Fulbright 2012-2013

[FullTimeAnxious]

I'm new to this board, but have been following, anxiously hoping for good news. I am a finalist for South Africa. Are they waiting for clearance on all of sub-saharan Africa to notify us?

I went ahead and accepted my graduate school offer because I had to by February. I was hoping if I get the Fulbright they would let me defer for a year, do any of you know how likely that is? I got into a grad school that has its own fulbright program (which I didn't apply for). Any advice is much appreciated!

You should consult with your school about this. The sooner you have clarity about the possibility of deferring, the sooner you'll be in a position to make an alternate's day (assuming that i) you are selected for the award and ii) your school will not permit you to defer). Also, the sooner you'll know whether you need to worry about the outcome of the Fulbright selection process!

I don't think the fact that your school has its own Fulbright process will impact their decision -- Fulbright grants are relatively unique in that they are official awarded to the grantees, rather than the institutions to which they are affiliated.

[ALSimon]

So for the Central America/Caribbean people

I emailed Pam and this was her response today at 3:43pm.

Hi XXXXXXX,

I am hoping notifications will go out sometime next week. Still waiting for final approval from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Best, Pam

So... again we run into the situation where they know, they just aren't telling us yet. Gaaaahhhh!

**Breathe**

Okay. Here's to next week. Hope it's shorter than this one.

[enkosi]

You should consult with your school about this. The sooner you have clarity about the possibility of deferring, the sooner you'll be in a position to make an alternate's day (assuming that i) you are selected for the award and ii) your school will not permit you to defer). Also, the sooner you'll know whether you need to worry about the outcome of the Fulbright selection process!

I don't think the fact that your school has its own Fulbright process will impact their decision -- Fulbright grants are relatively unique in that they are official awarded to the grantees, rather than the institutions to which they are affiliated.

thanks! I think I will talk to them soon. Just to clarify though, if I get fulbright, I am taking it. I'll just lose my grad school deposit and possibly the chance to be accepted there later on. Thats why I'm unsure if I should tell them now that I am a finalist for Fulbright (and lose potential funding if I don't get Fulbright), or wait until I (hopefully) get the Fulbright and then see if they will let me defer. If the do not let me defer, I will still take the fulbright. Thanks for your insight!

[enkosi]

thanks! I think I will talk to them soon. Just to clarify though, if I get fulbright, I am taking it. I'll just lose my grad school deposit and possibly the chance to be accepted there later on. Thats why I'm unsure if I should tell them now that I am a finalist for Fulbright (and lose potential funding if I don't get Fulbright), or wait until I (hopefully) get the Fulbright and then see if they will let me defer. If the do not let me defer, I will still take the fulbright. Thanks for your insight!

Also, I was unclear in my last post. The graduate school I have been accepted to is in Europe, and they have a partnership with Fulbright to pursue studies there. However, I did not apply for Fulbright to study there, I applied for Africa.

[FullTimeAnxious]

thanks! I think I will talk to them soon. Just to clarify though, if I get fulbright, I am taking it. I'll just lose my grad school deposit and possibly the chance to be accepted there later on. Thats why I'm unsure if I should tell them now that I am a finalist for Fulbright (and lose potential funding if I don't get Fulbright), or wait until I (hopefully) get the Fulbright and then see if they will let me defer. If the do not let me defer, I will still take the fulbright. Thanks for your insight!

Oh, I see! In that case, I suppose then there's not much of a point to contacting your school, unless you're really excited to attend that university and are anxious to know if you'll still get to go there even if you spend a year on the Fulbright. Still, if you wanted to know, I think you can ask them without risking funding. For one, you don't have to reveal what you did to us (i.e., that you'll take the Fulbright regardless of their answer). If anything, I see it only improving your chances to get funding (I guess making it to Fulbright finalist is CV-worthy).

Good luck!

[FullTimeAnxious]

FYI, an email to Jermaine bounced back the following auto-reply:

"I will be out of the office until Friday, April 20th. I may be checking emails periodically during this absence, but will certainly get back to you shortly after I return."

I say, let the speculation begin! What do you think, could this mean notifications will be sent next week and he's buying some time to respond to the barrage of emails that is sure to follow? Realistically he seems like a pretty straight shooter, and he's probably just a busy guy with obligations completely unrelated to Fulbright. I really need to find a way to relax about this...

