Fulbright 2010-2011

[kyjin]

Just heard back from Fulbright and they took me off the alternate list already for the UK! So to all the alternates, there is still hope!

That's really exciting! Congrats!

[gurl2561]

I applied to Australia, anyone know the status? Notification dates? Anything?

Thanks!

waiting to here back from Australia too. Haven't heard anything yet! The Fulbright Australia website says that we should here back in March, but it seems it could be April if we're waiting on FSB approval as well.

[lale108]

I believe that, like most federal boards, their job is to rubber stamp things

I think once you get chosen by the foreign Fulbright Committee you're as good as in, it's just a matter of waiting until the next meeting of this board in order to get final approval.

Of course there is no way to know what the foreign Fulbright Committee decides, anyway, so this is all kind of mute!

but some countries have been waiting on FSB approval for weeks now....makes me wonder if it's actually a more extensive process :s

[BMCGirl10]

Hey Guys,

In my Fulbright statement I mentioned that I would be taking language courses in the summer prior to going abroad. Can I expect Fulbright to pay for the summer courses? I heard that Fulbright doesn't disperse funds until one month into our time abroad.

[mcm]

Just heard back from Fulbright and they took me off the alternate list already for the UK! So to all the alternates, there is still hope!

Congratulations! What sort of grant did you apply for? Who contacted you, and how? Thanks!

[mcgov36]

but some countries have been waiting on FSB approval for weeks now....makes me wonder if it's actually a more extensive process :s

My guess is the FSB approval stage is more about allocation of funds than actual reviewing of applications and such bureaucracy is always slow.

Further, they probably only meet every couple of weeks and do big batches at a time.

[Ben34]

Congratulations! What sort of grant did you apply for? Who contacted you, and how? Thanks!

Thanks! I applied for a full research grant. I received an e-mail from Michael Scott-Kline followed by Elizabeth Hizer.

[espana2010]

hmm, maybe "April 1" is the just the date that the Spanish Commision expects to decide by. It was unclear on the Web site.

That is a bummer.

[espana2010]

Nooooooooo!!!!!!

Sorry, had to get that out of my system. Thanks for the update GauxGaux.

[AngelaDS]

waiting to here back from Australia too. Haven't heard anything yet! The Fulbright Australia website says that we should here back in March, but it seems it could be April if we're waiting on FSB approval as well.

It's good to hear back from someone who applied to Australia! Did you apply for a full grant? Hope we hear soon!

[Liz Feder]

Congratulations, Ben! I'm an alternate for Germany and the continual wait is terrible...it's good to know that there are chances of acceptance. How did they notify you?

[zachidacki]

Hey Guys,

In my Fulbright statement I mentioned that I would be taking language courses in the summer prior to going abroad. Can I expect Fulbright to pay for the summer courses? I heard that Fulbright doesn't disperse funds until one month into our time abroad.

The answer to this question is probably dependent on country. For example, in Belgium, Research Grantees and ETA's all get 800euros a year for tuition. Our grant starts on September 15th and lasts until June 15th (last payment is May 15th), meaning you don't get funds until arrival in Belgium and they end with the last payment. You could, however, apply to extend your Fulbright and stay the summer after the grant for more language courses, but I highly doubt the Fulbright will cover your expenses for the summer prior to the grant.

I applied for an ETA in Belgium as it is, to my knowledge, the only placement available (for French speakers) that places people in universities. I wanted university teaching experience, so it was perfect. The downfall (turned out to be a huge positive, though) was that I was placed in Flanders, the Dutch/Flemish-speaking part of the country. My allotted tuition stipend only covers (Dutch) language courses for 2/3 of the grant. I applied for more funding for language courses for the remaining 1/3 and for summer, and got more funding for the remaining time but not for summer. This is only my experience in Belgium, and the Fulbright experience is very different from country to country, but it gives you an idea.

Once you get the confirmation that you have been awarded a grant, I would call the Fulbright Commission in your host country, as they are the ones that distribute your guaranteed funding and deal with any extensions or requests of extra funds.

[zachidacki]

This post is for all potential European Fulbrighters, and is something I wished I would have known before the process.

Toward the middle of your grant, you will be notified of UNESCO Fulbright Fellowships. These fellowships are only for European Fulbright Grantees, and you typically need to speak French, but not always. The fellowships are for six months beginning the September after your Fulbright. So, if you have a Fulbright from Fall 2010 - Spring 2011, the UNESCO Fellowship would be from Fall 2011 - Winter 2012. Anyway, this year there are four positions available, but that varies. This year the positions are in HIV/AIDS, education, information technology, and evaluation. You would work with UNESCO at their Paris offices, and you would receive a stipend, readjustments costs, etc.

If you are considering applying to graduate school during your Fulbright, and the UNESCO fellowships are of interest, plan ahead. These fellowships interested me a lot, but I contacted my graduate school for next year and, although my admission is deferrable, my financial package is not. This could be similar at other institutions. It could also be a great option for those still unsure about graduate school and the field to choose.

[gurl2561]

It's good to hear back from someone who applied to Australia! Did you apply for a full grant? Hope we hear soon!

I applied for a full grant.

[papa]

Eastern Europe (Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, etc)/ Eurasia (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, etc) has yet to receive a final notification.

Is my understanding correct that these regions have linked funding, therefore decisions will be made in batches when funding is finalized?

Please promote the link in every post: Final Notification Spreadsheet

Edited March 24, 2010 by papa

[edie]

Eastern Europe (Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, etc)/ Eurasia (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, etc) has yet to receive a final notification.

Is my understanding correct that these regions have linked funding, therefore decisions will be made in batches when funding is finalized?

Please promote the link in every post: Final Notification Spreadsheet

If the funding is linked, does that mean that, essentially, all of the finalists are in competition with one another regardless of country for the funding? As in, if there are more qualified finalists in country A than in country B then more funding will go to country A than country B regardless of what the specified number of grants are?

[schatzie]

Has any German ETA here not received a letter? Seems like everyone I know is getting a letter from Germany except me!

[Sally]

Hmm i wrote a post; then I wanted to delete it b/c I realized I misread something. Is there no way to delete a post?!

Edited March 24, 2010 by Sally

[lale108]

Has any German ETA here not received a letter? Seems like everyone I know is getting a letter from Germany except me!

if that's the case, I would just contact your program manager to check. someone's letter last year was sent to a wrong address and they waited for a month before they called iie and had to get the decision on the phone...

[Lucille I]

Hi fellow Switzerland finalists! I have been checking the mail and my emails several times a day, but still haven't heard anything. But, I am glad to have found some other people in the same boat! I will update the spreadsheet or post when I find out the result, and I hope you all can do the same.

I've been following this forum for weeks, but now that another Swiss finalist has made him-/herself known, I think it's time I join the conversation! Venkatmer99 - it's nice to meet you! I'm also a full grant finalist for Switzerland, and yes, I also received a request for additional materials back in December. I read somewhere that they request additional documents from anyone they're considering for the finalist round.

Not to scare you, but I was contacted by someone at the Swiss Embassy for an interview in mid-January. It was merely to discuss my language background, because apparently I'm being considered for an additional grant for intensive language study over the summer (if you check the Swiss Fulbright website, it says in the language requirements section that some Swiss Fulbrighters might get this). We chatted about a couple of other things, but mainly it was just about the language thing. And yes, it was really informal! I really wouldn't stress about not getting a call. Maybe your knowledge of French/German/Italian is much stronger than mine!

Also, I contacted a past Swiss Fulbrighter several weeks ago, and she told me that she was informed of a final decision in early April. But, that was two years ago, so I don't know if that will still be the case this year, but hopefully it will. The guy I spoke with at the Swiss Embassy in January told me to expect a notification in May, but I think they just say that because its the latest time you would expect to hear a notification (as in, you might hear earlier, but don't freak out if you don't).

We should definitely exchange emails so we can commisserate/freak out together!

[jtb01]

Has anyone asked a program manager when/how often the FSB meets? It seems like that is a bottle neck for the countries that have already selected their principal candidates.

[BMCGirl10]

Has anyone asked a program manager when/how often the FSB meets? It seems like that is a bottle neck for the countries that have already selected their principal candidates.

I'm not so sure it's a bottleneck. My program manager told me that my country hadn't made decisions yet. It could be that the country itself is slowly going through applications. And Egypt last year didn't let it's candidates know until May/June but that wasn't FSB's fault. (as far as I know)

[Sally]

I'm not so sure it's a bottleneck. My program manager told me that my country hadn't made decisions yet. It could be that the country itself is slowly going through applications. And Egypt last year didn't let it's candidates know until May/June but that wasn't FSB's fault. (as far as I know)

jtb is referring to Sweden's situation: "I emailed Rachel and she informed me they're still waiting for FSB approval, which should come in the next 2 weeks. Once that happens, letters will be issued immediately."

According to the board's web site, it only physically meets "quarterly". One of the meeting appears to usually be in March. Maybe that meeting hasn't happened yet.

According to this description (from 2005) it appears that the FSB decisions are completely separate from the foreign committee's.

http://newsletter.fulbrightonline.org/older_newsletters/www.imakenews.com/fulbright/9CA121A8-FB1B-11DA-BCDB-000D93354358.html

So, some of us may have been approved by FSB at their last meeting way back in November? I don't know; maybe I am understanding it all wrong. It's very confusing...

Here's the FSB's meeting schedule:

http://fulbright.state.gov/fulbright/about/whyis/fulbright-foreign-scholarship-board/fulbright-foreign-scholarship-board-events

It's also possible that they somehow approve candidates without having an actual meeting..

Edited March 25, 2010 by Sally

[Melissa]

This post is for all potential European Fulbrighters, and is something I wished I would have known before the process.

Toward the middle of your grant, you will be notified of UNESCO Fulbright Fellowships. These fellowships are only for European Fulbright Grantees, and you typically need to speak French, but not always. The fellowships are for six months beginning the September after your Fulbright. So, if you have a Fulbright from Fall 2010 - Spring 2011, the UNESCO Fellowship would be from Fall 2011 - Winter 2012. Anyway, this year there are four positions available, but that varies. This year the positions are in HIV/AIDS, education, information technology, and evaluation. You would work with UNESCO at their Paris offices, and you would receive a stipend, readjustments costs, etc.

If you are considering applying to graduate school during your Fulbright, and the UNESCO fellowships are of interest, plan ahead. These fellowships interested me a lot, but I contacted my graduate school for next year and, although my admission is deferrable, my financial package is not. This could be similar at other institutions. It could also be a great option for those still unsure about graduate school and the field to choose.

Thanks for the heads up. Is the application very involved?

[BriGuy070]

I got accepted for the Full Grant to Germany. I got a letter sent to my permanent residence (first letter came to my current address). It said I was granted the language course (which is a month earlier than the normal grant) and said that Full grants make either 750 or 1000 (if they are all but dissertation PhD students), so it looks like 750 to me. I hope that's enough. I think my affiliation professor said 900 euro/month would be good. We'll see But yay to a month longer grant, and a ramp up period to get used to speaking German and to Germany!!!! You also have a paid 2-3 week (or so) opportunity to live with a host family, ETAs and Full grants. It starts after the language course and normally at the beginning of the grant... now just to get the physical and 'apply' to my University....