Rangel/Payne/Pickering Finalists, but not Fellows: what'd you do after?

[pubpol101]

I've noticed here that interviewees for the Rangel/Payne/Pickering fellowships have had a sizable presence on this forum, but no one seems to follow the finalists who aren't selected as fellows. I was interviewed as a finalist for the graduate Pickering fellowship but was not selected. I am enrolling in a public policy program this Fall--I'll leave it unnamed, but let's just say that it's top tier for domestic policy, but at a top 25 university not well-known in foreign affairs and out of DC.

If you or someone you know has been in the same position, what did you/they do after? Did you reapply? Did you find that the finalist status helped you with getting into the State Department or other relevant foreign/international affairs jobs/internships? Do you have any recommendations for someone, like myself, enrolling in a master's program despite not getting the fellowship?

[kbui]

From the stories that I heard, most finalists who didn't get it they either go abroad on another fellowship or worked. I'm not sure if that's what you were expecting to hear, but those are the most common things that I heard.