Fulbright 2009-2010

[waitingtohear]

...I ripped the letter...im not second best...EVER...ugh

Sorry im really mad, because this is BS

this is a really ugly thing to say...

[nemolover]

Im so pissed of...I got a letter to be an alternate..are they serious..I mean I have 2 recommendation from top professors from two universities in albani and I speak fluent..matter of fact my father wrote a highly publicized book on albanian grammar...I ripped the letter...im not second best...EVER...ugh

Sorry im really mad, because this is BS

um WOW. maybe you needed to get knocked down a few notches, geez. how does the fact that your father wrote a book on Albanian grammar reflect anything about you? and would you really want to ride on your father's accomplishments anyway?

look, everyone who is an alternate or rejected has a right to be upset. but anger? really? this is the Fulbright, a highly competitive award. you shouldn't expect to win it, nor are you entitled to it. we all have great recommendations and qualifications--if we didn't, we wouldn't be finalists. you have to understand that being a Fulbright finalist is a fantastic accomplishment, even if you didn't actually win a grant. honestly, choosing from amongst the finalists is somewhat arbitrary (we are all awesome), and i'm sure a different group of readers would choose a different set of winners. not winning a Fulbright does not make you "second best." also, in the finalist round, i think it has more to do with our projects than with our qualifications (because every finalist is qualified).

i am sorry that you are an alternate, but you're not alone here. and you shouldn't be angry. disappointed, upset, yes. but there is no reason to be angry, and you shouldn't feel like you deserved or were entitled to a grant just because you had good recs and a famous dad.

and you can always re-apply again next year. if you were an alternate this year, i bet your chances of winning next year are pretty high.

[limbo2009]

um WOW. maybe you needed to get knocked down a few notches, geez. how does the fact that your father wrote a book on Albanian grammar reflect anything about you? and would you really want to ride on your father's accomplishments anyway?

look, everyone who is an alternate or rejected has a right to be upset. but anger? really? this is the Fulbright, a highly competitive award. you shouldn't expect to win it, nor are you entitled to it. we all have great recommendations and qualifications--if we didn't, we wouldn't be finalists. you have to understand that being a Fulbright finalist is a fantastic accomplishment, even if you didn't actually win a grant. honestly, choosing from amongst the finalists is somewhat arbitrary (we are all awesome), and i'm sure a different group of readers would choose a different set of winners. not winning a Fulbright does not make you "second best." also, in the finalist round, i think it has more to do with our projects than with our qualifications (because every finalist is qualified).

i am sorry that you are an alternate, but you're not alone here. and you shouldn't be angry. disappointed, upset, yes. but there is no reason to be angry, and you shouldn't feel like you deserved or were entitled to a grant just because you had good recs and a famous dad.

and you can always re-apply again next year. if you were an alternate this year, i bet your chances of winning next year are pretty high.

I was going to reply to mkurti098, because that sense of entitlement really pisses ME off. But nemolover, you said this so well, I can't add anything.

I take that back: I'll add my own experience. Last year I was a finalist, and then got flat-out rejected. I was heartbroken, crushed, and yes, pissed off. I brooded for three months. And then I picked myself up and tried again, and worked doubly hard. This year, I got a Fulbright. And I think you're right, nemo, it's pretty arbitrary in the final selection stage. But hey, if you're going to compete for things at this level, you gotta know what your competition is, and you gotta suck it up and deal with the 7-month process. No daily phone calls to IIE, no State Department petitions, and for God's sakes, no playing the daddy card.

