Fulbright 2016 - 2017

[airlie]

Korea is out!! Finalist

[pooful]

Korea ETA finalist. Shaking!!!!!! 

[NeneGalle_]

8 minutes ago, pooful said:

Korea ETA finalist. Shaking!!!!!! 

 

10 minutes ago, airlie said:

Korea is out!! Finalist

Congrats! I was not selected for a UK Fulbright grant that I applied for this year, but I will say that I had the pleasure of living in Seoul for two years during my high school days, and woww.... I absolutely loved everything about my experience there. Your in for an adventure of a life time!!! congrats again !!!!!

[NeneGalle_]

3 hours ago, kyjin said:

I applied for 2010-2011 and was an alternate. Finalist this year. Just taking a quick glance at the doc, seems there's a handful of us who have been successful on our second-go round. 

 

2 hours ago, kbui said:

I applied three times before getting the Fulbright. It takes a lot of emotional energy, but it's worth it in the end. Keep your head up and be on the look out for other opportunities throughout the year. When I got rejected I thought that my life path was going to drift down to failure, but life is actually working out pretty well. And I am, dare I say it, grateful that I had some time to reevaluate my life without Fulbright those two years.

You're going to be a great re-applicant! Don't give up. It just takes a lot of tenacity and strategizing. And we are always here to support you!

thank you for the encouraging words! Hell, Im going to give it a second shot

[Mega12]

Korea is out. NS

Pretty upset, but I still have an application out for English teaching in Japan, so all hope is not lost.  

Very sad day for me, but Congratz to everyone else who got selected, you're all going to do great things!!  

[emmajust]

3 hours ago, chethedoctor said:

@Dilemma1 I think it is a good idea to remain positive. I know someone from a previous cohort who was moved up after a principal declined the offer. Yes I know it is just one case but it does happen some times and who knows lady luck might decide to shine on you! In case you are not elevated, I suggest that you re-apply. Good luck! 

Do you remember when they were moved up from the alternate list? Was it a week after the decisions were released, or months later?

[Dilemma1]

4 hours ago, chethedoctor said:

@Dilemma1 I think it is a good idea to remain positive. I know someone from a previous cohort who was moved up after a principal declined the offer. Yes I know it is just one case but it does happen some times and who knows lady luck might decide to shine on you! In case you are not elevated, I suggest that you re-apply. Good luck! 

Thanks Chethedoctor for the supportive words  it's nice to know that there is a precedence for alternates moving on.  

[airlie]

Hey everyone, there's now a Fulbright FB group for this year's finalists! https://www.facebook.com/groups/622133071274167/?notif_t=group_added_to_group

[airlie]

5 hours ago, pooful said:

Korea ETA finalist. Shaking!!!!!! 

 

4 hours ago, NeneGalle_ said:

 

Congrats! I was not selected for a UK Fulbright grant that I applied for this year, but I will say that I had the pleasure of living in Seoul for two years during my high school days, and woww.... I absolutely loved everything about my experience there. Your in for an adventure of a life time!!! congrats again !!!!!

Hey everyone! There's now a FB group for this year's Korea finalists! https://www.facebook.com/groups/622133071274167/?notif_t=group_added_to_group

And if you haven't, please join the main FB page if you're a finalist or still waiting!! https://www.facebook.com/groups/fulbrightapplicants/

[busybee]

Is there anyone on here who is planning on declining the award if they are selected? I have accepted a great PhD offer to a top institution in my field, and I feel so crazy that I am planning on declining if I receive the award. I applied for an ETA position in case I did not get into graduate school for this fall; graduate school has always been my Plan A. I am still honored to be a Fulbright semi-finalist, of course.

Does Fulbright hesitate to award more grants in the future if someone has declined in the past? I know I will be applying again in the near future for dissertation research.

[SoundandVision]

23 minutes ago, busybee said:

Is there anyone on here who is planning on declining the award if they are selected? I have accepted a great PhD offer to a top institution in my field, and I feel so crazy that I am planning on declining if I receive the award. I applied for an ETA position in case I did not get into graduate school for this fall; graduate school has always been my Plan A. I am still honored to be a Fulbright semi-finalist, of course.

Does Fulbright hesitate to award more grants in the future if someone has declined in the past? I know I will be applying again in the near future for dissertation research.

Write to your university and see if you can defer for a year. Seriously, I did that when I started my grad program and it worked out for the best. Also, they will probably be excited for you because they want students who win these types of awards.

