Fulbright 2017-2018

[Horb]

Just sent my transcripts! Wooooo

[ryanwinston]

16 hours ago, Horb said:

Anyone else here get recommended for Germany for Research or Study? Do we have an interview?

I got reccomended for ETA in Germany. Looks like past forums are saying 3/18 is the average of when they notify. 2 months to go!

[Meliglwssos]

1 hour ago, aheather said:

Congrats! I was originally going for research in Nepal, but then my host institution stopped responding to emails (  ) and I switched over to ETA in Malaysia VERY last minute. My FPA was verrrry anxious on my behalf, deciding mid-September and all to swap countries and grant types! But! I guess it worked out! Anyway, I'm still dying to go to Nepal, and I wish you the very best of luck!

Mine said 50% chance for ETA semifinalists, though she said that my university in particular seems to either have people get eliminated in Jan or get the grant in the spring, with very few people making it to be semifinalists and then getting cut later. So statistically, I guess it's around 50%, but maybe particular schools or ways of writing proposals are more compelling once they make it to the host country?

That could be. He didn't specifically say that it was for my school, but we are pretty small and usually get around 11 people get Fulbright each year. They were also very involved in the application process and we had a large pool of successful applications to look at. 

[Vegan Burrito]

2 hours ago, aheather said:

Congrats! I was originally going for research in Nepal, but then my host institution stopped responding to emails (  ) and I switched over to ETA in Malaysia VERY last minute. My FPA was verrrry anxious on my behalf, deciding mid-September and all to swap countries and grant types! But! I guess it worked out! Anyway, I'm still dying to go to Nepal, and I wish you the very best of luck!

Mine said 50% chance for ETA semifinalists, though she said that my university in particular seems to either have people get eliminated in Jan or get the grant in the spring, with very few people making it to be semifinalists and then getting cut later. So statistically, I guess it's around 50%, but maybe particular schools or ways of writing proposals are more compelling once they make it to the host country?

Do you go to a big-name school like Princeton, one that would definitely be known by commissions abroad? 

[Horb]

1 hour ago, ryanwinston said:

I got reccomended for ETA in Germany. Looks like past forums are saying 3/18 is the average of when they notify. 2 months to go!

I am REALLY hoping I'm able to "forget" about this until mid-March like I did until a week ago this round.

[Dash123]

3 hours ago, sarahk said:

Recommended for Czech Republic ETA!! Anyone else?? Congrats everyone ?

Yes, me too! Congrats! I hope we both get in

[thepictureisstill]

So if there's one award...hypothetically, it could be down to two semi finalists? Right?

[Horb]

8 minutes ago, thepictureisstill said:

So if there's one award...hypothetically, it could be down to two semi finalists? Right?

It could be or it could be three (Top Choice, Alternate, and Not Selected).

[aheather]

4 hours ago, Meliglwssos said:

That could be. He didn't specifically say that it was for my school, but we are pretty small and usually get around 11 people get Fulbright each year. They were also very involved in the application process and we had a large pool of successful applications to look at. 

Ha, you're in FL too? And your school gets around 11 in each year? Mine also! Except my FPA is a woman, so I'd bet we're not at the same college 

Fingers crossed for our eventual escape from the swamp lands

4 hours ago, Vegan Burrito said:

Do you go to a big-name school like Princeton, one that would definitely be known by commissions abroad? 

Nope. Teeny tiny public school in Florida. But we do tend to get a lot of people into Fulbright because we're lucky and also because our Fulbright and fellowship team are so helpful

Edited January 19, 2017 by aheather

[sat0ri]

52 minutes ago, thepictureisstill said:

So if there's one award...hypothetically, it could be down to two semi finalists? Right?

Hypothetically, yes, but realistically, it is extremely unlikely. I think them saying 1.5-2 times people are recommended compared to how many grants are actually available is most applicable to grants where there is a relatively large number of grants.

