Lia19

Thanks for this response Sjay! Good luck to you too!

I took a break from the forum for a few weeks to wrap up my semester, but was notified 4/20 via email that I'm an alternate for Hong Kong. I have a question for those of you who won the grant after applying at least once before: how did you go about revising your application? Did anyone submit the exact same proposal, with little to no changes? Did anyone mention in their new personal statement that they had applied before?

I emailed Akeley April 4th and he said we should know "within the next 2 weeks." He responded to me in less than 24 hours, but I'm certain that it's only because I also contacted my FPA and asked her to contact him on my behalf. He seems to simply not engage in correspondence with applicants, unless the FPA supports the correspondence. Every time he has EVER responded to me has been because of my FPA. That's a generous thought, but frankly I doubt he's any busier than any of the other program directors, and from what I see on this board the majority of them seem to have no problem responding to emails or picking up their phones, even if just to say that they have no new info.

I'm jealous too! I'm waiting on Hong Kong, and it seems alot of the Pacific Asian countries are still in the dark except for Korea. I did find out from Jonathan Akeley that they "hope to know about Hong Kong within the next 2 weeks." This might also be the expected time frame for Mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau. Ah, the Chinas!

I already asked my FPA about this, and her answer was YES, but my postponement request was only for 1 month, whereas yours is much longer. Gotta ask either your FPA or your region's program manager.

All Chinese-ish countries are still waiting: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau.....*le sigh* Congrats to everyone, I'm loving all the exuberance and gratitude on the boards today!

Thanks for this info.

Hi GerLitDude, I've sent out a request for people to share whatever stipend info they can and we've gotten alot of responses, but alas, non for Germany! If anyone can provide stipend info for Germany or any other country, please let us all know! Below is info we have so far:

I always ask my FPA whatever questions I have, and she contacts Jonathan directly for me. He will typical always let phone calls go to voicemail, and if it's an FPA he calls them back within 24hrs, same with emails. I think I got one email response from him about a week and a half after I emailed him, and by then I learned that it's quicker to go through my FPA. Edited because I called him "Jake!"

Thank you...I'll add this to the stipends list!

I am BEYOND jealous of those of you who are able to find so much program info on your host countries. Applying to Hong Kong has been like wading through a dark, mysterious mist. Though I am a little worried at seeing how finite those Indonesian start/end dates are....I always assumed that I would have some flexibility regarding the exact dates of my arrival and departure. Does anyone have more info on how arrival/departure dates work for independent researchers? I know it's generally expected that we'll go sometime in August/September depending on the country, but are the actual dates chosen for us? Thank you for this. THIS. IS. HILARIOUS!

I think submitting the FAFSA is the crucial thing; that is how Stafford loans and work-study get doled out, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Did you submit a FAFSA?

Oh come on....you know you gotta post that email! I want to see those grammar mistakes...

For whomever is handling this, below is my application info for the Google spreadsheet: Name: Lia19 Country: Hong Kong Region: East Asia & Pacific Grant type: full status: recommended academic status: grad student research area: Creative Writing contact: LiaEdo@hotmail.com Also, don't forget to keep sending in any stipend info y'all come across! I was actually in China when Obama was elected, Chinese citizens were SO excited, it was adorable. I really hope the China-bashing on this current campaign trail stops soon....it's getting awkward.

Thanks Icicle, I'll add this info to the list!

I'm glad to read all these responses re: stipends! To be clear, this isn't about "worrying" over the money exactly. The point is that it is totally normal to already know the amount of a fellowship/scholarship/grant at the time of application. Simple. Obviously, not knowing the stipend amounts didn't stop me from applying , and as I stated before, I understand why the Commission prefers not to put that info out there. However, that doesn't mean that we as a group can't fill in those blanks for each other. So big thanks to all who have already responded with the stipend info that they know of! I've put all those responses together below, and will try to keep track of them moving forward so that they can be all in one place for future applicants' reference.

Mmmm, on thinking it over, I actually DO understand why the Fulbright commission would keep us in the dark about the stipend amount: because knowing the stipends of other grantees would inevitably lead to complaints if there are large differences in the amounts, or if the amounts are equal and don't take into account varying standards of living across countries. Ok...I get that. If I were the Fulbright Commission, I would not want that kind of drama either. They might think revealing stipend amounts would encourage applicants to chose their countries based on getting the most bang for their buck.....I understand that. Still doesn't change my plan to start that thread, though.

I am SO glad I'm not the only one snooping to find out what actual stipend amounts are! I totally think this info should be made available to us, even if it varies by year/country. What other fellowship doesn't tell the applicants how much the stipend will be? It's crazy to me. So after all the acceptances have rolled in (I'm thinking by June?), I say we start a separate thread titled "Fulbright Stipends." In it, recent/former/current grantees can reveal their monthly stipend amounts, and comment on well they lived on that amount of money in their grant country. They can also talk about housing costs, basic living costs, ect. I have no idea why the Fulbright Commission keeps us in the dark about something so important. Luckily we have each other to fill in the blanks. Anyhoo, I will start that thread after acceptance season has ended. Maybe I'll call it "Fulbright Financials" or something cute like that.

This is something I hadn't thought of at all, thank you @Jahiliyya.

Thank you guys SO much for answering my questions! This definitely puts my mind at ease. Now it's back to just fretting over waiting for an acceptance!

I'm actually just an applicant now, not yet chosen as a Fulbright Fellow. I'm an American, applying to Hong Kong for an independent Creative Writing project. 'ETA' stand for English Teaching Assistant.Thanks for the reply!

This question is probably best answered by former/current Fulbrighters: When you arrive to your host country, are you required to ‘check-in’ with anyone, for example, the Fulbright commission, US embassy, local police, etc.? Do you have to provide anyone with your local address (local within the host country, I mean)? I will be doing an independent research project, so I will not be an ETA or grad student. I ask because I’m a naturally pretty independent person, so just want to know how much people are going to be all up in my business during the grant period, to put it frankly. Also, if you are working on an independent research project—meaning you are not an ETA or grad student—how does the Fulbright commission track your whereabouts? I ask because even though I applied to Hong Kong, I definitely want to spend a significant amount of time on Mainland China doing research. However, according to the rules if you spend more than 2 weeks outside of your host country, they begin to dock your stipend. So...what happens if you just don’t tell them that you’ve crossed that itty bitty border line? How would they actually know? Thanks for any help you can provide! PS-I'd understand if you don't want to answer this question publicly, so feel free to just message me.