pdh12 Posted March 3, 2016 Posted March 3, 2016 I really agree with you, @kristinochka, and I don't see it as an entitlement thing... I've been accepted into another program, and instead of having an above-board answer for them, I feel like I have to go through the motions of accepting my place there....but if the heavens part and I get into CLS, how could I pass it up? Time is the bane of existence fo real!
natrem Posted March 3, 2016 Posted March 3, 2016 @pdh12 are you also an applicant for Chinese? I didn't get a visa email either and I'm wondering if it's site-specific depending on how long it takes to get a visa in each country.
mrs12 Posted March 3, 2016 Posted March 3, 2016 @natrem, as far as I can tell no one from the Turkish group got an email about visas. And anecdotally it looks like the people who got the email were either applying for Chinese, Urdu, Hindu, or Punjabi, and maybe a few others. So I think you're right. natrem 1
kristinochka Posted March 3, 2016 Posted March 3, 2016 @pdh12 yeah, I sympathize. does your other program provide funding, too?
natrem Posted March 4, 2016 Posted March 4, 2016 @mrs12 thanks for the detective work, I was getting a little nervous that I hadn't gotten an email until I remembered Indonesian visas are pretty easy for Americans to get. It makes sense that the other places you listed got emails too. I went to India on a study abroad a few years ago and it took months to get our visas. I had to ship away my passport and not see it for months, that was pretty nervewracking! But when I visited Indonesia I got a visa at the airport. Which got me thinking, does anyone know if participants get special visas (ie student instead of tourist) since they are technically studying at the universities in country?
zephyri Posted March 4, 2016 Author Posted March 4, 2016 I applied for Arabic but didn't get an e-mail about a visa. Anyone else here doing Arabic? Did you get an e-mail yesterday like the others? I think the countries with the Arabic institutes (Morocco, Oman, Jordan) are also easy for Americans to get visas. When I was in Morocco, we got our passports stamped and that was it.
busybee Posted March 4, 2016 Posted March 4, 2016 (edited) 4 hours ago, zephyri said: I applied for Arabic but didn't get an e-mail about a visa. Anyone else here doing Arabic? Did you get an e-mail yesterday like the others? I think the countries with the Arabic institutes (Morocco, Oman, Jordan) are also easy for Americans to get visas. When I was in Morocco, we got our passports stamped and that was it. Having travelled to and studied in Oman and Jordan, I can tell you that yes, visas are very easy to get for these countries. And having studied in Oman with CLS, it was the easiest process ever as CLS does everything for you. In Jordan, you simply buy your visa at the airport. You'll have to extend it with the Department of Residency and Borders after one month (which is easy to do), but CLS will help you with everything. Good luck everyone!!! Today has gotta be the day!! I hope everyone gets some great news. Having made it this far in CLS is an accomplishment unto itself and you should all be proud no matter the outcome! Edited March 4, 2016 by busybee Sarah212 and natrem 2
zephyri Posted March 5, 2016 Author Posted March 5, 2016 Another week it is! I suppose we've waited this long, what's another 6 days? I thought yesterday might be unlikely since they sent out those visa e-mails to some languages. They wouldn't have sent those to all semifinalists if they were almost ready with the final decisions I suppose. Did you all see the posts on facebook? Kind of surprised semifinalists would complain publically (ie with their real names) on fb about the delay before decisions have been sent out.
mrs12 Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 Yes, some of those facebook comments are really strongly worded!
kbui Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 Haha, I think someone made a fake account under "Marsha Brady" and posted something very critical. "Could do a much better job setting and meeting expectations. If results were not definitely going to be out at the end of Feb., why not just say by mid-March and give yourselves more time? Then if the results were done by the end of Feb., everyone would be happy as they were out early."
pdh12 Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 Lol, yes! Don't they realize this is the government?! There's nothing stopping CLS from finding out who that is and giving them what-for. More broadly, it's pretty great that CLS is running/funded at all, with the waves of shut-down washington has experienced throughout recent years. I have to say, though, I'm a big fan of critical/constructive argument, but people shouldn't be ostracized or acted-against for their opinions. This needs to stay a free country!
