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@mrs12 I am dying to know. Today I abstained from looking at my emails until 4PM, but then there wasn't anything. And looking at the previous Rangel/Pickering fellowship forum topics, it looks like it's usually the day after that they send out emails. I will not look at my emails until 4PM tomorrow also because I have a ton to do at work. At least I'll be occupied tomorrow. I'm so excited that you're going to hear from CLS this week! They're fiercely competitive. I hope that you hear good news soon!

@jrdnmadrid Thank you for posting the questions and answers from Pickering! I can't believe that so many applicants are vying for the same spots. 440, which can suggest that Rangel would have approximately the same amount of applicants. I told myself that I am not checking my email today until after work because otherwise I would be so excited/disappointed for the rest of the day, and I don't want that because I won't be able to concentrate on my projects. Haha. Has anyone heard back yet? Did the emails come out yet?

Yes! I'm also waiting for the results from the January 5th deadline. It seems like we still have at least around a month until we hear back. Looks like the lot of people last year got their results on March 9th.

And @jrdnmadrid, thank you for the good wishes. I'm sure you are a great applicant and that you will hear back good news. I hope that we both do.

This is a really insightful post. How did you get to your position at the Brookings Institution? And do you think if you weren't persuing your MA and don't live where you live and know who you know during your graduate school experience, you would still be in the same position now? Or do you think the area and people who you met were more instrumental than the MA in itself?

Thank you! I'm hoping to upload some good news later this week. *fingers crossed*

I also just took my FSOT, and I think I did well. But there were definitely a lot of questions that I had to do the process of elimination instead of knowing what the answer was. However, after going back home and looking them up, a lot of them were correct!

We hear back next week. I am not feeling nervous just yet, but once it gets to two days or the day before, I will have heart palpitations every time I look at my email. For sure.

@Poli92 Do you think this is the case? I deferred when I got accepted into YSPH, but I also had a Fulbright so maybe that's why they were so ready to have me defer... I should rethink my plans then if that will be the case for HKS and SIPA.

Besides the FAFSA, is anyone else reluctant to write all the fellowship essays that respective schools require for a chance to get more funding? I feel like if I write the 7+ fellowship essays, which some also require recommendation letters, and I don't get accepted, I would've wasted so much time. One thing that I might do, if the stars do not align this year, is that if I do get accepted but do not get fellowships or enough funding, I might defer and then apply for fellowships knowing that I'm already accepted. What do other people feel about applying to fellowships/scholarships when an acceptance is not secured?

I didn't apply, but looking at the rewards it looks amazing! Wishing you the best also.

Wait, so they choose 30 scholars: 10 undergraduates and 20 graduates?! Edit: You're right. I just looked at one of the old websites, and that indeed is true. Wow, that's so competitive.

Are you talking about the Undergraduate Fellowship for the Pickering? I thought you were doing the graduate school one, though now looking through your history of posts it looks like you're also applying for the CLS and Boren, so that makes sense that you're applying for the undergraduate fellowship. I wish I knew about the Pickering/Rangel when I was in undergrad because I would've taken economics to strengthen my application. And have you heard back from Boren? I saw that you got into the semi-finals for CLS (congratulations!). I applied for CLS and did not go further than the submit button, haha. I thought my application was really good, too! But I think I wrote it too much like an English creative essay than something CLS wanted to see. My Boren essay was much better... thank God.

The Washington Center just asked some basic questions on the application process and if I had any questions about it, which I didn't, and then asked if I have any comments on it. I told them about my experience and several suggestions on what they could do to improve it. We talked for almost 10 minutes, I believe. They called me in the middle of work, so I couldn't really talk longer than that. Also, I watched the webinar for Rangel, Pickering, and have read a lot of posts from theGradCafe, and what it sounds like is that even though the two are separate entities, they still communicate with each other in terms of their scholar selections. That means that once Rangel is finished interviewing and selecting, they give the list to Pickering so that they don't end up interviewing the same folks. From previous forums, I saw that people were quoting around a 7%-12% acceptance rate for both fellowships. After doing some basic research, (from participating in the webinars and looking at previous scholar numbers) I've concluded that around 250 apply each year--for the Rangel, anyway--and in recent years, 30 are selected from each fellowship. However, I wonder how much overlap they experience. Is it a 90% overlap where the same 225 students are applying to both? Or is it much less like 30% (75 students)? In either case, I really hope I get an interview. *fingers crossed in a church on Easter morning*

Also, did you get a call from the Washington Center asking you for your feedback on the application? I also almost died when they called me because I thought there was something incredibly wrong with my application. These fellowship administrators are going to make me have a heart attack, lol.

