jacksondietrich

I would take my financial aid package from NYU and present it to Bank Street. Tell them you would rather go to their school and ask if they can do anything to match and/or surpass NYU's offer. It's worth a shot. I've heard about successes like this at Harvard.

I received the Leadership in Education award and will be attending in the fall. The award is for half tuition. I also received a small HGSE grant and have AmeriCorps funds, but I have to take out the maximum ~$20,000 in unsubsidized loans and will have to cover the remaining unfunded amount of ~$10,000 out of pocket.

Congratulations! And wow, you got an e-mail? I wonder why everyone else got snail mail letters? Haha, a part of me keeps hoping that they made a mistake and that I'll get an e-mail or letter bumping me up to at least "alternate" status. So I take it that none of the HK ETA finalists here were rejected or even put on the waitlist? Just curious - were all of you university-affiliated applicants?

Congratulations, that's awesome! I was speaking more about the ETA program, though, as that was what I applied for. I just don't know if it would make sense two years down the road to reapply for a teaching assistantship program when I'll be an experienced teacher pushing 30. But I'll definitely think about it. Yeah, I kinda figured that being an at-large applicant would put me at a slight disadvantage compared to a university-sponsored applicant (not that I'm saying that's the only reason I was rejected). Host institutions can probably benefit from hosting Fulbright scholars with different university affiliations, and that's not something an at-large candidate can offer. Wow, I totally wish I had been interviewed. I've always been the type of person who comes across stronger in person than on paper. And each and every one of your school's applicants was interviewed, scored, and written up about by a committee of faculty members? That's exactly the type of "university endorsement" that I missed out on as an at-large candidate. Bummer.

Yeah, I guess I'm glad that I have a back-up (TFA) at the very least, but like most of you, I had my heart set on getting the Fulbright. And I don't think I'll be reapplying because I've been out of college for a couple of years now (c/o 2006) - I'll probably be too old after I finish TFA in two years to be a competitive candidate. Here's my question to everyone who got into their respective programs: How many of you applied through your university? From what I understand, each school has a preliminary selection process to determine which applicants will be forwarded to Fulbright as their recommended candidates. By the time I applied in Fall 2008, more than two academic years had passed since I graduated, so I was ineligible to apply through my university and had to apply at-large. Could at-large applicants be less competitive because they aren't "university-sponsored" candidates (and don't go through a preliminary selection process)? Just trying to justify my rejection, lol.

^ Yeah, they said I wasn't awarded the Fulbright in the letter. I asked my sister if she saw anything in the letter about me being waitlisted, and she said she didn't. That's why I'm gonna go home tonight and see for myself. The most difficult part is that I've got less than a month now to quit my current job, pack up, and move to a new state for the program that I had been putting on the back burner all along to wait around for this.

^ I'm in L.A. and my family just got my letter. I think I got flat-out rejected. I need to go home tonight and read it. Not even an alternate, huh? Is it 'cause I applied at-large?

Wow, the HK ETA people have been absolutely silent here today! I called Jonathan Akeley yesterday and confirmed that notification letters went out on Tuesday. But if the East Coasters still haven't heard yet, when are we West Coasters gonna find out?

I'm guessing no one called Jonathan Akeley today to check the status of HK ETA notification? I'm on the West Coast, so by the time I got a free moment at work to try, his office was already closed.

Is someone gonna call Jonathan Akeley about HK ETA notification today? Regarding when he thinks our letters will be sent out? If possible, I think we should limit ourselves to one call a day between those of us here on this message board. I'm on the West Coast, so I'm a few hours behind the rest of you - anyone on the East Coast want to give it a shot?

I just got off the phone with Jonathan Akeley. HK ETA notifications have NOT been sent out yet - they're still with the FSB. He's hoping they'll be out by early next week. Geez, I don't know how much longer I can put my back-up program on the back burner. This wait is unbelievable, though I guess it's unfair to point the finger at any one organization in particular 'cause so many are involved.

Thanks for the heads-up - the wait's been killing me! I've been on autopilot going through the motions for my back-up program (I've interviewed and everything) because my heart's set on HK, so I hope I'm not disappointed when I get my letter. I'm also on the West Coast, so the extra wait will make things that much worse, lol. I'm an ABC, I've been to China/HK/Taiwan countless times, and I speak Cantonese, so I'm probably in the same boat as you. I don't think this should work against us 'cause cultural rediscovery and reconnection was one of my main motivations for wanting to participate in this program - and it's what I wrote about in my application essays. I'm thinking we would've been weeded out in the first round if they didn't want people like us? At least that's what I'm hoping.

I just called Jonathan Akeley's desk regarding HK ETA results. A woman answered, and she was pretty short with me when I asked if they had any idea when we'd be receiving notification (they're probably sick of all the calls). It took me several tries to interject during her long "each country works at their own pace, we don't push them to make their decisions quickly, etc." spiel before I was able to confirm that our applications are, indeed, still in HK (or with the FSB - she seemed to be mixing up the two). Looks like we've got several more weeks of waiting to come. I'm stressing out 'cause I'm already several weeks into the matriculation process of another program. They'll allow me to defer for Fulbright, but I still don't want to lead them on and defer at the very last minute, though it looks like I may have to if all things work out on the Fulbright end.