Fulbright 2009-2010

[HKETA]

Has anyone spoken to Jonathan Akeley or anyone else who would have any updates on Hong Kong? I wonder if it would be possible to contact the Selection Committee in HK directly... ? This wait is starting to drive me crazy!

[jadoreviie]

Has anyone spoken to Jonathan Akeley or anyone else who would have any updates on Hong Kong? I wonder if it would be possible to contact the Selection Committee in HK directly... ? This wait is starting to drive me crazy!

The last I've heard from Jonathan was that he was hoping it would be sent early this week. Someone called yesterday and they said it hadn't been sent yet. They are still waiting on the FSB. Jonathan was out of the office yesterday so the update was given by his secretary. I hope someone calls today to figure this out.

[Dreydenn]

Still no word from China. I knew that my recent address change might slow this down. Trying not to go mad. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if IIE sends out acceptance/rejection/alternate status updates on the same day, generally?

[somehipcat]

Am also wondering if there are any others out there who applied for Research grants to Italy--would love to know what city you applied to work in and what your project entails. (I applied to work on thirteenth and fourteenth century religious architecture in Verona.)

I'm also waiting on a research grant to Italy. I applied to study at La Sapienza in Rome, and my project is to look at how 19th century American novelists portrayed contemporary Italian (particularly Roman) life in their novels, with an emphasis on how Rome's changing urban layout (i.e. the excavation of the Forum) may have affected how these novelists negotiated the tension between contemporary and ancient Rome. It also generally deals with racism in Grand Tourist narratives. Hard to sum up all the particulars, but I feel like I have to - the short answer to your question, "American lit," seems ludicrous.

In bocca al lupo!

[Rainer]

Hey everyone! First time posting here. This forum has given me such solace in the months and months of nail biting and waiting. I have been reading it since January when all of us were anxiously awaiting finalist notification, only to realize that that meant more months of waiting.

I was awarded a Fulbright ETA to Germany, so I am very excited--still waiting to hear about Bundesland though, as someone wrote previously. Keeping my fingers crossed!

To all other grantees--CONGRATULATIONS! This is the most arduous application process I have ever been through and it's still not really over! Whoever else is going to Germany, keep the forum updated on your Bundesland notification. Where is everyone else in the process? I just sent in the medical evaluation.

[little mermaid]

hy u all

first time here, me too im a fulbright principal candidate this year..

n im happy to see this forum :-)

i wanted to know when is the latest we can hear from IIE for admission in

US unis...i havent heard anything from them except that my application was

reviewed by Columbia Uni since my lecturers got to write reference again...

any1 of you can u please let me know if it's a "bad sign" not

to hear from them till now... its really stressful :-(

thnx

[nemolover]

teo823 kindly provided me with this link for additional funding (scholarships, grants, fellowships, etc):

http://www.studyabroadfunding.org/

i clicked on some of the links provided on that site, and it looks like some of the deadlines have not passed yet.

good luck!

[rinairy]

I'm also a finalist to Jordan. Spoke with Jermaine Jones late last week and was told the Jordanian committee still hasn't decided. I also emailed the Jordan office, and according to them it's looking like mid May. What's your proposal?

Ahhhh Arab Time! I knew it would take forrrrever.

My proposal is for anthropology research regarding refugees in Amman. I've studied Arabic for four years and lived in the ME for a year, but I've never been to Jordan. What is your proposal, and what is your Arabic language experience?

Any other info you'd care to disclose? I can share that apparently our letters of affiliation do not factor into the decision making process for finalists. It's more of a screening process for the national round.

Also, the orientation would be 23-27 June in DC, and 6-10 Sept in Amman @ the Fulbright House.

Further, our campus interview reports numerically ranked us (not against other applicants, but according to a rubric), and I hear that the national committee ranks us (against other applicants -- anyone else care to confirm this?) by order of preference for all those recommended to a specific country, and that the in-country selection committee usually takes these rankings from the national committee into strong consideration when making their final decisions. After that, the in-country selections must be approved by the State Department. If anyone has heard otherwise, please correct me.

Cheers.

[wishin&hopin]

Somehipcat,

Your project sounds VERY interesting...I've always been intrigued with how American films portray contemporary Italian society (just for fun, not as an academic interest), so your project sounds like great fun to me! One of my favorite places to start any research of medieval buildings is with 19th c./early 20th c. travel guides, usually by foreigners (especially Americans or the British)--they often give great descriptions of a building pre-restoration, providing valuable primary evidence of a monument's physical character (since medieval accounts so seldom survive) AND they are usually juicy and entertaining reads! They are a useful and interesting point of departure for archival work, and I can absolutely understand your fascination with how American writers view Italy.

Please keep me posted on your status. I have some other, "non-Fulbright" work to do in Rome for a forthcoming publication, so I'll be there at some point in the next 6 months or so--depending on how things work out (fingers crossed!!!), perhaps we can meet for a cappucino!

One more question: are you a grad student or an undergrad/new graduate? Just curious...I myself am a Ph.D. graduate student and I applied to finish my dissertation. Hopefully we'll hear soon....oh the agony of "the wait!" In bocca al lupo anche a te!!