[enkosi]

Oh, I see! In that case, I suppose then there's not much of a point to contacting your school, unless you're really excited to attend that university and are anxious to know if you'll still get to go there even if you spend a year on the Fulbright. Still, if you wanted to know, I think you can ask them without risking funding. For one, you don't have to reveal what you did to us (i.e., that you'll take the Fulbright regardless of their answer). If anything, I see it only improving your chances to get funding (I guess making it to Fulbright finalist is CV-worthy).

Good luck!

thanks! good luck to you too

[akche]

FYI, an email to Jermaine bounced back the following auto-reply:

"I will be out of the office until Friday, April 20th. I may be checking emails periodically during this absence, but will certainly get back to you shortly after I return."

I say, let the speculation begin! What do you think, could this mean notifications will be sent next week and he's buying some time to respond to the barrage of emails that is sure to follow? Realistically he seems like a pretty straight shooter, and he's probably just a busy guy with obligations completely unrelated to Fulbright. I really need to find a way to relax about this...

I'll jump into the fray on this -- I've been emailing him this week, as I have another opportunity that I need to let know by next Friday, so I wanted to know if we might hear by then. He basically said he can't guarantee a time frame, but we will hear by the end of the month. From the way he phrased it, I got the impression that the decisions have been made and he is just waiting on approval to send out notifications. Fingers crossed that we'll hear (early) next week!

[couscous90]

FYI, an email to Jermaine bounced back the following auto-reply:

"I will be out of the office until Friday, April 20th. I may be checking emails periodically during this absence, but will certainly get back to you shortly after I return."

I say, let the speculation begin! What do you think, could this mean notifications will be sent next week and he's buying some time to respond to the barrage of emails that is sure to follow? Realistically he seems like a pretty straight shooter, and he's probably just a busy guy with obligations completely unrelated to Fulbright. I really need to find a way to relax about this...

Weird! I think this might mean notifications will come out the week after. He seems to be the one in charge of notifying us; if he's out of office then I am sure we wouldn't get anything about our decisions from someone else. I am also unsure of whether he'd put that up just to buy time from us eager beavers since he seems like such a straightforward guy. Meh. Either way I can't think about Fulbright day in and day out anymore; it's seriously detracting from my schoolwork and my thesis is due soon!

[Eternal Icicle]

Any Fulbright ETAs who have recently heard back from JET? I was all set and pumped about Bulgaria, but Japan could be interesting too...

[lg702]

Any Fulbright ETAs who have recently heard back from JET? I was all set and pumped about Bulgaria, but Japan could be interesting too...

My friend got her JET acceptance on Tuesday!

[ag12567]

First time post. Not selected for eta to israel. Good luck to those selected. Email received 851 am pst friday april 13.

[euphoria*]

Weird! I think this might mean notifications will come out the week after. He seems to be the one in charge of notifying us; if he's out of office then I am sure we wouldn't get anything about our decisions from someone else. I am also unsure of whether he'd put that up just to buy time from us eager beavers since he seems like such a straightforward guy. Meh. Either way I can't think about Fulbright day in and day out anymore; it's seriously detracting from my schoolwork and my thesis is due soon!

I honestly thought we'd hear sooner. This time around last year notifications were already sent out. Maybe this is why we're not hearing until the end of April. He'll be out and we'll just have to wait. Thankfully, I don't have to notify grad schools until early May!

[peanutbutter2010]

How many Ukraine ETA applicants are out there? I got the save the date email too, I think its just a formality. But when I got that email my heart definitely skipped a beat because I thought it might be an email about the fulbright itself.

That's true. Even for the more popular countries, they probably send out the emails before they've sorted the rejections, much less the alternates and recipients. Good thinking. But that "Mark your calendars and plan to be with us" clause is really a teaser, isn't it? :0)

According to the spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuGpbWEh-3b0dHZzTU1BN0lNLU1yeG5XWktnY2k3bmc#gid=0), there are 4 Ukraine ETAs... though of course there could be more. Best of luck!

[Sjay06]

Yeah I'm glad you called, but I don't understand "clearance". I'm guessing that means Fulbright hasn't yet OK'd the funding for the selected candidates. Wonder why that's taking so long - I thought Jermaine got the selected candidates a while back (maybe it was only last week, just feels like forever).

Many times you just can't walk into archives and just start researching. You have to write to the head of the libraries or whoever holds that office in the state and formally ask for clearance. Some countries even have special "cultural" or "research" visas, it just depends where you are going. It is usually not too hard, and with fulbright next to your name, they will be expecting you, so you won't be denied. It is just busy work.

[rll2866]

Update: now accepted for ETA Ecuador

[CD_126]

Update: now accepted for ETA Ecuador

congrats! And on a saturday! keep yr heads high, alternates!!

