Fulbright 2012-2013

[mkt123]

i called him a few times recently- i was not successful in getting him on the phone because he was unavailable. if any indonesia eta's get him let me know.

Edited March 19, 2012 by mkt123

[Eternal Icicle]

Calling these people will not, in fact, make notifications come any sooner. If anything, it will delay them, because they will be spending time with people on the phone instead of working. Or maybe they'll just withhold notifications out of spite (what I would do!).

[mkt123]

Calling these people will not, in fact, make notifications come any sooner. If anything, it will delay them, because they will be spending time with people on the phone instead of working. Or maybe they'll just withhold notifications out of spite (what I would do!).

thank you

[mkt123]

it's part of the program managers job to deal with applicants. this process has not been very transparent, in my experience, and i don't think that calling the program manager, after waiting patiently for ~ 6 months, is unreasonable at all.

[oa0176]

It all depends where you're applying. Of course if you have to be around for a summer orientation in DC, you may not want to wander too far. And like someone else said, you might not get your flight reimbursed if you arrive from somewhere else you were traveling to. I'll be working in Cairo most of the summer, but I plan to arrive back in the States in late August before I'd have to fly out to Ankara. But if I find out I don't get the grant, I'll just stay in Egypt and glare angrily toward Turkey. =P

haha! hopefully both of us will be in Turkey

[Honeybunches]

Trying to divert my attention by obsessing about whether my abstract was accepted to a panel at the MLA conference.. but keep.returning.to.the.FULBRIGHT. What is it about the Fulbright which provokes such neurosis??!!

[heyles]

it's part of the program managers job to deal with applicants. this process has not been very transparent, in my experience, and i don't think that calling the program manager, after waiting patiently for ~ 6 months, is unreasonable at all.

I disagree. The process has been totally transparent -- we knew that there would be long periods of waiting when we applied. So far, notifications, timelines, and communication has been exactly what was described on the website and in the webinars, and they've been transparent about any changes. If people had a problem with that, they should have applied for programs and grants with a different schedule and/or process.

In my opinion, when individual applicants call program managers to check on their own app and status, it takes away from the HUNDREDS of others -- like the people on this board -- who are also in the running, because it slows the entire process down. Every time they have to answer the phone to talk to some neurotic applicant, return a panicked email, or have to deal with snowflakes (people who think they are the one-in-a-million exception, ie. there's nobody else like them), it's selfish, patronizing, and rude. I'm sure they have many more responsibilities other than just processing these applications once a year.

I don't mean to bite your head off at all. I just have a job like that and deal with that attitude all the time. It's infuriating to deal with that kind of entitlement. There is nothing to indicate that they already aren't working hard and holding up their end of the deal.

[mkt123]

I disagree. The process has been totally transparent -- we knew that there would be long periods of waiting when we applied. So far, notifications, timelines, and communication has been exactly what was described on the website and in the webinars, and they've been transparent about any changes. If people had a problem with that, they should have applied for programs and grants with a different schedule and/or process.

In my opinion, when individual applicants call program managers to check on their own app and status, it takes away from the HUNDREDS of others -- like the people on this board -- who are also in the running, because it slows the entire process down. Every time they have to answer the phone to talk to some neurotic applicant, return a panicked email, or have to deal with snowflakes (people who think they are the one-in-a-million exception, ie. there's nobody else like them), it's selfish, patronizing, and rude. I'm sure they have many more responsibilities other than just processing these applications once a year.

I don't mean to bite your head off at all. I just have a job like that and deal with that attitude all the time. It's infuriating to deal with that kind of entitlement. There is nothing to indicate that they already aren't working hard and holding up their end of the deal.

I really don't think that calling to find out what's going on with your application represents "rudeness, selfishness and/or a sense of entitlement" given the fact that many, such as myself, haven't received any communication other than the initial, vague finalist email. There have been no timelines or notifications here, there's actually been nothing for months and there's been no delineated finish line. Regardless, you can't control what other people do and the fact that you just typed out a manifesto, moralizing on the internet as though you are the only "snowflake" in the world that has a job that requires dealing with managing people’s expectations/client-side operations, reaffirms my decision to completely disregard your text field. Thanks for providing me with a distraction though.

