Fulbright 2011-2012

[readtowin]

Does anyone here know someone who recently went from alternate to accepted for Indonesia ETA?

Also, I lost the link to the spreadsheet and want to look at it again. Can someone post it?

[roland4102]

Wow. That is amazing! Congrats!!

Did he say if the money comes from Malaysia or if it came from the US State Department? I'm still not sure that I understand where they find the additional funding for some countries and not others.

Thanks! I was really surprised to say the least. He didn't say where the funding came from.

Also, here's the link to the spreadsheet.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AriON5PQlVdtdHlKMUhJYlo0bEVXREcxdlJVYUFibnc&hl=en&authkey=CNHpkd4P#gid=8

[Nejire]

Wow. That is amazing! Congrats!!

Did he say if the money comes from Malaysia or if it came from the US State Department? I'm still not sure that I understand where they find the additional funding for some countries and not others.

I sincerely doubt that it's from the US, particularly since it's funding for ETAs. The US cut funding this year by a considerable amount, and ETAs seem to benefit the host country more than they do the US.

The information you're looking for is so program-specific that, unless there is a Fulbright official lurking around this forum, I doubt that anyone here will be able to answer your questions. There is no formula for how things are divvied out.

I know how much it hurts to be so close. I made myself sick over it. My family kept on telling me not to worry about it, but it's hard. But they were right: sometimes the more you want something, the more likely it will squirm and fight to get away from you. So as hard as it is, it's best to be proactive and start working on the next big thing. That was the last thing I wanted to do, but once I did, time went by a lot faster, and I didn't have all that stress to make me sick. I'm sure that your life will be amazing, no matter what happens, because you are determined for it to be so.

[shadymilkman]

hey everyone, question about PDO -- i'm a full-grant recipient for Indonesia. i have a fiance, not officially a legal dependent, who will come to DC with me. do you think they'll pay for her? or should i get a single room and we can stay there together? in that case, any idea how much the 1/2 cost of the room is?

thanks!

-nick

I'm almost positive that they won't pay for her. You can look up the conference hotel to see what regular rates are, and then divide by two. I plugged in numbers a few days ago out of curiosity and it looked like ~$260/night, so half cost would probably be around $130/night.

[muscndanz]

That's awesome. I can't wait for the day where I can talk about it freely! What is your project about?

I will be doing research at the Derra de Moroda archives along with some specialized coursework in the music and dance pedagogy Master's program--a highly unique interdisciplinary program. Also, taking some historical dance classes from the Baroque and 18th century dances during Mozarts life and work. I'm focusing on how social dance can offer an integral contribution to music pedagogy. Bla, Bla, Bla...lol

I'm happy to share...How about you? I would love to know about some of the other projects here.

[computerdating]

Quick question: are research grantees supposed to start buying tickets now? I haven't heard anything about this yet, not really sure when we're supposed to do it.

[LandofRain]

Yes, but isn't Fulbright-Hays separate from Fulbright ETA's and Fulbright Full grants for students?

Yes. They are from different pools of money, as one comes from the State Dept and the other the Department of Ed, but speaking as one of many Phd peeps who applied for both, had we gotten Fulbright Hays (which is about 3 times more money) we would have given up our IIE Fulbright to take the FHays. But that program was just cut, so this means that IIE is affected by the DOE cuts because now people like me aren't going to give up their IIE fulbright to take a different grant. Hence, alternates don't get bumped up either because there are fewer people rejecting IIE grants. :-)

[crimsonengineer87]

Jermaine from the MENA region told me they're covering all my tickets... Hopefully it's not toooooo cheap flying cuz I'd rather have a nearly direct flight. I would love to stop on the way back through Europe as I haven't been since I was 14. Maybe I'll get a shwagg job & I'll be trekking all over the globe. God Willing.

No way you are flying from Pullman... Spokane maybe? no puddle jumpers across the Atlantic... lol

Flying from Pullman would cost me like an arm and a leg!!!! Lol. I'm from the Seattle area so I'm most def flying out of Seatac. There wouldn't be a direct Lufthansa flight from Pullman to Frankfurt, although that'd be awesome! Haha.

Are you flying out of Portland? And to where?

[studentb2011]

Quick question: are research grantees supposed to start buying tickets now? I haven't heard anything about this yet, not really sure when we're supposed to do it.

Apparently Fulbright encourages us to wait until after we physically receive the letter from the university for our visa explicitly stating the date the visa begins, because occasionally dates of arrival have been pushed back by the university and I've also heard of cases last year where people did not receive the visa letters until October and couldn't leave until then. I have been emailing the people from the university I'll be at and they told me mine will begin August 30. I still haven't got the visa letter yet but I'm really anxious to just buy the ticket since the prices are only gonna get higher. Hopefully university people are doing everything correctly.

