msafiri

I got a position as a teaching assistant which came with a stipend and a tuition waiver.

Oh, I definitely want to work for the government, which is why I'm considering the Boren at all. But, I'm worried that having had a Fulbright for a different region and language will make me look flaky to the reviewers. For me, the incentive the Boren offers is a chance to study a language that I haven't studied since I was an undergraduate and to do so while living in a country where it is spoken, which is an opportunity I've never had. I have no idea what kind of research project I would do along with that though.

riverguide, thanks for the excellent advice! I'm still trying to decide whether or not to throw my hat in the ring for the Boren. Anyone else still on the fence? Anyone have any advice to offer on how to decide?

I got my reviews and my scores were pretty high. An average of 93.33 from the three reviewers. They called me out for two things: lack of science prep (as in coursework) and my project not being in the US. Since I'm beyond the coursework stage, there's really no way for me to fix either of those problems so I won't be applying again. That said, I'm very glad they gave us the reviews this time so that I know not to apply again.

Well, I'm worried because they've been talking about their difficult in finding federal jobs, which I doubt is going to get any easier given the impending federal budget cuts. Also, I'm still a bit undecided about whether I want to work in government or the academy once I finish grad school. Plus, there's another issue. My research focus doesn't have any clear relation to national security (I study local livelihoods), so I'd probably have to come up with another project to get the Boren and I'm not sure what that would be...

What is the advantage of Dropbox (or SpiderOak* for that matter) over SugarSync? SugarSync offers 5GB of storage, saves your stuff to the Cloud, and lets you have a folder that automatically syncs across all the computers you have it installed on. I guess in that regard they're all kind of similar? Just wondering. ETA: I did some browsing on the web and came across a bunch of other online backups: Mozy, Fabrik, Hitachi Backup... I'm trying to figure out which one to go with given that I'll be abroad with sometimes limited internet access but want to make sure I can have backup copies of my fieldwork data in the event that my computer (or external HD) gets stolen. Thanks in advance! *Tew, I looked up SpiderOak and it seems that students get a 50% discount if they buy the service. And, I found a Prof. Hacker article explaining how much more secure SpiderOak is than Dropbox.

Daniel, what is that you want to do with your Boren if you receive it? What do you want to do after you complete your fellowship? I think that knowing what it is you ultimately want to do will help you select which country and language to apply for. FWIW, I'm in a sort of similar situation. I'm thinking about applying for a Boren for a language I studied as an undergraduate but which I haven't done anything with in about 4 years. Plus, I'm sort of worried about the service requirement based on what people have posted in last year's Boren discussion...

Probably. The Fulbright program is about cultural exchange but, you have to remember that people from your proposed host country will be reviewing your application if you make it to that stage. Why would they want to fund a project that helps you but not them? You're going to need a compelling answer to avoid getting axed. You should do a language evaluation with someone at your school. Contact the French department. They probably have a person assigned to this task that you'll make an appointment and meet with. The evaluation has nothing to do with how well they know you. It's really about them testing your ability to read, write, speak, and orally comprehend the appropriate language. The only time I ever interacted with the person that evaluated my language skills for my Fulbright application was via email to make an appointment and for 30 minutes when we met. The language evaluation isn't like a LOR, it doesn't need to say anything about you, just about your language abilities. If I were you, I'd be concerned. Your evaulation is going to have to be done in September, at the latest, at which point you'll have 1 month (maybe) of French classes under your belt. How well do you think you will score, particularly when it comes to reading, writing, and comprehending orally? This is something you should be seriously thinking about before applying. 2 semesters of French is probably not enough to do a project well in France. I know that my speaking skills were minimal after my first year of Spanish, which would've made it impossible to carry out a research project in a Spanish-speaking country. In your case, it might make more sense to spend this year focusing on learning French and apply in fall 2013 for a Fulbright once your language skills have improved. If you decide not to wait a year to apply, you'll need to do more than practice with a few friends. Find online tools to help you. Check out books or audio CDs from the public library. Pimsleur offers solid courses that will help you with the listening and speaking. Read French newspapers and look up every word you don't know to improve your reading and writing. And, keep in mind that you'll be competing for your grant against people with years of experience speaking, reading, and writing French, which will probably make them more attractive applicants than you.

