moregraceful

Well, this is officially the latest Vietnam ETA notifications have been sent out in 5 years. Last year they sent them out on the 6th, so I gave them a few days of leeway because the 6th fell on a weekend this year. But alas, still nothing in my inbox. The latest they've EVER sent them is the 17th, so I still have 9 days to break a record! I'm probably going to start applying to jobs en masse this week and next week. I can't wait any longer to hear news for something that I only have a 50% chance of getting. This is frustrating, but hell, everything about the future is frustrating.

Why are they so uptight? Safety issues? Most places in the world, as long as they are not in the midst of warfare, are generally safe (as long as you use your common sense). The biggest threat no matter where you go is pickpockets and muggers, so just be wary of your stuff at all times and try to avoid being on the streets by yourself at night. Avoid tourist traps, too. I would actually guess that your have a greater chance of getting your wallet stolen in a touristy area of London than you would in Jamaica. And if your parents are really worried, ask them to fund a couple self-defense classes before you go

Whaaa??? It came through snail mail? Anyways, mucho congratulaciones. ¡Enhorabuena!

I didn't see this mentioned yesterday, but I found out that a girl from my school got a Full Grant to Canada! I'm very happy for her, but I do not envy of having to live through a Canadian winter come November. Anyone else think the first Friday in April sounds particularly fortuitous for Fulbright notifications?

If you do indeed get the Fulbright, I suggest you go out and celebrate by buying a chocolate covered pretzel blizzard. And if you don't get the Fulbright, drown your sorrows in a blizzard. It's a win-win situation!

I have not heard back yet either, but a general group is a great idea! A lot of Fulbrighters keep blogs of their year abroad and I'd love to read them. I'd also be curious to hear about everyones' projects in depth. Even something as simple as sharing packing tips would be great.

I'm surprised we're ONLY halfway through. It feels like all the big programs have been notified - now it's just the little guys left waiting to hear I guess. Thanks for the data analysis though!

Sweet, I thought I was the only Vietnam applicant slightly active on this board! It's nice to commiserate with someone haha.

CONGRATS!! Teaching for a year in Malaysia sounds AWESOME! (Now I'm just crossing my fingers that Vietnam will be next. C'mon!)

CONGRATS to everyone who heard today! You all deserve these Fulbrights and your excitement is making me VERY excited for you! I know you're all going to have a great time abroad next year and I wish the best for you I hope the huge influx of decisions that flooded your inbox today is a good sign for those of us still waiting - perhaps it means the rest are coming this week! I'm getting more and more anxious by the day - at this point I don't care what the answer is, I just want to know! I have noticed that there aren't many East Asia/Pacific countries left - just Vietnam, China, Mongolia, and Malaysia. (There may be a few more, but they aren't noted on this forum.) Does anyone know if this makes it more likely that our decisions will be coming soon? Will the office at the IIE be free to send us our decisions now that the big ones (South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia...) have been sent out? I think I may be speculating too much, but one can hope.

I've been wondering this as well. Will IIE have the next few days off (Thurs-Mon) for the Easter holiday?

Yeah, they're run out of the Harvard Center for International Development so they're definitely a trustworthy organization. Also, Princeton in Asia is a pretty good program. I believe they're application cycle for this year has passed though, so if anyone wants to teach English/ work in Asia they'll have to apply next year.

I was just perusing the notification board & I saw that someone got named an alternate to a New Zealand Full Grant and someone got a grant to the Slovak Republic today. Congrats/Good luck you guys! Hope the rest of the people applying to the Slovak Republic hear soon as well.

If you still want to teach English, I'd suggest applying to a WorldTeach gig. It's basically the same deal as the Fulbright ETA, but, depending on country, you either get paid a smaller stipend (about $300/month versus the larger Fulbright stipend) or you have to pay/fundraise between $1000-5000 upfront to teach abroad (while getting that monthly stipend). That money covers airfare, food, and board, so it ends up being a viable option. They're a great program and do a lot of great training, so I'd look into it.

Congrats to all the South Korean acceptees! To celebrate, I suggest singing 2NE1's I Am The Best to yourself and knowing that the words are true. (And for those of you who didn't hear good news, perhaps sing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkSOOiMDGiY, but switch "man" with "fulbright"?)

Congrats to all the Indonesia grantees! You really lucked out hearing back from the committee so soon. This page tells me there's 18 more of you out there somewhere, so congrats to you too! Can we confirm that only the full grant, and not the ETA applicants, have been informed? I have a friend who applied to the Indonesia ETA program, but I don't want to probe. I don't even know if she's a finalist because it's not something I'm comfortable bringing up in conversation. As for the rest of us, I'd advise not getting our hopes up. I doubt that all of the decisions are going to come a month early because one country was super organized. Of course that would be awesome if they did all come earlier - maybe they've digitalized the process so that decisions and communication can come through faster? But I still don't (personally) expect to hear anything before late March, and I'd advise everyone to continue with your normal expectations and cross your fingers that I'm wrong.