Last cycle I was also recommended, interviewed, and ultimately was only an alternate for the UK open award (2 awards / 165 applicants). However, there were 3 others on grad cafe that were recommended (not interviewed), and none of us were selected for the grant. Further, I doubt they only interviewed 3 people for 2 awards. At any rate that's at least 6 people in the running (3 times as many people recommended compared to awards available), but it is very likely the it was an even higher number than that.

[AnnMarie]

I'm trying to figure out my chances for Poland now. 15 grants are given every year and typically the average amount of applicants are 32. So if 1.5 or 2 is correct, then possibly 22.5 people were recommended. That's assuming  (which I hate to do) that they did 1.5 the number of grants available. 2 times the amount seems excessive for the amount of applicants Poland gets and I would think that number is typically used for countries that get hundreds of applicants like the UK. So basically there might be 23 of us now. I'm a right in that thinking? 15 get it, possibly 3 alternates, and 5 rejections?

I'm also guessing 1.5 is used because I viewed the Google doc sheet and there are people cut during the first round for Poland.

Edited January 19, 2017 by AnnMarie

[Dash123]

5 minutes ago, AnnMarie said:

I'm trying to figure out my chances for Poland now. 15 grants are given every year and typically the average amount of applicants are 32. So if 1.5 or 2 is correct, then possibly 22.5 people were recommended. That's assuming  (which I hate to do) that they did 1.5 the number of grants available. 2 times the amount seems excessive for the amount of applicants Poland gets and I would think that number is typically used for countries that get hundreds of applicants like the UK. So basically there might be 23 of us now. I'm a right in that thinking? 15 get it, possibly 3 alternates, and 5 rejections?

I'm also guessing 1.5 is used because I viewed the Google doc sheet and there are people cut during the first round for Poland.

Omg I adore you and your obsessive fixations  I feel like the next couple months are going to include a lot of this kind of thinking for us all haha

[englishi]

Recommended for Research/Study in France - anyone else??

[Meliglwssos]

54 minutes ago, aheather said:

Ha, you're in FL too? And your school gets around 11 in each year? Mine also! Except my FPA is a woman, so I'd bet we're not at the same college 

Fingers crossed for our eventual escape from the swamp lands

Nope. Teeny tiny public school in Florida. But we do tend to get a lot of people into Fulbright because we're lucky and also because our Fulbright and fellowship team are so helpful

I went to school in MN and took a gap year. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my somewhat obscure (Latin + Ancient Greek) major, so I went home, spent  some time with my family, and tutored and worked as a substitute. I probably wouldn't have felt confidant about applying or known where to go if I hadn't happened to win a Critical Languages Scholarship (for 2016) and a really supportive staff at my old school. But going from subbing in FL to a Fulbright grant really would feel like an escape.

Good luck to you too!

[rockrmoose]

Anyone here who applied for the Taiwan ETA? I was an ETA last year for the 2015-16 year, and it was amazing! This is such an exciting time and I wish everyone the best of luck.

[CoolOwl]

1 hour ago, englishi said:

Recommended for Research/Study in France - anyone else??

Congratulations!

[CoolOwl]

On 1/18/2017 at 2:25 PM, sam89 said:

THEY'RE OUT!!!

 

Semi-finalist WHOOOO!

Congratulations!

[rapskalien]

5 hours ago, Dash123 said:

Yes, me too! Congrats! I hope we both get in

Recommend as well!! Wishing you both the best in the next stage 

[LibbyCreek]

Is anyone else contacting your affiliation to give them a head's up that they may be contacted by their national Fulbright Commission? I am going to contact mine, and was wondering if there is any (ha!) standard timeframe for when the affiliates are called. Or maybe this is just something done in Hungary? My FPA said one of the first things many commissions do when trying to decide who to fund is call the affiliate (if any) and ask if they really know the applicant...

