Fulbright 2013-2014

[lunita]

  On 4/12/2013 at 1:49 AM, nainalerom said:

Haha it really does sound like speaking Norwegian/Swedish with your mouth full of peanut butter . (Edit: kind of a reference to a common Scandinavian joke

 

How I'll feel if I get the grant:

 

 

They are so cute when they get mad :-)

[annabella4]

  On 4/12/2013 at 12:34 AM, LisaFrankXOXO said:

Oh, Denmark, why do you keep me hanging on? 

 

I am with you. I get these occasional emails about events run by my local Danish club (many Scandinavians here in Seattle) and I received one today with "Announcing our Danish...." something and my heart completely stopped before I realized, no, it's not anything Fulbright related.

 

Just spent the last half hour looking at Flickr pics of my would-be host town and imagining myself there, on its streets. Probably not a very good exercise when the possibility of rejection is still quite high.

 

CrystalDee, would you bring your kids with you? If so, I'd be in that boat too.

Edited April 12, 2013 by annabella4

[Ice_88]

  On 4/11/2013 at 10:29 PM, Books2readme said:

Cool! I applied to Spain for a full grant as well. We should know this month... even if Spain is a little late this month, we should still find out in April. Last year, notifications were sent on April 15th.

 

Where is Spain did you apply to conduct your research? I found a great research group in Barcelona. 

I applied to work in Sevilla in the same lab I worked in during my study abroad last spring

[avoss32]

They were sent out on April 15th last year!  That was a Sunday meaning that we could still hear over the weekend too I guess!

[CrystalDee]

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:44 AM, annabella4 said:

I am with you. I get these occasional emails about events run by my local Danish club (many Scandinavians here in Seattle) and I received one today with "Announcing our Danish...." something and my heart completely stopped before I realized, no, it's not anything Fulbright related.

 

Just spent the last half hour looking at Flickr pics of my would-be host town and imagining myself there, on its streets. Probably not a very good exercise when the possibility of rejection is still quite high.

 

CrystalDee, would you bring your kids with you? If so, I'd be in that boat too.

My oldest is in college, so he will stay here (yes, I am old, lol!!). The youngest is in high school, so yes, he will come with me. It will be a great experience for him as well. Thus, all this waiting makes me nervous, because I have to get him enrolled in school.

[CrystalDee]

Good morning! Let the waiting begin!

[there'sanappforthat]

  On 4/11/2013 at 10:08 PM, CrystalDee said:

I bought that Groupon.    I am doing the online course the Estonian government is sponsoring, and so I thought I try out some of my new phrases on my friend today. Here we are on Skype and I am nervously pronouncing these words and he says "you learned these from a book, didn't you?" Yeah. "We don't actually say those things." *sigh* LOL!

The coolest thing is that other learners will check your work for you. For example, I will do a German exercise and an Austrian friend will check my work, then he will do an English review and I check his work! It's really cool.

[there'sanappforthat]

  On 4/11/2013 at 8:56 PM, nainalerom said:

That's incredible! How long do you think this deal will last? I don't want to buy it unless I get the grant...

IT's only $29 for a year, really not too bad!

[there'sanappforthat]

  On 4/12/2013 at 12:59 AM, secretlyismaili said:

Hey! Just bought it and I am figuring out all the ways it works. What do you mainly use it for? Seems good for practice, but has the chat/friending aspect worked out well for you? 

I haven't tried that yet, but I plan to once I feel a little more confident with my German! I'll try and let you know then

[Janika]

  On 4/12/2013 at 1:20 PM, avoss32 said:

They were sent out on April 15th last year!  That was a Sunday meaning that we could still hear over the weekend too I guess!

 

 

 Hey! Are you applying for an ETA or a full grant?

[avoss32]

  On 4/12/2013 at 2:42 PM, Janika said:

 Hey! Are you applying for an ETA or a full grant?

I'm applying for an ETA.  How about you?

[Janika]

  On 4/12/2013 at 2:49 PM, avoss32 said:

I'm applying for an ETA.  How about you?

 

Same! As we get closer to finding out the news, I'm starting to doubt whether my app/experiences are strong enough. What's your major?

[tend0n]

Hi, all. Like the rest of you, I check this forum compulsively, though I infrequently post.

 

  On 4/11/2013 at 11:45 PM, vPersie said:

Spoke with Jonathan Akeley today. He said that the sequester will more so effect countries where there is no Fulbright committee/foreign funding. He gave the example of South Korea, which have a Fulbright committee and whose government puts a lot of funding into the program. They are less likely to be effected because the USA does not fund the whole program.