[kyjin]

1 hour ago, busybee said:

Is there anyone on here who is planning on declining the award if they are selected? I have accepted a great PhD offer to a top institution in my field, and I feel so crazy that I am planning on declining if I receive the award. I applied for an ETA position in case I did not get into graduate school for this fall; graduate school has always been my Plan A. I am still honored to be a Fulbright semi-finalist, of course.

Does Fulbright hesitate to award more grants in the future if someone has declined in the past? I know I will be applying again in the near future for dissertation research.

Congrats on the PhD admit! No, Fulbright won't hold it against you if you decide to decline. People have lots of reasons for choosing not to take the award, and they will definitely understand choosing a PhD program over a one-year ETA position. Best of luck with your decision!

[matsukoDELUXE]

@kyjin@hojoojoh

Dear Japan Fulbrighters,

   I finished filling out all of the required IIE documents and send them before the deadline last week.  However, I have a couple of questions about the Biodata sheet that JUSEC sent us.  How did you scan them and then convert them to a .docx file?   I had a feeling that Japan would want us to submit something to see our handwriting and photo...  Also, are you wearing a suit in your photo and not smiling?  I just submitted a copy of my passport photo in which I am smiling and wearing a T-shirt :/ Sorry for a strange question, but I have the computer skills and knowhow of an arthritic bed-and-breakfast owner in her 60s.  

 

 

[KPNY]

22 hours ago, airlie said:

Korea is out!! Finalist

 

22 hours ago, pooful said:

Korea ETA finalist. Shaking!!!!!! 

Also a Korea ETA finalist! Long time lurker but finally made an account. Congratulations to all the finalists and good luck to everyone still waiting! 

[chethedoctor]

21 hours ago, emmajust said:

Do you remember when they were moved up from the alternate list? Was it a week after the decisions were released, or months later?

If I remember correctly, it was days after the deadline for submissions. So a week and half. Makes sense given the amount of paperwork involved. You are an alternate, aren't you?

[kyjin]

2 hours ago, matsukoDELUXE said:

@kyjin@hojoojoh

Dear Japan Fulbrighters,

   I finished filling out all of the required IIE documents and send them before the deadline last week.  However, I have a couple of questions about the Biodata sheet that JUSEC sent us.  How did you scan them and then convert them to a .docx file?   I had a feeling that Japan would want us to submit something to see our handwriting and photo...  Also, are you wearing a suit in your photo and not smiling?  I just submitted a copy of my passport photo in which I am smiling and wearing a T-shirt :/ Sorry for a strange question, but I have the computer skills and knowhow of an arthritic bed-and-breakfast owner in her 60s.  

 

 

I downloaded the document from their website and filled out everything on their computer, then saved as a docx. I doubt they care about our handwriting; the sample was typed after all. For my photo, I just took a recent photo of my profile where I'm smiling and in a nice top, though I don't think it particularly matters if we go for a more formal photo or not. I'm sure if they want something else, they'll let us know! 

[busybee]

10 hours ago, SoundandVision said:

Write to your university and see if you can defer for a year. Seriously, I did that when I started my grad program and it worked out for the best. Also, they will probably be excited for you because they want students who win these types of awards.

I will definitely ask the department once I hear back from Fulbright. It looks like the graduate college is okay with it as long as the department agrees. If I get the award, it would be a great problem to have.

[kafcat]

On March 24, 2016 at 9:59 AM, busybee said:

Is there anyone on here who is planning on declining the award if they are selected? I have accepted a great PhD offer to a top institution in my field, and I feel so crazy that I am planning on declining if I receive the award. I applied for an ETA position in case I did not get into graduate school for this fall; graduate school has always been my Plan A. I am still honored to be a Fulbright semi-finalist, of course.

Does Fulbright hesitate to award more grants in the future if someone has declined in the past? I know I will be applying again in the near future for dissertation research.

 

If you can't defer take the PhD offer. The Fulbright ETA means nothing in academia since it is not the research grant. The ETA is good if you're applying let's say for masters or MPP, etc. But it won't necessarily look any better on your CV for grad school. Actually, I am not even sure if you can later apply for a research fulbright if you accept the ETA grant...maybe wait and apply for the research one (if you plan to do your dissertation in something related to international affairs/cultures,e tc). While I had the best time of my life as a fulbright ETA, I don't think it did much to boost up my chances to get into grad school (also got into a top program but I don't think Fulbright had anything to do with it). 