This is most of the information from the email. "Our Fellowship Selection Panel is scheduled to meet on February 17 to discuss the applications and to select finalists. We will advise those finalists by email soon thereafter. We will also advise those not selected at this time. If you are selected as a finalist, the interview/writing exercise will take place in a State Department annex in Washington, D.C. March 9-10. We hope to make final decisions on fellowship recipients on March 11 and will advise finalists of decisions soon thereafter."

@mrs12 My heart is pumping so fast right now! I just got an email from Rangel, and I saw the words, "We are pleased by your interest in the program and in a career with the State Department Foreign Service," and I was so disappointed I didn't want to continue reading. But then I saw that the Program Assistant just wanted to let us know about the timeline of their selection panel meetings. Lord!

@mrs12 Wow, that recommendation letter sound amazing! I have almost no contact with FSOs or any Embassy folks, though I have very strong relationships with my previous physician and student advisor in university, so they were my writers. I have confidence that they wrote great things on my behalf though I really hope that Rangel really sees my passion in my previous work and personal statement. I also have some work experience (around 2-4 years, depending on how people are defining it) in public service using foreign languages, so I hope that will also help increase my chances. I need to forget about it for a while because thinking about it makes me too excited and I start day-dreaming, haha.

@mrs12, I can totally understand. It's difficult to study for something that may not happen. However, I don't think you should sell yourself short. I don't fully know about your background and credentials, but I'm sure that you have a good shot if you finished your application and it's of quality. For me, I signed up for the FSOT because I wanted to force myself to study more on U.S. History, Government, and other topics like World History and Geography. We'll have to see how things go. I hope that we get good news these upcoming months. You're correct in saying that they have different timelines. Pickering had an earlier deadline but later interview notification date. Rangel had a later deadline but an earlier notification date. Rangel would notify both interviews and results before Pickering even sends out interview notifications. I am really hoping to get a Rangel because I've heard such amazing things from current fellows and alumni. Rangel is really quick and the summer internship starts this year. In contrast, the Pickering starts everything this fall, so I will have the summer to continue working with my non-profit, continue work in my community before I have to leave from home (almost permanently), and to just enjoy it with my childhood friends. I would be so blessed to receive either one, though.

@mm3733, for sure! I was really stressed at the time of posting, but now things have calmed down and it's all about waiting for the next 1.5 months. I do find work more tiring than it should be, but maybe it's because the work isn't intellectually challenging enough.

What types of things are you doing to prepare for the interview, by the way?

@mrs12 I did! I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. Now everything is just beyond our control and we will just have to wait. In the meantime, I am intensely concentrating on advancing myself at work and will go to a conference in Chicago this week. And I also have an interview for another program in February and I'm studying for the FSOT, so lots of things that will keep me busy until we hear back in February/March. I hope we get interviews!

@ConstanceY Haha. I hate that! I have to stop myself from reading my submitted application materials because they freak me out. I keep on telling myself, no matter what happens it's out of my control and that there's always next year. Good luck with BU!

@ir_ma I agree with monocle in that we are also trying to figure out our chances at graduate school admissions. To address your question: I have very similar GRE scores, language experiences, and probably about the same amount of work experiences (albeit different field). I think you may have an issue with the number of international applicants applying--though from your writing style here, I think you have a much higher chance than some other international students I've seen on here. However, your GPA does fall on the lower range of what admissions expect; however, if you majored in something very difficult like electrical engineering or statistics, it might not look as bad as if you majored in something "easier" like fine arts or sociology. Let's look at two examples to see where you fall above/below the median/average: George Washington Median GPA: 3.4 GRE Verbal: 78th percentile GRE Quantitative: 70th percentile 5% International Students Georgetown: Average GPA: 3.6 GRE Quantitative: 160 20-30% International Students This is not to discourage you, but to give you a little glimpse into the answer that you're seeking. I think you still have a great chance if you have a great personal statement and if you present your application in the right light.

... getting heart palpitations from applying? At the moment, I have just applied for two graduate school programs, and I pressed "submit" for one fellowship, with two more fellowships to go (waiting for recommendation letters). I have felt like my heart is about to fall out every time I look at my "completed" applications. I have this feeling in the back of my mind that it's not good enough, or that I should've said something else instead of what I wrote. Or maybe my whole approach to the personal statement or optional essay was not good, and that I should've written something more concrete/abstract/heart-breaking/inspirational/[insert adjective here]. theGradCafe is good for me because I see that other people are also freaking out and I can find solace in the fact that I'm not alone. This was just a rant--I hope other people can relate to this feeling as applications are coming to a close.