kbui

Hi everyone! I'm coming back this year to apply for a Fulbright ETA to Thailand. Last year, I applied for the same scholarship to Vietnam. It went through the U.S. commission and I got recommended, but then in the end I wasn't accepted. I haven't lost hope, and I'm definitely learning from my mistakes last year to make this application a success! I'm glad to be among all of you, and I know we'll do our best to help each other get this competitive scholarship. -kbui

Ok, well the results are out: May 24th at 7:48PM, and I didn't receive it. Looking back at the application, I'm pretty sure they didn't choose me because I have had extensive study abroad experiences (Mexico, Hawaii, Thailand, China). I did receive the Boren, so I'm glad that the money could be going towards other students who really have high financial need to go abroad. Congratulations to the new Gilman Scholars!

I'm just curious snowblossom2, what would you do if Boren doesn't extend an acceptance to you? What are your back-up plans? I'm sure a lot of people would like to know.

Hi Craig, Thanks for offering to help! If I get the Gilman, or if not, I want to know how to better help future students create the best application. Since you've been on the selection committee, what are some advice that you can give us? I know there is a lot of information online, but is there anything that they particulary look for when rating/analyzing applications? We hope to hear from you soon.

June is next week! I hope we all hear back that Friday! *fingers crossed*

What is your end goal? Are you trying to look for a better job? Or are you trying to get a Masters in something you're really passionate about? Either way, with that amount of money saved up you have much better opportunities doing something else. If you want to acquire another language use that money to go study abroad (programs for the academic year are usually around 25-30K, including airfare, tuition, room and board). If you want to get a better job, I don't know if an M.A. is really going to help, especially with jobs relying more and more on connections vs. credentials. I would rethink what you really want with this Masters, then assess if you can achieve the same goals some other way.

That's a lot of loans, lol. Personally, I won't be able to afford any school without funding from SOME source. My scholarships have pulled me through for 4 years, counting 5 years, now. I was looking up programs that have loan forgiveness programs, and here's the website that provides some useful advice: http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml. I also heard about government student loan forgiveness programs: http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/Loan%20Forgiveness.pdf. I'll be looking into these resources in the near future, but just thought they may be of help.

Does anybody know why Gilman pushed back their dates for the academic year awards? I could've sworn both the summer and academic year/fall results were supposed to go out at the same time.

Really?! I tried logging in too but I didn't see where it states my award status... Is it because I applied for the Fall/Academic year?

After several months of writing applications, interviewing, and researching, I have finally achieved my goal. Boren recipient for Taiwan 2012-2013. Thank you for everyone's support, and I hope to hear more good news from the forum!

Last year people heard on May 4th, a Wednesday, and the third business day of the week. I would assume it will be either Tuesday, or Wednesday.

I'm so nervous, I might have a cardiac arrest. Lol...

This was a man from the national level, I believe. I really hope we all get the scholarship/fellowship, it will be an incredible experience that some of us can't afford without funding.

One of the Boren representatives who came to my campus said I could email him towards the end of April if I wanted to know if I got the scholarship earlier. I'm too freaked out to do that, even though a part of me desperately wants to, lol. I think I just want to be notified along with the rest of the group, so we can all achieve victory together, or cry together. I'm hoping for the former... *fingers crossed*

I'm saddened to say that I was rejected for an ETA in Vietnam at 1:10PM CST. This was a great learning experience, and if God didn't want me to get a Fulbright, I sure hope God has other great plans for me. People on here are so supportive of each other, and I hope everyone nothing but the best. Rejection stings, but I will continue on strong towards my future.

I'm so jealous of everyone knowing already. I'm still here waiting from Vietnam...

Thanks Steph. I feel like I'm in the same shoes you were in last year. I just looked over my Gilman and found a portion where I was supposed to write down how long I was abroad in Thailand, but I wrote a paragraph about my experiences instead--and the last sentence was cut off! I don't know if the Gilman will look lightly on this mix-up, but I'm still positive and hope that they'll forgive that part of my application. I'm so excited about the Boren! You've been so kind and supportive, I hope I can join you as a Boren Scholar!

I want to receive this scholarship so badly, not just for myself, but for my university. We haven't had a winner since 2002, and the number of students who apply have gotten lower and lower every year. I want to show them that there's still hope for a small liberal college to get the Boren, and that you don't have to be a poly-sci major to get it. As a biology major student there's a huge disparity in opportunities to study abroad, so I hope to be an advocate for future generations. I wish everyone luck, and I've been looking at last year's forum and they received their notices on May 4th. That's so far away!

So from what I've observed from here, most of the time the acceptance/rejection e-mails come out at different times and by different institutions? A lot of the Southeast Asian countries have sent their acceptances already, but Vietnam seems to be out of the loop. There doesn't seem to be a lot of Vietnamese Fulbrighters on this forum, so I'm jealous of all the German ETA/Full Fulbrighters!

I've been rejected to so many things, I've lost all sensitivity to it--it's overwhelmed by my drive for success and ambition for a better future.

I can't believe we have to wait ANOTHER month for results. I was so stressed out the other week I dreamt that all my teeth were falling out. It was frightening... O_O

Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

So I was just talking to some of my friends, and when I told them about the Fulbright I'm always reluctant to tell them that it's for teaching English instead of a research grant. How do you think a Fulbright ETA compares with a Fulbright Full Grant in terms of prestige?

Thank you for the wishes. I see that you've received the budget request email also, so I hope we both hear good news later on. As for the Gilman, I worked on it fairly hard (though not as extensively as the Boren, since the requirements and standards for them were quite different). But I think the essays reflect most of my reasons for studying abroad well. And hopefully the service project I proposed resonates well with the committee. We don't hear back for a while, so plenty of time to contemplate on other things in our lives.

Germany seems to be one of the earlier countries. Vietnam, why won't you come to me?!