[pace]

Ahhhh Arab Time! I knew it would take forrrrever.

My proposal is for anthropology research regarding refugees in Amman. I've studied Arabic for four years and lived in the ME for a year, but I've never been to Jordan. What is your proposal, and what is your Arabic language experience?

Any other info you'd care to disclose? I can share that apparently our letters of affiliation do not factor into the decision making process for finalists. It's more of a screening process for the national round.

Also, the orientation would be 23-27 June in DC, and 6-10 Sept in Amman @ the Fulbright House.

Further, our campus interview reports numerically ranked us (not against other applicants, but according to a rubric), and I hear that the national committee ranks us (against other applicants -- anyone else care to confirm this?) by order of preference for all those recommended to a specific country, and that the in-country selection committee usually takes these rankings from the national committee into strong consideration when making their final decisions. After that, the in-country selections must be approved by the State Department. If anyone has heard otherwise, please correct me.

Cheers.

Interesting...My proposal also has to do with refugees, specifically taking the oral histories of Iraqi refugees. I've got about 3 years of Arabic, but off and on. I've lived in North Africa and the Gulf, but also never been to Jordan. I'm an at-large candidate, so i never did an interview. Keep me updated as you hear more!

[jtb01]

Do any full grant alternates out there know the reason why we cannot be told of our position on the alternate list for our particular country? I do not understand why they would withhold this from us. I feel entitled to have this information at this point, so that I can plan my summer and have a better idea about whether i should move on with my life...

[rinairy]

Interesting...My proposal also has to do with refugees, specifically taking the oral histories of Iraqi refugees. I've got about 3 years of Arabic, but off and on. I've lived in North Africa and the Gulf, but also never been to Jordan. I'm an at-large candidate, so i never did an interview. Keep me updated as you hear more!

That's my project exactly! I want to ask you more questions, but I don't think they're of any use except to compare my project to yours and judge them myself, which is silly. Good luck to us!

[top5678]

Ahhhh Arab Time! I knew it would take forrrrever.

My proposal is for anthropology research regarding refugees in Amman. I've studied Arabic for four years and lived in the ME for a year, but I've never been to Jordan. What is your proposal, and what is your Arabic language experience?

Any other info you'd care to disclose? I can share that apparently our letters of affiliation do not factor into the decision making process for finalists. It's more of a screening process for the national round.

Also, the orientation would be 23-27 June in DC, and 6-10 Sept in Amman @ the Fulbright House.

Further, our campus interview reports numerically ranked us (not against other applicants, but according to a rubric), and I hear that the national committee ranks us (against other applicants -- anyone else care to confirm this?) by order of preference for all those recommended to a specific country, and that the in-country selection committee usually takes these rankings from the national committee into strong consideration when making their final decisions. After that, the in-country selections must be approved by the State Department. If anyone has heard otherwise, please correct me.

Cheers.

The advisors at my school told me different, i don't think your are totally correct on the ranking part. But close. The way it works is:

1. School ranks your app at the time of campus interview. ranking 1-5 based on strength of your app, not against others.

2. Sent off to NY, not ranked in any order at all, just sent as recommended. i.e., 4 grants available, will send 6-8 w/o ranking

3. Host country ranks. This is how it works. So, for instance, if NY sent 8 apps, they will rank 1,2,3,4. 1-4 gets the grant. I'm not sure how many alternates are named, but some obviously get rejected.

Do any full grant alternates out there know the reason why we cannot be told of our position on the alternate list for our particular country? I do not understand why they would withhold this from us. I feel entitled to have this information at this point, so that I can plan my summer and have a better idea about whether i should move on with my life...

I don't blame them for not saying. They won't say probably because they don't want to get any hopes up. What if they say you are the first alternate, but no funding comes and every principal candidate accepts? that would stink, and i imagine this might be a reason they don't say. i imagine they don't have a large amount of alternates, but most likely a healthy amount with just enough cushion based on previous year grant decliners. just assume you're not going to get it, and if you do that's a nice bonus. don't sit here and wait. my campus rep also said there is roughly a 30% chance to get it. but go ahead and start searching for other things.

[lisanik]

Hey All.

Finalist for Greece. The waiting is killing me. Anyone heard back from there yet? I know someone else on here applied there as well...

Thanks!

[lisanik]

The final authority on all decisions is the President's Fulbright Commission's. So the decisions will come from the US.

Hi there! I'm also a finalist for Greece. Have you heard back yet? The waiting is killing me!!!

[zacharylamel]

Any rejected or alternate-ed finalists in the Seattle area looking for a job? I will have to leave my job come mid-June, and I've been put in charge of finding my replacement. Check out www.teacherswithoutborders.org and let me know if you may be interested in working with the organization. I can answer any of your questions if you send them my way. It's a chill place to work, lots of neat international programming, and a nice location in Pioneer Square. I thought I'd check here since Fulbright applicants tend to be good workers, take initiative, all the good stuff. Okay, let me know!

- zach

[cschields]

Well, I just heard from the Netherlands. I was named an alternate. I live in California...