Anyone applying to a country where the final notifications are around the same time year to year? In the years that I can find data my country has notified people on: the first week of April the last week of April the last week of March mid-April There's no real discernible pattern. Is anyone lucky enough (or unlucky, based on your perspective) to have a pretty good knowledge of their notification date?

It's been a few days since I got the news, but the excitement of getting recommended for an ETA to Vietnam has not subsided in the least! I'm absolutely ecstatic to get this far in the competition, and I wish the best of luck for all those who did not hear the same good news. The rest of us still have at least two months to go before the final decisions starts trickling in country to country. This is definitely going to be a harder wait for me because of the uncertainty!

Sorry to hear about the rejection. I'll try to answer your questions for you.: 1. I do not think there is such a thing as having too much experience, but it might depend country to country. You might want to be wary of applying to a country that says: "No teaching experience is necessary" on their application. Sometimes they're looking for bright students with a passion for the country more than teachers with a great resume. But having teaching experience will probably never hurt your application, and I can only believe that it will prove beneficial during the application process. 2. I would take at least a year of Russian/Kazakh. (I looked it up and it says you need 1100 hours/44 weeks of study it to become proficient at Russian. Could not find Kazakh.) If you're proficient in one, having ANY extra abilities in the other will look awesome on your application. The Fulbright committee knows that you'll become near fluent in the language after spending a year in that country so don't worry about taking five years of study to become an advanced speaker. It also never hurts to volunteer/ do research, but I can't say which of these should be prioritized. 3. The Fulbright committee likes to see a diversity of academic levels on their applications. This is especially true for ETAs. Another thing to look for on the country description is something like: "Applicants should be graduating seniors..." if you want to know if that country has a particular preference for BAs/MAs/etc.

What does Country Interview refer to? The interview with our university? Being recommended? I'm an ETA candidate so maybe I'm missing something that only applies to full grants.

Sorry guys, false alarm. It was a prank that I miscomprehended. Just because I'm applying for a Fulbright does not mean I'm that bright all the time...

A friend of mine just posted that she was rejected from a Fulbright fellowship on Facebook. I assumed we would not hear until later in January. Is anyone else getting news??? Needless to say, I'm nervous now. EDIT: False alarm, it was a prank that I miscomprehended. Whoops.

I've decided I'm going to be helpful and create a compilation of sample Fulbright personal statements and statements of grant purpose. I always look to example essays when I'm beginning an application, but these are all spread out over the web. I figured right now would be a good time to collect them all together. And hey, it's a way to procrastinate. Here's a start. I've organized them by country. Feel free to add more! Personal Statements: Benin South Africa India Argentina South Korea (ETA) Mexico (ETA) Spain Portugal (ETA) Egypt (ETA) (bottom of page) Peru and Taiwan New Zealand ETA Statements of Grant Purpose:South Korea Mexico Portugal Indonesia and Egypt Research (including Graduate & PhD) Statements of Grant Purpose: [*]Benin (Art History) [*]South Africa I (Art History) [*]South Africa II (Comp. Sci.) [*]Japan (Creative Writing) [*]Mexico (Creative Writing) [*]India (Geography) [*]Argentina (Lit) [*]Spain (Music) [*]Germany (PhD) (Media Studies) [*]United Kingdom (Comp. Sci) [*]Peru and Taiwan [*]China (PhD) (Anthropology) [*]New Zealand (Medicine) [*]Austria (PhD) (Physical Sciences) [*]Canada, Cypress, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam (Graduate level; I'm too lazy to link these all individually)

You have to research the country, but yes, they do. Some require that you don't have dependents. Others may have an age limit. But in general most will take applicants at any age. Finding the right country is the most important part. Good luck!

Hey y'all, Vietnam ETA applicant here. Currently in the middle of writing the first draft for my personal statement and statement of grant purpose. And I just heard back from one of my favorite profs agreeing to write a letter of recommendation for me! Still waiting on a guarantee from a third reference, a mentor I worked with as an ESL tutor, so I'm crossing my fingers he'll get back to me soon. I'm a rising senior and I'm working pretty closely with my university on the application. Is anyone else doing the same? I feel like I'm ahead of myself getting things done so far in advance, but I guess it's all for the best considering I'm not taking classes right now. I'll need a few readers to look over my statements, and then send out the statement of grant purpose to my references in a month or so. It's kind of mind boggling that I'm working on all of this now when we won't even hear a final decision from the Fulbright committee until next April. Good luck to everyone! Don't get too stressed