lslavic12

No- my FPA only said as I quoted about the notification, then offering himself available for career advice once we find out the outcome next Tuesday. Unfortunately, there was nothing more explaining the specified date

Hey Fulbright hopefuls; I just received an email from my FPA as follows: "I just received word that you will be notified via email on Tuesday, 1/28 sometime after 5pm as to whether your application was RECOMMENDED or NOT RECOMMENDED to your potential host country." Hope this eases some of your stress and worries for the time being!

Thanks so much! All of you had such wonderful things to say. I have to say, my mistakes motivate me more to work and study, and I think if I didn't make them, sometimes I would never realize I didn't know! Does that even make sense? Any way, good to know everyone has these experience!

Does anyone else ever say something stupid? Or make incorrect statements about the things you are supposed to know about because now, it's your specialty? Or mistakes about things you should know on a "101 Level"? When undergrads or others ask you something and you get it wrong (and sometimes another grad student is there to correct you). Oh well, I guess it's the best way to never get it wrong again! Every once in a while I do this, now two weeks into my first year of grad school. It's a bad feeling, shame filled, but then again laughable because it brings me down from and shrinks my head back to normal size! Don't you think?

Yeah- I could, good find rising_star! I guess this is another sign to show that this one opportunity is not the only one I would have.

It's the Kosciuszko Foundation Year Abroad http://www.thekf.org/scholarships/exchange-poland/year-abroad/ Congrats on Fulbright- I have a friend doing her ETA in Warsaw this year.

This is all very true. I am leaning towards taking the funding for the Masters and with the extra money and perhaps other fellowships spending the summer in Poland. Thanks, again AND!

Thanks, ANDS! That's good advice. I could always reapply for the fellowship, true, but it is definitely one of the highest, just below Fulbright, that we can get- and leads basically to fluency in Polish. But then again, like you said, funded Masters is rare, and there is no reason I can't go to Poland over the summers, especially with the generous stipend I am getting (15K when it costs considerably less to live in Chapel Hill.) Long term goal is PhD, yes. It probably would have been helpful to say right off that my focus is Polish literature and Language. I guess it's that old: one bird in the hand is better than two birds in the bush.

So I am- obviously- getting ahead of myself, but this is the epic time of freak outs so I want to get some opinions on what to do. So basically, I have an acceptance with full funding and stipend for year one of Masters in the fall. I also applied for a fellowship to study for a year (fully paid with stipend) in Poland, but will not hear about that until mid-June. Now I can defer acceptance in June, but I would lose funding. And then I worry, since FLAS is really the only source of funding, that they would not be inclined to nominate me again should I reapply. I have this wicked scenario in my head of "Oh, her? We gave her the money last year and she rejected it in the middle of the summer. No way would we giver her the funding again." I also can't look for housing until I know where I will be. What would you do? Settle on the good opportunity and go with the fully funded year, or take a risk and go with the good opportunity to study abroad?

PREACH!

I guess considering how few spots they have open, 25 is a big number. I know my institution had decided several weeks before I heard anything, and that deadline was Dec. 15. I didn't hear about my acceptance from the Graduate School until mid February. Here's to hopin' the January deadline schools are along the same timeline and we will hear at the end of the month. Or maybe that's something to say just to ease my mind... Do you think that the results survey is seeming more useless as time goes on? Perhaps lack of $$$ is making it harder to give decisions this year. Hoorah icky economy for the humanities.

How many do you think are approx. in each pool of applications? (haha- if ONLY it were 5!) It seems that it should be quite small and thus I don't know why in the world we haven't heard!

I didn't apply to OSU either. Also- pelevinfan- I COMPLETELY agree- so unnerving is the silence. I also think the pool is so small, but I am also thinking my constant scouring of the results from previous years have made me think that past any given date that I am rejected etc. I just want to know! Even if it is rejection!

