boxoatoc

Wonderful! If don't get the Fulbright for Kyrgyzstan, I can always run away with you to Romania, no? We can map our little hearts out. Does your project involve mapping? Edit: to fix my weird quote spacing.

Fun with maps! I took the spreadsheet data and made maps with them! -- because data is beautiful, because I am a huge map nerd, and also because it only takes about 10 minutes, which I would spent refreshing my inbox anyway. Warning!: These are just for fun and I made them in a hurry so I didn't worry about the legend, titles, good colors, etc., and I didn't check to make sure that all the countries joined properly so there might be a few missing. If so, sorry -- and if any errors make you crazy, feel free to re-create these maps yourself! Here's who has found out for 2012. Here's the notification timeline for 2011, 2010, and 2009. Edit: I forgot to mention that if a country had both full and ETA dates listed separately, I used the full notification dates. If a country only had ETA dates and no full dates, I used the ETA dates -- although many countries' ETAs and fulls found out at the same time, so no worries.

Because they are coordinating your health insurance, and health insurance companies want to know these things (so they can deny your claims due to pre-existing conditions, mostly). Edit - I think you're right!

You can find this information on the Fulbright site. "In most cases, the answer is yes." http://us.fulbrightonline.org/resources_current_loan.html

I'm waiting on the Kyrgyz Republic (full), which I assume will be notified at the same times as the rest of the South and Central Asia regional grants (Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, etc.). I'm really sorry to hear that so many hopefuls were not chosen, and congrats to those of you who have heard good news! Fingers crossed for all you alternates! Edit: I don't expect to hear anything until around the end of April, though.

I knew someone last year who didn't WANT to win the Fulbright -- for real. She was pressured into applying by her grad program and then got a grant. She was a wreck after she got it because she felt like she should take it even though she didn't want to. She might be the only person in the history of the program who FORGOT she applied! As for my Fonzie demeanor, I'll be biting my nails for at least another month -- followed by either wailing and gnashing of teeth, or quitting my job and taking a bike trip before I leave. Is anyone planning to travel BEFORE starting their grants (should they be so fortunate to be awarded one)? Congrats to the future residents of Argentina, and all the others that have heard!

I didn't mean to seriously critique -- I was just making nerdy statistics banter. I think @Benjamin Lin did a great and hilarious thing. Maybe in the year 2050 people will be able to run his very same do-file and get a for-real prediction.

What is the error term for each country? 1 April +/- 2 days is so different than +/- 16 days. Although I think that the past years' notification dates are are heteroskedastic so we might have to handle that first. This is HILARIOUS -- thanks so much for the laugh!

@Eric Bee I had a friend receive a grant for Ukraine last year, and she said she was offered about $18k for the 9 months. @Lia19 re: stipend amounts I don't think I would feel competitive about stipends. Since I applied to a country where most of the population makes less than $100 / month, I don't expect to have a stipend that compares to, say, German grantees. And anyway I have no idea, and don't have the time or inclination to find out, how far 1,000 euros will get you in Germany vs. $200 in the country I applied to. @minorcharacter Darkness Visible?! Eek! Call a friend! I understand your dejection -- I was rejected in 2006 and it is hard, although I ended up spending a year in the country I applied to anyway as an English teacher, which led me to a job in another country and then to my grad program -- so it ended up opening an alternative, awesome path! I hope you get to Germany and write your novel anyway. Everyone on this board wants to read it! @ all the grantees: Congrats to you all! I guess the feeling is amazing! Hope to be joining you on the other side of this bridge soon. @ all of us still waiting: As my granny says, hang in there like a hair in a biscuit!

Has anyone on here gambled on the Fulbright? i.e. turned down an acceptance to something else, etc. I was just accepted to an awesome mentorship program in my field, but I can't do it and the Fulbright simultaneously. I have to let them know by Friday. Am I completely insane to turn it down in the hopes that I will actually get the Fulbright, despite only 50%-50% odds of it coming through? Topic change --- Regarding genuine well-wishes for applicants -- I have and continue to express best wishes for everyone here. I think of the Fulbright as a competition with ourselves only -- to create a project that is best for our country of application and for ourselves, based on our skills, interests, and goals. It's not like we could have worked any harder on our apps or even been able to gauge our progress against another candidates' since our projects are all so different. I don't envy the commissions as they choose who will be awarded a grant and who won't. Of course we each hope that we're chosen, but since our ability to influence the outcome ended in October, I see no irony in the well-wishes.

