Fulbright 2009-2010

[BrintonA]

So, applying to Central Asia / Tajikistan, and received the following e-mail on Friday:

"Dear Applicant:

You have been selected as a Principal for the Critical Language Enhancement Award. This is not notification of a Fulbright award, those notifications take place separately. The Critical Language Enhancement Award is contingent upon receipt of a Fulbright award. Depending on the country you applied to, you may or may not have already been notified at this point of your Fulbright status."

Did anyone else receive notice that they were selected for CLEA prior to receiving notification regarding the status of their Fulbright grant? Any thoughts?

[urbanite]

Could one of the HK ETAs let me know the postdate on your notification letters (and for fun: size of envelope if acceptance?) I still have NOT received my letter-- and I doubled checked to make sure the address on my application is correct. I'm thinking that it is lost in the mail. I will probably call tomorrow morning to inquire once again. And congrats to those who were accepted!

[jadoreviie]

Could one of the HK ETAs let me know the postdate on your notification letters (and for fun: size of envelope if acceptance?) I still have NOT received my letter-- and I doubled checked to make sure the address on my application is correct. I'm thinking that it is lost in the mail. I will probably call tomorrow morning to inquire once again. And congrats to those who were accepted!

Mine was sent on April 21st on arrived on Friday the 24th. Let Jonathan know and he'll send you another letter if it hasn't arrived by Monday.

[boethian]

The Fulbright is about gaining an understanding of other human beings.

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.

I want to thank nemolover, FSIA, and anyone else so much for pointing this out. I have been thinking about alternate status so intently that I have really lost sight of all of this. It really makes me question whether I should even get one. It also relieves me because I care much more about that goal than whether I personally receive a Fulbright.

Great posts on p. 54, sunbeam. After reading your reasons for why Fulbright should support grad students in their last year, you convinced me that someone should do it, but not that Fulbright necessarily should. It seems like you came basically to the same conclusions by pointing out all the things Fulbright emphases that other organizations do not.

By the way, if you are really pissed off at someone on a forum, realize there is always a chance that the person is flaming.

[nemolover]

I want to thank nemolover, FSIA, and anyone else so much for pointing this out. I have been thinking about alternate status so intently that I have really lost sight of all of this. It really makes me question whether I should even get one. It also relieves me because I care much more about that goal than whether I personally receive a Fulbright.

If you care more about the goal of mutual understanding than receiving the Fulbright, then don't question whether or not you deserve one. You do.

[hurricaneb]

So, applying to Central Asia / Tajikistan, and received the following e-mail on Friday:

"Dear Applicant:

You have been selected as a Principal for the Critical Language Enhancement Award. This is not notification of a Fulbright award, those notifications take place separately. The Critical Language Enhancement Award is contingent upon receipt of a Fulbright award. Depending on the country you applied to, you may or may not have already been notified at this point of your Fulbright status."

Did anyone else receive notice that they were selected for CLEA prior to receiving notification regarding the status of their Fulbright grant? Any thoughts?

BrintonA,

Congratulations!! Have you had any language training in Tajik? Or will you be a beginner when you begin your award? I just submitted my proposal last week for the CLEA and am still waiting to hear.

[Rainer]

So glad everything is pleasant and civil again--thanks Minnesotan! Also, people keep talking about school ranking as having a part in the application process. How is this ranking decided upon? This is an independent number from the number of applicants vs. the number awarded grants per University, is it not? Can someone explain the difference, if one exists, and if there is some way to find out different school rankings? Thanks! :wink:

[BrintonA]

Congratulations!! Have you had any language training in Tajik? Or will you be a beginner when you begin your award? I just submitted my proposal last week for the CLEA and am still waiting to hear.

Thanks for the congrats, now if only the Fulbright notification would come.... If you haven't heard about CLEA yet then they must be sending CLEA notifications on a rolling basis. I have two years of Persian training (very close to Tajik) plus 1 month of Tajik tutoring as part of a 3-month summer research project in Tajikistan, though my written Tajik is atrocious so I probably won't be starting at a particularly advanced level .

