aronofsky Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I talked to Rachel today. She made me stipulate if I was a finalist for ETA or Full to Spain, at which point she told me "between one and two weeks." I hope to God that the protests don't continue much longer/turn violent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestLove Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Does anyone have any insight into the flexibility of fellowship dates? In other words, would I be able to postpone the "10 month grant period, from September through June," as is listed on my country page, for January-October? Does anyone have any experience rescheduling a Fulbright full grant? Many thanks, everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdw Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) I've been accepted as an ETA to Norway! The notification was sent yesterday at 6 PM EST. Edited March 30, 2012 by rdw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kexin Renlei Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Everyone, I am hours late with this (because for my own sanity I now only check this board once a day), but... I'm really disappointed that a group of Fulbright finalists, of all people, would be so insensitive to the issues that Smurfgurl raises, and which I fully agree are troubling. Some of the information they request sounds pertinent (i.e. whether we have a history of violence due to mental illness), and some does not (i.e. HIV status, pap smear results - if all they want is for us to GET a pap, they could make the doctor sign something saying we had one, without providing results). Surely anyone on this board can appreciate the difference between necessary and unnecessary information, even if they happen to appear on the same form. For China finalists, so far they have alerted us that we'll have to do the Chinese government's physical, and it is very thorough. But filling out a form required by the host government, and stating your HIV status, in order to apply for a visa is something Fulbright can't control. When Fulbright requires us to provide information that doesn't seem necessary on THEIR OWN form, that's needlessly invasive. And Smurfgurl makes the excellent point that providing this information to your foreign host institution if they require it is not the same as mailing it directly to the scholarship program, the people involved in evaluating the strength of your proposal. I also think it's unlikely Fulbright would use the information inappropriately, but that doesn't change the fact that it's poor procedure. I hope those of you who pointed out that the Fulbright is a privilege and not a right, that it is worth some sacrifice, that we ought to be grateful, or that you doubt furnishing this info will compromise your application...the implication of what you're saying is that if Smurfgurl doesn't want to provide the info she doesn't have to accept the scholarship. But that doesn't get at the core issue - that is wrong and unnecessary for Fulbright to ask for some of the info they requested. I'm afraid the logic you're drawing on - telling people if they don't like something, just leave - is the kind of logic that busts unions and passes Patriot Acts. Smurfgurl, I appreciate the principled stand you're taking, but I hope you won't let the Fulbright program's inappropriate request hurt you and your future. If it were me, I'd work within the system. Accept it first, fill out the ridiculous form, wait till they're past the point of no return to give you the money, and then you, your advisor and your campus representative submit formal complaints. And I think Smurfgurl did exactly the right thing YELLING IN ALL CAPS, because what could she do? Some of you simply weren't listening to her. bdoll, lg702, oa0176 and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyles Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) I hope those of you who pointed out that the Fulbright is a privilege and not a right, that it is worth some sacrifice, that we ought to be grateful, or that you doubt furnishing this info will compromise your application...the implication of what you're saying is that if Smurfgurl doesn't want to provide the info she doesn't have to accept the scholarship. But that doesn't get at the core issue - that is wrong and unnecessary for Fulbright to ask for some of the info they requested. I'm afraid the logic you're drawing on - telling people if they don't like something, just leave - is the kind of logic that busts unions and passes Patriot Acts. Hold up. I don't think that's what anyone was saying AT ALL. That the Fulbright is a privilege and not a right is not the same logic. My logic was more of a consumer, I-want-therefore-I-must-get model (ie. students saying that because they paid for this class, they should get an A). Just because someone wants or thinks they deserve something doesn't mean they should get it, and it was her sense of entitlement that surprised me. Of course she is entitled to privacy of certain medical information, but there wasn't anything on that form that violates HIPAA. If she has a problem with that, she needs to take it up with the federal legislature, not Fulbright. And there are some things that are, like it or not, just not currently accessible to certain people because of their own limitations or those in our society's or technology. A color-blind person is not allowed to pilot a plane. There are travel restrictions on those with HIV. Any number of other countries won't allow carriers of other communicable diseases. Many of the countries do not allow dependents -- I read on one of the country pages that they prefered unmarried people without dependents and who were under 30. That could be construed as invasive or discriminatory. I say this because I'm assuming that it was not only her privacy of the medical information she was up in arms about, but that the information on that form could be used in a discriminatory (or exclusionary) manner. There may be a question on there that would take someone out of the running, based on their country. Who knows. Too many variables. But we do it every day, and usually for a good reason. This doesn't make one sympathetic to the Patriot Act. But her "right" to a Fulbright -- which is different from the fundamental human rights the Patriot Acts infringes upon, but is a prestigious, voluntary research grant, for crying out loud -- shouldn't come at the expense of another's safety or health. Or at least, that's not just her call. Personally, I don't think anything on that form was all that invasive to begin with. It was asking for pretty elementary medical information -- a basic intake form for any doctor's office or signing up for new health insurance. Not to exclude someone for a pre-existing condition, but so the insurance company can project their risk and costs -- and the Fulbright does provide health insurance, and this is the only medical form they asked for. It's not Big Brother. It's Big Pharma, if she has a problem with the questions asked. Asking for actual lab reports, psychological evaluations, and/or indicating that I had to go to a certain doctor would all be major red flags for this type of thing, I would concede, but they didn't. So there's room to work with her doctor on how they present some of that information and how much they disclose. Some of the "requirements" were also mentioned in the qualifications section before we even applied, like HIV status, which has nothing to do with the US government and everything to do with facilitating visas. Edit: fixed a typo. Edited March 30, 2012 by heyles bdoll and BestCoast 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleytris Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 An email from Rachel, signed by Theresa Granza, informed me at 7:49 CT that I have alternate status as a full grant applicant to Finland. rdw 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedievalHistory1124 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 recommended for a full grant to Italy. not expecting to hear anything anytime soon, but it's good to know i'm not the only one dying from the anticipation! Lemons, what is your project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdoll Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) Hold up. I don't think that's what anyone was saying AT ALL. That the Fulbright is a privilege and not a right is not the same logic. My logic was more of a consumer, I-want-therefore-I-must-get model (ie. students saying that because they paid for this class, they should get an A). Just because someone wants or thinks they deserve something doesn't mean they should get it, and it was her sense of entitlement that surprised me. Of course she is entitled to privacy of certain medical information, but there wasn't anything on that form that violates HIPAA. If she has a problem with that, she needs to take it up with the federal legislature, not Fulbright. And there are some things that are, like it or not, just not currently accessible to certain people because of their own limitations or those in our society's or technology. A color-blind person is not allowed to pilot a plane. There are travel restrictions on those with HIV. Any number of other countries won't allow carriers of other communicable diseases. Many of the countries do not allow dependents -- I read on one of the country pages that they prefered unmarried people without dependents and who were under 30. That could be construed as invasive or discriminatory. I say this because I'm assuming that it was not only her privacy of the medical information she was up in arms about, but that the information on that form could be used in a discriminatory (or exclusionary) manner. There may be a question on there that would take someone out of the running, based on their country. Who knows. Too many variables. But we do it every day, and usually for a good reason. This doesn't make one sympathetic to the Patriot Act. But her "right" to a Fulbright -- which is different from the fundamental human rights the Patriot Acts infringes upon, but is a prestigious, voluntary research grant, for crying out loud -- shouldn't come at the expense of another's safety or health. Or at least, that's not just her call. Personally, I don't think anything on that form was all that invasive to begin with. It was asking for pretty elementary medical information -- a basic intake form for any doctor's office or signing up for new health insurance. Not to exclude someone for a pre-existing condition, but so the insurance company can project their risk and costs -- and the Fulbright does provide health insurance, and this is the only medical form they asked for. It's not Big Brother. It's Big Pharma, if she has a problem with the questions asked. Asking for actual lab reports, psychological evaluations, and/or indicating that I had to go to a certain doctor would all be major red flags for this type of thing, I would concede, but they didn't. So there's room to work with her doctor on how they present some of that information and how much they disclose. Some of the "requirements" were also mentioned in the qualifications section before we even applied, like HIV status, which has nothing to do with the US government and everything to do with facilitating visas. Edit: fixed a typo. I am just too f**ckin' tired to get into this on this fine Friday morning, but Heyles said pretty much what I was going to say. I don't believe anyone has said the words that you're putting into our mouths here, Kexin. If you look back at my post, I hope it shows that I do understand smurfgirl's discomfort with sharing her medical information, and I suggested that there's plenty of room for her to work with her doctor to share the amount of information about herself that she is comfortable with. It's only if she wishes to disclose nothing at that that it seems likely she won't be able to in good conscience take the grant, which would be unfortunate. I'm also not sure if I made this clear previously, but it is the State Department's requirement, not the Fulbright Scholarship Board's, that we turn in the medical forms in order to gain a medical clearance for travel and residence abroad. The FSB is twelve extremely busy individuals who I'm sure have no interest in reviewing your individual pap smear records. I don't doubt that many of the questions asked (like about pap smears) have to do with identifying pre-existing conditions. If you've ever filled out an application for health insurance or disability insurance (my god, even harder to get than just normal insurance), you will have shared information that is even more detailed than what is requested on this form, and with little to no flexibility. And just as a note, if you feel the need to resort to typing in all caps on an internet forum, it's pretty much a given that you're not going to get any concessions at that point and people are not going to be paying attention to you for much longer. Edited March 30, 2012 by bdoll BestCoast and pelevinfan 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdoll Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Latvia's page has said there is a pre-departure orientation since I can remember checking it last semester. But in all other Fulbright literature, it's been pretty clear that only a few countries are being included this year (and Latvia isn't one of them). I would not assume the country summary to be a beacon of truth. Yep, I'm inclined to agree with you now. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the country summaries were just kind of generally updated sometime after the previous year's competition is over and they decided to do away with most of the pre-departure orientations sometime after that, maybe as a cost-cutting measure or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha887 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) Hi all, Congratulations to all applicants who have been accepted thus far. I am arriving late to the blogosphere for post-undergrad/grad and doctoral thesis scholarships. I am a recommended Venezuelan ETA applicant. Does anyone know anything about the notification date? I am originally from Venezuela, if you have questions just let me know!! Did you apply for Caracas? Edited March 30, 2012 by sasha887 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strgrl522 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I talked to Rachel today. She made me stipulate if I was a finalist for ETA or Full to Spain, at which point she told me "between one and two weeks." I hope to God that the protests don't continue much longer/turn violent. Thanks for calling her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfessorKate Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Accepted as an ETA to Poland! I received my email at 8:49am today. I'm pretty surprised that I got it. Everyone I know who has applied for an ETA grant with 1 or more dependents has been rejected. I told my fiance to excpect that I would be turned down; he's as shocked/elated as I am! Srunner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolc Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Congrats ProfessorKate, As of 9:49 AM EST today I was accepted on a Full Grant to Poland Jumping out of my skin right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CairoKid Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Even though Poland is in no way relevant to my studies (Middle Eastern politics), I'm super jealous of everyone getting grants there. My dad's family is from Poland (and all but my dad and grandmother still live there). And I'm too poor to have ever gone and I JUST WANT TO GO! Somebody take me with youuuuu! haha. I'm trying super hard to save up to maybe go this summer (I'm counting on getting a little bit of money for graduation... please???). Sorry for this spastic, completely irrelevant post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPlaza Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I received an email from Rachel Holskin today. I won a Fulbright Full Grant. The details are as follows: Grant Location: Poland Grant Type: Full Research Scholarship Date of Notification: March 30 Time of Notification: 9:49 AM Initial Notification Type: Email Formal Notification Type: Mail (Will come in a few days, according to the email). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerslp Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Even though Poland is in no way relevant to my studies (Middle Eastern politics), I'm super jealous of everyone getting grants there. My dad's family is from Poland (and all but my dad and grandmother still live there). And I'm too poor to have ever gone and I JUST WANT TO GO! Somebody take me with youuuuu! haha. I'm trying super hard to save up to maybe go this summer (I'm counting on getting a little bit of money for graduation... please???). Sorry for this spastic, completely irrelevant post. I'm also jealous! But I spent a summer there a few years go. It's an absolutely beautiful and charming country. Definitely one of Europe's best kept secrets haha. CairoKid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPliske8711 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) He heard via e-mail. I just had an email conversation which was pretty political and straight forward basically saying that it is a difficult decision and many things have to be taken into account including space, number of applicants and funding in question so... the paragraph could be summed up to one part: Mid-April at the latest.That your friend got the rejection means that they are perhaps going through the disqualifications now, which means you should be happy that your haven't heard yet. Remember how we were the first to hear about our Fulbright Status for Germany? Edited March 30, 2012 by TheodPliske8711 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CairoKid Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I'm also jealous! But I spent a summer there a few years go. It's an absolutely beautiful and charming country. Definitely one of Europe's best kept secrets haha. Ahhh. I must go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nothingatall Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I just got the email at 9:49 from Rachel Holskin: I got a full grant to Poland! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMJE89 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 For the Germany ETA'ers out there: Anyone know how/when we arrange our flights to Germany? I know we probably begin our jobs in early September, but I'd love to get to Germany earlier (around August) and travel a bit. I heard that we find out information regarding how to make the arrangements through STA and we are reimbursed for it. It has to be an American provider (Delta, American, etc) because of some Act, the name of which I do not remember. I think most Germany ETAs have left the forum, instead choosing to chat on our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/410265979000617/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewJ Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Hello everyone. I'd like to include my information in the spreadsheet. I e-mailed it to the address (fulbright2012.2013@gmail.com) yesterday, although it hasn't appeared on the spreadsheet yet. Name: AndrewJ Country: Ukraine Region: Europe & Eurasia Grant Type: Full Status: Recommended Academic Status: Grad Thank you, AndrewJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewJ Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Wow. That was quick. I see my information has already been updated on the spreadsheet. Thank you to whomever updates it so quickly. boxoatoc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Bee Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Hello everyone. I'd like to include my information in the spreadsheet. I e-mailed it to the address (fulbright2012.2013@gmail.com) yesterday, although it hasn't appeared on the spreadsheet yet. Name: AndrewJ Country: Ukraine Region: Europe & Eurasia Grant Type: Full Status: Recommended Academic Status: Grad Thank you, AndrewJ Hi Andrew- welcome to the craziness that is this forum. I am very interested in grants to ukraine, since I am a finalist for Romania, right next door :-) Where would you be going? What is your topic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleytris Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 WHY DOES SWEDEN KNOW BUT NOT FINLAND????!!!??!?? ARRRGGGHHHH!!!! ksorrydonefreakingoutnow Stately Plump- Have you heard anything yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mharb22 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Hey guys, Never posted here before but I've been taking advantage of the information that's been gathered and figured the least I could do is contribute. Country: Poland Type: ETA Status: Accepted How: Email, 3/30/12. Congrats to all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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