[busybee]

2 hours ago, kafcat said:

 

If you can't defer take the PhD offer. The Fulbright ETA means nothing in academia since it is not the research grant. The ETA is good if you're applying let's say for masters or MPP, etc. But it won't necessarily look any better on your CV for grad school. Actually, I am not even sure if you can later apply for a research fulbright if you accept the ETA grant...maybe wait and apply for the research one (if you plan to do your dissertation in something related to international affairs/cultures,e tc). While I had the best time of my life as a fulbright ETA, I don't think it did much to boost up my chances to get into grad school (also got into a top program but I don't think Fulbright had anything to do with it). 

Thanks for the advice, kafcat! A five-year PhD fellowship is definitely more enticing than a one year teaching fellowship. And I really love the PhD program I committed to--it's a top place in my field but it is also one that is supportive of its students. I'm really excited and so grateful to have made it out mostly unscathed from this awful admissions process, although now I have a bit of survivor's guilt as a lot of my friends who are equally or more qualified than me haven't got any solid offers or any offers at all.

Good luck to all the semi-finalists still waiting for Fulbright! The waiting for Fulbright is just as bad as waiting for graduate school, as it really is like a golden ticket to graduate school for afterwards. 

[NepalBound]

Hi everyone! Just found out I got the ETA to Nepal!!! I am beyond thrilled.

In the email, it said "Shortly you will receive an email containing a letter from the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board recognizing your accomplishment." How long does this second email take to arrive? I haven't gotten it yet.

[Mechka]

2 hours ago, NepalBound said:

Hi everyone! Just found out I got the ETA to Nepal!!! I am beyond thrilled.

In the email, it said "Shortly you will receive an email containing a letter from the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board recognizing your accomplishment." How long does this second email take to arrive? I haven't gotten it yet.

Mine took 13 days exactly. Not like we're the type of people to count or anything...

[theonionman]

15 hours ago, busybee said:

Thanks for the advice, kafcat! A five-year PhD fellowship is definitely more enticing than a one year teaching fellowship. And I really love the PhD program I committed to--it's a top place in my field but it is also one that is supportive of its students. I'm really excited and so grateful to have made it out mostly unscathed from this awful admissions process, although now I have a bit of survivor's guilt as a lot of my friends who are equally or more qualified than me haven't got any solid offers or any offers at all.

As a former Fulbright research grant awardee and current PhD student (still waiting to hear back about my application for a 2nd Fulbright research grant...), I just want to echo what kafcat said above. ETA is fun but does literally nothing for your CV. I honestly don't completely understand why people with an interest in academic careers even apply for the ETA; neither admissions nor hiring committees care about it.

Edited March 26, 2016 by theonionman

[ems5]

Hello! I'm an alternate for the UK (partnership award) and wondering if anyone knows about when alternates may hear, if they hear, about possibly being selected as a principal? 

[Guest]

@ems5 Hi! Congrats on being an alternate --- I really hope you get moved up to a principal. The alternate >> principal notifications are country specific and there's really no way to estimate these things as I'm sure there are multiple factors that go into these decisions. You're better off contacting the U.S. Fulbright contact for the UK program for some insight. Good Luck!   

[kafcat]

5 hours ago, theonionman said:

As a former Fulbright research grant awardee and current PhD student (still waiting to hear back about my application for a 2nd Fulbright research grant...), I just want to echo what kafcat said above. ETA is fun but does literally nothing for your CV. I honestly don't completely understand why people with an interest in academic careers even apply for the ETA; neither admissions nor hiring committees care about it.

 

I heard of Fulbright literally my senior year as I was writing my undergrad thesis...so writing a proposal for the research Fulbright seemed daunting. Additionally, I think Fulbright advisors at some universities take pride in that they are a high producing fulbright university and they want to keep that label..so they highly encourage students to apply for the ETA. My advisor even told me that it would increase my chances of going to a PhD program! I don't regret anything about the Fulbright experience since it has been the best year of my life! But, had I known that it would do literally nothing except give me a label for the rest of my life, I would have applied for the research grant. Now that you're in the PhD, do you know if we can apply for the research grant later on for dissertation purposes? I have heard both, yes and no (mostly yes). 

Also another very important thing for future Fulbriyhters. Having the Fulbright label does NOT automatically open doors for you. People outside of academia/education/do not generally know Fulbright. Upon return I had a hard time trying to convince employers that Fulbright is a legit program as opposed to a backpacking trip in Europe. You want to go to as many networking events as possible in your host country so that you can put something else in your resume other than just "teaching english." I think there is this sadly common misconception (also echoed by Fulbright) that once you get the grant, you will have access to all sorts of things. The reality is a lot more different. My fellow Fulbrighters also had a hard time looking for a job back home while applying for grad programs. 

Edited March 26, 2016 by kafcat