[sunbean8]

So glad everything is pleasant and civil again--thanks Minnesotan! Also, people keep talking about school ranking as having a part in the application process. How is this ranking decided upon? This is an independent number from the number of applicants vs. the number awarded grants per University, is it not? Can someone explain the difference, if one exists, and if there is some way to find out different school rankings? Thanks! :wink:

I could be wrong, but I think that the discussion of school ranking earlier was about overall university ranking, probably according to US News & World Report, or whatever it is that ranks academic institutions (?). Your school's ranking/standing in the academic community should not affect your chances of getting a Fulbright, although some schools have higher percentages of their applicants get Fulbrights, or large numbers of successful applicants in general. I would guess there are two reasons for this -- schools with large numbers of successful applicants seem often to be major research institutions, which probably have more people (in terms of sheer numbers) who are interested in applying to Fulbright and have had the resources to put together successful applications. In terms of the percentages, I am under the impression that the school's FPA has a lot to do with that -- my school generally has fewer Fulbright applications than other major research institutions, but a high percentage of applicants get it. In 2006-2007, our success rate was almost 50% (don't know what it is this year yet) -- my FPA is very strict about what constitutes a successful application, which can be difficult if for some reason you don't have something she wants; however, the stats would indicate that she's good at her job.

Hope this helps. Or were you asking something else?

[Rainer]

I could be wrong, but I think that the discussion of school ranking earlier was about overall university ranking, probably according to US News & World Report, or whatever it is that ranks academic institutions (?). Your school's ranking/standing in the academic community should not affect your chances of getting a Fulbright, although some schools have higher percentages of their applicants get Fulbrights, or large numbers of successful applicants in general. I would guess there are two reasons for this -- schools with large numbers of successful applicants seem often to be major research institutions, which probably have more people (in terms of sheer numbers) who are interested in applying to Fulbright and have had the resources to put together successful applications. In terms of the percentages, I am under the impression that the school's FPA has a lot to do with that -- my school generally has fewer Fulbright applications than other major research institutions, but a high percentage of applicants get it. In 2006-2007, our success rate was almost 50% (don't know what it is this year yet) -- my FPA is very strict about what constitutes a successful application, which can be difficult if for some reason you don't have something she wants; however, the stats would indicate that she's good at her job.

Hope this helps. Or were you asking something else?

Hmm. Thanks for the reply, but I was under the impression that there were independent "campus ratings" from Fulbright, like if you look in the upper right hand corner of the Fulbright application it says "Campus Rating." I don't think this translates directly with overall University ranking, though I'm sure it has something to do with it. Maybe, like US NWR, they group in tiers, either based on success rate, national ranking, or some combination of the two. I was just curious if anyone knew for sure.

[nemolover]

Hmm. Thanks for the reply, but I was under the impression that there were independent "campus ratings" from Fulbright, like if you look in the upper right hand corner of the Fulbright application it says "Campus Rating." I don't think this translates directly with overall University ranking, though I'm sure it has something to do with it. Maybe, like US NWR, they group in tiers, either based on success rate, national ranking, or some combination of the two. I was just curious if anyone knew for sure.

"Campus rating" is the rating that your university gives you, on a scale of 1 to 5, based on your on-campus interview. It has nothing to do with rating the actual school.

[sunbean8]

Hmm. Thanks for the reply, but I was under the impression that there were independent "campus ratings" from Fulbright, like if you look in the upper right hand corner of the Fulbright application it says "Campus Rating." I don't think this translates directly with overall University ranking, though I'm sure it has something to do with it. Maybe, like US NWR, they group in tiers, either based on success rate, national ranking, or some combination of the two. I was just curious if anyone knew for sure.

There are campus ratings -- the interview committee gives each application a score (I believe on the scale of 1-5). I do not think the campus ranks applicants, and a score of 5 from any campus should in theory be equal once applications are passed on to the national level. My FPA said that if the campus rates the application below a 4, there's very little chance that Fulbright will fund you.

