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Crystal Dee, bryan jenkins, and others marked alternate-- Coming from an "NS", it might not mean much, but I don't think you have to react as if you were rejected just yet. Alternate means just that. A friend was alternate for a similar program once, and her attitude was "Alternate means they want you, they just don't have a place for you yet". In the case of Fulbright, maybe replace "a place" with "funding", but I think her attitude in general was right. I just really felt for you, Crystal Dee, especially when you mentioned that you are meeting with Estonians tonight. I just informed my professors (who just hours ago were expressing their high hopes for me after I passed my senior thesis defense...) about my status and it wasn't easy, but maybe everything is a learning experience and happens for a reason. I know that NS means while I may have had the academic qualifications to pass the first round, there is something fundamentally flawed about my project that no matter how much funding, they wouldn't accept me (harsh, but true). So I need to do a lot of soul searching about where I went wrong, and possibly consulting with IIE and my contacts in China to see if we can figure out what went amiss. But alternates, on the other hand-- you guys have done everything right! It's just several others also did everything right and it's a tight funding situation. You certainly have a chance to be upgraded this year; and even if not, you would probably be a competitive applicant next year. I think making it to the stage of alternate is a great accomplishment and one which you should be proud of. I am not sure if this message is helpful at all, and obviously I'm in no place to really give advice, but I felt like something should be said. For my own sake I think I will resist checking this board for a while-- I'm still rooting for secretlyismaili and everyone else, though. Best wishes, all.

NS for China. I did my best to mentally prepare myself for letdown, but it's still pretty upsetting. The silver lining is that I can already begin next year's application now, haha.

Welcome moda! I am a graduating senior applying to China too. From my understanding, the Fulbright program was originally designed for students just completing their Bachelor's degree, but nowadays graduate students are also welcome to apply (and do get selected every year). I don't think there's a bias against us undergrads, but I'm not sure if there's a preference in our favor, either. The issue of sensitive topics came up before... I think it's okay as long as you approach the topic in a respectful way and perhaps clear it with a few different people; I asked a few visiting scholars from China at my school, American experts on China, and as the director of the study broad program I participated in, and they all felt it was doable. My topic is slightly politicized too (I've been shying away from posting details-- a sort of good luck charm I guess?), but I looked at the directory on the Fulbright website and people have done some interesting topics in the past, including Tibet and Xinjiang related ones, so there are ways to make it work! I really hope we all get it. I'd love to visit you all in China!

C'mon Chinaaa. It could still be this Friday! Did you apply for the summer or fall term of CET? I applied to fall, but I feel like for those in summer term, if it gets much later, there won't be adequate time to process the visas.

I second this request! I was hoping it'd be tomorrow, but now I'm not so confident.

Hi vPersie-- I don't know if you already got a Fulbright or are waiting to hear back, but the ETA program in Taiwan has no language requirement, and I think it would give you enough free time that you could take Chinese classes (not to mention how helpful immersion is!) Taiwan also offers a program called "Huayu Enrichment Scholarship" for up to 12 months of language study. Here is the general information, but the easiest way to get details would be to contact the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (de facto consulate) in the nearest city. http://english.moe.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=6777&CtNode=10634&mp=1 Alternately, you could apply for a Chinese Government Scholarship. There are so many categories I'm not sure of them all, but I believe some are for language learning only. This website might be helpful: http://www.csc.edu.cn/laihua/scholarshipen.aspx Actually, the Luce Scholarship would be perfect for you if you do not have extensive experience in Asia. It is a scholarship geared towards people who have never been to Asia, or only have limited experience in Asia. http://www.hluce.org/lsprogram.aspx

Yes, I was also asked to apply for the CGS, and I applied for CLEA too. I am also wondering how all these different programs interact! I am trying to count how many people need to approve our applications: -Chinese Ministry of Education (CGS application) -Cultural Affairs Office, US Embassy, Beijing (I think? because there is no Fulbright Binational Commission in China) -CET Harbin (the language program I applied to) -Whatever process Fulbright uses to narrow down CLEA apps if CET Harbin accepts more than can be funded -Maybe IIE Beijing? They might be just administrative -FFSB When I think of it this way, it suddenly makes sense to me why it's taking so long...

Ah, another day with no news from China. Anyone hear any rumors? As we near the end of April, I find myself less and less able to put Fulbright out of my mind. So then, I try to prepare myself for the worst-case scenario, which isn't very fun either. Anyone else going through this? Still haven't told a soul (besides my referees and signficant other) that I applied-- and those people ask me constantly if I've heard news, as if I wouldn't immediately rush to tell them Congratulations to those who've been selected though, and my sympathies to those who haven't. Relationships and distance are a tricky combination. My view is that if you love someone, you want them to be the best person they can be, even if that means temporary(or year-long...) separation.

Good to see this thread still going. There are a few China applicants here, I post occasionally when I'm unable to distract myself. SMF, where are you looking to be affiliated? I asked Jonathan Akeley about notification dates because an interviewer (non Fulbright related) was pressuring me for my availability, and I got the following information: "We are hoping that the China notifications will go out by the end of April but given the uncertain budget environment this year it is very difficult to accurately predict specific dates."

But knowing the results will come out soon doesn't actually make them come out any sooner, right? I guess we just derive peace of mind from different sources

What is the purpose of calling and asking for more information? I would assume that they release information as soon as they are allowed and my understanding is that the administrative staff at IIE aren't the ones making the decisions anyway. Calling them implies you think they have the results and are keeping them to themselves, which would be pretty silly of them! That's not to say I'm not as nervous as you all-- I saw this clip from the TV show Community the other day that expressed my feelings pretty well:

secretlyismaili: I can confirm that I got the same request to resubmit the shorter version of the proposal for China. It seems this is standard for China.

I looked at Study/Research Applications for other countries/regions and noticed that applications seem to be down ~25% for quite a few countries. I wonder if it's because of the slight improvement in the economy(more people entering the private sector), something on the FPA level (discouraging borderline applicants from applying), or just a coincidence? Seems pretty systemic though.

This is interesting-- I was looking at the Fulbright website and found that the number of applications for each country for the 2013-2014 cycle is listed: http://us.fulbrightonline.org/studyresearch-grant-application-statistics http://us.fulbrightonline.org/eta-grant-application-statistics

Hi there, I applied to China too. My proposal is not related to ethnic minority groups, but it is related to a topic which could be construed as sensitive. I do understand where you are coming from-- sometimes the most interesting topics are the "sensitive" ones. I searched for info about this sort of issue a lot and found some useful information: 1) This is probably more directly relevant to you than it was to me-- an interview with a Fulbrighter who studied in Xinjiang: 2) Here is an old newsletter which goes into some detail about pitfalls for applications to China (note #2 "Feasibility") http://newsletter.fulbrightonline.org/151.html Lastly, many Chinese academics have come across the same concerns, perhaps even moreso for them as they are directly "in the system", as one might say. Learning how to conduct your research in a way that won't ignite sensitivities, while still producing meaningful work, is a really useful skill in China and the Fulbright proposal writing process is just the first part of that. I found it helpful to talk to professors who had studied in China as well as visiting scholars from China at my university to pick their brains about their experiences. Of course, there's not much point in hemming and hawwing over these issues now, but I do empathize with the desire to! All we can do is wait and hope for the best