Ingenue

I'm not sure how being administered by Fulbright/IIE debunks what I said? Fulbright is not immune to governmental budget issues and has been cut severely before. in 2011, the Fulbright-Hays awards were all cancelled and the Mellon Foundation, a private org, swooped in last second and funded what would have been successful Fulbright-Hays awards. Granted, this is because of Title VI cuts, which is different than IIE. But as a former Fulbrighter (IIE student grant) who went in the midst of these budget cuts, even in a host country that is more than half funded by the host country government, it affected us tons - how much monthly stipend we received, whether we had extra funding for language study, etc. The sad thing about international education programs is that it is always one of the first programs to be cut whenever there is talk of a budget crisis. The average American doesn't understand it's inherent value and will not support it over, say, money for "more jobs" or whatever. So all this talk of budget problems, sequestration, congressional deadlock, etc. is not a good sign! either way, I still stand behind my conviction that the date confirmation email indicates that we were nominated by the regional selection committee and forwarded onto the last stage. If it seems odd that many of us got it versus those who did not, then it's most likely a response bias on this forum. However, this does not mean that the final selection committee cannot override a decision made by the regional selection committee - which may be why they don't automatically send rejection notices. And likewise, it does not mean that the final selection committee will grant all those forwarded by the regionals the final award. If there is any grey area here, it's probably to do with how much money they can anticipate they have. In other words, the date confirmation email does not guarantee anything for either those who received it or those who didn't. But I do think it serves as a fair indicator of whether we may see an acceptance or rejection notice in a few weeks.

Hi there! I'm not a Boren alum (am currently in the application pool for the 2013-14 round), but I think I could give you some meaningful feedback on your questions. I'm also pursuing a Ph.D. and have already completed a year of fieldwork (funded by the Fulbright IIE), and am using the Boren as a shorter followup fieldwork project while I'm well into the dissertation writing stage. I'm not in your exact field, but I'm generally in the social sciences and so my experience probably has some overlap to your questions. (1) I had barely begun my proposal when I submitted my application to IIE. As you might suspect, my completed proposal versus my Fulbright application look very different. This is primarily because of the very, very early due date for Fulbright (August of the year prior). In hindsight, I probably would have had a more fruitful time in data collection had I been generally more prepared before going overseas. I was also pressed for time in getting a solid proposal together before I departed the following August while completing my qualifying exams. It was stressful! But I didn't want to wait an entire year, and in the end it was probably better that I went earlier rather than later. Ideally, I would think that having at least some of the dissertation proposal drafted is a good idea just in terms of writing a solid fellowship application. But it's also safe to assume that what you write in either will not be what you will follow to a tee. Your dissertation project will end up evolving into a life of its own with issues coming up during your fieldwork that you cannot anticipate. So I wouldn't worry about how "perfect" your proposal is. (2) I framed it as, definitively, my dissertation fieldwork. Not preliminary stuff. And I think this is important. Even if everything you write is speculative (I will do this... I will go here... etc.), I think it's important to use strong and certain language. I had a clear plan. I didn't end up sticking to it all once I arrived in the country, but the important part is that I knew what I wanted to do at the time of submitting my application. Doing fieldwork, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast. (3) As a Ph.D. Candidate, your primary reason for going overseas is your dissertation fieldwork. Language is supplementary. In other words, 20 hours a week is way too much. Every hour in the classroom requires an equal hour of studying/homework outside of the classroom, at least. I've done 20 hour a week language intensives for multiple semesters, and believe me, they will take up all of your time, attention, and energy while the class is in session. You cannot expect to complete any of your dissertation fieldwork or writing during this time. If you want to do a 20 hour a week language intensive program, then I suggest front loading it for a semester. This will also give you time to "settle into" your new environment because, even if you go in with a clear plan, your fieldwork will need some time before you're in full gear of data collection (at least a couple months). You need to do a lot of "soaking and poking" around before you feel like you're moving in the right direction. A few months of a language intensive can help with that. You might consider a part-time language program that is 10 hours a week throughout the duration of your fieldwork, but again, your priorities will be on your data collection. While you may be able to study and do okay in the class, you probably won't give it your full attention and so you may not absorb as much language as you could. It's still something to consider, though, as you will get something out of it even if not to the fullest extent possible. Another possibility is a combination of a front loaded 20 hour a week term, then private tutoring throughout the fieldwork months on a flexible schedule, and maybe even then ending with another 20 hour a week term following fieldwork towards the end of the grant period (if you have enough time). The tutoring is much more helpful than some part-time class and can be geared towards your fieldwork activities. Like, if you're doing qualitative stuff, you can practice your dialogue for interview in the language, and also go over with a native speaker your interview transcripts to pick up on the nuance and subtleties in the language you may not pick up on by yourself. My own program was a combination of part-time 10 hours a week throughout the 9 months of my fieldwork. Then I ended with a 20 hours per week language intensive in the last 3 months since I was able to extend the Fulbright grant to 12 months. Looking back, I wish I had done private tutoring. I've had one before (when doing preliminary summer fieldwork) and it was so much more helpful than a class. I've included this component for my followup fieldwork in my Boren application. Hope this helps and that you have a fruitful year abroad. Where are you headed to?

Not too put too fine a point on it, but I also suspect the date confirmation email serves the same purpose as the infamous budget email from previous years. The fact that they were human generated and quite brief doesn't diminish the significance of that email. What it probably means is that the Boren program, as a government institution, went through some major layoffs and staff turnover that left the program in a bit of a chaotic frenzy at the beginning of the calendar year (I think someone else mentioned sequestration cuts?). In other words, the usual staff person who would generate budget emails to applicants who passed the regional reviews is probably no longer in existence, or something along those lines. And if the program is understaffed, then it probably means they are eliminating midway steps like making small changes to our dates before doling out awards. [edit: I could be wrong about faculty members on our selection committees sending emails to us directly] And like dontstoptilldoctorate(?) outlined, the timing of it all makes it pretty clear. Perhaps I'm also speaking from a place of optimistic anticipation since I am one of the people who received the date confirmation email. But the more I think about it (and I'm also agonizing over the wait) the more obvious this becomes.

Just curious, for those who posted earlier re: fixing small errors, did you all get the date verification email? In my case, yes.

Yes, I also received the same survey request just now. I also received an email last week asking me to correct something in my application. I am not sure if these are both signs of our applications being forwarded, but for the time being it is not a bad thing that we are being contacted. FYI - I applied for a Boren fellowship

Hello! I've just received my letter indicating that I've been awarded a Fulbright grant to South Korea (full grant). So I'm quite excited! I'm curious to know if there are any others on this forum that are also going to be conducting research in Korea. Looking forward to meeting everyone soon...