Boren 2021-2022

[bethanyc19]

Accepted for the scholarship to study Russian in Kyrgyzstan! If anyone else applied to that region I'd love to connect!

[seagull_stan]

41 minutes ago, Umenohana said:

For the alternates, I don't know much about how likely it is to get promoted, but I am afraid chances are very low for us, especially with that September cutoff. My guess is that most people won't decline by May 2nd yet, and sit on the award and see where it takes them. Since travel approvals are so uncertain, it really doesn't make sense to decline, if they can just decline at a later date without any penalty. (That's what lots of us in the 2020 cohort have been doing, not many of us actually declined, unless they were absolutely sure that it's not what they wanted anymore)

Wait so while the deadline to accept is May 2nd, awardees can just not accept the scholarship yet and still have it??

I assumed if they don't accept by May 2nd, that would mean they decline the award.

[Umenohana]

3 minutes ago, seagull_stan said:

Wait so while the deadline to accept is May 2nd, awardees can just not accept the scholarship yet and still have it??

I assumed if they don't accept by May 2nd, that would mean they decline the award.

Oh yeah, I mean that they can accept, meaning no spots will open up, but they'd still be free to decline at a later date. If they don't sign the agreement yet and don't get any funds, they can just decline later. And I doubt Boren will make them sign anything if their country is not one of the approved ones yet. That's how it was in our 2020 cohort, we are just in the "technically accepted" limbo.

[Furby]

2 hours ago, Umenohana said:

Alternate for the Fellowship. Not what I expected to hear, huh..

So you also got the scholarship last year but alternative this year? Same with me. I wonder what happened:/

[Person1234]

Just now, Furby said:

So you also got the scholarship last year but alternative this year? Same with me. I wonder what happened:/

same same 

[Definol]

Kinda a dumb question, but do you always receive the amount of money requested? Or do they send a follow-up email confirming funds (which may be less)?

[machinecloud]

Alternate to the Fellowship program. Does anybody know if we are alternates to the entire Boren program, to the country we applied to, and/or some combination of both on a case by case basis? 

Congrats to everyone who was accepted and best of luck to alternates and everyone applying next year. Cheers!

[Umenohana]

1 hour ago, Msf1997 said:

Kinda a dumb question, but do you always receive the amount of money requested? Or do they send a follow-up email confirming funds (which may be less)?

Not a dumb question at all! I think you'd usually receive how much you asked for, unless it was very clear that you overestimated. Or if your program changed and the new one is cheaper, you'd have to ask them to adjust accordingly. Your amount can also be adjusted when you already start the program, if you find out you need to use less. It's always easy to go lower, they'll happily take back the money. It's more tricky to request a higher amount and approval is not guaranteed. 

I don't quite remember if there would be a separate email, but if your country has not been approved yet, you might not find out for a while. For example, the 2020 cohort never got to know the amounts we'd receive because we just kept getting deferred.

[Umenohana]

27 minutes ago, machinecloud said:

Alternate to the Fellowship program. Does anybody know if we are alternates to the entire Boren program, to the country we applied to, and/or some combination of both on a case by case basis? 

Congrats to everyone who was accepted and best of luck to alternates and everyone applying next year. Cheers!

It's hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure it would be for the entire Boren program. They don't really have spots per country and some countries may have only one or two finalists without any alternates or even applicants behind in the line. They might take the country or part of the world into consideration, but I'd think in general, it would not matter too much. Just my opinion based on the data I've seen.

[machinecloud]

3 minutes ago, Umenohana said:

It's hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure it would be for the entire Boren program. They don't really have spots per country and some countries may have only one or two finalists without any alternates or even applicants behind in the line. They might take the country or part of the world into consideration, but I'd think in general, it would not matter too much. Just my opinion based on the data I've seen.

Thanks so much for this. It seems like some countries have so few people every year which concerned me. I applied to a country where they send very few fellows.

What do you mean by "applicants behind in the line?"

I emailed Boren about this to see what's up so I'll update when they respond. 

[Umenohana]

3 minutes ago, machinecloud said:

Thanks so much for this. It seems like some countries have so few people every year which concerned me. I applied to a country where they send very few fellows.

What do you mean by "applicants behind in the line?"

I emailed Boren about this to see what's up so I'll update when they respond. 

I think they would look at the strength of your application rather than the country itself, so don't worry!

I meant that I don't think they have a "line" of finalists-alternates per each country. So it wouldn't be like if one person declines for Cambodia, the next best alternate for Cambodia would get it. But again, that's just my opinion, I don't really know how their system works. But let us know if you hear back!

[machinecloud]

2 minutes ago, Umenohana said:

I think they would look at the strength of your application rather than the country itself, so don't worry!

I meant that I don't think they have a "line" of finalists-alternates per each country. So it wouldn't be like if one person declines for Cambodia, the next best alternate for Cambodia would get it. But again, that's just my opinion, I don't really know how their system works. But let us know if you hear back!

Thanks for the positive vibes. I will not plan my life around this but my bags are ready to go just in case.

I imagined there being alternates per country but the way you put it makes way more sense. I bet it's more on a case-by-case basis. Fit is important. Will absolutely update when they respond. I also reached out to the university representative.

