Rangel & Pickering Fellowship

[mrs12]

My local DIR has never worked out. The one before this current one told me I wasn't suited for the FS because I asked her if diplomats got training in public speaking at FSI. (I'm not sure what the subtext was, but I think it was that if I had anxiety about public speaking and didn't automatically love it there was no place in the Foreign Service for someone who wasn't type-a confident.) It took me a year to recover from that and get some second opinions, all of which told me that there are lots of introverts in the FS and that they do train you before shoving you in front of a microphone - to some extent. :3 

But I really wish I could develop a better relationship with the DIR for my area, I feel like they are such an asset to so many of you. How did you all manage to contact these people and reach out to them initially? The current DIR and I had a very brief email exchange wherein he told me he didn't know much about what I should do if I was interested in the FS beyond an internship and good luck, or something like that. Now, this was mostly because he was new, but I still wasn't sure what to respond with to kind of... well get him to talk to me more about all the myriad of things I'd want to talk about. 

Also, what's the Payne that several of you have applied to? I've never heard of it.

[Dreams]

16 hours ago, mrs12 said:

Also, what's the Payne that several of you have applied to? I've never heard of it.

The Payne fellowship is for people interested in working for USAID.

http://www.paynefellows.org/?areaid=2&contentid=941&CFID=45&CFTOKEN=317F5091-EA05-40A4-8FC43E29C55F448F

 

[jrdnmadrid]

@mrs12 I think the most effective way is to see if he has time to chat over the phone. You should ask him about his experiences related to his career. What cones did he serve in? Where has he served? Favorite thing(s) about FS? Least favorite thing(s)? Tell me about a time when [insert specific question]...?Those types of open-ended questions are good for getting an understanding of the career you will be going into. He's right, there really is not a lot you can do besides get an internship/gain experience. However, you can dive into the cultural aspects of State to understand what you are getting into. 

@kbui Sure, LinkedIn is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-madrid-7a970725 

I grew up in Portland, Oregon and have been interested in becoming an FSO since I was 18 and met an ambassador. I like both the service and traveling aspects of the job. I went to Gonzaga University and studied business; was in Japan for a year. If I don't get these scholarships I'll move to California to be with my girlfriend and look for a job. I'll probably reapply next year just to see what happens, especially if I get into grad school and am able to defer. If I don't get it next year, I'll just keep taking the FSOT test accordingly while I continue getting experience in the marketing field. 

How about yourself?

 

[mrs12]

If you all were to get into the FS, which cone would you choose? Have you already decided? I really like CON. I know for sure that I wouldn't like ECON or POL. But I'm pretty set on CON and I wrote my essay based on that.

[ZebraFinch]

I don't know! I work in immigration so CON seems to make more sense but I really enjoy research so I've thought of POL. One reason I haven't taken the FSOT yet is because I've yet to decide on cone.

Edited February 22, 2016 by ZebraFinch

[kbui]

I was doing some research on Payne yesterday night (I couldn't stop thinking about it) and I discovered that 18 finalists were chosen from a pool of 275 applicants in 2014. And out of those 18, only five were chosen to be fellows. That means only 1.8 percent of applicants get to become a Payne fellow. But that was two years ago, and if virtually all of us on theGradCafe applied to all three fellowships, it's likely so did others in our same position--meaning, an upwards of 300-470 applicants per fellowship.

Edited February 22, 2016 by kbui

[mrs12]

I was just reading up on the Payne. They only pick 5 people, that's so tiny! I wonder why it's so few people. But their aid is huge! 

@kbui , I think it would be common for a lot of people to apply to all three. Which means by the time you get to the Pickering you've already lost 25 or so of the best applicants. And then Pickering chooses 20/10 for Graduate and Undergrad. And that's not to mention the 40/20 that are chosen just to come to the interview. I'd say we'd have whittled down the odds by then. 

[kbui]

I am preparing myself for emotional impact this week since it's the last week of February.

And have you heard back from CLS yet? How are you feeling? Do you have a plan B if things (knock on wood) don't work out?

[ZebraFinch]

Are we meant to hear on the Pickering soon?

[mrs12]

I emailed Pickering about that, actually. Because they seem so nice and apt to respond. They told me it would be the very end of March before we hear about who has been selected for interviews. I believe that makes sense with the Rangel timeline too because they have to have interviewed and selected before the Pickering can finalize their selections. (The Payne probably announces sometime this week too, right?)

