Critical Language Scholarship - 2017 Cycle

[camelcamel]

41 minutes ago, bw499 said:

@camelcamel did you make sure to check the spam folders for each email as well? I also found mine there like someone else on this forum had.

 

Also, does anyone know the general acceptance rate for Korean CLS applicants? As in around how many semi-finalists were chosen and how many finalists are selected (is it typically 40 people per cohort)? Someone else said 200 semi-finalists for Russian and 40 finalists.

@hobakie yeah, I've triple checked everything. Not sure what's up. Should I email CLS?

[ala]

I am in the same situation with Russian. I triple checked all my emails/folders and don't have any email. I was considering calling them tomorrow to check in. 

[Michael26]

Same; still haven't found / received mine (Korea). I'm going to try to go to sleep, as impossible as that likely is, and call them tomorrow if it still hasn't shown up. I swear this is going to give me stomach ulcers!

Edited January 19, 2017 by Michael26

[hobakie]

34 minutes ago, camelcamel said:

@hobakie yeah, I've triple checked everything. Not sure what's up. Should I email CLS?

I'd just call in the morning and ask about the status. A few people are thinking it's a glitch involving whether or not an edu email was used. My primary was a edu and I didn't get one and my secondary was a yahoo email (where I got the notification)

Also CLS usually announces via Twitter when they send out results and they haven't yet so that means either a) they aren't finished or b.) something went wrong technologically

Edited January 19, 2017 by hobakie

[camelcamel]

I can't call because I'm overseas right now, but everyone else please fill us in! I'll email them if I haven't gotten anything by the time it should be mid-day in the States tomorrow. I'm sure we can't be the only ones, though, and they're probably getting several inquiries. 

 

Regardless of what the issue is, I'll be upset if I had to wait extra just to get rejected.

[hobakie]

For anyone who still hasn't received a notice, email American councils with your reference ID number and they will send results. Apparently there was something wrong because they all should have been sent yesterday.

[mrs12]

Hey other Turkish applicants~

First off, if anyone is reading this and didn't get into the semi-finals but still wants to do Turkish this summer, I can recommend a plethora of programs with various funding schemes. <3 Just let me know.

But secondly, did you all get an email about the site change to Azerbaijan? It's expected, but I'm curious if that's going to change any minds, especially for beginner applicants? My accent is already atrocious, so I'm not really afraid of ruining anything there, but I'm curious how the rest of you feel.

[Bbdubs]

@mrs12 Are you a semi-finalist? I got rejected for beginners Turkish  what other programs do you recommend?

The program was hosted in Azerbaijan last year too, so I wouldn't be surprised if they did it again for this year. 

[mrs12]

@Bbdubs Yes, I'm a semi-finalist. And I'm sorry to hear that you were rejected! I was rejected twice before ever making it to the semi-finals, so keep at it, don't give up!

My number one recommendation is the program at Wisconsin-Madison - APTLII. It's full immersion and the teachers are the best I've ever had. There's FLAS funding through Wisconsin-Madison, but I believe if you're an undergraduate student you have to be applying for at least second year Turkish to be eligible. If you're a graduate student, though, you should certainly apply. The program might also have other funding available, and I'd recommend emailing the director. Honestly I cannot recommend this program enough for Turkish.

The SWSEEL program at Indiana University is also very well known and regarded. It is not immersion. They have FLAS funding as well. IU-Bloomington is the site of the Turkish Flagship program so they have a lot of resources if you're considering continuing with Turkish or interested in its potential applications. 

I know that the Arizona State University's program has some funding as well, but I've never spoken with anyone who did their program. They're known for their summer language offerings, but I can't say to what quality the Turkish program is.

There are a handful of other schools that offer summer programs, I'm thinking of Columbia/Pittsburg/Chicago and maybe Boston off the top of my head, but I don't recall them offering aid. (Please check though, you never know!)

Once you get past Beginner/First Year Turkish, it's easier to find funding, but harder to find good programs that are running. Good luck though! Let me know if you have any other questions!

[susurrus]

@mrs12 I'm definitely not changing my mind. I need to start somewhere, and the opportunities to learn beginners Turkish in my area, for my financial situation are very limited. I've also heard that Baku is a fascinating city, historically and culturally ^^

[I Think I can]

I'm sad that I didn't get it this year but its only my first time applying. Now that I understand the process better I'm sure i'll have a better chance next time.

 

@hobakie @mrs12When you did not get it with your first try and went to apply the next time, were there some essay responses that you kept the same while writing all new answers to others? 

I feel like a only a couple of my essays might not have been strongly written or did not get my point across like I thought it would but the other responses seemed good to me (of course I'm biased though lol). Since we don't get feedback it's hard to say what it was that made the reviewers say no.

 

[blue_sugar]

Rejected, which I'm okay with because I didn't invest that much time into my essays. LOL

Anyone know of any other similar summer study abroad scholarships to a Mandarin-speaking country, or at least programs that are relatively affordable and/or offer financial aid? I know of TUSA, but there have got to be more :/

Edited January 19, 2017 by blue_sugar

[hobakie]

1 hour ago, blue_sugar said:

Rejected, which I'm okay with because I didn't invest that much time into my essays. LOL

Anyone know of any other similar summer study abroad scholarships to a Mandarin-speaking country, or at least programs that are relatively affordable and/or offer financial aid? I know of TUSA, but there have got to be more :/

China Scholarship Council but I am not positive if it is strictly year long or if they also offer summer grants. Huayu scholarship for Taiwan (monthly stipend of around 800 dollars so while it doesn't pay for the program it can help with living needs), FLAS, and there is another one whose name I cant remember right now. It is also run by the Chinese government however if you plan on going into national security or service, you should really think about receiving scholarships from the Chinese government, I heard it can make the process more difficult for applicants when they start applying for these government jobs. I don''t have too much experience with that though. 