However,

I'm not sure about Durham but since Chapel Hill is only 10 minutes away- (and my boss is vegan) I know there are a few restaurants in Chapel Hill Carrboro that cater to the vegan community, if you will. One is The Spotted Dog in Carrboro (really good vegan burgers) and then Sage Cafe in Chapel Hill (which is vegetarian, but I'm pretty sure you can find some choices there). Across the street from The Spotted Dog is the Weaver Street Market (kind of like Whole Foods, but smaller) and there are tons of choices for alternative foods etc. We also have Mediterranean Deli on Franklin Street (but my boss got really mad when she found out they fry the meat on the same stove top as the veggies... so that is up to you.) I don't know Durham restaurants off the top of my head, but the area is pretty open for vegans, as far as I know. I know there is a big biking community around the area, but as far as really biking IN Durham- I'd be careful. I had a friend get hit on his way to school in high school, and even in Chapel Hill there are several accidents. Definitely NOTHING like the Toronto bike initiative. But, there are some bike lanes around, and buses have bike racks. I don't think it's what you're used to, but bike teams etc. from the universities seem to get the job done! As far as I know, Carolina Ballet is the biggest company. DPAC hosts the best groups for that kind of thing. But that's all I can say about that. State parks are great here. Eno River is a good place for Kayaking I think. If you drive out to Asheville area (about 3 or 4 hour drive) there is a TON of stuff to do. Also, there is some kind of outdoor reserve or something for all kinds of crazy outdoor stuff like rafting and rock climbing somewhere just outside of Charlotte that I see advertised every time I am around there. It's about a 3 hour drive, sometimes more, sometimes less. And the beaches can be any where from 2.5 to 5 hours away. Wilmington is probably your closest ocean area for activities. In Durham is a super long trail that goes over and through Chapel Hill; Duke Forest it's called. Our cross country team in high school ran it all the time. But if you don't just want long gravel trails, maybe it's not for you. As a Carolina student, I have to put in my two cents against Duke, just because I have to. But congrats, anyways!

So I do both Polish literature and language. But my second Slavic language in the major is Russian (so my thesis is actually using a Polish novel AND a Russian novel!) But my SOP talked about branching off into the borderland literature of Poland/Ukraine esp. late 19th century Positivist lit. I'm also really into Russian Village Prose. I really hope to get a TA teaching beginning Polish language, though. How about you all?! I like your name- Pelevinfan! I once presented a paper at a small AATSEEL Conference on Omon Ra. It seems like we are in such a small pool this year. My professors aren't asking me as much as my bosses at work are, and my friends... but it doesn't help the waiting process one bit!

Oh- so glad I found this! I had started a Slavic thread a month or so ago, but I'm glad others are on this one! I'm, (obviously) also applying for Slavic! But my focus is Polish. Isn't this silence dreadful!?

I think everyone here has already stated the basic pros and cons- the only thing I would add is small, but I would say it's not much different than an employee dating the boss. Not only are authority blah blah blah issues in question, but also, personally, you are erasing any boundaries between private life and work/school life. If your adviser should be pointing out flaws or giving you a hard time with your work, once you leave that office, he/she doesn't change personalities or personas- your adviser is the same person. So either you will find it even more difficult to deal with critique, or the adviser will not give you the push/challenge that you need to excel in fear of offending you. I think things are bound to get complicated in a situation like this.

I like the response (after having heard from only one school) "Have you heard from any others?" My response in my head goes along the lines of "No I haven't, but thanks for pointing that out. Because I haven't been worrying more and more as time passes and I don't hear from ANY OF THE OTHER SCHOOLS I APPLIED TO! But thanks for asking... EVERY day."

I second Top of the Hill. It is THE restaurant in Chapel Hill. Also- a good venue I really love is the Local 506 http://local506.com/. A small venue that attracts some great acts- although, scratch that for only a weekend because there is a one time $3 membership fee (unless you plan to return, so it's really not that expensive... or maybe $5... but if you live here, that is nothing since tickets are usually only around $10). And if you like the really small venues with typically obscure or local stuff, the Nightlight http://nightlightclub.com/ is interesting (also a cheap one time membership, but only one person out of two needs one, and you can sign in a "guest") But Cat's Cradle http://catscradle.com/ is also awesome- I have seen the likes of Yann Tiersen, Yeasayer, Junip, Beirut, Grizzly Bear and I know others that have come include The XX, Feist, Neon Indian, and the list goes on... There is even a movie about it... but I can't remember the name! The Station is a good place, as Gellert said. And across the way from that is Tyler's Taproom, http://www.tylerstaproom.com/ that has a Speakeasy in the back with pool, couches, and good beer. AND next to that is a good coffee shop- Open Eye Cafe. It's absolutely filled with students and professors a good amount of the time. And don't forget about Carolina Brewery- great beer, tasty burgers. http://www.carolinabrewery.com/ A good place to go for just a beer is He's Not Here- this is where the classic plastic Blue Cup comes from that you will get to know very well if you go here. http://www.yelp.com/biz/hes-not-here-chapel-hill Oops- I guess this turned in to all about food again. I guess that proves Gellert right- we don't really have that much to do in the South. BUT-The Morehead Planetarium is kind of neat, too. Varsity Theater http://www.varsityonfranklin.com/ is a good experience, especially when they show old movies- I once saw Citizen Kane there when the theater reopened after being remodeled inside.