Here's my guess. Some of the applicants that got forwarded to IIE had already been awarded Fulbrights. While the F-H may be a better offer, they couldn't take it if they'd already accepted the Fulbright money by buying the plane ticket for their award. So, then IIE probably decided to get more names in so they could award all the money the Mellon Foundation has been given.

I've had that kind of chat before. Usually, it's just about making sure that there's nothing wrong with you and that you know what you need to improve on. In my department, it never leads to funding getting pulled.

WTF? Last year they at least had the courtesy of notifying the rejected before announcing the awards. Oh well. Guess I get to apply yet again next year.

Several times, I've thought I had this happen. The last one was about a month ago or so. Then, upon closely reading the paper (or in this case, master's thesis), I found the gaps in that study that my study was already planned to address. That was good, at least for me. In the first year of my PhD, I read a book that basically summarized exactly what I wanted to do and at the site I wanted to go. I definitely looked for gaps, and found several, but then decided to go in another direction.

I'm not going to tell you to go with a cat because I'm just NOT a cat person. But, there are many, many things to consider. First, puppies (ie, dogs under 8 months) require more work in terms of training, have more energy (so more/longer walks), and have to be let out more frequently. Second, you'll need to consider the time/money for obedience school, kenneling the dog or paying for a petsitter when you're out of town (holidays, conferences, etc.), and that sort of thing. It adds up pretty quickly. I know a lot of people are saying that you should adopt from a shelter. While shelters are great, your situation lends itself more to adopting from a rescue group, imo. Why? Because, and I'll admit this varies from one group to the next, rescues tend to have their dogs in foster homes. The advantage for you is that you can learn a lot more about the dog's personality and energy level and possibly get a dog that already has some basic training. Personally, I wouldn't get a dog right away. Get settled, start classes, figure out your TA/RA, and see how much extra time you have and when that is (keep a time log for the first few weeks). Now, add in several hours of dog walking/playtime throughout the day. Will you be more stressed? If so, then it may not be a good idea. I'd wait until second semester or the second year to get a dog. By then, you have an idea of how taxing grad school will be and how a dog will fit into that lifestyle, both in terms of time and finances.

I did my undergrad in the humanities and am now doing grad school in the social sciences. I did take a lot of social science classes (anthropology and religion mostly) as an undergraduate, in addition to the literature courses required for my degree. In grad school, I realized that I somehow managed to avoid theory (whether literary, anthropological, or social theory more generally) which has meant a huge learning curve. Luckily, I was able to get a lot of that background during my MA. Even so, I still felt behind when I got to my PhD. My field is interdisciplinary so people have all sorts of backgrounds, some heavy in theory and some not. In hindsight, I wish I'd majored in ecology as an undergraduate because it would've given me coursework that's an excellent complement to what I study now plus more field experience (fieldwork is not common in the humanities). I mean, I could've studied abroad in Kenya if I'd done ecology! My main advice would be to do research on the field you want to go into to make sure it's a good fit. Doing that will help you write an interesting and convincing SOP, which in turn will help you get in. Go for it! What have you got to lose?

Wow, I'm insanely jealous of these $2200 stipends! Mine is just under $1500/month. Of that, I pay $200/month combined in state and federal withholding. I usually get several hundred back from the feds and $15 from the state when I file my tax return.

Hey there! I'm starting to think ahead for the fall (and summer 2012) and I've been thinking about applying to the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI) program, specifically to go to Australia or maybe New Zealand. I realize this is getting ahead since the information hasn't even been updated for the next application cycle on their website yet. But, does anyone here have any experience applying to this program? I'd love to have a place to get feedback on my proposal and/or tips from past successful applicants. Thanks in advance!