Are you also an alternate? 

[Umenohana]

1 hour ago, machinecloud said:

Thanks for the positive vibes. I will not plan my life around this but my bags are ready to go just in case.

I imagined there being alternates per country but the way you put it makes way more sense. I bet it's more on a case-by-case basis. Fit is important. Will absolutely update when they respond. I also reached out to the university representative.

Are you also an alternate? 

That's good, sometimes a campus representative might also be able to shed some light on these things, if they've been in the position for a while. Yep, I am an alternate right now as well.

[dubu_soop]

Finally checked the email and was denied for a Fellowship. Best of luck to everyone moving forward!

[AONomad]

Anecdotally, my impression is this year's application was extremely competitive. Like, unusually so. I wonder if they're considering last year's deferred applicants as part of this year's cohort.

[roshni]

Hi everyone — I was accepted for a fellowship to India under the SAFLI flagship program. I’d love to chat with people heading to India. Also — I was an alternate last year for the scholarship and ended up getting bumped up as a finalist — I heard around May. Hoping the best for all alternates!!

[machinecloud]

10 hours ago, AONomad said:

Anecdotally, my impression is this year's application was extremely competitive.

What makes you say this? Because everyone is tired of being home?

Edited April 16, 2021 by machinecloud

[machinecloud]

14 hours ago, Umenohana said:

I think they would look at the strength of your application rather than the country itself, so don't worry!

I meant that I don't think they have a "line" of finalists-alternates per each country. So it wouldn't be like if one person declines for Cambodia, the next best alternate for Cambodia would get it. But again, that's just my opinion, I don't really know how their system works. But let us know if you hear back!

You're right. Alternates to the overall program. Confusing with the flagship programs though.

[AONomad]

44 minutes ago, machinecloud said:

What makes you say this? Because everyone is tired of being home?

1. Only 2 out of 6 people from my program were accepted, vs. last year when 4 were accepted

2. This thread seems to have more rejections and waitlists than past years' threads (didn't count, just eyeballing)

3. The other student from my past uni was rejected, and they're by all accounts really bright. Part of their program will be at Stanford and they have a full ride for it

[machinecloud]

12 minutes ago, AONomad said:

1. Only 2 out of 6 people from my program were accepted, vs. last year when 4 were accepted

2. This thread seems to have more rejections and waitlists than past years' threads (didn't count, just eyeballing)

3. The other student from my past uni was rejected, and they're by all accounts really bright. Part of their program will be at Stanford and they have a full ride for it

How do you know only 2 out of 6 people from your program were accepted? Is there a site with this information? I would love to check out the program I applied to! Currently an alternate (ahhhhh! hahaha!).

I'm not sure I understood your third point about Stanford. 

[wells925]

3 hours ago, roshni said:

Hi everyone — I was accepted for a fellowship to India under the SAFLI flagship program. I’d love to chat with people heading to India. Also — I was an alternate last year for the scholarship and ended up getting bumped up as a finalist — I heard around May. Hoping the best for all alternates!!

I also was accepted to SAFLI! Let's connect. I also was unsure from their email whether or not the fall component would be overseas... do you know anything else about that?

[AONomad]

1 hour ago, machinecloud said:

How do you know only 2 out of 6 people from your program were accepted? Is there a site with this information? I would love to check out the program I applied to! Currently an alternate (ahhhhh! hahaha!).

I'm not sure I understood your third point about Stanford. 

We know that we had 4 people last year because our school director told us that's how many they have right now-- and the 2 out of 6 is just from our group chat, so nothing that intense lol

I don't know the Stanford person myself, just heard from the grapevine from my professor, so I don't have that many details. Just know she thought that person was a strong candidate and was surprised they did not get the fellowship

 

[machinecloud]

1 hour ago, AONomad said:

We know that we had 4 people last year because our school director told us that's how many they have right now-- and the 2 out of 6 is just from our group chat, so nothing that intense lol

I don't know the Stanford person myself, just heard from the grapevine from my professor, so I don't have that many details. Just know she thought that person was a strong candidate and was surprised they did not get the fellowship

 

Oh wow! That's right! University Boren representatives have access to that information. Maybe I'll reach out to my school's person to see if they can give me any thoughts. Thank you

[Umenohana]

2 hours ago, AONomad said:

We know that we had 4 people last year because our school director told us that's how many they have right now-- and the 2 out of 6 is just from our group chat, so nothing that intense lol

I don't know the Stanford person myself, just heard from the grapevine from my professor, so I don't have that many details. Just know she thought that person was a strong candidate and was surprised they did not get the fellowship

 

I think another thing to consider is that Boren very likely has different standards for students of different levels. For example, I was accepted at first try for the Scholarship a few years ago, even though when I look back, I see that my essays were not that great at all. But I went to some school that nobody knows and doesn't have a Boren advisor or any other previous finalists, so maybe that bumped me up in some way. Last year, I was accepted as a Fellowship finalist, and although I updated my application a bit for this cycle, maybe they expected a lot more experience/achievements from a 2nd year MA student, so I only got an alternate. 

But your point about this year being more competitive is interesting, it will be good to see some data when it comes out.

[bruh]

Hey yall. I just made facebook group for finalists if you're interested 

Here it is