erica11

How long is your program? Did you request the full amount? I'm glad to hear that you got it all!!

I received a Fellowship, and I am staying for 10 months. My budget was for $23,800 (which is just below the $24,000 maximum). The amount they are offering me now is for $18,000. I did receive an email asking about the amount I allocated for tuition for my university next year (i.e to stay matriculated in the US), but I replied and said that this was the actual amount I have to pay. I'm assuming they just took some money off because of that, but since I put my actual tuition amount, I put much less on other parts of the budget such as research assistants, housing, food, etc. that should be budgeted for more. I'm planning to call them Monday to find out what happened, and if they did take out some money from my tuition, then I will appeal to get more money for some of the other things I cut short. My packet came to my temporary (current) address, and I received it yesterday.

Did anyone else get their award packet and find that they are being offered less than they budgeted for? Mine was substantially less than my proposed budget with no explanation.

Let me know when you all are in Tanzania! I'm planning to head there in early August. It would be great to meet up with you all!

I got the fellowship for Tanzania (not the African Languages Initiative). The email said: Congratulations! This emailserves as unofficial notification that you have been selected to receive a 2011National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Fellowship. Wewill send you an additional email when your notification packet has beenmailed. Has everyone else heard back?

I GOT IT!!!!

I gave in and emailed them... here is the reply: "We hope to send the emails earlythis week. We still have a few details to finalize so we’re not sure the exactdate yet." Maybe that means we'll hear tomorrow?! I wouldn't get your hopes up for an email today anyways. The waiting continues!!

Does someone want to email someone at Boren to ask about when they're emailing us?! At least then we can breath a little if it's not happening until next week...

At least in my group, approximately half of the volunteers went home. Being able to afford this based on PC salary completely depends on where you are and how expensive it is, but would probably require your own money to finance it. I didn't go home, but both my mom and dad visited me during my service, which was nice. If you're considering Peace Corps, do keep in mind that the application process is lengthy - usually about 9 months. It's not a bad idea to start now in case you think you might be interested. You can always drop out of the running later. Also, everyone has a unique experience. You will probably talk to people that hated their experience and do not recommend Peace Corps. But many others love it. It's really what you make of it - a positive attitude goes a very long way. I highly recommend it.

I will chime in here. I did Peace Corps in South Africa after undergrad and it was one of the best things I've ever done. I strongly recommend it too. I had ZERO money after college (and quite a lot of debt). If you're frugal with your money while at site, and take advantage of presents family members give you for holidays, you can make it work. I was able to travel for vacations throughout my service without using any of my money, and after Peace Corps they give you about $5000 -- I used this money and traveled through Southern and East Africa and India for 4 months, and I had plenty left over when I came home. Of course, some people dipped into their savings, but not everyone. Basically, you can certainly make it work without your own money. And the experience is absolutely incredible and unlike anything you will ever do.

What is this facebook page everyone keeps referencing? I haven't been able to find it.

Anyone get their SSA notification today?

I applied for the Fellowship and got the following email on March 18th from the Boren staff: "Thank you for applying for the Boren Fellowship. At this time we want to make sure that you don’t have any small changes withyour budget or timeline. We want to make sure the we have a clear idea theexact costs of your program (as near as you can tell at this point) and theexact dates. If you have large changes – i.e. you want to go overseas for6 months, instead of 3, please do not send us those changes at this time. If you have changes,please email them back to me by Wednesday, March 23. If you are changingyour budget please use the same categoriesas you originally used, which can be found at - http://www.borenawards.org/boren_fellowship/budget.html(you should then specifically look at the overseas and domesticguidelines). If you have any questions please feel free to call or sendus an email. Thank you." The other 2 emails I've received have been very specific, but this one seemed like it was sent out as a mass email. I have no idea what this means though, so I wouldn't stress if you haven't heard from them...

Good to know. I also applied for Fulbright and I'm waiting to hear back from both. Hopefully we will hear something soon! I did not apply to the African Languages Initiative since I want to start my research before January 2012. But I am planning to study Swahili at the same site as the African Languages Initiative on Zanzibar, so maybe I will see you there!

Great idea! I applied to study Swahili in Tanzania and do a research project in public health/HIV for 10 months. I've received 3 emails from Boren since mid-March. One was the general email asking about any changes in my plans, and two were very specific about my budget/the specific program I'm applying for. I take these as good signs that they're still considering me! Does anyone know more about when we'll be notified?

I've been following this thread for a few days and I haven't seen anything about Africa. I'm a finalist for Malawi -- has anyone heard back from any sub-Saharan African countries (besides South Africa)? Or does anyone know when we can expect to get the notification?