bureau rates them A+ but I saw a couple reviews from people saying it's another one of those sites that advertise low fares and later on email you saying the fares went up out of their control (but they allow you to cancel it at no fees - although if this happened two weeks before you leave, you're screwed). But as with online reviews, that could be a competing company writing that so who knows. I'll keep researching and update you.

lol And holy crap, living in San Francisco really has put a dent in your budget hasn't it? I remember how much your medical costs were and now this expensive plane ticket. Hopefully Italy won't be too expensive for you. If it makes you feel any better though, I have to spend more money on winter clothes and special boots before I leave as well as other favorite Western goods that Russia doesn't have (but Italy probably does). I'm already budgeting $1000 in spending money just to stock up on clothes this summer before I leave (and no, I don't shop high end).

I live in Missouri, and flights from the Midwest are usually the most expensive so it's odd (i.e. it's sometimes cheaper to fly to Europe from Los Angeles than it is from Kansas City). I originally looked at Airfare.com but I found bad reviews and allegations that's a scam. Then I found BT-store.com and they have good reviews and are known for being cheap. I just hope that price stays low until a few days because I'm waiting for an email back from Fulbright just to be on the safe side with all this.

Oh, I see. Yeah, I did not hear anything about that in any of the few emails I received from the Russian commission. They just said it's our responsibility so I guess it is different from yours. What they said in the email was Russian FBers will get an amount for round trip transportant plus a one time base stipend start up. My question is just how far I can push it with the flight costs. I know there is a limit, but if that limit isn't reached I wonder if that just means extra spending money for me. I found a one way plane ticket for only $630 but the times are crappy (10 hour layover) and better flight times are all $900-1100. If I don't get any extra money out of it either way, I'll just go with the expensive and better flight times but if being on a flight for almost two days means more money, I'm willing.

What is STA? I'm sure the Fulbright for Russia is going to be similar to yours so I need to know how to do this.

Scratch what I said...just found out United Airlines will take me to Russia for a reasonable price so I won't have to worry about it. So if we get a cheap ticket, that means we have extra stipend spending money right? I mean, Fulbright won't say "Oh you're ticket was only $400, give us the rest of the base amount back" or they won't just reimburse only for ticket we bought right? I'm wondering because if that's the case, I'm gonna look at first class flights! I'm also deciding if I want to spend $60 extra for the travel insurance.

Do you know how to tell who's issuing the ticket when you buy it through Orbitz.com? Is it just the first plane you get on? I am looking at a flight to Russia that begins with Continental Airlines with a buncha layovers in the US and switch to Singpore Airlines to fly to Russia. But I don't see anything on the site about who is actually issuing the ticket.

Wait, I don't understand how tickets work. So if I buy it from Orbitz.com or Airfare.com, does it not matter the carrier since those are American website vendors?

I am waiting for my grant docs to show up to, and I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and buy the plane tickets and use the money to reimburse myself once I get it. The prices are really good right now but over the past two days, they've jumped up by $100 and I know they're only going to get higher. Only problem is, the airline carrier has to be American (in accordance with the Fly America act) and most of the tickets I've found seem to have a non-American carrier as part of the flight. Even the more expensive ones.

Any Russia ETAs hear back on CLEA, if you applied?

Anyone hear back on CLEA yet?

I know someone asked this already but I don't think anyone answered so I'll attempt the question again: Is it possible to request a change of city/school placement, for ETAs? Or are the placements pretty much a done, take it or leave it deal?

Has anyone figured out the monthly stipend amount for Russia ETAs yet? Sorry to be annoying

To anyone going to Russia or any country that requires HIV testing: Did you submit the HIV with your medical forms or is that something we need ourselves when we actually go to the country?

Was this in San Francisco, as your left side stats say? If so, I'm never moving there. lol That is outrageous. Mine already quoted me on a $180 office visit, which includes all the services I need. The lab results will be a separate fee. I'm worried about the prices for that, but I'm pretty confident it won't be anywhere near as high as yours. At least hope. Otherwise, I'm gonna be eating peanut butter and jelly until/if I go to Russia.

Three weeks

That's pretty expensive for just lab tests. Did you get more than just the required pap and bloodwork?