boxoatoc

Hi! I wanted to give a piece of advice while this thread is in its infancy. I am an at-large candidate who ultimately received a Fulbright to the Kyrgyz Republic for 2012-2013.

In last year's thread, we amassed an ENORMOUS body of information about application procedures, tips, mistakes, etc. Unfortunately NONE of it is easily searchable or useful to this coming year's crop of applicants, unless you want to pick through hundreds of forum pages and thousands and thousands of posts mostly containing people chatting and obsessing and sharing dorky memes that we created about the process.

I think it would be a REALLY REALLY good idea to move the Fulbright thread off of GradCafe and create a Wiki similar to what these returned Peace Corps volunteers have done. That way the information would be easier to find, somewhat organized, and would carry over to the next year. It would make the process a little more transparent as well, and there could still be a forum for general obsessing and paranoid hypothesizing and tip-sharing.

Obviously I am not offering to create or manage this Wiki, so feel free to ignore me and use GradCafe again this year. I wanted to mention this to the 2013-2014 applicants early on because there were SO MANY times this past year that I wished we had a Wiki to pin the information we uncovered through countless -- seriously countless -- hours of work.

Best wishes to you all!

Hi! I wanted to give a piece of advice while this thread is in its infancy. I am an at-large candidate who ultimately received a Fulbright to the Kyrgyz Republic for 2012-2013.

In last year's thread, we amassed an ENORMOUS body of information about application procedures, tips, mistakes, etc. Unfortunately NONE of it is easily searchable or useful to this coming year's crop of applicants, unless you want to pick through hundreds of forum pages and thousands and thousands of posts mostly containing people chatting and obsessing and sharing dorky memes that we created about the process.

I think it would be a REALLY REALLY good idea to move the Fulbright thread off of GradCafe and create a Wiki similar to what these returned Peace Corps volunteers have done. That way the information would be easier to find, somewhat organized, and would carry over to the next year. It would make the process a little more transparent as well, and there could still be a forum for general obsessing and paranoid hypothesizing and tip-sharing.

Obviously I am not offering to create or manage this Wiki, so feel free to ignore me and use GradCafe again this year. I wanted to mention this to the 2013-2014 applicants early on because there were SO MANY times this past year that I wished we had a Wiki to pin the information we uncovered through countless -- seriously countless -- hours of work.

Best wishes to you all!

Hi! I wanted to give a piece of advice while this thread is in its infancy. I am an at-large candidate who ultimately received a Fulbright to the Kyrgyz Republic for 2012-2013.

In last year's thread, we amassed an ENORMOUS body of information about application procedures, tips, mistakes, etc. Unfortunately NONE of it is easily searchable or useful to this coming year's crop of applicants, unless you want to pick through hundreds of forum pages and thousands and thousands of posts mostly containing people chatting and obsessing and sharing dorky memes that we created about the process.

I think it would be a REALLY REALLY good idea to move the Fulbright thread off of GradCafe and create a Wiki similar to what these returned Peace Corps volunteers have done. That way the information would be easier to find, somewhat organized, and would carry over to the next year. It would make the process a little more transparent as well, and there could still be a forum for general obsessing and paranoid hypothesizing and tip-sharing.

Obviously I am not offering to create or manage this Wiki, so feel free to ignore me and use GradCafe again this year. I wanted to mention this to the 2013-2014 applicants early on because there were SO MANY times this past year that I wished we had a Wiki to pin the information we uncovered through countless -- seriously countless -- hours of work.

Best wishes to you all!

Let's all go to Berkeley!!!

What are your stats? I was just rejected from this very program so I'm curious. Luckily, I have another offer on the table (North Texas) with a scholarship and GA position so I'm good. Besides, I was having second thoughts bout whether or not I'd actually attend GWU if I got in due to tuition and cost of living in DC...but obviously that's not a problem anymore as of 30 minutes ago, lol

I don't think so but you decide for yourself. For 1.5 years of tuition not including anything else you will have $60,000 of loans to pay off. The cost of living in Boston is really high and if you get lucky and find something cheap and try to cook at home and not drink you would probably spend around $20,000 for a year and a half. The school has almost no money for student orgs, so little scholarships that you should bet on not having a chance at getting them, and no work-study jobs unless you want to become a full time employee. There is a drop in the bucket merit scholarship given to students when accepted which is usually around $10,000.

