Boren 2013-2014

[cm125]

If the date confirmation email is an automatic rejection, why would they bother sending it out anyway?

I didn't get the email, so I meant if it turns out that I'm already rejected, then clearly the letters weren't a big help.

[queenskid]

If the date confirmation email is an automatic rejection, why would they bother sending it out anyway?

At this point no body is sure what it could mean. This whole forum is just a databank of speculation created to help allay our worries and keep us hopeful until late april/early may. 

 

Though I do agree that a "budget email" is likely a great indicator that you will receive a Boren Award or be named an alternate (as per the data and organized in cm's spreadsheets collected during the previous years). But until Boren sends out final letters nobody will know anything for sure.

 

Just think of this as Group Therapy for Boren applicants. Like I said the application process was hell so a debriefing is all the more necessary to help us deal with the rejection that statistically is very high for each individual applicant.

 

Funny side-note, my girlfriend kept on calling it the "Boring Fellowship" because every time I tried explaining to her what it's about she would always get bored, drift off and want to change the subject,lol.

Edited April 15, 2013 by queenskid

[potatopower12]

Not to further obfuscate the situation, but I am a Scholar applicant who received 'the' budget update email when the other scholar applicants did. Towards the end of last week I received another email from Boren specifically asking me to clarify a part of my budget because they had been "double-checking" mine. At first I found the email disconcerting because there seemed to be a misunderstanding on my proposed programs, but once I explained and heard back from them, now I can not stop speculating what it means. I guess we shall all know in the coming days--best of luck to all!

 

 

I too received the budget udate request and a subsequent follow-up e-mail regarding clarification.  I wrote them back in detail last Sat and have yet to receive a response.  Due to the silence I thought I would shoot them a quick note to make sure the e-mail made it to its destination (and as an attempt to gently prod some answers out of them for a couple of questions in the original e-mail.) 

 

....Still no response.  Has anyone else had this type of experience (silence from Boren)?  How did it turn out?  Appreciate the help!

 

Regards,

 

Val C.

 

you guys should add your information to the spreadsheet! it'll be nice to see all the information laid out when they announce the winners

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ak8VXdo5DCQmdHBKamV4b0NPa3hBRUJqRkxlZGdpRGc#gid=0

[Utahyankee]

If the date confirmation email is an automatic rejection, why would they bother sending it out anyway?

Wait, I may be mistaken but how did we go from "the dates email is good" to "the dates email is an automatic rejection"?

[qaiswalayla]

Wait, I may be mistaken but how did we go from "the dates email is good" to "the dates email is an automatic rejection"?

 

 

@Uthayankee Maybe I should stop being a negative nancy, but speculation on the this and previous forums seems to indicate that the budget email is indication of alternate or acceptance status. 

 

[shakazulu]

If the date confirmation email is an automatic rejection, why would they bother sending it out anyway?

where did you get that? why would they expend resources, time, and personnel on preparing date confirmation emails for people they're going to reject. that was the third in a series of emails i received from them during march regarding my program... i find it hard to believe that they would make any such effort on an application if it weren't a serious contender. either way, it would seem that busget emails aren't coming out for whatever reason... at this point i am sure that regional committees have made their selections and nominated the applications they liked best. no one will be getting a budget email.

[Utahyankee]

So you're saying I shouldn't start drinking heavily yet?

[vlcampbell]

@Utahyankee- 1st cm125 was speaking of fellowship applicants (I assume) regarding the dates e-mail, as the "dates e-mail" for scholarship applicants was included in the budget e-mail.  2nd cm125 actually wrote "I didn't get the email, so I meant if it turns out that I'm already rejected, then clearly the letters weren't a big help."  He was referring to the letters of affiliation, which only apply to fellowship applicants. 3rd shakazulu was also referring to fellowship applicants and the fact that for some reason they were not sent budget e-mails this year (whereas they had been in previous years.)

 

@shakazulu- qaiswalaya was reacting to a misunderstanding of what was originally posted by cm125.  What he was really attempting to express (in regards to the fellowship) was  "I didn't get the email, so I meant if it turns out that I'm already rejected, then clearly the letters weren't a big help."

 

 

 

[vlcampbell]

So you're saying I shouldn't start drinking heavily yet?

Utah- you should be fine.  We'll knock on wood in hopes you receive the fellowship (you're almost guaranteed alternate status at the very least.)

[queenskid]

gosh this is so exciting! I have the flu and its 7 til 12 in NYC and I can't sleep on account of the results . . . and partly because of the flu! Good luck guys!

[aquam]

@shakazulu, that's great! how many months was your original proposal for?

[cm125]

just updated the google doc. i got an email from them about extending my study to remain well within a higher funding window and give me room for leaving the country without losing money. anyone get that as well?

That sounds like an unofficial but basically official acceptance? Congratulations!