[Eric Bee]

it's part of the program managers job to deal with applicants. this process has not been very transparent, in my experience, and i don't think that calling the program manager, after waiting patiently for ~ 6 months, is unreasonable at all.

it hasn't been transparent _at all_ but to me that means there is no utility in calling

[Eternal Icicle]

it's part of the program managers job to deal with applicants. this process has not been very transparent, in my experience, and i don't think that calling the program manager, after waiting patiently for ~ 6 months, is unreasonable at all.

It is certainly part of their job, but not all of it. Like college admissions officers, if they have to spend all their time answering the phone for applicants, they'll never get the notification email drafted and sent... No, this process has not been transparent, but when you are cooperating with hundreds of agencies and people across the globe, transparency just doesn't occur. Things will happen when they happen. We knew from the get go it would be a long wait with little information.

Also, THIS

Janet Echelman's Ted Talk on "Taking Imagination Seriously," a tale of a Fulbright grant gone gracefully awry.

[StephanieJ]

My boyfriend tells me I need to chill about this whole refreshing my inbox business.

... and then I told him about that regression analysis. He's glad I keep such crazy company.

No one in my group of friends understands in the least what I'm going through. Thank God for having found this place.

[ecpurcell]

haha! hopefully both of us will be in Turkey

You mean all three of us hopefully!

[mkt123]

It is certainly part of their job, but not all of it. Like college admissions officers, if they have to spend all their time answering the phone for applicants, they'll never get the notification email drafted and sent... No, this process has not been transparent, but when you are cooperating with hundreds of agencies and people across the globe, transparency just doesn't occur. Things will happen when they happen. We knew from the get go it would be a long wait with little information.

Also, THIS http://www.ted.com/t...t_echelman.html

Janet Echelman's Ted Talk on "Taking Imagination Seriously," a tale of a Fulbright grant gone gracefully awry.

Do you really think that the program manager is doing all the administrative work? You think he is on the phone with applicants while typing out acceptance emails? That's utterly absurd.

Edited March 19, 2012 by mkt123

[hopelovenow]

And congrats, hopelovenow!

Congrats to you too!

[lg702]

Do you really think that the program manager is doing all the administrative work? You think he is on the phone with applicants while typing out acceptance emails? That's utterly absurd.

Hey...take it down a notch. We're all friends here, and there's no reason to be so negative. Just a thought.

[Eternal Icicle]

It is an example. Being a manager does not exempt one from administrative work, as I am 100% sure any manager in an office would tell you. People have corresponded with their program managers and posted about it earlier in this thread-- all evidence points to their plates being full. It is part of their job to correspond with us, it is NOT their job to cater to our near-neurotic need for information overload. If you do get a hold of them, I'm sure you'll hear the vague "in the near future" or "sometime in April (or May or June)" that other people have gotten.

Hey...take it down a notch. We're all friends here, and there's no reason to be so negative. Just a thought.

Sound advice. Clearly this wait is driving us to the brink.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Eternal Icicle

[oa0176]

You mean all three of us hopefully!

definitely all three of us

[rtlc06]

I disagree. The process has been totally transparent -- we knew that there would be long periods of waiting when we applied. So far, notifications, timelines, and communication has been exactly what was described on the website and in the webinars, and they've been transparent about any changes. If people had a problem with that, they should have applied for programs and grants with a different schedule and/or process.

In my opinion, when individual applicants call program managers to check on their own app and status, it takes away from the HUNDREDS of others -- like the people on this board -- who are also in the running, because it slows the entire process down. Every time they have to answer the phone to talk to some neurotic applicant, return a panicked email, or have to deal with snowflakes (people who think they are the one-in-a-million exception, ie. there's nobody else like them), it's selfish, patronizing, and rude. I'm sure they have many more responsibilities other than just processing these applications once a year.

I don't mean to bite your head off at all. I just have a job like that and deal with that attitude all the time. It's infuriating to deal with that kind of entitlement. There is nothing to indicate that they already aren't working hard and holding up their end of the deal.

