Fulbright 2016 - 2017

[Ally K]

Does anyone have any inside info about when NatGeo applicants will hear back? My adviser didn't know they were on different decision timelines. 

[lsatings]

1 minute ago, Cuchulainn said:

How many of you on here would take another shot next year or have applied twice before? Weighing up my options. 

Also - sensational timing - my GRE is booked for tomorrow and I'm not sure whether to take it. Seems a shame to waste the effort! Any thoughts? 

I am a semi-finalist this year after being rejected the first time I applied two years ago. Reapplying with a stronger application makes a lot of sense, and I know a lot of people who didn't get it the first time (or second time, for some) but then were accepted and said that it was all worth it. I think that if you spent enough time working on your application this year, then half of the work is done for you to reapply. Speak with some faculty advisors, or even the Fulbright committee on your campus, and see where the weak parts of your application were. Then, spend time strengthening it so when you reapply youre a more competitive applicant. 

One thing I would strongly advise to many people who are applying is to make sure that Fulbright isn't the only thing you are working on: you can always defer grad programs, but you can't defer Fulbright. And if you don't get accepted into Fulbright, and haven't applied to grad schools, then you're left with having to find something else to work on for at least another year. 

I would say don't take the GRE if you haven't studied for it. 

[Cuchulainn]

Thanks! Great advice, will bear it all in mind. Good luck to you! 

Edited January 21, 2016 by Cuchulainn

[wildchartermage]

11 hours ago, wildchartermage said:

Hi guys,

Instead of sending in the paper version of transcripts, what about the online part?

Has anyone done the below yet? Are these two different things....one from either a Fulbright Program Adviser or the Registrar's Office will be acceptable?

"If a Fulbright Program Adviser has the official transcript(s) which was uploaded into the online application, this may be sent to IIE directly by the Fulbright Program Adviser. Please instruct the Fulbright Program Adviser to include a letter verifying that the enclosed transcript is an official transcript.

IIE will accept an official electronic transcript if it is sent to IIE directly from the Registrar’s office. Official electronic transcripts can be sent to Vennette Ward."

Usually, sending in a paper transcript will cost money for the applicant, and I'll rather save the money when I can. 

bump bump bump

Again, has anyone thought about doing online version of sending in official transcript (see above)?

[lyonessrampant]

Nope.  I had the paper ones sent.  I worry about digital copies going to the wrong email or something, but if it gives directions how to do it, I would assume you just follow those and see what happens.  They did say that they alert us by Feb 19 (if I recall the date correctly) if they haven't received them.

[kyjin]

I approached my scholarship office about sending the online official transcript, but they said to just go to the registrar and get the paper copy sent. On the plus side, they said that I can tell the registrar it is for Fulbright and they will send it for free! (My PhD program charges for transcripts, my BA and MA institutions did not)

[sat0ri]

So they requested a transcript from the bachelor's degree granting institution -- so that's the only one we need to submit, right? All my course work from every institution I attened is on the transcript from my B.S. degree university, so I'm guessing I don't need to submitted any other transcripts because I didn't get receive a B.S. degree from those institutions? Any thoughts?

[kyjin]

31 minutes ago, sat0ri said:

So they requested a transcript from the bachelor's degree granting institution -- so that's the only one we need to submit, right? All my course work from every institution I attened is on the transcript from my B.S. degree university, so I'm guessing I don't need to submitted any other transcripts because I didn't get receive a B.S. degree from those institutions? Any thoughts?

Yes, your B.S. transcript alone should be fine. 

[dude_diligence_]

16 hours ago, Dilemma1 said:

I added a line above Argentina so you can fill it in!

Thanks!

[quietman]

Got my rejection today for the Canadian traditional student award (Canadian going to study in the US). My academic credentials are very strong (top student in a program of over 200) and I felt my experience was solid, but I guess it's a highly competitive award and perhaps I didn't focus enough on cultural exchange. I'm still disappointed and it makes me worry about my other outcomes this admissions cycle.

Best of luck to those remaining!

Edited January 23, 2016 by quietman

[Writer86]

On January 19, 2016 at 0:07 AM, sat0ri said:

I was selected as a semi-finalist for UK - open award.

Does anyone know what was entailed in the selection process for semi-finalists (formerly called finalist)? For instance, was our entire application read through before being selected, or was it based on some standard metric like GPA?