[Albanski]

You all misunderstood me. What I mean is that certain countries especially albania love accepting people who have no knowledge of the country an do not contribute tp the greater knowledge such as marital violence..its ok..im going to shrug it off..and continue to learn and maybe apply 4 years from now...Albania missed from a great scholar, I would've really contributed to the country, but it just isn't isn't written in the stars..you all have to understand that im just talking to get rid of this bad taste in my mouth..its a reality for most alernatives so don't be too quick to judge because t might happen to you...these are my thought that I am entitled to..so long fulrbight board..good lcuk to the rest of you..make a diiference make it count for me!..good nite

[Albanski]

You all need to relax because im not talking about entitlement but im just upset and talking out of my ass..we are to sopprt ech othe..so obviously when you see a post as usch you realize that someone is pissed off..but no some of you take it to a different level and try to turn into something that is not...smply understand that this may have been you or is you..the diffetence is that I have said my peace..so go about your life..but don't try to attack whatever BS I am saying..because obviously I am mad...so all you do me a favor and leave this alone...

[graduatingsoon]

chill

[rinairy]

How much do you think where you did your undergrad matters in the final decision? All other factors are equal, do you think one graduating from a 'top five' ranked school has a better chance?

[Rahkan]

I was going to reply to mkurti098, because that sense of entitlement really pisses ME off. But nemolover, you said this so well, I can't add anything.

I take that back: I'll add my own experience. Last year I was a finalist, and then got flat-out rejected. I was heartbroken, crushed, and yes, pissed off. I brooded for three months. And then I picked myself up and tried again, and worked doubly hard. This year, I got a Fulbright. And I think you're right, nemo, it's pretty arbitrary in the final selection stage. But hey, if you're going to compete for things at this level, you gotta know what your competition is, and you gotta suck it up and deal with the 7-month process. No daily phone calls to IIE, no State Department petitions, and for God's sakes, no playing the daddy card.

You know what? I admire mkurti098. She's clearly got the drive to succeed, and she'll go far in life. You all criticize her for a sense of entitlement. And that's fine, you're entitled to think whatever you want. One of the virtues of her attitude is that she doesn't care what you think. God, academically talented people in America are conditioned to be so conformist. Since high school, you've just been jumping through these hoops to succeed. You did all the work, did all the reading, got your treats (grades and good colleges). And then you did the same thing in college. It's you who have the true sense of entitlement. You think that just because you did everything you were "supposed to", you're entitled to a fulbright. So you jump on Mkurti for "breaking the rules". Well guess what? The only rule is that losers go home.

It's Mkurti who's the true realist. She knows that nothing in life is guaranteed. She knows there are always people out there trying their hardest to get what she wants. She knows that if she doesn't turn over every stone, if she doesn't make every call, if she doesn't work every connection, then she's failed. So she did everything. She did everything that it is possible to do. So hell yeah she feels proud of herself. You might call it entitlement, but it's something she earned. And if you don't feel the same thing then you should feel ashamed of yourself, because it means you didn't do everything you possibly could have.

Maybe you'll get that Fulbright. Maybe you even already have it. But its meaningless. Its just another tasty little treat that you got for being so good and doing everything you were supposed to.

And yeah, she didn't get it. Maybe she'll get it next year. Maybe she never will. But she's far grander in her sense of entitlement than you are with your little "Best of Show" ribbon.

[fulbrightest]

You know what? I admire mkurti098. She's clearly got the drive to succeed, and she'll go far in life. You all criticize her for a sense of entitlement. And that's fine, you're entitled to think whatever you want. One of the virtues of her attitude is that she doesn't care what you think. God, academically talented people in America are conditioned to be so conformist. Since high school, you've just been jumping through these hoops to succeed. You did all the work, did all the reading, got your treats (grades and good colleges). And then you did the same thing in college. It's you who have the true sense of entitlement. You think that just because you did everything you were "supposed to", you're entitled to a fulbright. So you jump on Mkurti for "breaking the rules". Well guess what? The only rule is that losers go home.

It's Mkurti who's the true realist. She knows that nothing in life is guaranteed. She knows there are always people out there trying their hardest to get what she wants. She knows that if she doesn't turn over every stone, if she doesn't make every call, if she doesn't work every connection, then she's failed. So she did everything. She did everything that it is possible to do. So hell yeah she feels proud of herself. You might call it entitlement, but it's something she earned. And if you don't feel the same thing then you should feel ashamed of yourself, because it means you didn't do everything you possibly could have.