[jignatova]

Weird! I think this might mean notifications will come out the week after. He seems to be the one in charge of notifying us; if he's out of office then I am sure we wouldn't get anything about our decisions from someone else. I am also unsure of whether he'd put that up just to buy time from us eager beavers since he seems like such a straightforward guy. Meh. Either way I can't think about Fulbright day in and day out anymore; it's seriously detracting from my schoolwork and my thesis is due soon!

I am emailed Jermaine yesterday regarding the timeline for SSA applicants and this was his response:

"Hello XXXX,

I hope to have the final set of approvals that I'll need to notify you and the other recommended candidates for Sub-Saharan Africa in the next week or two-and certainly no later than the end of this month.

I can't give you a more specific timeframe than that, but hope this is still helpful.

Regards,

[FullTimeAnxious]

I am emailed Jermaine yesterday regarding the timeline for SSA applicants and this was his response:

"Hello XXXX,

I hope to have the final set of approvals that I'll need to notify you and the other recommended candidates for Sub-Saharan Africa in the next week or two-and certainly no later than the end of this month.

I can't give you a more specific timeframe than that, but hope this is still helpful.

Regards,

Hey thanks for posting! That's actually a really nice message. Looks like being out of the office next week doesn't mean notifications won't (possibly) come next week.

[Ecuador8]

Quick question about Alternates. For a country with both ETA and Full Grants, do ETA alternates only receive grants if other ETA principals do not accept? Or can a Full Grant alternate be offered a grant if a principal ETA candidate declines? Basically, ETA alternates get ETA declines, and Full Grant alternates get Full Grant declines, right?

Thanks, and please post if you know anything more/different

[Ecuador8]

Also rll2866, did you find out on Friday or Saturday? And do you know if it was because a principal ETA did not accept or if the country got more funding? Either way, congrats!

[belafish]

Russia Grantees - would you be interested in starting up an email group correspondence? I, for one, have questions to ask Rachel about the grant (like if we definitely don't have to go to orientation, which lab results they are looking for in our medical, etc) and am sure that at least some of you would be interested in her responses and/or have some of this information already. I'd also love to hear more about other projects and where you will be working! Shoot me a PM with your email address if you're interested and I'll send out an email by the middle of next week.

Best of luck to those of you still waiting to hear back from Russia (rooting for you, pelevinfan!!)

Edited April 15, 2012 by belafish

[ETA-Russia]

Russia Grantees - would you be interested in starting up an email group correspondence? I, for one, have questions to ask Rachel about the grant (like if we definitely don't have to go to orientation, which lab results they are looking for in our medical, etc) and am sure that at least some of you would be interested in her responses and/or have some of this information already. I'd also love to hear more about other projects and where you will be working! Shoot me a PM with your email address if you're interested and I'll send out an email by the middle of next week.

Best of luck to those of you still waiting to hear back from Russia (rooting for you, pelevinfan!!)

Curious where you heard that we may not have to attend the orientation? I know Russia ETAs last year did have to attend. Did something change?

[maybefulbright]

Curious where you heard that we may not have to attend the orientation? I know Russia ETAs last year did have to attend. Did something change?

Hi - I'm also ETA for Russia (found out Wednesday).

I'm going to be working in Russia this summer and there's no way I would've been able to make it back to DC for orientation, so I asked. Response from Rachel on Friday was that there will NOT be an in-person pre-departure orientation for Russia. Good news for me!

There will probably be some kind of webinar series, then the in-country orientation in Moscow. I found tentative dates here - http://fulbright.ru/ru/rusinstitutes/eta

Email group sounds good...

[pelevinfan]

Russia Grantees - would you be interested in starting up an email group correspondence? I, for one, have questions to ask Rachel about the grant (like if we definitely don't have to go to orientation, which lab results they are looking for in our medical, etc) and am sure that at least some of you would be interested in her responses and/or have some of this information already. I'd also love to hear more about other projects and where you will be working! Shoot me a PM with your email address if you're interested and I'll send out an email by the middle of next week.

Best of luck to those of you still waiting to hear back from Russia (rooting for you, pelevinfan!!)

Thanks, belafish. To be honest, with all of the acceptances that went out Wednesday, I have little hope. But I appreciate the support! And (since I never came out and said it, I don't think) CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL YOU RUSSIA GRANTEES! What a wonderful achievement, and you get to spend the year in the most awesome country ever ever ever. Enjoy :-)