Also it says here ( http://us.fulbrightonline.org/information-for-recommended-candidates ) that 1.5-2.0 candidates where recommended (i.e., semi-finalist) compared to how many would be offered the fellowship. For the UK - open award where there is only 2 openings, does that mean ~4 people were recommended? ("What is the ratio of candidates recommended to grants given in each country? The National Screening Committees typically recommend 1.5-2 times the number of candidates as there are grants available for a particular award.")

Finally, anyone want to hazard a guess what the average GPA is for UK awards? 3.5? 3.9?

I was also selected as a semi-finalist for the UK Open Award, and I find myself wondering the same thing regarding the "1.5-2.0x candidates vs. awards" question. It does seem unlikely that they would only forward ~4 applications to the next round...but here's hoping!

[Writer86]

On January 21, 2016 at 10:16 AM, Cuchulainn said:

Rejected! Ah well, congratulations to the UK people who got it! 

How many of you on here would take another shot next year or have applied twice before? Weighing up my options. 

Also - sensational timing - my GRE is booked for tomorrow and I'm not sure whether to take it. Seems a shame to waste the effort! Any thoughts? 

Last year, I applied for a UK Partnership Award, and I didn't make it beyond the initial screening. This year I applied again, but for the UK Open Award (the university I'm applying to this time doesn't have a Partner Award at the PhD level, only MA). I did make it to the semi-finalist round for this cycle, happy to say! I proposed essentially the same project in both cycles, so I definitely think it's worth giving it another shot. I think one of the biggest differences in my case is that I didn't have a firm affiliation last year; I had been in contact with members of the university's faculty, but no one had agreed to supervise my work. This year, I managed to secure a dissertation supervisor at my target university before the Fulbright deadline, which allowed me to emphasize the affiliation in my application materials (i.e., "This isn't a total pipe dream! Someone likes this project enough to supervise it!").

[genderboi]

@quietman sorry my quotes dont seem to be working. Sorry to hear about your rejection... it is strange as Fulbright told me notifications would be going out early Feb just last week. How did they notify you, if you dont mind me asking. I also applied for the traditional award and have not heard anything! 

Edited January 26, 2016 by genderboi

[quietman]

1 hour ago, genderboi said:

@quietman sorry my quotes dont seem to be working. Sorry to hear about your rejection... it is strange as Fulbright told me notifications would be going out early Feb just last week. How did they notify you, if you dont mind me asking. I also applied for the traditional award and have not heard anything! 

Hi genderboi,

Thanks for the commiserations and best of luck to you.

I was sent a rejection letter in the mail. It was dated January 19th but arrived on January 22nd. To add to my speculation about the rejection, on the application form I listed that I was applying to just a couple of schools, while I believe it's indicated on the application that people are encouraged to apply to several. I am also applying to elite schools, and perhaps the committee didn't have enough confidence that I'd be admitted. Of course my rejection probably had nothing to do with that, but what would the admissions/awards process be without speculation?

Edited January 26, 2016 by quietman

[sat0ri]

9 hours ago, Writer86 said:

I was also selected as a semi-finalist for the UK Open Award, and I find myself wondering the same thing regarding the "1.5-2.0x candidates vs. awards" question. It does seem unlikely that they would only forward ~4 applications to the next round...but here's hoping!

Congratulations. It looks like me and you are applying to entirely different programs (Chemistry and English). Reading your other post, I also had a really strong affiliation with the university, and had a fully planned research project, so it seems that is a very big factor. How are you handling the decision? Excitement? Anxiety? I'm practically shaking with nervousness as I keep imagining endless permutations of receiving vs not receiving the award :S

Also, do you have official acceptance into the university you selected? I received informal notification via email that I was marked as accepted, but the university has a complicated and multi-tiered admission process, so I don't know exactly how much water that holds.

[emiliajulia]

I'm so glad that this forum is here!  I'm a semi-finalist for the study/research grant in Poland (actually received the recommendation notification while having a beer in downtown Warsaw, which was nice).

And thus begins the waiting game...

[genderboi]

9 hours ago, quietman said:

Hi genderboi,

Thanks for the commiserations and best of luck to you.

I was sent a rejection letter in the mail. It was dated January 19th but arrived on January 22nd. To add to my speculation about the rejection, on the application form I listed that I was applying to just a couple of schools, while I believe it's indicated on the application that people are encouraged to apply to several. I am also applying to elite schools, and perhaps the committee didn't have enough confidence that I'd be admitted. Of course my rejection probably had nothing to do with that, but what would the admissions/awards process be without speculation?