[Lauren2013]

just updated the google doc. i got an email from them about extending my study to remain well within a higher funding window and give me room for leaving the country without losing money. anyone get that as well?

 

 

That sounds like an unofficial but basically official acceptance? Congratulations!

 

 

It pretty much does! Or at least it is a great sign! But it seems like an email that's pretty specific to you, and it won't go to people that applied for longer term programs. But maybe others are getting updates on other aspects as well. 

[shakazulu]

thank you everyone! i would also like to believe that it's an unofficial official acceptance (which is what i thought at the time), but i got it before the infamous "dates" email we received. so... who knows.

[KGrard]

Hello,

 

My name is Kaysey, and I'm currently a part-time Master of Urban Planning student at NYU. I applied to study Arabic (MSA and MCA) in Rabat, Morocco for a year starting this August. My nerves have been insane this month!

 

I did receive an email from Boren asking if I had any updates to my budget. Does anybody know if fellows are required to go to DC for this orientation prior to departure? I am looking to coordinate leaving my job, taking a summer class and packing up my apartment. Looking forward to early May!

 

 

[aepafrica]

Hello,

 

My name is Kaysey, and I'm currently a part-time Master of Urban Planning student at NYU. I applied to study Arabic (MSA and MCA) in Rabat, Morocco for a year starting this August. My nerves have been insane this month!

 

I did receive an email from Boren asking if I had any updates to my budget. Does anybody know if fellows are required to go to DC for this orientation prior to departure? I am looking to coordinate leaving my job, taking a summer class and packing up my apartment. Looking forward to early May!

Hi KGrard,

 

When I was in contact with the program manager last week, he said that fellows are not required to go to DC for the orientation. 

 

Good luck to you!  I was in Morocco in March to visit my husband who is on a Fulbright-Hays.  The consensus seems to be that most people love Rabat over Casablanca.  =)  That's were we stayed on my way in and out of the country.  Good luck!

[queenskid]

Hello,

 

My name is Kaysey, and I'm currently a part-time Master of Urban Planning student at NYU. I applied to study Arabic (MSA and MCA) in Rabat, Morocco for a year starting this August. My nerves have been insane this month!

 

I did receive an email from Boren asking if I had any updates to my budget. Does anybody know if fellows are required to go to DC for this orientation prior to departure? I am looking to coordinate leaving my job, taking a summer class and packing up my apartment. Looking forward to early May!

 

Hi Kaysey and other Fellowship applicants, would you mind posting the date you received the budget emails?

[aepafrica]

My situation is different from other fellows.  I didn't receive a date confirmation email the week of 1 April like others but on 5 April, I received an email (time stamp 4pm) from a program manager informing me that I was the only one expressing interest in the AFLI Zulu program in South Africa....it was cancelled and I was tasked with finding a new language center/program in the country.  Once I found one (and I did), I needed to amend my budget to reflect the new costs.  I had to have that turned in by 12 April...not much time.  They seemed to be more interested that I had a letter of commitment from somewhere that would host a language program for me, saying that we could deal with more specifics of the costs later.  I don't know...hopefully this is a good sign.  Last week was so stressful. 

[Nickbe12]

Hi,

 

I'm a fellowship applicant. I received a budget clarification email on March 18 that was for a specific line item, and then received the dates email like most of you. Since then I accepted a different fellowship which would support part of my Boren program for the summer - when I told Boren, they asked me to revise my budget and explain where I would like to use the extra funds. 

After sending my revision to Boren, I received a response that said that my budget had been "updated in the DB". 

 

Who knows what any of this means, but I've enjoyed reading all of the speculation.. 

[KGrard]

Hello!

 

After looking back at the email, it is actually an email clarifying my program start and end dates. I have applied to be in Morocco for a full-year, so I responded that my anticipated dates would be staying the same. I received the email on April 2nd, and he responded thanking me for the up date by the end the same day (April 2nd). I did not receive a budget clarification email in March.

 

I'll look back through the forum feed, but how important is the date we received these emails?

 

Thanks!

 

Kaysey

[KGrard]

Nevermind, I read the entire thread = antsy at work.

 

As for the comment from the Boren facebook page about knowing April 30th, does anyone know if they have announced the recepients on the Boren fb page in previous years? Not having to rush home before class to check the mail on May 1st (or beyond) would be pretty convenient...

[mcelone]

They notify you via email, not on Facebook or snail-mail

[aepafrica]

Do  we really know if it is 30 April or could it be sooner?  I'm sure the 29th or 30th sound about right....

 

Well, I just got my tickets to South Africa today since I have to be at site for this harvest in May.  I've given up any hope of knowing anything before leaving next Friday.   Now to focus on getting everything else on my to-do list done by next Thursday!! 

[KGrard]

Even better, I will be stalking my email for the last few days in April. Good luck everyone, looking forward to just knowing either way!

[shakazulu]

for those in the DC area - if we get acceptance letters, let's go out for a no holds barred happy hour. just a thought.