@kbui , I'm so nervous for the CLS! I should hear this week. Worst case scenario will be on Monday. They promised it would be this month, but said it would be at the end of the month. We're sort of running out of days so any time now I think we'll hear. It's usually the end of the day, and we were told about the semi-finals on a Thursday so I'm putting my money on this Thursday or next Monday. I DO have a back-up plan, but it's not as great. Last summer I studied Turkish at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and they have invited me back for this summer. The teacher there is AMAZING, but I'm not sure they will have enough students to put on an advanced level course and I really don't want to do Intermediate again. It's not a bad option, it's actually really great there, but I'm still hoping for the CLS. 

[ZebraFinch]

Oh so that gives me a whole other month to freak.

Good luck with the CLS!

[mrs12]

I know, another month feels like forever. 

I'm kind of upset at these fellowships. I've been on pins and needles wishing time to fly by, but this is my last really fun semester at school and I wish I could slow down and appreciate it more instead of just hoping it will pass until the announcements. I think that's a life lesson, though.

And thank you, @ZebraFinch ! I can't wait to hear back. 

[kbui]

It's so hard to be hopeful and realistic at the same time. I get to hear the results from my FSOT this week too, so that's a lot of FSO related news to take for one month.

@mrs12, I hope you hear good news! CLS is so competitive and being in the finals is already a great achievement in itself. I really hope that you get into the finals for CLS, then get an interview for Pickering, then you can spend the summer abroad then you are basically set for the next years and on your way to becoming an FSO!

@ZebraFinch, I hope that we both get an interview for Pickering. I feel like you would have a great upper-hand because you've been through it before, so that's a great benefit for you. Fingers crossed for both you and me! And @jrdnmadrid too!

[kbui]

Oh, and I totally forgot about graduate school admissions. They totally took a backseat to the RPP fellowships for sure! 

[ZebraFinch]

I got accepted into my top choice today so I'm happy as heck! I'd totally forgotten about grad school apps too.

[kbui]

Congratulations @ZebraFinch! Did you get funding too?

And I haven't received anything from Payne yet, including the email asking when they're thinking of sending interview emails. :\ Though it should be this week since they say they'll send something out by the end of February. Or at the latest next week on Monday.

[ZebraFinch]

16 minutes ago, kbui said:

Congratulations @ZebraFinch! Did you get funding too?

And I haven't received anything from Payne yet, including the email asking when they're thinking of sending interview emails. :\ Though it should be this week since they say they'll send something out by the end of February. Or at the latest next week on Monday.

Thank you! Yep got some funding too. If I got the Pickering I wouldn't have to pay anything out of pocket.

Good luck on the Payne! 

 

[kbui]

As we are all waiting for news, I do have some slightly good news--I passed the Foreign Service Officer Test! We got our results today! This is the first step to strengthening my application for next year if the RPP fellowships don't work out this year, and who knows, maybe by this time next year I may already be on the Register (list to be picked from for FSOs).

[mrs12]

Ooooh, wow! You're amazing, @kbui! I found this great blog about the test experience and some awesome advice on the oral, lemme link it to you just in case:

http://ficklomat.com/2015/01/22/passing-the-fsoa-where-a-stranger-questions-my-allegiance-to-the-jewish-people/

I know when I get anxious about all of this I just start reading blogs, which doesn't help reduce my anxiety but you learn some fun things! I really like this blogger. 

[kbui]

Did anyone get two email updates from Payne asking for your city, state, and undergraduate institution?

[kbui]

Anyone? @ZebraFinch, @jrdnmadrid?

[ZebraFinch]

I didn't apply for Payne sorry

[kbui]

I know that they said they will wait until the end of February, but I really wanted it to be today instead of next Monday. If I got an interview notification today, this weekend would be so euphoric as I think and prepare for it. There's also not a lot of inside information on the Payne besides one forum that I found from last year.

[awayfromhere]

22 hours ago, kbui said:

Did anyone get two email updates from Payne asking for your city, state, and undergraduate institution?

I applied for Payne and didn't hear anything but I also don't know if Rangel and Payne communicate at all about who they choose as finalists. 

I would take this as a good sign! I don't see why they would bother to ask that information from people they wouldn't be picking as finalists!

[kbui]

@awayfromhere Did you try checking your junk and spam email box? I wonder why they're asking for undergraduate institution--maybe they're verifying that we actually went to the schools that we wrote we went to?