@sarangkimchee Welcome to the board! I PM'ed you. I was recommended for a full grant to the Kyrgyz Republic. Maybe we'll be neighbors!

I had a teaching assistantship and research assistantship, which provided tuition waivers and a small stipend. I know not all programs provide this possibility, especially ones where they assume that you will score a high-paying job immediately (med school, pharmacy school, etc.). I would seriously re-think going to school if the amount of debt is overwhelming to you. It's truly an indentured servitude, and one that causes people great pain and hardship. Grad school does not ensure a decent job or decent wage (although I know nothing about pharmacy school), so my general advice to people is to think long and hard about the potential effects of a decade of indebtedness will have on your life goals before going back to school. Sorry to be a bummer.

@tokyotokyoto Hi there! I've been recommended for a full grant to Kyrgyzstan! I PM'ed you. I wish we could get a few people together who are in the pool for the regional grant to Central Asia to share info and news. I'm curious as to what people want to study. I think the region is beyond fascinating and look forward to research / community collaboration. Be well!

Re: flights, surely the reimbursement rate varies by country. I have a feeling a flight to Kyrgyzstan will cost a lot more than one to Canada!

I'd love to hear what other people have proposed too. We've got until April to hear everyone's elevator pitches. If I am chosen for Kyrgyzstan, I will gather and analyze data on the association between breastfeeding and undernutrition / stunting. In parts of Central Asia, breastfed babies are MORE likely to be stunted and undernourished. This is opposite from most of the rest of the resource-poor world, where using Mom as a personal water filter keeps kids comparatively healthy and nourished. I know it's not interesting to most people, but I am fascinated! What questions have driven the rest of you to work so hard to get a Fulbright?

Hello! I was recommended for a full grant to the Kyrgyz Republic. I'm happy to see so many people in here who were recommended also! Any Central Asia-ites on here who have any idea about final contact dates? I see that in past years they did not notify until late April. It seems like a long time to wait considering the low number of applicants to the region -- but since it is a regional grant I guess it is hard to coordinate between the all the countries in the region?... I haven't emailed with Cara Doble or any other Fulbright staff so I wonder if others have more information than me -- that has been the case re: everything else about the Fulbright notification so far. For those not recommended on Friday, big hugs to you. I know your pain -- I was not recommended in 2006. It took me this long to apply again but the journey between then and now has been amazing. Don't give up on your dreams and ambition -- find a different way to make them happen, and apply again for the Fulbright if you want to.

@wilghal Hey neighbor! If we both magically end up with grants, I will be swinging by for a visit. Molly and others -- Congrats to those who have heard already! And thank you to everyone who has posted on this board for all these months -- it was really helpful when I was putting together my app. I should have caved and created an account back then, but for some reason didn't. Thanks also for the notification gossip. As an at-large candidate, I'm not privvy to what seems like a great university system of assisting in drafting these grants. Premature question: So for the 2nd round notifications, there's no standardized time frame, right? Each country / region notifies their awardees separately? So this is the only time that we can all freak out a little bit together, knowing that the notification is only a few hours away?

Hi everyone, I've lurked on here for way too long. I've applied for a research fellowship in Kyrgyzstan. Any other Central Asia applicants in here? It's a regional grant so I don't know how many spots are available to KG (and Kazakhstan and Tajikistan) specifically, and I guess no one will know until they choose?... Thanks everyone for being snooperific about the email dates -- I will be refreshing my email a bit obsessively today but otherwise am happy to be kept in the loop. I'm at-large so I get no news. It's my 2nd time applying. The first time was to Taiwan in 2006, but I didn't get it -- my app wasn't very good, and frankly I wasn't mature / global-minded enough to take on a Fulbright anyway. I worked abroad for 2 years after that, started and finished grad school, and had all kinds of adventures, so I just wanted to chip in and say that your exciting plans are NOT shot all to hell if you don't get this one award. Find something else that excites you, do it, and apply to Fulbright again if you don't get one this round! Whatever we all hear, let's all trust that we've done the best we could with our applications at the time given the constraints of our lives, the app deadline, and all that. I know that regardless of what I hear today, I will be thanking my friends and colleagues for their help in putting together the app by reading, proofreading, offering encouragement, or being a sounding board for my ideas and frustrations. I'm saving up my Tums and antacids for the next round, should I be so lucky as to be subjected to the waiting game again. Be well everyone! With that, I'll end my Pollyanna rant.