I realized my address was wrong! :S I've emailed them. Hopefully they just will just tell me if I was rejected vs sending another letter! Thanks for the info.  

[cc2016sr2017]

Question about the statistics on Fulbright's website:

Does anyone know if those stats are number of total applicants/grants available, or number of semi-finalist applicants/total grants available?

I browse Reddit's Fulbright subreddit (another good and relatively active place if anyone is interested) and the same question was posed, but one person said it was total applicants and another said it was semi-finalists. Does anyone have any idea?

[Dostoprimechatel'nosti]

8 hours ago, emiliajulia said:

I'm so glad that this forum is here!  I'm a semi-finalist for the study/research grant in Poland (actually received the recommendation notification while having a beer in downtown Warsaw, which was nice).

And thus begins the waiting game...

Congratulations! I was in Krakow and Warsaw in the fall and I loved everything about Poland, especially the food! Best of luck to you.

[Dostoprimechatel'nosti]

4 hours ago, cc2016sr2017 said:

Question about the statistics on Fulbright's website:

Does anyone know if those stats are number of total applicants/grants available, or number of semi-finalist applicants/total grants available?

I browse Reddit's Fulbright subreddit (another good and relatively active place if anyone is interested) and the same question was posed, but one person said it was total applicants and another said it was semi-finalists. Does anyone have any idea?

The stats are total applicants/grants given.  It's logical if you look at the stats for France, for example.  There is no way there were 149 semi-finalists for 19 grants last year.

EDIT: Also, you'll know the number of grants available by looking at the country's grant page on the website, although the number of grants available may change due to lack of funding, additional funding, or unsafe conditions.

Edited January 26, 2016 by RRachel1

[Swingin_Sween]

9 hours ago, cc2016sr2017 said:

Question about the statistics on Fulbright's website:

Does anyone know if those stats are number of total applicants/grants available, or number of semi-finalist applicants/total grants available?

I browse Reddit's Fulbright subreddit (another good and relatively active place if anyone is interested) and the same question was posed, but one person said it was total applicants and another said it was semi-finalists. Does anyone have any idea?

Hey, The Fulbright stats page is total applicants. There are only 1.5-2 semi finalists per grant. For example if the country you applied to had 5 grants there would be between 7-10 semi finalists. The Fulbright page is total applicants

[onno]

If my address has changed from what I put in my application, who do I contact to notify about my new address? I was looking through the spreadsheet and realized that the notifications for Bangladesh are often mailed and now I'm worried that my letter will be sent to the wrong address!

[Cuchulainn]

On 26 January 2016 at 0:55 AM, Writer86 said:

Last year, I applied for a UK Partnership Award, and I didn't make it beyond the initial screening. This year I applied again, but for the UK Open Award (the university I'm applying to this time doesn't have a Partner Award at the PhD level, only MA). I did make it to the semi-finalist round for this cycle, happy to say! I proposed essentially the same project in both cycles, so I definitely think it's worth giving it another shot. I think one of the biggest differences in my case is that I didn't have a firm affiliation last year; I had been in contact with members of the university's faculty, but no one had agreed to supervise my work. This year, I managed to secure a dissertation supervisor at my target university before the Fulbright deadline, which allowed me to emphasize the affiliation in my application materials (i.e., "This isn't a total pipe dream! Someone likes this project enough to supervise it!").

Great advice, thank you and congratulations! 

[emiliajulia]

I just got an email requesting a Skype interview with the committee in Poland; naturally they scheduled my interview for the one hour of the week when I'm teaching a class and really truly am not available. Here's hoping they'll be flexible!  Has anyone got any interview tips?

[TianaL]

Hello All! 

So happy to have found this forum! I was chosen as a semifinalist for the MPA at SDA Bocconi in Italy for the 2016-2017 school year. I have basically been imagining my new life in Italy, trying to gain some grip on the fact that I still haven't actually won anything. I guess I am mostly just curious if anyone else has applied for this grant, and if being a recent undergrad will have a negative effect on my application. I know that they prefer candidates with a few years of experience, however I will be graduating in May of 2016 and the proposed grant will begin in September of 2016. I do have extensive experience that boosts my resume (i.e. I have interned within the governmental sector for almost a year now, I have developed and run my own yoga program for children in group homes around my city, and my major [public health] closely aligns with my proposed field of study [public administration]) -- all in all, I am just nervous and living on a prayer(: