Fulbright 2012-2013

[Mockingjay]

I have yet to hear anything yet either. Do you know anyone who got rejected? I've only read about one on this forum, but that's it. Hopefully soon, I don't think I can play this waiting game any more!

Someone from my school received a rejection email last week. I was doing fine (well, more or less ) with the waiting until I heard that! Now I just don't get why they'd wait so long to give everyone else an answer.

[texasdaisy008]

Re: Morocco/MENA

I applied for a full fellowship last year and made it past the first committee review. I didn't receive the rejection until about April 18th (via courrier though). I decided to resubmit my proposal this year, since I knew it was successful the first time around. I'm under the impression that we'll probably hear back around the same time.

I know it is nerve-wrecking to patient. However, having been rejected once makes it much more easier to prepare for an unsatisfactory response, although, I am more prepared and hopeful this year.

Which country was this for? And do many countries notify via snail mail? I don't even know what address I gave them...

[SCW88]

I don't think anyone else in my school applied to the Austria USTA (granted, I do go to a small school haha). Two people applied for the German Fulbright and got them, though. Lucky them!

[TPliske8711]

Hmmm I wonder if they send out all of the rejections first and then move on to the acceptances/alternates? Ehhh, I don't want to get my hopes up too much...but I wish we could hear some feedback from past Austria USTA-ers!

Yea, I felt that way also and much like you I kind of stopped mid-track so that I would not get my hopes up.

Someone from my school received a rejection email last week. I was doing fine (well, more or less ) with the waiting until I heard that! Now I just don't get why they'd wait so long to give everyone else an answer.

Well, it now seems two posters have mentioned someone not getting it...

The waiting continues.

Edited April 5, 2012 by TheodPliske8711

[euphoria*]

Thank you so much for this post!

I am really nervous that I will be so close, and then get rejected.

Including your proposal, did you keep everything else the same in your application this year?

Are you a graduate student?

thanks!

What country did you apply to?

I took the opportunity to strenghten the proposal but my topic is the same. I really don't want to pursue research that isn't of interest to me for the sake of being awarded a Fulbright grant. If you are rejected, use that as an opportunity to strengthen your proposal and language skills (if need be). The good thing about the FB is that you can resubmit your proposal every year. So, although I understand how it feels, make your efforts count by sending it in again.

I am not in graduate school at the moment, but have done graduate work. I also applied to programs this year and am hearing back from a few PhD and MA ones.

[najrili]

Anyone heard about Macedonia?

I haven't heard anything, but maybe we'll be neighbors in the fall! I was recommended to Kosovo for an ETA and I've been DYIIIIIIIINNG to hear back. Hopefully, all of the Balkan states will hear on the same day ... like tomorrow! Wishful thinking, I know. haha I'm thinking about calling/emailing Rachel but I'm too scared

[jennywren237]

I was telling myself that too, but then I thought email notifications might speed things up a bit. On top of that, Australia heard way earlier this year- which means I'm constantly checking my email . What part of NZ are you hoping to go to? Have you ever been there before? Best of luck to you!

Me, too! Emails and Australia -- and also the spreadsheet with the passed four years notification dates: in '09 and '10 they notified late March/early April. Really wish I hadn't seen that; now I'm completely obsessed!

I hope to go to the University of Waikato in Hamilton to help with the development of some open source library software. I've never been to NZ before. What about you? What are your hopes and dreams for the Fulbright?

[euphoria*]

Which country was this for? And do many countries notify via snail mail? I don't even know what address I gave them...

Not sure. From what I gather things have changed a bit this year. It seems email is the current and only way to notify finalists.

I applied to Morocco for a full fellowship.

How about yourself? Where are you looking to go?

[djb1599]

I haven't heard anything, but maybe we'll be neighbors in the fall! I was recommended to Kosovo for an ETA and I've been DYIIIIIIIINNG to hear back. Hopefully, all of the Balkan states will hear on the same day ... like tomorrow! Wishful thinking, I know. haha I'm thinking about calling/emailing Rachel but I'm too scared

I emailed Rachel (as a response to the email about the summer workshop/orientation thing) and she said "2-3 weeks" (this was on 3/30, btw). I'm recommended as an ETA to Bosnia, though, so I have no clue if that timeline will hold true for Kosovo and/or Macedonia. But I think Bulgaria's already found out, as well as some others from eastern Europe. At this point, it seems hard to predict.

[lg702]

So, people who have been told "mid-late April"....any thoughts? I have a strong feeling I'll hear back by the end of next week, but I guess that's wishful thinking :/

Congrats on Romania, Eric, and to everyone else! Looks like it was a slow day; hopefully we'll hear more Thursday/Friday.

[FulbrightNZApplicant]

Me, too! Emails and Australia -- and also the spreadsheet with the passed four years notification dates: in '09 and '10 they notified late March/early April. Really wish I hadn't seen that; now I'm completely obsessed!

I hope to go to the University of Waikato in Hamilton to help with the development of some open source library software. I've never been to NZ before. What about you? What are your hopes and dreams for the Fulbright?

I've applied to the University of Canterbury in Christchurch to do research on child language development. I've also never been to NZ before- kind of scary as I keep reading about how in one year there were 7,500 earthquakes in Christchurch...

[pdx2012]

Waiting on USTA as well, not very hopeful though, but we are supposed to be hearing by the 15th the latest. As of now, we know that at least one person has received a rejection via email.

does anyone know more about the USTA selection process? I know someone who got rejected last week as well, and I'm wondering if they do it in rounds -- like Fulbright -- or if that was just a preliminary thing? Have they sent out all the flat-out rejections? I certainly hope so. Trying not to get my hopes up though (too late). I hope we hear earlier than the 15th, I don't think my nerves can take waiting that long. Also, a friend of mine got it last year (though she turned it down for Fulbright) and she heard on April 5. Soooo I guess it could be any time?

Edited April 5, 2012 by pdx2012

[TPliske8711]

PDX, if its anything like Fulbright, the longer we don't hear the higher the chance that we got accepted...

[boxoatoc]

I have a question about how all this works. Someone please set me straight!

1. IIE in Washington reviews all submissions.

2. IIE in Washington recommends finalists.

3. IIE sends recommended candidates to Embassies around the world.

4. Embassies pick who they want.

5. Embassies send back to IIE in Washington.

At this point, what does IIE do? Do they still weed through / reject based on funding? Once the Embassy decides, is it just a matter of IIE processing the paperwork / offer / etc. before they offer a grant? Or is there more to it?

What about regional grants? The country I applied to is part of a regional allotment of grants. Does that mean that IIE takes the picks from the countries in the region and makes a final cut? Or do countries know how many spots they're allotted before they choose who to send back to IIE?

Just curious. If anyone knows the answers to these questions or if I've misunderstood the process, I'd love to hear what's really up.

Edited April 5, 2012 by boxoatoc

[jahanzlik]

Wow. That sounds fantastic. I've proposed to do a 9 month MSc in Conflict Resolution and Governance at the University of Amsterdam. My focus (broadly) involves women in post-conflict zones as they recover from human rights abuses.

Wow, that is a great topic to be studying. A Fulbright Finalist at my school wants to go to Albania to travel around recording first-person experience of women in Albania. I hope you get the Fulbright!

[jahanzlik]

Wow, that is a great topic to be studying. A Fulbright Finalist at my school wants to go to Albania to travel around recording first-person experience of women in Albania. I hope you get the Fulbright!

Sorry about the small font, I really meant ... I hope you get the Fulbright!

[couscous90]

Not sure. From what I gather things have changed a bit this year. It seems email is the current and only way to notify finalists.

I applied to Morocco for a full fellowship.

How about yourself? Where are you looking to go?

Iridescence11 -- since you have experience already in applying to Morocco, I have a question for you if you don't mind answering it. In my application I didn't establish an affiliation with a university, mostly because much of my research would be archival and the affiliation I actually established (with a museum / library) seemed more helpful. Do you think this could work against me? Because another one of my friends established a university AND museum affiliation for his app to Fulbright last year, and he got it (for Egypt). So I just don't know if not taking university classes is something that will work against my application, because they might wonder what I'll do with all of my time if I'm not also doing something "academic" in nature? Just some questions that arise in my mind as I wait for a decision...

[Ecuador8]

Anyone want to speculate about when Alternates should hear? Do they notify as soon as a principal declines, or do they wait the full month?

[Molly Rowland]

For those of you interested in the USTA process. I have been stalking their website and they have a new document up which also outlines the time frame. Here is the link:

http://www.fulbright.at/fileadmin/user_upload/US_teaching_assistantships/resources/Pre-departure_Handbook.pdf

[Molly Rowland]

Also, if we don't hear anything tomorrow there is no need to start refreshing your inbox until Tuesday, as Monday is a holiday in Austria (Easter Monday).

I'd also like to add that students from my school that were accepted last year all found out on the same day. The one student who ended up being an alternate didn't hear anything until several weeks later. I believe he had to end up contacting them regarding his status.

Perhaps someone should e-mail them and ask what the exact date is going to be? I would by I've already e-mailed them way too many times.

Good luck to everyone!

Edited April 5, 2012 by Molly Rowland

[bdoll]

Anyone want to speculate about when Alternates should hear? Do they notify as soon as a principal declines, or do they wait the full month?

Hi Ecuador8,

LLJKedge received notification (along with what looks like the rest of the full grant applicants) on 3/13 that he/she was an alternate, and received notification that he was promoted to principle on 4/2 (or possibly before that, 4/2 was when it was posted on the forum I think). By my calculations that is a little less than three weeks, so it looks like they do notify as soon as they hear, probably to try and catch people before they put a deposit down on university or make some other binding plans. It may be different for different countries but I think LLJKedge heard from IIE rather than the in-country commission?

[kgba]

So, people who have been told "mid-late April"....any thoughts? I have a strong feeling I'll hear back by the end of next week, but I guess that's wishful thinking :/

Congrats on Romania, Eric, and to everyone else! Looks like it was a slow day; hopefully we'll hear more Thursday/Friday.

I'm a "mid-late April" applicant and I've been under the assumption that the floodgates will open next week - on Friday the 13th, of course

[jeb266]

So update from yesterday....I got awarded an ETA to Hungary!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy!

So glad I waited until I was home to open it with my husband. After opening it he unveiled a bottle of champagne and a big sign that said Congratulations _____! You did it!! I think the cutest thing though was that he had a box of popsicles in the freezer with a note on it that said "It's OK sweetheart. I still believe in you." Just in case I didn't get it!

I've already received a couple more emails about placement information and so forth. I got my initial notification from Rachel Holskin at 11:57 (on 4/4). Then another email from Rachel came at 6pm which gave links to various information such as medical clearance, consent form, address change, etc. and explaining that I would be getting more information from Hungary about in-country orientation and other items of business.

Then this morning I got an email from the American program manager in Hungary which had my Letter of Notification in PDF format attached to the email. In this email it notified me that I would be placed at the EducationUSA Advising Center in Budapest (which is what I was expecting because I asked about it before applying, but it's nice to know that hasn't changed), and they also explained that they are still talking with different universities to secure my second placement (which is where I will teach two college classes of my choice each semester). They gave me contact information of who my supervisor would be and said more materials would be sent to me in the mail. I will say, they seem to be pretty on top of it...Probably doesn't hurt having the European IIE office stationed in Budapest

[jahanzlik]

So update from yesterday....I got awarded an ETA to Hungary!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy!

So glad I waited until I was home to open it with my husband. After opening it he unveiled a bottle of champagne and a big sign that said Congratulations _____! You did it!! I think the cutest thing though was that he had a box of popsicles in the freezer with a note on it that said "It's OK sweetheart. I still believe in you." Just in case I didn't get it!

I've already received a couple more emails about placement information and so forth. I got my initial notification from Rachel Holskin at 11:57 (on 4/4). Then another email from Rachel came at 6pm which gave links to various information such as medical clearance, consent form, address change, etc. and explaining that I would be getting more information from Hungary about in-country orientation and other items of business.

Then this morning I got an email from the American program manager in Hungary which had my Letter of Notification in PDF format attached to the email. In this email it notified me that I would be placed at the EducationUSA Advising Center in Budapest (which is what I was expecting because I asked about it before applying, but it's nice to know that hasn't changed), and they also explained that they are still talking with different universities to secure my second placement (which is where I will teach two college classes of my choice each semester). They gave me contact information of who my supervisor would be and said more materials would be sent to me in the mail. I will say, they seem to be pretty on top of it...Probably doesn't hurt having the European IIE office stationed in Budapest

Congratulations and great planning by the Husband!

[jahanzlik]

Anyone want to speculate about when Alternates should hear? Do they notify as soon as a principal declines, or do they wait the full month?

Based on the previous years it looks like they wait a few weeks. Is there a week deadline for people to accept? For those who have gotten accepted, did they give you a time period in which you had to respond "Yes, I am taking this!"