2019-2020 Boren Applicants

[SportPhD]

I just received a budget review email for a fellowship, my guess is they send them out by region or by program if you are doing AFLI etc. so no need to panic if you haven’t received one yet.

[yallabye]

Received a budget email for the scholarship early this morning. I'm applying to Jordan for anyone curious.

[sab333]

On 3/19/2019 at 3:00 PM, yallabye said:

Received a budget email for the scholarship early this morning. I'm applying to Jordan for anyone curious.

Same here! What university/institute did you apply to? 

[yallabye]

4 hours ago, sab333 said:

Same here! What university/institute did you apply to? 

Awesome :). I applied to University of Jordan via CET Academic Programs. What about you?

[sab333]

14 hours ago, yallabye said:

Awesome :). I applied to University of Jordan via CET Academic Programs. What about you?

Oh cool. I was looking at CET's programs and they looked really good. I'm a senior at the moment so I applied to just study accelerated Arabic at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman. 

 

Also, I love your username! Hahahaha

[yallabye]

2 hours ago, sab333 said:

Oh cool. I was looking at CET's programs and they looked really good. I'm a senior at the moment so I applied to just study accelerated Arabic at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman. 

 

Also, I love your username! Hahahaha

Haha, thanks! It was the first thing that came to mind, oddly enough lol. And I've heard really good things about Qasid, too. Fingers crossed we'll end up seeing eachother in Amman

[Rp3669]

19 hours ago, sab333 said:

Oh cool. I was looking at CET's programs and they looked really good. I'm a senior at the moment so I applied to just study accelerated Arabic at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman. 

I also applied with Qasid - for the Fellowship though! Looks like a lot of us are applying to Jordan  

[moussdutoxx]

I can't wait for results!!!! Also, does anyone think there is a link between receiving the second budget email and being accepted or not? Just been trying to analyze the spreadsheet from last year. . .to channel my anxiety ?

[SportPhD]

@moussdutoxx from the spreadsheet it does not seem to be a direct indicator, but seems at least positively correlated. However, I would also say that the small sample size of the spreadsheet makes it difficult to say one way or the other. I would think the second budget email is more likely based on the area or location. The funding is probably a set amount so they need to know how many people they can fund if people are under budget. Of course I am just speculating, and honestly it’s probably not going to make a difference anixety-wise until I the accepted or rejected emails come out.

[moussdutoxx]

10 hours ago, SportPhD said:

@moussdutoxx from the spreadsheet it does not seem to be a direct indicator, but seems at least positively correlated. However, I would also say that the small sample size of the spreadsheet makes it difficult to say one way or the other. I would think the second budget email is more likely based on the area or location. The funding is probably a set amount so they need to know how many people they can fund if people are under budget. Of course I am just speculating, and honestly it’s probably not going to make a difference anixety-wise until I the accepted or rejected emails come out.

Thank you, SportPhD! You're right--there isn't even a lot of information there, so I shouldn't jump to conclusions. And now we just wait. 

[GoCParis]

On 3/18/2019 at 3:19 PM, itsthemecca said:

I received a budget review email for the AFLI scholarship. I suspect I only received one because I am planning to extend my stay in Senegal for about a month after the AFLI program is over. 

Hello! I'm a 2018 awardee and I was scrolling through here and wanted to give you a heads up: NSEP was super hands off as far as travel and what we do in-country. On the contrary, American Councils is very strict. I only did the first semester, but it wasn't possible to stay in-country past the departure date they had determined for us. If you're coming back for a second semester/internship, they're a lot more flexible, but they will not let you just stay for an additional month if you only do the first semester. Those were their rules last year, at least. Good luck!

[itsthemecca]

1 hour ago, GoCParis said:

Hello! I'm a 2018 awardee and I was scrolling through here and wanted to give you a heads up: NSEP was super hands off as far as travel and what we do in-country. On the contrary, American Councils is very strict. I only did the first semester, but it wasn't possible to stay in-country past the departure date they had determined for us. If you're coming back for a second semester/internship, they're a lot more flexible, but they will not let you just stay for an additional month if you only do the first semester. Those were their rules last year, at least. Good luck!

Thanks for your insight! This seems contrary to what I had heard. Before making my budget, I watched the AFLI webinar, emailed Boren a few times, and talked to past recipients. They all seemed to say the same thing: as long as I was willing to leave Senegal for a few days after AFLI (as in stay in a safe neighboring country) due to visa expiration, I would be fine to return for an additional few weeks. This is, of course, assuming that I hire a tutor, or pursue an internship that would give me 'Language learning" opportunities during this time.  I guess we'll see if I end up getting the award! 

[parisetsenegal]

@moussdutoxx @SportPhD Looking at the spreadsheet it seems that nobody who was rejected received the second budget email. Just got mine yesterday so hoping that's a good sign...

[parisetsenegal]

@itsthemecca also not sure if you've seen this but in 2017 a full 50% of scholarship applicants for AFLI were accepted, much better odds than the 15% overall https://nsep.gov/sites/default/files/NSEP Annual Report 2017 FINAL with Front and Back Covers.pdf

[boolaboo]

I just got my IFLI second budget email today. This seems to be sent out significantly earlier than they usually are sent out, with last year's dates being 4/6-4/12 based on the spreadsheet. At that point I am curious if they really are just sending these to everyone since there does still seem to be quite a bit of time left. 