Maybe you'll get that Fulbright. Maybe you even already have it. But its meaningless. Its just another tasty little treat that you got for being so good and doing everything you were supposed to.

And yeah, she didn't get it. Maybe she'll get it next year. Maybe she never will. But she's far grander in her sense of entitlement than you are with your little "Best of Show" ribbon.

I've been lurking for a while, but just HAD to jump in here.

BTW, Harvard senior heading to Macau on a Fulbright next year.

Rahkan, maybe you are right, maybe the ruthless, cut-throat, sell-a-kidney mentality is what's required to succeed these days. These self-serving behaviors are the basis of the philosophy of our current economic consumption/production system: If we all act self-interestedly, the market will take care of itself and of us, and the benefits of prosperous economic growth will be enjoyed by the multitudes of the community and the nation. Paupers will enter the middle class. Innovations will lead to inventions that better our lives. The very attributes you praise in mkurti are the same characteristics that get bankers, consultants, and business leaders promoted. But as is becoming more evident day in and day out, this sense of self-entitlement, me-first-gimmie-gimmie radical individualism embodied by corporate and political leaders is leading to the destruction of the rainforests, the dumping of toxic wastes into our water sources and our atmosphere, the exploitation of the labor of our fellow humans in China (and elsewhere), and complete economic and social ruin the globe over are becoming palpable consequences. And for what? All for the bottom-line of corporations bent on increasing share-holders' profit margins above any other considerations. It's a disaster.

mkurti may be an admirable non-conformist, a stellar scholar, and a model e-community member, but if her posts are indicative of the information available to the panelists who decided her dire fate, I would say she made a fatal flaw. She was too self-entitled, too sure, and too demanding. I see she must have called the IIE office a hundred times. If one is to do to the very best, to come out on top, she should have learned from leaders like Nike and hidden the source of her success. Nike has iron-clad doors on its sweatshops. Not only does this lead to deplorable fatalities in events such as fires, but also prevents muckraking journalists, academics, or labor organizers from threatening its corporate image and utter market domination. mkurti should have put an iron door on her entitlement, her connections (which she almost certainly got help with via her famous father), and her cunning, and instead put some more effort into her personal branding (Phil Knight has written books on this).

The true warrior in today's day and age must infiltrate the Fulbright commission in a Trojan Horse. Appear as a curiosity, a humble, cute scholar, and hide the warrior within.

[fulbrightest]

How much do you think where you did your undergrad matters in the final decision? All other factors are equal, do you think one graduating from a 'top five' ranked school has a better chance?

Do you go to Stanford? The only time I ever hear "top five" as a distinction is from Stanford people.

What do people from Harvard and Stanford have in common? They both got into Stanford. hehe, sorry, couldn't resist! Look, we both have colors as our mascots.

[Rahkan]

I've been lurking for a while, but just HAD to jump in here.

BTW, Harvard senior heading to Macau on a Fulbright next year.

Rahkan, maybe you are right, maybe the ruthless, cut-throat, sell-a-kidney mentality is what's required to succeed these days. These self-serving behaviors are the basis of the philosophy of our current economic consumption/production system: If we all act self-interestedly, the market will take care of itself and of us, and the benefits of prosperous economic growth will be enjoyed by the multitudes of the community and the nation. Paupers will enter the middle class. Innovations will lead to inventions that better our lives. The very attributes you praise in mkurti are the same characteristics that get bankers, consultants, and business leaders promoted. But as is becoming more evident day in and day out, this sense of self-entitlement, me-first-gimmie-gimmie radical individualism embodied by corporate and political leaders is leading to the destruction of the rainforests, the dumping of toxic wastes into our water sources and our atmosphere, and the exploitation of the labor of our fellow humans in China (and elsewhere) (to name only a few) all for bottom-line corporations bent on increasing share-holders' profit margins above any other considerations. It's a disaster.

