Boren 2016-2017

[Letsgoooooo]

Well, it's about time that this thread started! How's it going, fellow Boren-hopefuls? 

[mrs12]

I recently found out that you could apply using a summer program/Fall semester and it would still count as a preferred program length so I've decided to apply for the Boren Scholarship. I really want to spend next semester doing research in Turkey, but I don't have too much hope because this is a last minute application. I've got time in the next two weeks to really fine-tune my essays but I won't hold my breath in the end.

@Letsgoooooo Are you applying for the Scholarship or the Fellowship? Where do you want to go and what language are you studying?

[maybemuscat]

Hi all! I'm a CLS Arabic 2015 aluma; will be a May 2016 grad of William & Mary, double major in IR and Middle Eastern Studies, concentrating in Arabic. I applied for a Scholarship to study Arabic in Muscat, Oman (hence my display name!) for a year. Here's hoping!

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by maybemuscat

[johndoe1234]

I have also applied to Boren for this coming year! This is soo exciting (and nerve-wracking)! Now it's all about the wait.. 

I'm applying for a full year in Seoul, South Korea to study Korean (obviously)... ahhh I am so impatient! 

How confident do you all feel about your application/essays/recommendations and all that jazz? 

Best of luck! 

Edited February 11, 2016 by johndoe1234

[maybemuscat]

@mrs12 Good to see you on here!

@johndoe1234 I feel pretty confident; my school is really strict about its Boren applicants and we go through four rounds of campus deadlines and interviews on campus before we ever submit, so I guess I could say I'm as ready as I'll ever be! My scholarship advisor seems very confident that I've got a good shot, so I hope that's true. The problem is that I'm already daydreaming about being in Oman...it's a sickness!

[maybemuscat]

Hi guys!

Past years have put together spreadsheets to track notifications and organize information for the benefit of future years -- for reference, here are the spreadsheets for the 2011-2012 Boren and for the 2015-2016 Boren.

As other forum participants have noticed in the past, it looks like there's a near-perfect correlation between the (mid-March, in the 2015-2016 cycle) "budget proposal update email" and an April acceptance, so let's keep careful track of that!

I've started a new document for the 2016-2017 Boren cycle -- please add your information and best of luck to everyone! I can hardly wait to know!  P.S, I would love to hear about your proposals/life dreams, let's get a discussion going! I'm the only Boren Scholarship applicant I know of around me, so I'd love to talk to you guys about it!

[readysetgo]

Did anybody's heart skip a beat upon receiving today's Boren survey in their email? Starting to get antsy! Fingers crossed!

Edited February 25, 2016 by cjmw

[maybemuscat]

@readysetgo My heart totally jumped! Tell me about you, are you a scholarship or fellowship? Where? Definitely so jumpy

[readysetgo]

Fellowship, Morocco- fingers crossed!

 

[maybemuscat]

@readysetgo I've been to Morocco twice and did CLS there this past summer! Have you ever been? That's so exciting! What are your research interests? Fingers crossed for you, I love Morocco with every inch of my heart 

[reekeecim]

I'm not sure if this forum eases my anticipation or further stresses me out. I've applied for a fellowship in Azerbaijan. I would love to not wait until mid-April..

@maybemuscat those spreadsheets are intense - But thank you for providing them. I've added myself to your list to keep track.. let's hope I will be able to add an acceptance next to my name in the future  

[maybemuscat]

@reekeecim I definitely went a little overboard with the digging for information on past years...what can I say, it's the dream. What would you like to be doing in Azerbaijan?

We've hit March, the fabled month of budget emails. Fingers crossed, losing my mind already. Have been seeing plenty of Oman omens (please forgive me for that terrible joke) so I'm hopeful! 

[readysetgo]

The budget request sent to all applicants of the fellowship award arrived at 3:02pm CT. It'd be great if notifications are also early!

[Haunted]

I did not receive a budget email so

far.

 

[Mabelkitty2012]

@Haunted 

The email I received said "We are emailing all 2016 Boren Fellowship applicants [with the exception of AFLI French/Swahili/Portuguese or SAFLI ]" to see if you have any changes to your fellowship budget.

Are you applying to one of those programs by chance?