[GoCParis]

23 hours ago, itsthemecca said:

Thanks for your insight! This seems contrary to what I had heard. Before making my budget, I watched the AFLI webinar, emailed Boren a few times, and talked to past recipients. They all seemed to say the same thing: as long as I was willing to leave Senegal for a few days after AFLI (as in stay in a safe neighboring country) due to visa expiration, I would be fine to return for an additional few weeks. This is, of course, assuming that I hire a tutor, or pursue an internship that would give me 'Language learning" opportunities during this time.  I guess we'll see if I end up getting the award! 

Oh, I misunderstood, sorry! Yes, if you plan on staying in country and pursuing an internship/learning opportunity in the spring, than yes, that's completely allowed. 

I thought you meant you just wanted to complete the fall program and do your own thing in country a bit after the program end date. Sorry!

[moussdutoxx]

10 hours ago, parisetsenegal said:

@moussdutoxx @SportPhD Looking at the spreadsheet it seems that nobody who was rejected received the second budget email. Just got mine yesterday so hoping that's a good sign...

Parisetsenegal, you are applying for an AFLI program, correct?

Did any scholarship or fellowship general applicants (not AFLI/IFLI or other programs) receive a second budget email yet?

[itsthemecca]

9 hours ago, GoCParis said:

Oh, I misunderstood, sorry! Yes, if you plan on staying in country and pursuing an internship/learning opportunity in the spring, than yes, that's completely allowed. 

I thought you meant you just wanted to complete the fall program and do your own thing in country a bit after the program end date. Sorry!

No worries! Thanks so much for looking out! I too received a second budget email, and took my OPI yesterday. Nothing left to do except wait!

[parisetsenegal]

11 hours ago, moussdutoxx said:

Parisetsenegal, you are applying for an AFLI program, correct?

Did any scholarship or fellowship general applicants (not AFLI/IFLI or other programs) receive a second budget email yet?

That is correct, applying for French AFLI in Senegal.

[sab333]

22 hours ago, moussdutoxx said:

Parisetsenegal, you are applying for an AFLI program, correct?

Did any scholarship or fellowship general applicants (not AFLI/IFLI or other programs) receive a second budget email yet?

I applied for a non-AFLI scholarship and I haven't received one (yet). I am actually concerned about this one, because from the spreadsheet it DOES seem that the people who were rejected didn't get it. 

Edited March 28, 2019 by sab333

[moussdutoxx]

1 hour ago, sab333 said:

I applied for a non-AFLI scholarship and I haven't received one (yet). I am actually concerned about this one, because from the spreadsheet it DOES seem that the people who were rejected didn't get it. 

I am wondering if different groups of applicants are getting emails at different times. So perhaps Flagship programs get their emails at a different time than general scholarship and fellowship. I'm not sure because this thread is so small, so we don't have a lot of information.

Edited March 28, 2019 by moussdutoxx

[yallabye]

13 hours ago, sab333 said:

I applied for a non-AFLI scholarship and I haven't received one (yet). I am actually concerned about this one, because from the spreadsheet it DOES seem that the people who were rejected didn't get it. 

I thought people only usually received second budget emails if there were still some things unclear about the first proposed budget. Did you make any additional changes that would warrant the need to receive a second budget email? I looked through one of the previous applicant threads (either 2013/2014 or 2014/2015) and I remember seeing a comment that said how Boren requested more budget information specifically tailored to that applicant literally a week before the decision date and the person still didn't receive the scholarship. So, I'm not too sure how much a second budget email matters in the grand scheme of things. 

[parisetsenegal]

6 minutes ago, yallabye said:

I thought people only usually received second budget emails if there were still some things unclear about the first proposed budget. Did you make any additional changes that would warrant the need to receive a second budget email? I looked through one of the previous applicant threads (either 2013/2014 or 2014/2015) and I remember seeing a comment that said how Boren requested more budget information specifically tailored to that applicant literally a week before the decision date and the person still didn't receive the scholarship. So, I'm not too sure how much a second budget email matters in the grand scheme of things. 

I am applying for AFLI but did not make any changes to my budget from the first budget email. From the beginning I've only been applying for summer and fall, which don't even require a budget proposal as AFLI pays the fees directly.

[AddisAbaba]

Hey everyone. I applied to study Amharic in Ethiopia. Applied for the traditional Boren scholarship. Received the first budget email but not a second one.

[sab333]

On 3/28/2019 at 4:43 PM, moussdutoxx said:

I am wondering if different groups of applicants are getting emails at different times. So perhaps Flagship programs get their emails at a different time than general scholarship and fellowship. I'm not sure because this thread is so small, so we don't have a lot of information.

It does seem that way, at least based on when everyone said they received the first budget email. 

 

On 3/29/2019 at 4:30 AM, yallabye said:

I thought people only usually received second budget emails if there were still some things unclear about the first proposed budget. Did you make any additional changes that would warrant the need to receive a second budget email? I looked through one of the previous applicant threads (either 2013/2014 or 2014/2015) and I remember seeing a comment that said how Boren requested more budget information specifically tailored to that applicant literally a week before the decision date and the person still didn't receive the scholarship. So, I'm not too sure how much a second budget email matters in the grand scheme of things. 

I'm not sure about earlier years, but at least from last year, it looks like everyone who was awarded the scholarship (aside from special programs) received the second budget email, while alternates and rejected applicants did not. Although, I agree. I feel like it would make more sense to only send a second budget email to those whose budgets were unclear.