oxforddphil

No prob!

I emailed a person at SSHRC that I was in contact with a few months ago when there was a problem processing my application. He told me that the letters will be sent out either late this week or early next week.

Have you asked your employer whether they would accept to defer the start of your new job by a year? In my view, the opportunity cost is minimal, especially when you consider that being a Fulbright scholar could help you in your future career in any number of ways. If the job will still be there when you're done, then I see no reason not to take the Fulbright. No advice on the 'personal' side of the problem. I think that's something you and your boyfriend need to figure out for yourselves.

Email your department and tell them that you have a time-sensitive job offer. Ask whether they can provide you with an answer re: funding by date X. They will do their best to accommodate you. If the decision has already been made, they will certainly let you know in advance. If the decision won't be made until a committee meeting after date X, you might be out of luck, although it's possible they might be able to make a decision about you on an accelerated timetable. At any rate, there's no harm in asking.

Did you mention in your email that you have a hard deadline on a funded offer? When I applied--under analogous circumstances--Oxford was willing to give me an early response. That was in law, not English (though they're in the same building, funnily enough), but I would be shocked if they were not willing to accommodate you. It may be that they simply haven't completed their selection process, in which case nothing can be done for the time being. But the internal deadlines for departments (i.e. the time at which selection committees have to send their list of offers to the administration) are usually very close to March 15th (a bit before or a bit after, not sure for this year), so the department should have made its decision before then.

Also in the UK (Oxford), and just heard back. Made it through. But no score or ranking, just the same info as above (246 of 773 apps made it through). Good luck!