That Bt-store.com that I was unsure about, BTW, I think is legit. I read their terms & conditions and its good. They also have a possibility to pay an extra fee if you need to switch flights (if the new flight is available, of course).

[est]

I saw in the database that one person has heard that they are an alternate for Fulbright research grant to Armenia. I have still yet to hear anything from Fulbright. I have called and left messages, sent emails, and still no response from anyone. I can't even get anyone to acknowledge I'm a human being. I'm not sure what to do. According to my initial email notifying me I was a finalist decisions were supposed to be sent out by May 15. It's nearly the end of the month, and I haven't gotten anything in the mail and nobody will respond when I call/email. Any advice/information would be greatly appreciated!!!

I had trouble getting contact with someone as well, but then I figured maybe it was sent to their spam so I sent another email from my university account and it got through.

Hope that helps!

[studentb2011]

Some of the Fulbright staff has been out on vacation this month, so don't freak out just yet. They hardly ever respond to emails. Calls are hit or miss. I would try another program officer if you can't reach your own. What happened to me back in April was they sent the letter to the wrong address so I found out a few weeks after everyone else. Just call IIE's main number and politely ask to speak to someone who is in the office. They will probably be grouchy because they are sick of getting these calls but oh well what can you do.

On another note, just to be annoying I have to ask for the fourth time: anyone hear back on CLEA (besides the countries that sent out the budget cuts emails)?

[Erica Ci]

Some of the Fulbright staff has been out on vacation this month, so don't freak out just yet. They hardly ever respond to emails. Calls are hit or miss. I would try another program officer if you can't reach your own. What happened to me back in April was they sent the letter to the wrong address so I found out a few weeks after everyone else. Just call IIE's main number and politely ask to speak to someone who is in the office. They will probably be grouchy because they are sick of getting these calls but oh well what can you do.

On another note, just to be annoying I have to ask for the fourth time: anyone hear back on CLEA (besides the countries that sent out the budget cuts emails)?

I haven't heard back about the CLEA, but I was originally told it was "a few weeks after your acceptance" and it's only been a few days for me. However, if the Arabic CLEA for the Gulf MENA region is in EGypt I can't go. My dad & hubby are already worried. Although I have confidence in Egypt's stability, they do not and there's no way I could talk them into it I think.

[Erica Ci]

Flying from Pullman would cost me like an arm and a leg!!!! Lol. I'm from the Seattle area so I'm most def flying out of Seatac. There wouldn't be a direct Lufthansa flight from Pullman to Frankfurt, although that'd be awesome! Haha.

Are you flying out of Portland? And to where?

I have yet to receive my info packet & so I hardly know when I'm flying out for DC. However, I figure it will Portland to Abu Dhabi or Dubai. Usually Portland to Abu DHabi is cheaper (from my searches on Kayak.com) and Lufthansa has flights here I think- and they go to UAE. Sometimes from the W. Coast it seems there's a flight to NYC or something then across the pond as they say. We'll see. my dream flight would be with Qatar airways or Emirate Airlines because they are ridiculously fancy.... but I'm happy with anything.

[Erica Ci]

hey everyone, question about PDO -- i'm a full-grant recipient for Indonesia. i have a fiance, not officially a legal dependent, who will come to DC with me. do you think they'll pay for her? or should i get a single room and we can stay there together? in that case, any idea how much the 1/2 cost of the room is?

thanks!

-nick

My husband and I are going to fly him to DC, and we have to pay for the extra night & 1/2 of cost on the other 2 nights. So it's gonna be an extra $520, but he's never been to DC and he can't accompany me for 80% of trip. Maybe you should just get married & take her with you if she could go for 80% of trip as a dependent. I'm not sure if Indonesia covers dependents, but UAE does because they have traditional Muslim family-values. I wish he could go though .... I'd even get an extra $200/month!

[tliu]

Were you guys notified when they received your medical forms? Just want to make sure everything was going along smoothly.

[westcoasttoast]

Apparently Fulbright encourages us to wait until after we physically receive the letter from the university for our visa explicitly stating the date the visa begins, because occasionally dates of arrival have been pushed back by the university and I've also heard of cases last year where people did not receive the visa letters until October and couldn't leave until then. I have been emailing the people from the university I'll be at and they told me mine will begin August 30. I still haven't got the visa letter yet but I'm really anxious to just buy the ticket since the prices are only gonna get higher. Hopefully university people are doing everything correctly.

That Bt-store.com that I was unsure about, BTW, I think is legit. I read their terms & conditions and its good. They also have a possibility to pay an extra fee if you need to switch flights (if the new flight is available, of course).

Hey Studentb2011 - this only would apply to ETA grantees, not research grantees as computerdating asked. For a research grant, the University or organization can't tell you when to arrive, it's up to you to decide and try to conform to your countries start and end dates. I reached out to IIE about buying the plane tickets and at least for the Italy research people, they said it was fine to buy the tickets now, and even sent me an info packet (not the official grant signature pages, but some of the info from that packet) that outlined the rules regarding travel. They basically told me to book my flights for the dates I wanted since I had already requested a visa that extended longer than the dates of the grant on my original info form (so, my grant start date is Oct 10th, but i requested that my visa start on Oct 1st).

Erica Ci - Dont forget you have to book your flight with an American Flag Carrier - soooo Lufthansa doesn't count. It could be different for UAE grantees, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Fulbright website makes it pretty clear you can't book your ticket with a foreign airline unless you absolutely have to (such as when a US carrier doesn't fly to your country)

[readtowin]

I sincerely doubt that it's from the US, particularly since it's funding for ETAs. The US cut funding this year by a considerable amount, and ETAs seem to benefit the host country more than they do the US.

The information you're looking for is so program-specific that, unless there is a Fulbright official lurking around this forum, I doubt that anyone here will be able to answer your questions. There is no formula for how things are divvied out.

I know how much it hurts to be so close. I made myself sick over it. My family kept on telling me not to worry about it, but it's hard. But they were right: sometimes the more you want something, the more likely it will squirm and fight to get away from you. So as hard as it is, it's best to be proactive and start working on the next big thing. That was the last thing I wanted to do, but once I did, time went by a lot faster, and I didn't have all that stress to make me sick. I'm sure that your life will be amazing, no matter what happens, because you are determined for it to be so.

If there is no formula for this, then how can someone improve their application for next year? Is there any advice on what someone should do if they intend to apply again?

I will be certified to teach English by the end of this summer, although it is too late to tell Fulbright that information for this application season.

Edited May 30, 2011 by readtowin

[Nejire]

If there is no formula for this, then how can someone improve their application for next year? Is there any advice on what someone should do if they intend to apply again?

I will be certified to teach English by the end of this summer, although it is too late to tell Fulbright that information for this application season.

I would check into applying through your alma mater. http://us.fulbrightonline.org/preparing_enrolledatlarge.html

[studentb2011]

Hey Studentb2011 - this only would apply to ETA grantees, not research grantees as computerdating asked. For a research grant, the University or organization can't tell you when to arrive, it's up to you to decide and try to conform to your countries start and end dates. I reached out to IIE about buying the plane tickets and at least for the Italy research people, they said it was fine to buy the tickets now, and even sent me an info packet (not the official grant signature pages, but some of the info from that packet) that outlined the rules regarding travel. They basically told me to book my flights for the dates I wanted since I had already requested a visa that extended longer than the dates of the grant on my original info form (so, my grant start date is Oct 10th, but i requested that my visa start on Oct 1st).

Erica Ci - Dont forget you have to book your flight with an American Flag Carrier - soooo Lufthansa doesn't count. It could be different for UAE grantees, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Fulbright website makes it pretty clear you can't book your ticket with a foreign airline unless you absolutely have to (such as when a US carrier doesn't fly to your country)

Oh, I see. Yeah most of the info Fulbright pushes out is directed toward full granters, so it can be confusing. You guys are lucky you have more of a say in what you're doing (and I think you get more money than us!).

[studentb2011]

Were you guys notified when they received your medical forms? Just want to make sure everything was going along smoothly.

You'll receive an email when it is finally cleared by the State dept but not when you initially mail it to Fulbright. That's why I just mailed it to IIE with tracking.

[Erica Ci]

Hey Studentb2011 - this only would apply to ETA grantees, not research grantees as computerdating asked. For a research grant, the University or organization can't tell you when to arrive, it's up to you to decide and try to conform to your countries start and end dates. I reached out to IIE about buying the plane tickets and at least for the Italy research people, they said it was fine to buy the tickets now, and even sent me an info packet (not the official grant signature pages, but some of the info from that packet) that outlined the rules regarding travel. They basically told me to book my flights for the dates I wanted since I had already requested a visa that extended longer than the dates of the grant on my original info form (so, my grant start date is Oct 10th, but i requested that my visa start on Oct 1st).

Erica Ci - Dont forget you have to book your flight with an American Flag Carrier - soooo Lufthansa doesn't count. It could be different for UAE grantees, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Fulbright website makes it pretty clear you can't book your ticket with a foreign airline unless you absolutely have to (such as when a US carrier doesn't fly to your country)

Thanks, I appreciate your info because I've not even begun with that part...

I haven't been able to book flights because I literally have just been notified. My hubby has to decide if he's going to DC cuz then we have to pay extra for the room or something. Honestly, I'd just rather book now but I have to wait until Tuesday when I can speak with them regarding paying for my husband to come to DC & paying 1/2 the hotel costs because of that. They sent the links to register for tickets Friday evening... so I've had no time yet.

[crimsonengineer87]

Hey Studentb2011 - this only would apply to ETA grantees, not research grantees as computerdating asked. For a research grant, the University or organization can't tell you when to arrive, it's up to you to decide and try to conform to your countries start and end dates. I reached out to IIE about buying the plane tickets and at least for the Italy research people, they said it was fine to buy the tickets now, and even sent me an info packet (not the official grant signature pages, but some of the info from that packet) that outlined the rules regarding travel. They basically told me to book my flights for the dates I wanted since I had already requested a visa that extended longer than the dates of the grant on my original info form (so, my grant start date is Oct 10th, but i requested that my visa start on Oct 1st).

Erica Ci - Dont forget you have to book your flight with an American Flag Carrier - soooo Lufthansa doesn't count. It could be different for UAE grantees, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Fulbright website makes it pretty clear you can't book your ticket with a foreign airline unless you absolutely have to (such as when a US carrier doesn't fly to your country)

Is the booking with an American carrier if you are booking flights by yourself and not through an agency? I know for Germany we are basically "told" to go through STA travel who can book us any flight .. .and we can do it ourselves ... but they said that if something went wrong then at least we can blame STA or something But my flight is with Luftansa ... but I think it is different with each country ... but as with everything, you should ask and make sure before booking a flight if that is true. Or just to get more information ....

[westcoasttoast]

Is the booking with an American carrier if you are booking flights by yourself and not through an agency? I know for Germany we are basically "told" to go through STA travel who can book us any flight .. .and we can do it ourselves ... but they said that if something went wrong then at least we can blame STA or something But my flight is with Luftansa ... but I think it is different with each country ... but as with everything, you should ask and make sure before booking a flight if that is true. Or just to get more information ....

I think the difference may arise for grants that are paid for by the US Government, and with grants that are paid for by foreign funds, which may be a difference between ETA and research grants. If you google "Fly America Act", you should get some good info, here's the first site that comes up:

http://www.tvlon.com/resources/FlyAct.html

this is from the full Grant handbook, also available on the Fulbright website:

Travel Regulations

As a Fulbright Fellow, you must fly round-trip on a U.S.-flag air carrier as far as possible to your final destination. This is a U.S. government regulation that applies to most Fulbright Grants. The only exceptions to this rule are for those whose travel is arranged for them by the Fulbright Commission in their host countries. Otherwise, all grantees are expected to adhere to this rule.

All air travel and all air shipments paid for from United States government funds must conform to the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act of 1974 (49 U.S.C. 40118). This Act

requires that such travel and shipments be on U.S.-flag carriers where such service is available.

I don't think they'd post that on the general Fulbright website if that wasn't the case...and it sounds like it's the law for all funding provided by Uncle Sam. The only exception they mention is when travel is arranged for grantees by the Fulbright Commission in the host country, which it sounds like may be the case with Germany. Long story short: yes definitely ask and get more info!

[crimsonengineer87]

I think the difference may arise for grants that are paid for by the US Government, and with grants that are paid for by foreign funds, which may be a difference between ETA and research grants. If you google "Fly America Act", you should get some good info, here's the first site that comes up:

http://www.tvlon.com...ces/FlyAct.html

this is from the full Grant handbook, also available on the Fulbright website:

Travel Regulations

As a Fulbright Fellow, you must fly round-trip on a U.S.-flag air carrier as far as possible to your final destination. This is a U.S. government regulation that applies to most Fulbright Grants. The only exceptions to this rule are for those whose travel is arranged for them by the Fulbright Commission in their host countries. Otherwise, all grantees are expected to adhere to this rule.

All air travel and all air shipments paid for from United States government funds must conform to the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act of 1974 (49 U.S.C. 40118). This Act

requires that such travel and shipments be on U.S.-flag carriers where such service is available.

I don't think they'd post that on the general Fulbright website if that wasn't the case...and it sounds like it's the law for all funding provided by Uncle Sam. The only exception they mention is when travel is arranged for grantees by the Fulbright Commission in the host country, which it sounds like may be the case with Germany. Long story short: yes definitely ask and get more info!

Oh! I didn't even know this! Thanks for posting that so others know! Yeah, I didn't know there was a difference b/t what could be done with funds from the US Gov't and Fulbright Commissions from each gov't. Very interesting. But I guess this makes sense now. We've moved past the round when we deal with the IIE and US Dept of State and deal with Commissions of different countries, which may have different systems/rules of doing things! Thanks!

[MoltBé]

Sorry if this has been answered, but I am just want to make sure I understand this correctly:

For the PDO, if we want to stay an extra day or two, we cover the lodging, extra costs, etc. - but what about the flight? You just book the flight back for, say 2 days later than the end of orientation and it is still covered by Fulbright?

Thanks!