So all together the most minimum cost you are looking at is $80,000 and if you subtract the scholarship you will be in $70,000 of debt.

Is that worth it? Is Boston offering some extraordinary education that just can’t be offered at a lower tuition or compensated with more scholarships?

Absolutely not!!!

Just to let you know something like 40% of the tuition from the MPH goes to the medical school. It's like the MPH is the med-school's side business. And the education structure at BUSPH does not favor students. In fact the way the classes are scheduled is detrimental to student education. The classes meet once a week for 3 hours for a 4 unit class. I never adjusted to a 3 hour class in the evenings where the teacher kept skipping through slides because she was more tired than the students. By the way there are almost no classes in the mornings. Most classes are at night. Making your way home on foot or public transport at 8 or 9pm during wenter temperatures less than 20F is torture. It is much warmer in the day during the winter. The school isn't thinking about the students.

Take note that a 4 unit class costs $5,000. If you are planning on studying international health and working in Africa... you should not tell any of the people you will be working with how much you paid for school. They will call you a hypocrite and question your ability to set priorities. In the most health deprived areas of Africa a family struggles to make annually just a forth of the money you pay for one class at BU. If you want to help Africa why spend the rest of your life making a salary off of the disparity there while paying $70,000 (not including interest) to banks. I think it would be better if you skip the MPH and donate even a small fraction of that would be loan money (even if it is on credit) to send African students to school!

The education at BUSPH is nothing you couldn't get by reading on your own, finding a mentor in public health, and volunteering/working for a public health oriented institution.

What you learn in school is not comparable to what you will have to teach yourself while working. An MPH is a professional skill building degree. It's not like you will focus on one topic and learn everything you need to know about it. Not even 2 years of is not enough time for that in an MPH especially when the quality of education for public health students is an afterthought to the institution.

Anyway you decide what is best for you. But as someone who has gone to BUSPH, who is working in public health, and who has several friends from all the major schools of public health.... I say you are a fool to think the $70,000 at BU is worth it.

You are much better off working in a restaurant to pay your bills, working hard for no pay at a public health institution, and reading as much as you can about public health (there are tons of information and books out there that courses at BU don't even talk about). After you do this for a year you will have $0 debt, a whole year of work experience, and probably a more real and genuine understanding of public health than an MPH at BU will give you. If you did this with dedication and discipline, you would be equally or more employable than someone with a MPH. Also remember some employers will pay for you to take classes they think you might need.

Don't get exploited! Only go to school if it's free or almost free!

Did we ever end up making a spreadsheet to document the grant award amounts for transparency's sake? I was just informed of the grant award amount to the country I applied to and wonder if we're contributing this information somewhere. Hope everyone is well.

Fulbright alternates, take heart! After suspension for a year, the Fulbright-Hays doctoral dissertation research grant was reinstated May 15, due June 14, for announcement soon thereafter, grants to begin as early as October. Many, many PhD student Fulbright awardees should be currently applying for this, as it provides more financial support than the Fulbright. Don't give up before Fulbright-Hays awards are announced!

Best of luck reapplying. This was my second application round and it worked out for me.

Cyclone88 has already started Get your geek on!

Best of luck reapplying. This was my second application round and it worked out for me.

Cyclone88 has already started Get your geek on!

Hi! I wanted to give a piece of advice while this thread is in its infancy. I am an at-large candidate who ultimately received a Fulbright to the Kyrgyz Republic for 2012-2013.

In last year's thread, we amassed an ENORMOUS body of information about application procedures, tips, mistakes, etc. Unfortunately NONE of it is easily searchable or useful to this coming year's crop of applicants, unless you want to pick through hundreds of forum pages and thousands and thousands of posts mostly containing people chatting and obsessing and sharing dorky memes that we created about the process.

I think it would be a REALLY REALLY good idea to move the Fulbright thread off of GradCafe and create a Wiki similar to what these returned Peace Corps volunteers have done. That way the information would be easier to find, somewhat organized, and would carry over to the next year. It would make the process a little more transparent as well, and there could still be a forum for general obsessing and paranoid hypothesizing and tip-sharing.

Obviously I am not offering to create or manage this Wiki, so feel free to ignore me and use GradCafe again this year. I wanted to mention this to the 2013-2014 applicants early on because there were SO MANY times this past year that I wished we had a Wiki to pin the information we uncovered through countless -- seriously countless -- hours of work.

Best wishes to you all!

Hi! I wanted to give a piece of advice while this thread is in its infancy. I am an at-large candidate who ultimately received a Fulbright to the Kyrgyz Republic for 2012-2013.

In last year's thread, we amassed an ENORMOUS body of information about application procedures, tips, mistakes, etc. Unfortunately NONE of it is easily searchable or useful to this coming year's crop of applicants, unless you want to pick through hundreds of forum pages and thousands and thousands of posts mostly containing people chatting and obsessing and sharing dorky memes that we created about the process.

I think it would be a REALLY REALLY good idea to move the Fulbright thread off of GradCafe and create a Wiki similar to what these returned Peace Corps volunteers have done. That way the information would be easier to find, somewhat organized, and would carry over to the next year. It would make the process a little more transparent as well, and there could still be a forum for general obsessing and paranoid hypothesizing and tip-sharing.

Obviously I am not offering to create or manage this Wiki, so feel free to ignore me and use GradCafe again this year. I wanted to mention this to the 2013-2014 applicants early on because there were SO MANY times this past year that I wished we had a Wiki to pin the information we uncovered through countless -- seriously countless -- hours of work.

Best wishes to you all!

Congrats to those accepted to Caribbean countries today, and I REALLY HOPE alternates are promoted to principal soon. Surely with grad school deadlines etc. some people gave up waiting and accepted other things in the meantime. Fingers crossed for y'all!

China notified 4/27...

Congratulations!!!!

Central America is getting started! Race you to my inbox!

Congrats to everyone who heard good news from the Caribbean and I'm truly sorry to all those who were rejected or designated as alternates.

And then there was Turkey (cricket, cricket)

Full grant to dominica. Was alt'd last year and reapplied. For those rejected or altd, dont give up!

Congrats to those accepted to Caribbean countries today, and I REALLY HOPE alternates are promoted to principal soon. Surely with grad school deadlines etc. some people gave up waiting and accepted other things in the meantime. Fingers crossed for y'all!

If so, please pm ALL BOTH OF US!

I am so curious about the projects people proposed.

Edit to strike-out: Well, I'll let tokyotokyoto speak for her/himself, haha.

Ok Caribbean people, I called Pam (again). They're still waiting on the CA folks buuuuuut the Caribbean is confirmed. Notifications go out tomorrow.

Just out of curiosity: if you are rejected for a grant, do you also get a rejection letter in the mail?

If so, please pm ALL BOTH OF US!

I am so curious about the projects people proposed.

Edit to strike-out: Well, I'll let tokyotokyoto speak for her/himself, haha.

I got the full grant to Kyrgyzstan.

My heart is beating so fast. There is a tiny pocket of joy in Cubicle-land today. I literally cannot believe it. I keep checking the email to make sure it's real.

(Thanks to whomever updates the spreadsheet -- I'm KyrgyzRepublicApplicant.)

If you pass your medical review now, but then deteriorating health conditions make you unable to leave for your grant period, there is nothing anyone can do to fault you for it. Mental health IS health! You wouldn't be declining the award, but you would be categorizing yourself as ineligible due to a health condition that arose.

If you've already booked your travel before you decide to decline, I'd guess you'd have to work out with the airline how to cancel the ticket and I would also guess that Fulbright wouldn't refund you any amount that you lose from cancelling the ticket. (I don't know for sure.)

Have you thought about asking Fulbright to push back your grant period? I know some people have succeeded in beginning their grants several months late, say in January instead of September.

It sounds like you know what you need to get better, and that's really commendable. It's hard to be away from a support system and in a foreign country, especially while fighting depression. I hope you're healthy enough to leave in September. Best wishes!

Best wishes to everyone still waiting. I hope you hear really really really soon!

Nope, Central Asia recommendeds received our emails at about 4:30 pm.