rtlc06

That's awesome! What a strange journey you've had!! Were you promoted? Or was the alternate thing a mistake from the beginning? So weird...

YAAAAAY!!!!!!! All of your hard work finally paid off and the agonizing/wondering/waiting is over!! Congrats!!
 
P.S. I've been lurking this board specifically waiting for Brazil people to hear back!! The notifications are heeeeere!! Keep us all posted :-)

Done :-)

Done :-)

I'm crossing my fingers that it will be! But most importantly, I'm crossing my fingers that it will be good news for all of us! Wouldn't that be amazing? I think yes.

Yay Russia!! Keep the acceptances coming, Fulbright!

I'm in exactly the same boat as you. I spent 8 weeks doing a pilot study, validating my instruments, getting IRB approval from the DR, and setting up affiliations. However, everyone at my university seemed to think this was a good thing... It would seem that if this were to influence our application status, it would be something that would have already happened in the first round on the US side of things... At this point, it seems like the amount of time we put into preliminary fieldwork would be beneficial in the form of creating culturally competent projects with community buy-in from our locations of choice... Seems like something foreign commissions might like.

Oh - and please no more ventures into Crazyland... " this is just one more day where we're still in the running and hope is still alive..." a very wise Fulbright applicant toldme that once ;-)

So this has nothing to do with Fulbright buuuut - I got the ok from my advisor to defend my dissertation prospectus!! Now all I need to do is pass and get funding to do my project!!

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

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...

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?

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?

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?

Seriously. Last Friday I remember thinking "Notifications haven't come through yet!! What if they don't come until next Friday!? No, that's crazy... that'll never happen... They'll be here by Wednesday at the latest..." Ugh...

Seriously. Last Friday I remember thinking "Notifications haven't come through yet!! What if they don't come until next Friday!? No, that's crazy... that'll never happen... They'll be here by Wednesday at the latest..." Ugh...

Ok Caribbean people - after all my talk this morning about "the fruitlessness of contacting Pam" I broke down and called her (yes, called... I didn't want to identify myself). Anyway, she was super nice and seemed extremely empathetic towards our frustrations about notifications. Unfortunately (as I also predicted this morning) the conversation yielded no new information; Pam has NO idea when notifications will go out. Verbatim what she said was: "We've received notification from the foreign commission, but are waiting on notification from the FSB... which could come in at any moment." She said that notifications from the FSB usually are relatively quick, but for some reason (that she doesn't know) have been much slower this year. Thus, she anticipates we should know before the beginning of May, but the notifications could also come as soon as like... now (this info is basically meaningless, since she predicted mid-April a few weeks ago). According to "the information for recommended candidates" link that we were provided with on our recommended candidacy emails, "It is anticipated that all principal candidates will receive notification no later than May 15th." There is an end in sight...

Seriously, this is how my last hour has gone!!

check email (no notification). refresh email just in case the notification came within the last 3 seconds (still no email). resign self to the fact that I should probably start working. resume working on IRB amendment. realize that 4 minutes have just past. think "maybe my notification came!" check email. still no notification. hit refresh. hit refresh again. still nothing. promise myself that I won't check my email for at least an hour. begin working on my prospectus. decide that 10 minutes of prospectus work is more than respectable. check this forum for 10 minutes to see who received notifications. feel anxious. begin rationalizing that 20 minutes is roughly 30% of an hour which is almost half an hour, and if I round up - that's a whole hour! check email (nothing). hit refresh (still nothing). *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* Start feeling angry with IIE, Fulbright, the FSB, and the Western Hemisphere as a whole. decide that this is irrational. check email. nothing. *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* decide that my anger is, indeed, actually rational. *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* feel dejected.

Losing hope that the Caribbean will hear back today... I hate that they know but we don't!! Seriously - I need to move on with my life!! I'm just going to try not to think about this and to just actually be productive....we'll see...

Congrats to the New Zealand ppl who received good news today!!

Caribbean applicants - tomorrow or Thursday is our day - I can feel it!!