[urbanite]

woot! just got an e-mail saying that I was accepted as a HK ETA. If you are also thinking about going, PM me and I'd love to get to know my potential colleagues!

[somehipcat]

Just got my Italy letter today: it's a no. Auguri to all of the principle candidates!

[graduatingsoon]

So, applying to Central Asia / Tajikistan, and received the following e-mail on Friday:

"Dear Applicant:

You have been selected as a Principal for the Critical Language Enhancement Award. This is not notification of a Fulbright award, those notifications take place separately. The Critical Language Enhancement Award is contingent upon receipt of a Fulbright award. Depending on the country you applied to, you may or may not have already been notified at this point of your Fulbright status."

Did anyone else receive notice that they were selected for CLEA prior to receiving notification regarding the status of their Fulbright grant? Any thoughts?

I just got an acceptance letter today for Kyrgyzstan. I suspect that the other Central Asia letters are in the mail.

[BrintonA]

I just got an acceptance letter today for Kyrgyzstan. I suspect that the other Central Asia letters are in the mail.

Graduatingsoon, Congratulations! You wouldn't happen to still have the postmark on that envelope would you? Where do you live?

[Albanski]

I called Rachel today and she said I am the only alternate. There are three people who have been slected. Do you think I stand a chance?

[top5678]

I called Rachel today and she said I am the only alternate. There are three people who have been slected. Do you think I stand a chance?

hmm, i think so. just keep your head up, they have one month to accept or decline. you'll know sooner or later anyhow!

[top5678]

i forgot to ask, does anyone know how they contact alternates once they move to principal status? is it always by email or do they send out the manilla envelope?

[BrintonA]

i forgot to ask, does anyone know how they contact alternates once they move to principal status? is it always by email or do they send out the manilla envelope?

Sometimes they send out a manilla envelope--my roommate was an alternate for Russia ETA and just received notice of principal status selection today via snail mail.

[top5678]

Sometimes they send out a manilla envelope--my roommate was an alternate for Russia ETA and just received notice of principal status selection today via snail mail.

wow, nice!!! tell your roommate i said congratulations! do you happen to know when Russia ETAs were notified? i'm just curious about how long it took for them to send your roommate the envelope out after the one month answering period.

[OD09]

Hi, everyone. I received a really obscure message from the Fulbright commission. Hopefully, someone here can help decipher. I'm an alternate for Thailand.

"Dear Fulbright Applicant,

My name is [name] and I am the Senior Program Officer at the Institute of International Education responsible for the Asia-Pacific region. Please give me a call at the number in my signature at your soonest convenience to discuss the status of your Fulbright application."

I called, but no one answered. Has anyone else received this message?

[Albanski]

You will probably be given a grant since they decided to contact you. I read online somewhere that thats what happened to someone before, they got a phone call to call Fulbright and they offered them a full grant. Either that or perhaps a spot opened up somewhere else where they might be able to give you a grant.

Good luck!

[zacharylamel]

Hi, everyone. I received a really obscure message from the Fulbright commission. Hopefully, someone here can help decipher. I'm an alternate for Thailand.

"Dear Fulbright Applicant,

My name is [name] and I am the Senior Program Officer at the Institute of International Education responsible for the Asia-Pacific region. Please give me a call at the number in my signature at your soonest convenience to discuss the status of your Fulbright application."

I called, but no one answered. Has anyone else received this message?

I'd think that Mkurti is right; you have probably been removed from the alternate list and been awarded a grant. Let us know what happens!

[nemolover]

hmm, i think so. just keep your head up, they have one month to accept or decline. you'll know sooner or later anyhow!

well, if extra funding opens up in May, and they decide to give some of that to Albania, then you're in! but i would still try to figure out other plans just in case.

on another note, this morning i officially accepted a job in India and now have to send an email to IIE to withdraw from the alternate list. so, i'm finally leaving this forum. thank you so much to everyone for all of your support throughout this painful process!! to those of you re-applying next year, i'm sure i'll see you here again.