I guess it's one of those slow, icy, painful deaths rather than a quick one.

I was named an alternate to the Netherlands, too. I got really excited when I saw a large manila envelope, and my heart sank when I felt the weight of just one sheet of paper. So the wait continues...

[hurricaneb]

I was recently named an alternate to Azerbaijan, and I was pretty excited about it. Anything is better than being rejected, even if it means you have to wait a bit longer. I had a question about the alternate status though, because Azerbaijan is part of Eurasia, which splits 10 grants among 5 countries. No country is guaranteed any grants, so if Georgia has 10 outstanding applicants that year, they get 10 and the other countries get none. I doubt it is ever this cut and dry, however. In regards to alternate status, would I be part of Eurasia, so if someone from Moldova declined I could take their funding and go to Azerbaijan? Somewhat confusing, but if anyone knows how this works please let me know! Thank you, and congratulations to everyone who has been accepted!

[lisanik]

I called Rachel Holskin to find out if Greece had been released yet. Turns out they mailed the letters a month ago and mine got lost. What a terrible way to find out I didn't get it. :|

[Dreydenn]

I called Rachel Holskin to find out if Greece had been released yet. Turns out they mailed the letters a month ago and mine got lost. What a terrible way to find out I didn't get it. :|

Condolences... :|

*edited due to lack of talent with these smiley things

[wishin&hopin]

Condolences... :|

*edited due to lack of talent with these smiley things

My condolences as well...that is a terrible way to find out. I'm so sorry.

[nemolover]

Do any full grant alternates out there know the reason why we cannot be told of our position on the alternate list for our particular country? I do not understand why they would withhold this from us. I feel entitled to have this information at this point, so that I can plan my summer and have a better idea about whether i should move on with my life...

the fulbright advisor at your university can find out this number for you in May. apparently they are allowed to ask for a few "favors," and getting your waitlist number is one of them--but they have to wait until May, and they need a good excuse to call, like "jtb01 has a job offer and needs to make a decision."

but i agree with you. we are entitled to know our position on the alternate list so that we can move on. being told that ~1/3 of alternates get it doesn't do much for us if we don't know how high or low on the list we are. i have decided to just move on as if i'm not going to get it. maybe i'll be presently surprised, but i probably won't be. i have been posting some non-Fulbright suggestions for how you can spend next year, so look through the past few pages of posts. and post your own ideas!

[somehipcat]

Somehipcat,

Your project sounds VERY interesting...I've always been intrigued with how American films portray contemporary Italian society (just for fun, not as an academic interest), so your project sounds like great fun to me! One of my favorite places to start any research of medieval buildings is with 19th c./early 20th c. travel guides, usually by foreigners (especially Americans or the British)--they often give great descriptions of a building pre-restoration, providing valuable primary evidence of a monument's physical character (since medieval accounts so seldom survive) AND they are usually juicy and entertaining reads! They are a useful and interesting point of departure for archival work, and I can absolutely understand your fascination with how American writers view Italy.

Please keep me posted on your status. I have some other, "non-Fulbright" work to do in Rome for a forthcoming publication, so I'll be there at some point in the next 6 months or so--depending on how things work out (fingers crossed!!!), perhaps we can meet for a cappucino!

One more question: are you a grad student or an undergrad/new graduate? Just curious...I myself am a Ph.D. graduate student and I applied to finish my dissertation. Hopefully we'll hear soon....oh the agony of "the wait!" In bocca al lupo anche a te!!

Wishin&hopin,

Thanks for your kind words! Looking at 19th century travel guides, especially Baedecker's or Hawthorne's The Marble Faun, would be one of the more diverting parts of my project. I'm just finishing up my senior year of undergrad, and I'm planning on pursuing an MFA in fiction the year after next. Se tutto va bene, we will both be drinking a cappuccino in Piazza Sant'Eustachio in a few months. But the more I think about things like that, the worse it gets. It's been an awfully long wait. I'll definitely keep you posted if I hear anything!

[jacksondietrich]

I'm guessing no one called Jonathan Akeley today to check the status of HK ETA notification? I'm on the West Coast, so by the time I got a free moment at work to try, his office was already closed.

[dianuccia]

Wishin&hopin,

Thanks for your kind words! Looking at 19th century travel guides, especially Baedecker's or Hawthorne's The Marble Faun, would be one of the more diverting parts of my project. I'm just finishing up my senior year of undergrad, and I'm planning on pursuing an MFA in fiction the year after next. Se tutto va bene, we will both be drinking a cappuccino in Piazza Sant'Eustachio in a few months. But the more I think about things like that, the worse it gets. It's been an awfully long wait. I'll definitely keep you posted if I hear anything!

Adoro il caffe' a Sant'Eustachio! Studiavo a Roma per 4 mese - sarebbe una bellissima esperienza! Vicino Piazza Sant'Eustachio c'e anche una pasticceria si chiama Giolitti con gelato buonissimo!quanto mi manca l'Italia... non vedo l'ora di sentire se ci andro' a Lecce.

si... in bocca al lupo...