Gah! I read your note jjo202 and went to Fastlane to check my status. Had to change my password since I'd forgotten the old one. I do all that and guess what? My status is still "Pending"!!! I submitted for a Feb 15 deadline!!! (Note: It does say that external peer review began on 4/7/11.) I am clearly rather annoyed with this and also very glad that I've secured other funding to start my research in the fall. Anyone else still waiting?

I've looked into Grants Online but I don't understand how we are supposed to be able to use it. It seems to be for current grant recipients, reviewers, and federal staff only. "Grant Applicants To Find and Apply for a Federal grant, go to the Grants.gov website." Anyone have any idea what we're supposed to do with this website? Also, anyone applying for the other NOAA grad program (Educational Partnership Program)?

Still haven't heard and we're past the time when rejections were sent out last year. Anyone want to call Milton on Monday for an update?

mbv, a friend of mine and I that both have Fulbrights have been debating this. I'm probably not going to buy school insurance, mainly because it's almost $1800 for next school year. Most of the places people are going have affordable (and, compared to the US, inexpensive) medical care available. I highly doubt I would get so sick that I would spend $1800 out of pocket while abroad. So, I'm just going to get DAN (Diver's Alert Network) insurance to cover me while I'm diving and go from there, I think. Like you, I'm curious to hear what others are doing.

Has anyone else from any other region received their grant package yet? I am eagerly awaiting mine, in part because I need to figure out if it will be sufficient or if I'll be living in poverty for the next year. Did it come in the mail or via email? Any way to find this out other than receiving the whole package? Yes, they are separate (Fulbright-Hays is Dept of Ed; IIE Fulbright is Dept of State). Social science and humanities doctoral students tend to apply for both awards whenver possible because, in most cases, the monthly stipend from Fulbright-Hays is higher than that of Fulbright. Consequently, doctoral students doing research tend to decline the IIE Fulbright full grant and accept the Fulbright-Hays if they are awarded both (you cannot accept both). With Fulbright-Hays being canceled this year, many of my friends will not be declining ther IIE Fulbright full grant.

Email from Milton received just over two hours ago: There will be no orientation this year. Decisions will be made over the coming month. Please check your grants online account for any changes in status. If you are having trouble with grants online or grants.gov, please feel free to call their help lines. Best, Milton I've made no progress on checking the online status, for what it's worth.

Maybe, maybe not. On the one hand, yes, if orientation goes on as it said in the Program Announcement. BUT, my sister (who works for a different fed agency) said that lots of things have been up in the air due to all of the stuff going on with the federal budget. She suggested that I not give up hope quite yet, just because they may have been waiting until they knew how much money they would have before sending out acceptances. She could be right, she could be wrong. After all, the people waiting on Fulbright-Hays waited a few weeks longer than usual this year, only to find out that the FY11 program had been canceled altogether. Let's hope that that isn't why it seems that no one has heard. Also, if someone has heard, feel free to create a dummy account and post saying that. Someone did that today on the EPA STAR post and I'm sure a few people were glad since it meant they could officially cross it off of their list. At this point, I'm not holding out any hope for being a Nancy Foster Scholar. I'll try again (again!) next spring, I guess. And, if by some miraculous chance I do get it, I'll be pleasantly surprised and jump up and down screaming (which is what I did when I found out I got a Fulbright).

I have friends that have heard from Geography and several more that are waiting to hear from Geography, STS, and Law & Society.

Just had a friend call. She was told that we will find out over the summer and that we can check our status online. So, that kinda makes me think they have already been sent out since, those of us who found out over the summer last year were all rejected. I'm thinking that someone should just ask Milton point blank when we will hear if we have been invited to the orientation. Also, anyone have any idea how to check the status online? I went to grants.gov and all it says is that they agency has assigned a tracking number but there's nothing else... ETA: Alright, I just sent an email asking for more info about orientation and on how to check one's status. I'll let you know what I hear.