[Horb]

7 hours ago, LibbyCreek said:

Is anyone else contacting your affiliation to give them a head's up that they may be contacted by their national Fulbright Commission? I am going to contact mine, and was wondering if there is any (ha!) standard timeframe for when the affiliates are called. Or maybe this is just something done in Hungary? My FPA said one of the first things many commissions do when trying to decide who to fund is call the affiliate (if any) and ask if they really know the applicant...

I have never heard that before  

[CoolOwl]

14 hours ago, LibbyCreek said:

Is anyone else contacting your affiliation to give them a head's up that they may be contacted by their national Fulbright Commission? I am going to contact mine, and was wondering if there is any (ha!) standard timeframe for when the affiliates are called. Or maybe this is just something done in Hungary? My FPA said one of the first things many commissions do when trying to decide who to fund is call the affiliate (if any) and ask if they really know the applicant...

My FPA unfortunately provides very little advice or information. I respect it; I go to a large, well-known, public university and I think/hope it is because she is trying to preserve the integrity of the process at my school -- not to say that FPAs who share information or advice aren't in any way. Maybe it's because of the volume of people who go through the process here? I don't know. I am not getting much guidance about the process.

I updated my affiliate faculty with my semi-finalist status, but I didn't specifically say that they should be prepared for a call. My affiliation is in South Africa and I was considering, since my FPA doesn't share much, and the Fulbright website suggests using them for questions, that I could introduce myself to the U.S. Consulate in the city I've proposed affiliation? I just don't know if that's weird? But I was thinking it might not hurt to ask if they have any suggestions or guidance. Does anyone have any thoughts about doing something like that?

[Horb]

39 minutes ago, milliedaisy said:

My FPA unfortunately provides very little advice or information. I respect it; I go to a large, well-known, public university and I think/hope it is because she is trying to preserve the integrity of the process at my school -- not to say that FPAs who share information or advice aren't in any way. Maybe it's because of the volume of people who go through the process here? I don't know. I am not getting much guidance about the process.

I updated my affiliate faculty with my semi-finalist status, but I didn't specifically say that they should be prepared for a call. My affiliation is in South Africa and I was considering, since my FPA doesn't share much, and the Fulbright website suggests using them for questions, that I could introduce myself to the U.S. Consulate in the city I've proposed affiliation? I just don't know if that's weird? But I was thinking it might not hurt to ask if they have any suggestions or guidance. Does anyone have any thoughts about doing something like that?

My affiliate in the last round never mentioned getting contacted about this. I also haven't met anyone who has had their affiliate contacted, so idk.

[kyjin]

18 hours ago, LibbyCreek said:

Is anyone else contacting your affiliation to give them a head's up that they may be contacted by their national Fulbright Commission? I am going to contact mine, and was wondering if there is any (ha!) standard timeframe for when the affiliates are called. Or maybe this is just something done in Hungary? My FPA said one of the first things many commissions do when trying to decide who to fund is call the affiliate (if any) and ask if they really know the applicant...

I don't think that's necessary. But it's nice to contact them and keep them updated on your semi-finalist status. I'm sure they'll appreciate being in the loop. 

[LibbyCreek]

3 hours ago, Horb said:

My affiliate in the last round never mentioned getting contacted about this. I also haven't met anyone who has had their affiliate contacted, so idk.

Right. I just don't want to bug these two nice people who don't really know me, but whom I somehow already convinced to write me letters of affiliation! 

[ibette]

I think the affiliation letter should suffice for the second round process. I am guessing when it's time for visa applications and additional paperwork from the US some additional verifications and contact might begin with the host institution. I just let my affiliate institution know about my semi-finalist status and that I would keep them in the loop on future news (it seems like I will know by third week of March based on my country's previous notification dates).

 

Also, today I went ahead and sent my application to renew my US passport! It would have expired in December of 2017, right in the middle of my stay during my grant if I get it, so I just went ahead and sent it (just in case, I would hate to think I could be in a difficulty situation as a semi-finalist now and screwing myself over because of a silly passport issue). Thought I could bring up this topic incase some of you may have to renew your passports while abroad/doing Fulbright.