TheIowan

I had completely, totally written it off, but I got the promotion email from Rachel this afternoon. Going to Turkey as an ETA. For the spreadsheet: Location: Iowa Notified: Alternate on 6/10, via email Turned Principal 7/25, via email

Turkey Alternates update: Alright, nerds. I emailed Rachel to see what up, and she said the Fulbright Commission is in the process of finalizing placements and will make decisions about promotions (she notes, "if any") in the next week. She also said notification of any potential promotions will be by email, so good news! Unfamiliar phone calls no longer need elicit palpitations . She didn't say this explicitly, but from the hard copy letter and reading between the lines of her email I don't think we will hear anything from them again unless it's an email saying we're promoted. I know this is actually to cover their bases in case somebody drops out in September or something so they can hypothetically still have imaginary alternates to turn to, but I like to think they're just really uncomfortable with goodbyes.

What up what up, Turkey alternates? Anybody heard anything? No? Anyone else somewhere between going crazy and completely giving up hope? Yes? I'm more towards the latter, but don't want to shift my focus to finding something else yet because that sucks. Looking for some commiseration and/or news up in here. Yours in forced good humor, TheIowan

Yeah. At this point it's like a sadistic practical joke that is no longer funny.

Just got it. Alternate. The wait goes on.

And by crap, I mean that I haven't heard - congratulations bermet!!! :-)

Crap. Anybody else? I haven't gotten anything.

Word. I'm refreshing my email on my phone every fifteen minutes either way, so I guess I'll find out as soon as possible. Good luck, all.

That is incredibly good to hear. Not that it matters terribly, but did she happen to specify if that's by the end of the week as in Friday vs. Saturday?

Turkey folks: the last I heard was an email from Rachel saying something to the effect of "Thank you for your patience, we know the wait has been stressful. The Turkey commission was preparing to sign a contract last week, and with that we hope to notify in the next one to two weeks." I don't know if that was a mass email or a reply to one of my requests for an update, so I thought I'd share. Yes, I think "past the point of ridiculous" is the perfect way to describe the wait right now. I never would have imagined the second week of June, and it could be even later. God help the alternates among us, who I suppose given how late everything is now won't know for certain until July. I'm striving to be understanding, but this has become very taxing.

Turkey folks: just got a reply from Rachel. "We're hoping in the next two weeks." At ease, my fellow compulsive mail checkers.

I emailed her to check in, and received an out-of-office reply saying she's gone May 9th through 31st. I emailed the person she listed to contact regarding notification letters while she's away, and the reply was something along the lines of "I haven't received any information on the status of Turkey ETA grants. Rest assured, we'll mail notification letters as soon as possible." The wait continues. I'm putting my money on June.

So, I don't know about you other Turkey finalists, but I'm starting to lose it a little. Rachel's mass email said they hope to notify "hopefully" by the end of the month; has anyone heard any hint whatsoever to suggest we'll hear sooner than later?

This is incredible news for you and the rest of us waiting for Turkey decisions! Are you full or ETA, and where was your letter delivered?

Thank you, AlHal! I last heard from Rachel on April 26th, and at that time they hadn't received anything from Turkey. That makes it seem pretty likely we won't hear much before the same time as last year, unless of course the folks in Turkey send their decisions in the next couple days. Here's to hoping! TheIowan

Thank you. After reading this, I re-sent and heard back within two hours. Ha. For any Turkey lurkers (which was me until this afternoon), still no news. She said they haven't received any selections from Turkey yet and therefore it's "difficult to predict when we'll be able to make final notifications." These are just my thoughts now, but hearing that on April 22nd makes it seem pretty likely that the earliest we'll hear is the same time as last year (the middle of May). Given the added logistics of assigning placements for all the new ETA positions this year, I'm putting my money on even later. TheIowan

Out of curiosity, how much time passed between your email to Rachel and her response (This can be answered by other people who have emailed her as well)? I emailed her asking about Turkey notification on April 2nd (three weeks ago) and haven't heard back. I'm not impatient, and I know there are more pressing issues for her than my question, but I am concerned that a non-response might suggest there's something wrong with my application and I'm no longer in the running or something. Maybe that's silly, but at six months into the process I'm starting to entertain worst-case scenarios. Thanks, TheIowan