[Haunted]

Aaaahh...thank you for talking me off the ledge there. Yes, I applied to SAFLI.

[maybemuscat]

Budget request to all Boren Scholarship applicants received Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 1:54pm. Redacted text below:

Hello from the Boren Awards.

 

We are emailing all 2016 Boren Scholarship applicants [with the exception of AFLI French/Swahili/Portuguese, SAFLI and Language Flagship] to see if you have any changes to your scholarship budget. We understand that costs might have changed a little since you submitted your application, and now we are giving everyone the chance to make edits to the budget and the budget alone. All applications are still being reviewed at this time and no decisions have been made yet.

 

Maybe Boren...caught on to the fact that their budget emails were telling re: acceptances and have abandoned the select budget emailing practice? I hope not but it would make sense, I guess. Too bad, the peace of mind would have been great.

[johndoe1234]

This wait is killing me! I definitely think that they've caught on about asking for budget updates... 

Thanks for the google docs @maybemuscat! 

[aohl0628]

I also hope they didn't change that. I got that email and was so excited but now not so much. Hopefully they kept it the same way as previous years! Also, thanks for the docs @maybemuscat

Edited March 9, 2016 by aohl0628

[maybemuscat]

No problem you guys! ( @johndoe1234 @aohl0628 ) What are your Scholarship plans?

[aohl0628]

@aohl0628 I'm studying in Japan at Kansai Gaidai University to get some experience immersing myself in other cultures! I'm a little intimidated applying for this scholarship since it seems like most of you have already been abroad and I'm just beginning my journey, but who knows, maybe it'll help me out a little more with my chances! I plan on going to further my Japanese language skills some and just to get an awesome experience doing something I've never done before. In regards to my future plans, I'm honestly an open book at the moment. I either want to do something with computer science, environmental science, or teaching. I am really just winging it and trying to tie it into something on a national level, wherever that takes me. I had trouble giving exact plans in the essay, but who's to say it isn't what they are looking for? Anyway, what about you? What are your scholarship plans?

[kbui]

12 hours ago, maybemuscat said:

Budget request to all Boren Scholarship applicants received Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 1:54pm. Redacted text below:

Hello from the Boren Awards.

 

We are emailing all 2016 Boren Scholarship applicants [with the exception of AFLI French/Swahili/Portuguese, SAFLI and Language Flagship] to see if you have any changes to your scholarship budget. We understand that costs might have changed a little since you submitted your application, and now we are giving everyone the chance to make edits to the budget and the budget alone. All applications are still being reviewed at this time and no decisions have been made yet.

 

Maybe Boren...caught on to the fact that their budget emails were telling re: acceptances and have abandoned the select budget emailing practice? I hope not but it would make sense, I guess. Too bad, the peace of mind would have been great.

Haha. Oh no! Yeah, I remember that budget update email meaning basically either you got into the finals, or that you've received the scholarship/fellowship. They must've gotten so many emails and questions about the budget that they now know that we also know. 

[maybemuscat]

@aohl0628 How cool! Here's hoping Boren makes all your dreams come true. Are you applying for a year?

I'm planning on doing a 30h/week language intensive in Muscat with the possibility of taking on an internship or other kind of work in the second semester (I applied for a year). I want to work in interpretation/translation with the CIA and/or other D.C. alphabet organizations as a career, so Boren seemed right up my alley! My thesis is on Oman's role as an intermediary between the U.S. and Iran (specifically re: nuclear deal) so I'd love to look into potentially working in the embassy in Muscat while I'm there (if I'm there, ahh!)

@kbui Lucky you for going in an earlier year! How would you describe your experience with Boren? I'd love to hear

[johndoe1234]

 

@maybemuscat My plan is to study for a full year. The first semester would be a language only program (400 hours I think, so not that bad) and the second semester I was looking at taking politically based classes (e.x. conflict between the north and south) which is way outside of my normal courses.

I'm interested in applying to some positions within the FBI or other similar task-forces to do forensic work (this is what I study) or something based in counter-terrorism. I also don’t know if this is feasible or not, but I wanted to see if I could do some sort of shadowing with law enforcement/forensic experts.     

[aohl0628]

@maybemuscat yes I am going for an entire year! Great to see what your plans are as well, I hope you get it too!