Seriously, this is how my last hour has gone!!

check email (no notification). refresh email just in case the notification came within the last 3 seconds (still no email). resign self to the fact that I should probably start working. resume working on IRB amendment. realize that 4 minutes have just past. think "maybe my notification came!" check email. still no notification. hit refresh. hit refresh again. still nothing. promise myself that I won't check my email for at least an hour. begin working on my prospectus. decide that 10 minutes of prospectus work is more than respectable. check this forum for 10 minutes to see who received notifications. feel anxious. begin rationalizing that 20 minutes is roughly 30% of an hour which is almost half an hour, and if I round up - that's a whole hour! check email (nothing). hit refresh (still nothing). *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* Start feeling angry with IIE, Fulbright, the FSB, and the Western Hemisphere as a whole. decide that this is irrational. check email. nothing. *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* decide that my anger is, indeed, actually rational. *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* feel dejected.

Seriously, this is how my last hour has gone!!

check email (no notification). refresh email just in case the notification came within the last 3 seconds (still no email). resign self to the fact that I should probably start working. resume working on IRB amendment. realize that 4 minutes have just past. think "maybe my notification came!" check email. still no notification. hit refresh. hit refresh again. still nothing. promise myself that I won't check my email for at least an hour. begin working on my prospectus. decide that 10 minutes of prospectus work is more than respectable. check this forum for 10 minutes to see who received notifications. feel anxious. begin rationalizing that 20 minutes is roughly 30% of an hour which is almost half an hour, and if I round up - that's a whole hour! check email (nothing). hit refresh (still nothing). *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* Start feeling angry with IIE, Fulbright, the FSB, and the Western Hemisphere as a whole. decide that this is irrational. check email. nothing. *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* decide that my anger is, indeed, actually rational. *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* feel dejected.

Seriously, this is how my last hour has gone!!

check email (no notification). refresh email just in case the notification came within the last 3 seconds (still no email). resign self to the fact that I should probably start working. resume working on IRB amendment. realize that 4 minutes have just past. think "maybe my notification came!" check email. still no notification. hit refresh. hit refresh again. still nothing. promise myself that I won't check my email for at least an hour. begin working on my prospectus. decide that 10 minutes of prospectus work is more than respectable. check this forum for 10 minutes to see who received notifications. feel anxious. begin rationalizing that 20 minutes is roughly 30% of an hour which is almost half an hour, and if I round up - that's a whole hour! check email (nothing). hit refresh (still nothing). *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* Start feeling angry with IIE, Fulbright, the FSB, and the Western Hemisphere as a whole. decide that this is irrational. check email. nothing. *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* decide that my anger is, indeed, actually rational. *refresh* *refresh* *refresh.* feel dejected.

That sucks, but do you think they would give you an extension, given your situation...?

P.S. Is it just me, or is anybody else starting to feel less anxious, and more annoyed / p*ssed off as the wait goes on?

That sucks, but do you think they would give you an extension, given your situation...?

P.S. Is it just me, or is anybody else starting to feel less anxious, and more annoyed / p*ssed off as the wait goes on?

What I've been doing lately: (1) Hitting the refresh button on my email 500 times a day, (2) hittng the refresh button on this forum 500 times a day, (3) waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat because I just had a dream I got a rejection letter from IIE, (4) waking up in the middle of the night in a semi-manic state because I just had a dream I got an acceptance letter from IIE (5) Googling "Fulbright notification, Dominican Republic" (and returning the same meager results every single time, yet still anticipating something new).

What I should be doing: (1) Drafting the theory section of my prospectus so that I can defend it in 2 months (2) applying for "real jobs" in case this Fulbright thing doesn't pan out (3) drafting an article for submission about my pilot study data (4) actively putting in something that resembles effort at the job I have now (5) finishing my IRB (6) thinking up other things I'm interested in talking about with my husband besides dissecting every single piece of the Fulbright application process and what each seemingly arbitrary "new development" (which usually doesn't even have anything to do with my region, anyway) means.

Given the above, I'm going to try something new. My obsessing over the outcome of this process isn't going to influence the result. That is, refreshing my email every 3 minutes and/or straight-arming the mailman NFL receiver style on my way to the mailbox to check for correspondence from IIE isn't going to change my status; it's just going to cause me to feel perpetually stressed out and continually unproductive. With that said, I propose a break. What's done is done. We have no control over the process at this point, and worrying/obsessing has no benefit. I'm going to (attempt) to take a Fulbright vacation and just let what's going to happen, happen. Each time an obsessive thought creeps into my head, I'm going to replace it with something productive (like my prospectus) or fun (like making plans with friends, etc...). The degree of anxiety I've caused myself (and perhaps other users of this forum are the same point) just isn't healthy; it's time to just let what's going to be, be.