 

Found that interesting, if anyone else wanted to know.

 

That is indeed very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

For those of you doing detective work to see if this will influence your program, this is what I found for my country - Latvia (all emphasis mine):

 

"In a country active in the program without a Fulbright commission, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy administers the Fulbright Program."

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulbright_Program#Administration

 

"Overseas, the Fulbright Program is administered by bi-national Fulbright Commissions. In non-Commission countries, the Fulbright Program is administered by the Public Affairs section of the U.S. Embassy."

- http://riga.usembassy.gov/fulbright.html

 

My country description also happens to state that (for full grants):

 

"When applicants do not indicate a host institution preference, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy will seek the most appropriate placements."

- http://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedcountry/103

 

This may mean my country does not have a Fulbright Committee, and is therefore more vulnerable to cuts. This is only an assumption.

 

Nothing we can do at this point, but I'm right there with all of you who haven't heard, especially my fellow Baltic-hopefuls. Best of luck.

[avoss32]

  On 4/12/2013 at 2:51 PM, Janika said:

Same! As we get closer to finding out the news, I'm starting to doubt whether my app/experiences are strong enough. What's your major?

Me too!  I think that is probably pretty typical.    I am studying Spanish and Anthropology.  How about you?  What did you propose to do while you are there?

[CrystalDee]

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:03 PM, tend0n said:

Nothing we can do at this point, but I'm right there with all of you who haven't heard, especially my fellow Baltic-hopefuls. Best of luck.

Yeah, I had heard it was the Embassy making the decision for my country also. You're right, all we can do is wait at this point.

 

I was hoping to go down to Riga the last time I was in Estonia, but I ran out of time. I will try the next time I am there. Good luck to you! Glad you posted!

[annabella4]

  On 4/12/2013 at 1:37 PM, CrystalDee said:

My oldest is in college, so he will stay here (yes, I am old, lol!!). The youngest is in high school, so yes, he will come with me. It will be a great experience for him as well. Thus, all this waiting makes me nervous, because I have to get him enrolled in school.

 Oy, that is stressful! Mine are much younger, so I just would need to navigate the preschool situation, but still, it adds a whole other element to the waiting game.

 

That would indeed be a wonderful experience for your youngest, how cool. I really hope it works out for you!

[Ruluo]

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:13 PM, avoss32 said:

Me too! I think that is probably pretty typical. I am studying Spanish and Anthropology. How about you? What did you propose to do while you are there?

I'm actually less concerned about my background not being strong enough in general and more concerned with random exogenous factors. As an example, one of my affiliation letters is from a prominent politician, and I know that at least one of the members of the selection committee is on the other side of the political spectrum--add to that my project would be looking at policy that is moderately polarizing...

Granted, my proposal is intentionally neutral (and the topic isn't so controversial that it would be a non-starter), so there probably wouldn't be any of those spurious issues where someone decides they just don't like it. That said, that's probably more of my primary concern...

[CrystalDee]

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:26 PM, annabella4 said:

 Oy, that is stressful! Mine are much younger, so I just would need to navigate the preschool situation, but still, it adds a whole other element to the waiting game.

 

That would indeed be a wonderful experience for your youngest, how cool. I really hope it works out for you!

I have talked to the lady at the high school there, but it is all hypothetical until I know about the grant. They are really nice, though, and have been very helpful. Since Estonia ranks above the US in many educational categories (including STEM) it will be a big change for my son. Lol!

[rtlc06]

  On 4/12/2013 at 12:01 AM, qaiswalayla said:

@vPersie Do you know how to find out which countries have Fulbright committees and which don't?

 

Here is the link to a page where you can see if your country has a Fulbright commission. The majority of us applying to small countries are SOL... Boo!!

 

http://eca.state.gov/fulbright/about-fulbright/funding-and-administration/fulbright-commissions

 

Ok - so I looked through the list of countries with foreign commissions (or at least those in the Western Hemisphere) and compared them to the notification spreadsheet. Unfortunately, it looks like only those with  Fulbright committees abroad have been notified. So, it would seem to me that vPersie/tend0n's speculations are more than likely, correct. I guess we'll just have to be patient and see where the chips *ahem. dollers* fall.

Edited April 12, 2013 by rtlc06

[latviaeta]

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:03 PM, tend0n said:

Hi, all. Like the rest of you, I check this forum compulsively, though I infrequently post.