Ellabella Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Is anybody here a CLS Chinese semifinalist who is studying abroad at the moment? The visa email said I need to physically send my passport to DC, but it's illegal to be without your passport in a foreign country so that won't really be possible. Any suggestions on how to get around this?
mrs12 Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 @Ellabella, I would email CLS back and ask for clarification with your situation.
mrs12 Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 @pdh12, we will get news! It could even be today! We shouldn't let this get us down. We're all wonderful applicants, we've come so far to even have such a passionate interest in these languages and cultures. Even if we don't get accepted, we've shown how dedicated we are. We can learn all of these languages if we put out minds to it, CLS or no CLS! But I have a good feeling about today! I'm really hopeful we get news today.
natrem Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) I have a feeling that I'll find out that notifications were sent via this forum rather than actual email. I'm checking this way more often, since seeing others feel my pain is more comforting than opening an empty mailbox ^.^ Edited March 7, 2016 by natrem Haunted, Sarah212 and pdh12 3
Mabelkitty2012 Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 Hey folks! I just got an email from CLS Chinese saying that they've received my passport scan today. While I am trying to stay hopeful, the notifications will probably not be sent out on the same day that they set as due date for our passport scans. It wouldn't really make sense for them to do the extra work of processing 2X as many passports if they were so close to finalizing who receives the awards. To be totally logical and dis-invested for a moment, I'm guessing the notifications will be sent this Friday or next Monday, at the earliest. Any others want to take a stab at predictions?
natrem Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 I have a theory that the lack of notification is not about having selected finalists, but selecting program sites for some of the countries with dicier political climates. Asking all applicants for their passports is a way to start processing visas for those selected without sending out official notifications. I can't imagine what else would take so much extra time.
kristinochka Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 Last week, my email for Russian said we would know "in the coming weeks," so I don't expect Russian semifinalists will know this week at all.
crysnap211 Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 I have been reading along, and my feeling is that final selections have been made by the committees, but that the names of the possible awardees have been sent for background checks before notifications are sent out. I think that it is possible that CLS staff does not know when the notifications will go out because it depends on the background check process, and so I think the need to start the visa process is probably unrelated to the amount of time we will have to wait to hear back. natrem 1
zephyri Posted March 7, 2016 Author Posted March 7, 2016 1 hour ago, kristinochka said: Last week, my email for Russian said we would know "in the coming weeks," so I don't expect Russian semifinalists will know this week at all. Yeah that makes sense Maybe the end of this week at the earliest, but likely sometime next week. Unusual to be a month behind! I wonder if they've finished final selection for some languages, and are still waiting on others. That means some of our names could be sitting in a spreadsheet right now!
loveandlearn Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 Hey guys! I am a Bangla semi-finalist and I know many of us are nervous waiting for the final decisions. I just wanted to share what my campus representative told me. One of her colleagues over at CLS has told her that the review has already been finished and the reviewer's final lists have been sent to the State Department for review and verification.The earliest we may hear back is this week so it is a definite possibility! Sarah212, peffect, pdh12 and 1 other 4
emb Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 Alright, after much lurking I've decided to write in the hopes that I can stop freaking out if I just write it out of the thread. I am a Urdu Semi-finalist but was a Turkish CLS student last year.... I'm freaking out guys. I didn't feel this way last year. I'm wondering if anyone else is applying for a completely different language after having won in the past? Also, feel free to ask if you have any questions about the Turkish program.
pdh12 Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 @loveandlearn , that sounds like the most concrete news we've heard! I'm going to bank on this grape-vine news, and count on hearing by this Friday! I think it's a safe bet. After all this craziness I hope everyone hear lets us know if they got in....it kind of feels like we've been through something together loveandlearn 1
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