Critical Language Scholarship 2022 Applicants

[nessaragu]

On 1/13/2022 at 12:59 PM, SpearmintFeldmore said:

Do you all think I would be a competivie applicant for Arabic in 2023?

After graduating from college and taking two years off to teach English to refugees, I'm about to start an MA in Applied Linguistics at a state school. I took 3 formal semesters of Arabic in college and 2 at a local Arab cultural center since then. I aspire to use my language skills to better communicate with my future Arabic-speaking students, as well as possibly start another refugee-serving nonprofit.

I don't have any impressive fellowships/academic society leadership positions on my resume. Plus, I aspire to be an ESOL teacher/program leader/curriculum developer, not work for the state department. Will these factors preclude me from recieving the CLS for Arabic? I know how competitive it is, and when applying for Fulbright, I got the sense that these state dept programs may favor those with national honors and political ambitions. I do have extensive, relevant volunteer experience (with refugees and at the Arab cultural center), if that helps.

Thanks!

You should apply whether you feel you’re “qualified” on paper or not. Talk about your passion for language, how you feel about your target language, and how you plan to incorporate your target language use into your lifestyle after your program. They’re not looking for resumes, they’re definitely looking for people.

Tell your story! Coming from a 2022 ambassador for CLS ❤️

[ohdunk]

On 1/13/2022 at 1:59 PM, SpearmintFeldmore said:

Do you all think I would be a competivie applicant for Arabic in 2023?

After graduating from college and taking two years off to teach English to refugees, I'm about to start an MA in Applied Linguistics at a state school. I took 3 formal semesters of Arabic in college and 2 at a local Arab cultural center since then. I aspire to use my language skills to better communicate with my future Arabic-speaking students, as well as possibly start another refugee-serving nonprofit.

I don't have any impressive fellowships/academic society leadership positions on my resume. Plus, I aspire to be an ESOL teacher/program leader/curriculum developer, not work for the state department. Will these factors preclude me from recieving the CLS for Arabic? I know how competitive it is, and when applying for Fulbright, I got the sense that these state dept programs may favor those with national honors and political ambitions. I do have extensive, relevant volunteer experience (with refugees and at the Arab cultural center), if that helps.

Thanks!

I agree with nessaragu, definitely apply regardless of whether you think you're competitive! No reason to limit yourself when that's the job of selection committees anyway. I think you'd be a great candidate though! Your dedication to the language and the people over the course of several years shows CLS that you're going to follow through and continue using it. I also had a non-traditional language background (heritage speaker) and didn't have any national honors beforehand either. Definitely apply! Talk to your campus advisors and CLS Alumni Ambassadors (when they're announced for this year), because I think you have a great background for the scholarship!

[Sb7128]

Hey guys, do you think we will hear this week?! I’m spiraling a bit into self-doubt as I read more and more about people who’ve had to apply several times. Eek! 

[StevenM]

5 minutes ago, Sb7128 said:

Hey guys, do you think we will hear this week?! I’m spiraling a bit into self-doubt as I read more and more about people who’ve had to apply several times. Eek! 

Really hope it's this week; I am applying for the second time, so I hope I can get it! Good luck!

[Sb7128]

1 minute ago, StevenM said:

Really hope it's this week; I am applying for the second time, so I hope I can get it! Good luck!

Good luck to you as well! Persistence is an admirable trait. I read in the past that the announcements tend to come around 4-5pm ET, do you have any experience with that?

[StevenM]

3 minutes ago, Sb7128 said:

Good luck to you as well! Persistence is an admirable trait. I read in the past that the announcements tend to come around 4-5pm ET, do you have any experience with that?

Yeah, I just looked at when I received my notification last year - Tue, Jan 19, 2021, 3:34 PM EST; therefore, it's not too far away from that. 

[archanonymous]

I received my notification last year at 2:35 EST for semifinalist. It could come in later, though, as my alternate announcement was sent at 5:30 pm. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by archanonymous

[ohdunk]

The email refreshing has begun. Hopefully not in vain!

edit: alright it was in vain. the waiting game continues.

Edited January 18, 2022 by ohdunk

[clairvoux]

I

13 minutes ago, ohdunk said:

The email refreshing has begun. Hopefully not in vain!

edit: alright it was in vain. the waiting game continues.

Same here. I've been checking my e-mail even more so the past week. I'm so nervous! ? (Even though I thought had set myself up to not expect much, the moment I saw the acceptance rate before beginning my application. I guess I can't help it. haha) 

 

[CoffeeCatsCorgis]

Applying to CLS while simultaneously having apps out to 7 PhD programs is going to be the end of me! Every time I hear my e-mail chime, I jump!

[nessaragu]

1 hour ago, Sb7128 said:

Good luck to you as well! Persistence is an admirable trait. I read in the past that the announcements tend to come around 4-5pm ET, do you have any experience with that?

I received my semi-finalist notification (Korean) January 19 at 2:25 EST last year.

[ohdunk]

Much to my surprise, it's starting to look like we're not getting the semifinal notifications today! A watched email never boils I guess. Fingers crossed we hear back soon!

[Sb7128]

Putting good energy out that we hear today! 

[socrytes]

 

On 1/13/2022 at 10:59 AM, SpearmintFeldmore said:

Do you all think I would be a competivie applicant for Arabic in 2023?

After graduating from college and taking two years off to teach English to refugees, I'm about to start an MA in Applied Linguistics at a state school. I took 3 formal semesters of Arabic in college and 2 at a local Arab cultural center since then. I aspire to use my language skills to better communicate with my future Arabic-speaking students, as well as possibly start another refugee-serving nonprofit.

I don't have any impressive fellowships/academic society leadership positions on my resume. Plus, I aspire to be an ESOL teacher/program leader/curriculum developer, not work for the state department. Will these factors preclude me from recieving the CLS for Arabic? I know how competitive it is, and when applying for Fulbright, I got the sense that these state dept programs may favor those with national honors and political ambitions. I do have extensive, relevant volunteer experience (with refugees and at the Arab cultural center), if that helps.

Thanks!

The most important thing they look for in an application is that you demonstrate how this program will help you with your long-term development. They explicitly say for this program that they look for people with a variety of backgrounds and future plans. I am a PhD student in STEM who wants to study the mathematical properties of machine learning models trained on different languages. I expressed no interest or intent to go into government at all. 

I received a CLS for Persian last year and applied again this year. You most definitely would be eligible and I'd imagine you would be quite competitive. Just be sure to tell your story!

I strongly recommend you reach out to the scholarship office at your current school though. Their advisers are often very helpful at guiding you to craft your message.

Edited January 19, 2022 by socrytes

[clairvoux]

 

Since it seems like only one year has gotten the results later than the 19th, I figured it would be unlikely to get them later than today. Someone on the unofficial CLS Facebook group reported that the results are running late, however. 

 

Hopefully they come out sooner! ?

 

 

[ohdunk]

Oh I really hope not! According to Umenohana's post in the 2021 thread the latest the semifinals have come out in recent years was January 28. I'm really hoping they don't come out that late... Maybe they'll come out tomorrow? Hopefully? Waiting for both the CLS and Fulbright semifinals has been frying my brain this month. Best of luck to everyone- both for the scholarship and for staying sane while we wait! 

[강수미]

Hey guys I just read in the handbook that we should expect a notification from CLS in late January, which probably means within the last 10 days of this month (Jan 21-31). Perhaps by next week Tuesday (Jan 25) or at the latest January 31…

[socrytes]

Check your emails, everyone. Semifinalist!!

[Sb7128]

I just got my notification, semifinalist for Russian!

[clairvoux]

Congrats!

I still haven't gotten word for Japanese. Does that mean they send out the results at a different time for each program?

[StevenM]

6 minutes ago, clairvoux said:

Congrats!

I still haven't gotten word for Japanese. Does that mean they send out the results at a different time for each program?

I haven't heard anything either, but apparently, people who applied for Russian have already received their notifications. I'm not sure about the Japanese CLS Program, but I hope you get it either way. 

[clairvoux]

1 minute ago, StevenM said:

I haven't heard anything either, but apparently, people who applied for Russian have already received their notifications. I'm not sure about the Japanese CLS Program, but I hope you get it either way. 

Thank you! Which program are you applying for? I hope you get it as well! I'm thrumming with nervous energy now. ?

 

[archanonymous]

Has anyone received Turkish notifications yet?

[StevenM]

2 minutes ago, clairvoux said:

Thank you! Which program are you applying for? I hope you get it as well! I'm thrumming with nervous energy now. ?

 

I've applied for the Russian CLS Program; this would be my second application, hope I can get it this time D:, but it's looking kinda grim. Same feeling tho, nervous as hell and I'm currently in a lecture now lol. 

Apparently, Arabic, Indonesian, Persian, Chinese, and Russian have already been released according to some users' experiences on the CLS Facebook. 

[clairvoux]

Just got notification for Japan. Well, I didn't make it seems. Dang, I knew it was a long shot, but I still held out hope. 

Good luck to all you semi-finalists!