 

 

That is indeed very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

For those of you doing detective work to see if this will influence your program, this is what I found for my country - Latvia (all emphasis mine):

 

"In a country active in the program without a Fulbright commission, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy administers the Fulbright Program."

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulbright_Program#Administration

 

"Overseas, the Fulbright Program is administered by bi-national Fulbright Commissions. In non-Commission countries, the Fulbright Program is administered by the Public Affairs section of the U.S. Embassy."

- http://riga.usembassy.gov/fulbright.html

 

My country description also happens to state that (for full grants):

 

"When applicants do not indicate a host institution preference, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy will seek the most appropriate placements."

- http://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedcountry/103

 

This may mean my country does not have a Fulbright Committee, and is therefore more vulnerable to cuts. This is only an assumption.

 

Nothing we can do at this point, but I'm right there with all of you who haven't heard, especially my fellow Baltic-hopefuls. Best of luck.

Thanks, I saw this too and it was a disappointing shock. What are you hoping to do in Latvia? I've applied for an ETA (obv from my username...) hopefully teaching in a university!

[Ruluo]

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:45 PM, avoss32 said:

That's pretty cool that you know about the selection committee though. Where can I find that information? I'm sure they will be outbalanced by others in the group so you shouldn't worry too much.

Heh, that information isn't exactly searchable...and as I understand it, the committee isn't that big and there's no reason to suspect that there is a great diversity of opinion on it (imagine forming a committee of professors in the US hah). Take my intel as second-degree knowledge (I don't have direct communication with any of the committee members), but apparently the selection, while potentially life-changing for us, is fairly low priority for the committee members--at least that's how it was conveyed to me...

[CrystalDee]

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:53 PM, Ruluo said:

Heh, that information isn't exactly searchable...and as I understand it, the committee isn't that big and there's no reason to suspect that there is a great diversity of opinion on it (imagine forming a committee of professors in the US hah). Take my intel as second-degree knowledge (I don't have direct communication with any of the committee members), but apparently the selection, while potentially life-changing for us, is fairly low priority for the committee members--at least that's how it was conveyed to me...

Hahahahaha! Nice. Not surprising, though.

 

Oh well..."Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...what do we do? We swim!!"

[tend0n]

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:20 PM, CrystalDee said:

Yeah, I had heard it was the Embassy making the decision for my country also. You're right, all we can do is wait at this point.

 

I was hoping to go down to Riga the last time I was in Estonia, but I ran out of time. I will try the next time I am there. Good luck to you! Glad you posted!

 

Nice. I've never been to Europe, but I am planning a trip regardless of the outcome of Fulbright. I am absolutely planning visits to other Baltic and Scandinavian nations too, especially Estonia. My grandmother was Livonian so there is a lot of shared history there.

 

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:37 PM, rtlc06 said:

Here is the link to a page where you can see if your country has a Fulbright commission. The majority of us applying to small countries are SOL... Boo!!

 

http://eca.state.gov/fulbright/about-fulbright/funding-and-administration/fulbright-commissions

 

Ok - so I looked through the list of countries with foreign commissions (or at least those in the Western Hemisphere) and compared them to the notification spreadsheet. Unfortunately, it looks like only those with  Fulbright committees abroad have been notified. So, it would seem to me that vPersie/tend0n's speculations are more than likely, correct. I guess we'll just have to be patient and see where the chips *ahem. dollers* fall.

 

Now that's a little easier than my method, isn't it? Haha. Thanks.

 

  On 4/12/2013 at 3:45 PM, latviaeta said:

Thanks, I saw this too and it was a disappointing shock. What are you hoping to do in Latvia? I've applied for an ETA (obv from my username...) hopefully teaching in a university!

 

I'm a PhD candidate in a biological field, and proposed a project in a lab jointly run by the University of Latvia and the Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital.

 

On the side, I would also attempt to do some guest lecturing (as I plan to stay in academia), continue my language acquisition (can't beat immersion), and explore some interests in Latvian folklore and culture. I figured Riga would be the perfect place to integrate my diverse personal and professional interests.

[Books2readme]

  On 4/12/2013 at 1:20 PM, avoss32 said:

They were sent out on April 15th last year!  That was a Sunday meaning that we could still hear over the weekend too I guess!

 

Wow! I did not even account for the weekends!

[Torrid]

  On 4/12/2013 at 4:19 PM, Books2readme said:

Wow! I did not even account for the weekends!

 

Suddenly, nowhere is safe!