rtlc06

You rock. This sums things up for me PERFECTLY. love it.

Oh man... "The budget situation?" I hope that doesn't mean that our region and Sub-Saharan Africa are absorbing the cuts... I'm assuming that you repeated the email verbatim, but on the off chance that you didn't - did she indicate that there would be fewer awards for our group? Ugh... Thanks for doing this, though. My anxiety is definitely eased knowing that I can relax for the next month and not choke everytime I open my inbox.

Haha this totally made me chuckle... I have a feeling you guys will be able to bank on us for a looooong time... But.... It looks like in the 2011-2012 cycle they heard back 4/7... Maybe we'll be that lucky... Maybe? Fingers crossed for Fulbrights for all of us!! :-)

Congrats German ETAs!! The wait is over!! Hope it's good news for all!!

Hi Caribbean and Central America applicants. Go to the link below - it explains why we're notified as one group. http://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedregion/18

Congrats on receiving news Germany full grant applicants. ETAs - hopefully you'll hear in the immediate future :-) On another note: Anybody else notice that only the countries that have a projected number of awards have heard? Whyyyyyyy???

To be honest, I'm not sure why - bu it would seem that way. I applied last year and didn't get it - the wait sucked!! We were literally almost the last to hear... Almost all of Sub-Saharan Africa found out before we did! It was crazy. But if you look at the notifications (I think 09-10) they found out March 27th. So... We could find out anytime between now and um... May...

I'm waiting to hear back from the DR!! yay for Dominican Republic applicants!! I applied for public health. Hopefully it won't be too much longer, but the whole region seems to really like to take their time... Plus they haven't even projected the number of awards like some other places so I dunno. Caribbean and CA hears back together - usually in the same day (not sure why).

Yay Caribbean applicants! It's true... last year we didn't find out until May 9th. I heard that the hold up was with the FSB, not the countries, though... Hopefully it'll be different this time around.

Just ETAs... Not full grants. Say for example, there is only one full grant applicant to a given country and for whatever reason, the country doesn't like the project...they absolutely reserve the right to refuse it (I learned this at IIE's application seminar for 2012-2013). There just won't be a full funded person that year :-( The info I shared before is from Fulbright's website. http://us.fulbrightonline.org/statistics EDIT: I just realized that the footnote says that award numbers are "projected and subject to change." But still - there is a trend among the notifications. Somebody quickly tell me I'm being overly obsessive and irrational. Please.

Oh Chile and the rest of South America (that means you, Peru, Colombia, etc...), why must you tease the other Western Hemisphere sub-regions with your uncharacteristically early notifications? In all seriousness, however: jonnyg, I hope your news from Chile was good news. For those of you who are applying to countries that do not have designated numbers of awards - it looks like only those with allotted spaces have been notified. Bad news for us? Could we be the ones absorbing the sequestration budget cuts? Thoughts? Last thing: Any Caribbean/Central America lurkers out there? We're typically notified together (with the exception of last year - Caribbean was a day ahead of CA). We're considered one sub-region and we have the same Program Officer... We're not like the other areas (i.e. Germany, UK, Venezuela, etc...) who get their notifications on a nation-specific basis. I can only assume it's because our countries are so small....

Am I the only one in disbelief that Laos heard back before Germany?

Not to be disheartening, but it seems like for many countries, past notification dates don't necessarily predict future ones. For instance, within the past few years, my country's notification dates ranged from March-May. When I applied last year (and didn't get it) I was CERTAIN that I would find out in mid-April; I didn't find out until May.... aaaaaaand I'm pretty sure I caused irreparable damage to my mental health in the process!! This waiting game is brutal!! Another thing I learned (since I was the crazy who called her country's program officer not once - but twice): Program officers aren't always accurate about when results will be disseminated. The first time I called, Pam Jenkins (the Caribbean/CA person,) told me that we'd hear in a week.... two weeks later, we were all still waiting... On a side note: If it comes down to that level of desperation again, I shotgun not being the one to call... mostly because Pam probably has my number BLOCKED... she's really nice though **Fingers crossed for Germany to hear this week**

Haha that made my day... and that's what I was thinking too

So I'm a bit confused about the sequester... Does it only affect ETA programs? Or do the cuts extend to full grant programs as well? It seems like they would apply to all, but this email implies that maybe teaching programs are the only ones impacted?Anyway, I don't understand... More importantly: Congrats to all of those who were accepted for the UK!! And my heart goes out to the alternates - I've been there before (for a different region, however) and I know how awful it feels...

Any other Central America/Caribbean applicants out there?

Recommended, full, Dominican Republic. To the full grant people who didn't make it through this round: this is my second time applying - I was an alternate last year (ugh...). From my understanding, there are few people who are successful in winning a grant their first time out of the gate - reapply. Additionally, Fulbright is sensitive to controversy. If your project could potentially be viewed as such - retool it. My FPA suggested that the controversial nature of my project in my last application is likely what earned me the dreaded ALT (ugh, again...those three letters still make me shudder...). Last piece of advice: DO NOT let this ruin your day/week/month/year; I learned that the hard way. I was so p***ed off about my alternate status, that I literally walked around angry for months. So not worth it. Getting the smackdown from Fulbright hurts like a mother (especially if your dissertation is riding on that funding), but nothing (I repeat, nothing) is worth your intellectual self-worth. I ended up learning a lot from my rejection (and I do mean rejection, since that's ultimately what my ALT turned out to be - I was never promoted to principle). However, the single most important thing that I took away from that experience is this: If you plan to be an academic, you will get rejected again. And again. And again and again and again. It feels like s**t, but the route from A to B sometimes looks different than what we have planned - and that's ok. I might get slapped around by Fulbright for a second time (hell - the odds would say it's gonna happen) and that's ok. I have back up plans and this dissertation will get done one way or another. Take a lesson from somebody who's been there: get a drink (or five), have a good cry, and forget it until next year...

On the bright side, that's about equal to Fulbright's pay line in the first place. That is, approximately 10-15% of applicants receive awards (depending on the fiscal year). So our chances of getting promoted are about equal to our chances of getting a grant in the first place...

Oh I should probably mention that I was listed as "anon" on the spreadsheet. So sad to see "Alternate" next to my name. Congrats to all of those who received good news!! Truly happy for you :-).

ALT to DR... I'd agree that the wait continues but I seriousl doubt anybod will turn down a grant to my country since there are so few spots...

Unfortunately I'm really not sure where the holdup is... Pam pretty much just said that they're going to go with what they have and get the Caribbean notifications out tomorrow and not wait on CA any longer... That apparently means that we'll be notified separately (i.e. Caribbean people tomorrow, CA people sometime after that...).

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?

Yup. Agreed. This is kinda crazy. Who thinks we won't hear back before the May 15th deadline? *puts her hand up...*

So I know it's only 1:15 EST, but are we willing to chalk this week up to yet another 5 days with no news for the Caribbean/CA? I'm gonna go there and say yes...

Yaaaaaay!!!!!! So exciting!!!