mkurti may be an admirable non-conformist, a stellar scholar, and a model e-community member, but if her posts are indicative of the information available to the panelists who decided her dire fate, I would say she made a fatal flaw. She was too self-entitled, too sure, and too demanding. I see she must have called the IIE office a hundred times. If one is to do to the very best, to come out on top, she should have learned from leaders like Nike and hidden the source of its success. Nike has iron-clad doors on its sweatshops. Not only does this lead to deplorable fatalities in events such as fires, but also prevents muckraking journalists, academics, or labor organizers from threatening their corporate image and utter market domination. mkurti should have put an iron door on her entitlement, her connections (which she almost certainly got help with via her famous father), and her cunning, and instead put some more effort into her personal branding (Phil Knight has written books on this).

The true warrior in today's day and age must infiltrate the Fulbright commission in a Trojan Horse. Appear as a curiosity, a humble, cute scholar, and hide the warrior within.

Fulbrightest, you've put a layer of the finest bull on my essential point. I understand that generalizing a harsh truth can make it easier to swallow. But this isn't about politics. I don't care what Mkurti wants to do with her life. I don't care what wrongs you want to right (although I do wonder how going to Macau can possibly help you, unless you plan on winning big in the casinos.) I am just so sick of the sort of people who inhabit boards like these.

God, you want to be leaders? You want to come up with innovative new discoveries? Then why are you filling your minds with all this pap. Have some confidence in yourself!

I understand that this is a place to vent. And that's fine. Everyone's got to let their hair down sometimes. Mkurti did that, though you'd think this was an S&M board from the reaction she got here. But no one else is able to summon up even a modicum of her self-confidence. You get the impression that, whether she got this or not, she'd still soldier on and achieve again. I don't get that from anyone else here.

And it makes me heartsick. Fulbrights are not just ribbons. They're not treats. They're not a resume builder. And they're not an end in and of themselves. They're an opportunity to _learn_. Hopefully, the people who get them will gain some knowledge of the world that they can use to make it a better place. But changing the world requires immense courage. And I just don't think most of the people have that.

When they've finally jumped through all the hoops and gotten all the awards, the stark truth is that they're going to be left in a room, by themselves. And they're going to be expected to come out of that room with _something_ tangible. But from what I've seen, most of you are just going to sit in that room forever, listening to the silence reverberating through your skulls, until it builds up to a pounding crescendo that finally carries you away.

[Albanski]

Fulbrghtest,

You can talk all you want but I still won't give a damn...I just speak my mind. I've offered very helpful advice over the past couple of weeks and now you feel you have right to judge me. Your judgements will be wrong because you don't know me and I defnately don't want to know you. I am proud that I am the first with a pair of balls who speak their minds about this bullshit! I am free, I got my answer from Fulbright. I'll email you my mailing address so you can mail me your harvard diploma when you get it. I need some good toilet paper! Go ahead quote me since you got nothing better to do!

Have fun ya'll hahah

[Rahkan]

Fulbrightest,

You can talk all you want but I still won't give a damn...I just speak my mind. I've offered very helpful advice over the past couple of weeks and now you feel you have right to judge me. Your judgements will be wrong because you don't know me? I am proud that I am the first with a pair of balls who speak their minds about this bullshit! I am free, I got my answer from Fulbright. I'll email you my mailing address so you can mail me your harvard diploma when you get it. I need some good toilet paper! Go ahead quote me since you got nothing better to do!

Have fun ya'll hahah

I'm sorry people on this board treated you so poorly. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.

[fulbrightest]

Fulbrghtest,

You can talk all you want but I still won't give a damn...I just speak my mind. I've offered very helpful advice over the past couple of weeks and now you feel you have right to judge me. Your judgements will be wrong because you don't know me and I defnately don't want to know you. I am proud that I am the first with a pair of balls who speak their minds about this bullshit! I am free, I got my answer from Fulbright. I'll email you my mailing address so you can mail me your harvard diploma when you get it. I need some good toilet paper! Go ahead quote me since you got nothing better to do!