I agree and I disagree with this. When we started this process, we WERE all aware that there would be long periods of waiting with no communication with IIE. However, that knowledge doesn't make this process any less frustrating or tortuous.

I think the thing that's important to keep in mind is that IIE is dealing with international committees - many of which are located in developing countries. Anybody who has done work in the developing world knows that things are often less organized, unpredictable, and almost always move at a slower pace than they do here in the US. Consequently, I don't think IIE even knows when the country-specific Fulbright committees will arrive at a decision, except based on past history (which is presumably highly variable). Since they don't have reliable information, the applicants don't have information either. Hopefully IIE is getting their notification letters out within a reasonable timeframe from when they themselves are notified, though one can never be sure. However, it doesn't seem as though calling program officers would significantly delay any part of the process - it's probably just irritating for them.

Nevertheless, 6 months is an excruciatingly long time to wait for a decision that is (for many of us) going to direct the trajectory of our graduate school careers for the next year and (possibly) beyond.

Edited March 19, 2012 by rtlc06

[lkjl2007]

For some reason, I have this overwhelming feeling that I'm going to get an email (Germany ETA) in the next couple of hours. Crazy, or reasonable? We'll see. If not today, my money's on Thursday.

[rtlc06]

For some reason, I have this overwhelming feeling that I'm going to get an email (Germany ETA) in the next couple of hours. Crazy, or reasonable? We'll see. If not today, my money's on Thursday.

Haha that's really arbitrary and/or specific. Why not today or tomorrow? Why Thursday? Oh the crazy things we do... I know I'm not going to be notified for at LEAST another week, though that hasn't stopped me from hitting the refresh button on my email every 3 minutes...

[TPliske8711]

I can't specify when, but I assume some time this week the first of us will learn whether we have either lost or gained.

[oinkcluckmoobahh]

I've looked at NYU, University of Texas at Austin, Vanderbilt (no go); SIT, Lesley (intercultural relations MA); U of GA, UPenn and Harvard (eh I live in Boston so it's worth a look I guess!)

I went to a small, rural, top tier women's college, so I know how great that can be, but I also learned my lesson in terms of the things you sacrifice by going to a school in a rural area. Like not being able to get to do those really cool internships/jobs/co-ops that people in NYC have access to...

I thought this link was pretty helpful when I first started out - it's specifically for people wanting to work in study abroad but they kind of summarize what's good and maybe bad about a certain program:

http://www.insidestu...e-programs.html

Would that be Mt. Holyoke or Smith...?

[Kexin Renlei]

I heard (wish I could remember from where! But certainly not from a formal channel) that when Fulbright sends the applications to the host countries (50% to 100% extra applications, as others have noted in recent days), they rank them. Then it's really the job of the host countries to either accept or reject this ranking. And of course that they don't make this ranking available to us!

This may only refer to full grants, not ETAs, not sure...

Has anyone else heard this? Know if it's true? Just true for some countries? (Apologies if there's been earlier posting on this that I've missed!)

[Eternal Icicle]

I heard (wish I could remember from where! But certainly not from a formal channel) that when Fulbright sends the applications to the host countries (50% to 100% extra applications, as others have noted in recent days), they rank them.

Has anyone else heard this? Know if it's true? Just true for some countries? (Apologies if there's been earlier posting on this that I've missed!)

My school conducted interviews before forwarding our applications, and I know that based on our interview + application we were ranked on a scale of A-D before being forwarded to Fulbright. Don't know if Fulbright adjusts these rankings based on their own criteria or not before sending on to host countries...

[Kexin Renlei]

My school conducted interviews before forwarding our applications, and I know that based on our interview + application we were ranked on a scale of A-D before being forwarded to Fulbright. Don't know if Fulbright adjusts these rankings based on their own criteria or not before sending on to host countries...

Well, actually, I meant that I heard that the applicants US-wide are ranked relative to each other (each country separately of course).

Anyone?

Edited for clarity, oops

Edited March 19, 2012 by Kexin Renlei