Have fun ya'll hahah

mkurti,

I commended you for your efforts, and was only hoping to provide you with some practical advice for future applications / endeavors within the competitive milieu of our generation's day and age. My judgments were aimed at being constructive. I'm not sure why you're angry with me.

Also, might I suggest equating 'a pair of balls' with courage is decidedly anti-feminist and disrespectful to courageous possessors of ovaries (and those inter-sexed individuals with neither!) everywhere.

[Rahkan]

Also, might I suggest equating 'a pair of balls' with courage is decidedly anti-feminist and disrespectful to courageous possessors of ovaries (and those inter-sexed individuals with neither!) everywhere.

Way to stick up for those with messed-up junk.

[fulbrightest]

Way to stick up for those with messed-up junk.

You ignorant fuck. I sure as hell hope someone as inconsiderate as you has not been granted a Fulbright.

[Rahkan]

You ignorant fuck. I sure as hell hope someone as inconsiderate as you has not been granted a Fulbright.

What and it wasn't inconsiderate to use the plight of people with physical deformities to score cheap points off the person you've already spent the last hour savaging? You are such a hypocrite. You're exactly what's wrong with this entire process and this entire board. You value style over substance. You think that as long as you just say the right things, you'll get little golf claps from everyone in the audience. And I guess being able to go to Macau has just validated you.

But, guess what. In the real world we're more polite to each other than that. We don't take cheap shots like that when someone is trying to gracefully extricate themselves from an argument.

[Albanski]

Nice!!! Don't fight everyone knows that fulbrightest is a prick...

Its getting ugly in here!!!!! hahah

[fulbrightest]

What and it wasn't inconsiderate to use the plight of people with physical deformities to score cheap points off the person you've already spent the last hour savaging? You are such a hypocrite. You're exactly what's wrong with this entire process and this entire board. You value style over substance. You think that as long as you just say the right things, you'll get little golf claps from everyone in the audience. And I guess being able to go to Macau has just validated you.

But, guess what. In the real world we're more polite to each other than that. We don't take cheap shots like that when someone is trying to gracefully extricate themselves from an argument.

Look, asshole, as an activist, I feel the need to call attention to injustices wherever I see them, and especially dangerous are our daily, nonchalant utterances that malign whole groups (or genders!) of people in a few words. The slight awkward nature of my defense of women is more than validated by the feminist redemption in my message. It is my belief that not speaking up is tantamount to collusion.

And, seriously, "gracefully extricate themselves"? Requesting to use the paper representation of my greatest accomplishment (to date) to remove one's fecal matter is 'graceful'? This description of another's style casts doubt upon your assertion that I value style over substance.

I take further issue with your description of intersexed people as those posessing "physical deformities." It is this normative, gender-binary-supporting anti-queer rhetoric that creates a hostile environment for those born outside of the very shaky and problematic definition of "normality".

[fulbrightest]

Look, asshole, as an activist, I feel the need to call attention to injustices wherever I see them, and especially dangerous are our daily, nonchalant utterances that malign whole groups (or genders!) of people in a few words. The slight awkward nature of my defense of women is more than validated by the feminist redemption in my message. It is my belief that not speaking up is tantamount to collusion.

And, seriously, "gracefully extricate themselves"? Requesting to use the paper representation of my greatest accomplishment (to date) to remove one's fecal matter is 'graceful'? This description of another's style casts doubt upon your assertion that I value style over substance.

I take further issue with your description of intersexed people as those posessing "physical deformities." It is this normative, gender-binary-supporting anti-queer rhetoric that creates a hostile environment for those born outside of the very shaky and problematic definition of "normality".

Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies. -Elie Wiesel

[Rahkan]

Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies. -Elie Wiesel

Are you honestly suggesting that a word here or there on the internet, in a tiny little specialized forum is going to do more harm than the immense damage you've already done? People come here looking for guidance and support. I've tried to provide that. But you've done nothing but belittle good, honest, hard-working people. And I get why that's necessary for you. You've already got your Fulbright. And my posting put a little seed of doubt in you. It put some shame in there. You didn't do everything you could. You just coasted through. And you got it, sure. Now you're worried about whether it was just luck or connections or whatever. So you feel the need to cut down every person out there who even dares to imply that there is something in life more important than getting this award. Because you don't want to think about that, do you? You'll do your best never to think about it. You'll just hopscotch from trophy to trophy until you die. Because, for you, it's not about accomplishment, it's about being accomplished.

But I'm here to tell you something. I know you're smart. Hell, I know you're fucking brilliant. You're one of the few people on this message board who can spell and use a comma properly, for one thing. You don't need to be this petty and vindictive. Hell, you don't need to be this afraid. Stop trying to tear other people down. Focus on your work, whatever that is. Focus on what you actually have. I know you can still be saved, and I'll pray for that.

[fulbrightest]

Are you honestly suggesting that a word here or there on the internet, in a tiny little specialized forum is going to do more harm than the immense damage you've already done? People come here looking for guidance and support. I've tried to provide that. But you've done nothing but belittle good, honest, hard-working people. And I get why that's necessary for you. You've already got your Fulbright. And my posting put a little seed of doubt in you. It put some shame in there. You didn't do everything you could. You just coasted through. And you got it, sure. Now you're worried about whether it was just luck or connections or whatever. So you feel the need to cut down every person out there who even dares to imply that there is something in life more important than getting this award. Because you don't want to think about that, do you? You'll do your best never to think about it. You'll just hopscotch from trophy to trophy until you die. Because, for you, it's not about accomplishment, it's about being accomplished.

But I'm here to tell you something. I know you're smart. Hell, I know you're fucking brilliant. You're one of the few people on this message board who can spell and use a comma properly, for one thing. You don't need to be this petty and vindictive. Hell, you don't need to be this afraid. Stop trying to tear other people down. Focus on your work, whatever that is. Focus on what you actually have. I know you can still be saved, and I'll pray for that.

I haven't belittled. I've hopefully added the finishing touches to a sculpture that is just a few polishes away from being lauded a masterpiece. My critiques have been pragmatic, though the dink of the chisel may sting.

You have not planted a seed of doubt. Not only do you think I am brilliant, so do three screening rounds of Fulbright panels, a host of Harvard professors, and most importantly, myself.

You can keep your prayers. Evidently, God thinks I'm brilliant, too. She's on my side.

Is She on yours? Did you get a Fulbright?

[nemolover]

You have not planted a seed of doubt. Not only do you think I am brilliant, so do three screening rounds of Fulbright panels, a host of Harvard professors, and most importantly, myself.

You can keep your prayers. Evidently, God thinks I'm brilliant, too. She's on my side.

Is She on yours? Did you get a Fulbright?

I cannot believe you just said that!!! YOU ARE AN ARROGANT ASSHOLE. (well, you made it obvious enough from your screen name. ful"brighest," really??) As an alternate, I found this board very supportive until now. I kept turning here for advice, and I shared my own bits of advice to others who needed it. I tried to reach out (except, admittedly, when I reacted to mkurti's initial outburst of anger--which was not as bad as what you just said). You are NOT better than anyone because you got a Fulbright. You are NOT better than mkurti. You are NOT better than Rahkan. And you are NOT better than me. And if you really think that, then you probably don't deserve a Fulbright. The Fulbright is about gaining an understanding of other human beings. Sure, they mean through cultural exchange, but that principle applies to your fellow Americans as well. I bet IIE would reconsider their decision if they knew your true disrespectful attitudes toward others. (By the way, I don't necessarily think Rahkan is much better.)

A longer message from me to come...

[nemolover]

I think this arguing needs to stop. This is completely ridiculous and out of hand. This board is supposed to be supportive, and you have violated that. None of you are so courageous to be speaking your mind on an anonymous message board. fulbrightest and rahkan, you are both full of shit.

mkurti, you have every right to be upset. i think people (myself included) were just put off by the way you expressed your disappointment, which came across, perhaps unintentionally, as a sense of entitlement that no one should have for such a highly competitive award. but maybe your reaction to the news was healthier than mine: i cried myself to sleep several nights in a row.

Whenever I am feeling like everything in life is working against me, I think of a message I saw painted on a rock in my host village in rural Bhutan (where I spent my past summer doing research). Hopefully it will make you feel a little bit better too:

"The journey of life is long and yet the path unknown." - Guru Rinpoche (a.k.a. Padmasambhava)

We don't know where life will take us. We don't know why things happen the way they do. No, I'm not really a believer in fate. I am a huge believer in hard work--but sometimes things are just beyond our control. I'm sure that you did everything you could, but we do not know why IIE makes the decisions it does. But you know what? We're young. We have our entire lives ahead of us. This was not our last chance to carry out a project abroad. As Bhutan's favorite guru says, life is long--so a setback now does not determine the success of the rest of our lives. I think the uncertainty of our future is what makes life exhilarating. You might not know what step to take next, but whatever path you choose will lead to exciting new possibilities, and you will learn a great deal from encountering and overcoming obstacles along the way.

Mkurti, no one needs a Fulbright to do amazing things. You can still do incredible work without one. For all you know, not getting the Fulbright could be the best thing that ever happened to you. Now you have the opportunity to embark on a new path, a new adventure, that you might not have even considered otherwise. And who knows where that may lead! Not getting the Fulbright sucks; trust me, I'm in the same position and I feel your pain. It's ok to be upset for a little while. When you're ready to move on--and take all the time you need--you will be able to find something else fantastic to pursue.

Just remember: You are an awesome person with incredible drive. And no one can take that away from you. Use that drive to do great things in your life. You don't need a silly grant to confirm your worth.

Plus, you always have the option to apply again next year.

[Dreams]

Let's quit the arguing and return to the original intent of the forum: to be a place where current and prospective grad students can come together for support and advice. If there are people here who would prefer to argue and fight, there are several other sites more fitted to that sort of thing I can recommend. I am not singling anyone out - this can apply to anyone here.

As nemolover said, no one needs a Fulbright to validate their sense of self worth. People go on to do great things despite not getting one. And if someone did not get one, yet strongly feels a Fulbright is a perfect next step in their goals, then by all means pursue it again next year.

Contact the program officer for your region for feedback. Work on building more connections for references in your country of choice. And then use these tools to build a stellar application package for next year.

Rakhan said it best. Fulbrights are not some trophy or ribbon. The mission of the Fulbright, whether we know or not, whether we want to believe it or not, it to foster and promote cultural understanding. How much of your application conveys that? How much of the discussion on this thread is conveying that? The panel members can see through applicants (in many cases), who just want to go for a vacation or who just want the prestige of it. If an applicant is cunning enough to deceive the panel, then more power to them.

And furthermore, we should not be so quick to make assumptions about others based on the country they choose. There is a reason fulbrightest applied to Macao. And whatever the reason, we have no place to judge that. Applying to Macao is no different than applying to Jamaica, the United Kingdon, Armenia, France, Korea, Burkina Faso or Mongolia. Each person has a reason for that that is their own.

For what it's worth, I was turned down the first time I applied for a Fulbright. The 5 word email rejection I received stung. And how appropriate I would receive it in a Psychology lecture on the determinants of human behavior and emotion.

But you know what, life went on, and I continued to do great things at work. At the urging of others I reapplied and took my own advice that I gave above. I also looked at the profiles of students who received grants over the years. I looked at their project types, residence states, universities, fluctuations in available slots in the host country, who the President's Fulbright Commission members were, and a host of other things The second time I was successful.

So to anyone on this board, a rejection is nothing in the grand scheme of things. If you want something badly keep at it. And for those of us who were successful this season, lend a hand and advice on what worked so those who are persistent can be successful next year.