[hobakie]

3 hours ago, I Think I can said:

I'm sad that I didn't get it this year but its only my first time applying. Now that I understand the process better I'm sure i'll have a better chance next time.

 

@hobakie @mrs12When you did not get it with your first try and went to apply the next time, were there some essay responses that you kept the same while writing all new answers to others? 

I feel like a only a couple of my essays might not have been strongly written or did not get my point across like I thought it would but the other responses seemed good to me (of course I'm biased though lol). Since we don't get feedback it's hard to say what it was that made the reviewers say no.

 

I PM'd you!

[FlagsFlagsFlags]

@hobakie, I'm in the exact same position as I Think I Can. I'd love to also hear your advice about reapplying! 

[hobakie]

23 hours ago, FlagsFlagsFlags said:

@hobakie, I'm in the exact same position as I Think I Can. I'd love to also hear your advice about reapplying! 

sure I will pm you too

[TrynaLearnHindi]

Semi finalist for Hindi in Jaipur- anyone else?

[UnawareInGeneral]

I am coming to this thread a little late. I am a semi-finalist for advanced Mandarin, thought I would say hi on the off chance this materializes favorably in a few weeks and there are folks here to make a connection with pre-departure. Or to commiserate with when the bottom falls out. You know, either way. 

 

Ive seen Hobakie's posts, any other mandarin semi-finalists? 

 

Hobakie where do you find numbers on the stats for mandarin applicants/semi finalists/finalists in previous years? Googled it in a bunch of different ways, nothing came up. 

[Naxii]

10 hours ago, UnawareInGeneral said:

I am coming to this thread a little late. I am a semi-finalist for advanced Mandarin, thought I would say hi on the off chance this materializes favorably in a few weeks and there are folks here to make a connection with pre-departure. Or to commiserate with when the bottom falls out. You know, either way. 

 

Ive seen Hobakie's posts, any other mandarin semi-finalists? 

 

Hobakie where do you find numbers on the stats for mandarin applicants/semi finalists/finalists in previous years? Googled it in a bunch of different ways, nothing came up. 

I'm a semi-finalist for Mandarin as well. I'm for Intermediate however. 

I asked the same question.  I couldn't find it either :-/ only vague stuff on the CLS website. 

[_KITE]

Semi-finalist for Japanese here. Anyone else here for Japanese, btw?

I'm wondering when we can expect the second round results. Based on previous years, I assume that results will come sometime in the latter half of this month. I won't lie; waiting for the results makes me anxious. 

Also, is the homestay for the duration of the program? That is to say that, for the majority of the program, are the participants primarily housed by area locals? I could understand why such would be the case, just looking for clarity. 
 

[UnawareInGeneral]

3 hours ago, bbuddhab1213 said:

Semi-finalist for Japanese here. Anyone else here for Japanese, btw?

I'm wondering when we can expect the second round results. Based on previous years, I assume that results will come sometime in the latter half of this month. I won't lie; waiting for the results makes me anxious. 

Also, is the homestay for the duration of the program? That is to say that, for the majority of the program, are the participants primarily housed by area locals? I could understand why such would be the case, just looking for clarity. 
 

Bbuddhab,

 So according to the CLS Facebook/twitter/website every year for as long as I could see (I looked at maybe 2012-now) the results vary between Feb 15-25th.

Dunno about the homestay thing. 

Japanese though, that's great. Hope that comes through for you. I'm waiting to see if I'm a finalist for advanced Mandarin. 

I lived in Japan for four and a half years during my time in the service, in Yokosuka. Unfortunately I worked something like 7.5 days a week so I never had time for language study. 

I was all set to begin studying Japanese when i left the navy to go back to college. Three days before classes started the Japanese instructor passed away. Now, I speak Mandarin. 

[babocheoreom]

So what does everyone think?  This week? Next week? Will they make us wait until the very end of the month?  Ugg I just want to know already.

Also, does anyone know what the orientation/departure schedule has been in past years per language?

[UnawareInGeneral]

On 2/14/2017 at 7:19 AM, babocheoreom said:

So what does everyone think?  This week? Next week? Will they make us wait until the very end of the month?  Ugg I just want to know already.

Also, does anyone know what the orientation/departure schedule has been in past years per language?

So today(15th) is the first day we might expect to see results based on most previous years, I also GUESS the fifteenth is the beginning of "late February" technically. The semi finalist email said that was when we could expect to hear back. It takes something like 5-6 weeks to get results generally sooo.... we would seem to be looking more likely at next week. That would be more in keeping with the normal pattern and fit what we've been told. Last year was an anomaly, they heard about semi-finals much later than usual. But the 5-6 weeks for final word still held, they got finalist results about a week into March. 

 

Second question, that depends entirely on your language and location.every language and location will have its own start/end dates. We should expect that info no later than a week after finalist announcements. 

But the 15th has arrived at last. Commence the unnecessarily frequent email inbox checks. 

Edited February 15, 2017 by UnawareInGeneral

[mrs12]

@babocheoreom I believe orientation schedules vary, because site times usually have a bit of variance too and that's what they're based off of. For instance if you're a finalist for Arabic your orientation is unlikely to be with all the other Arabic finalists -- just the ones with the same start times. It's why they languages, though from what I've gleaned you don't usually have a lot of chances to mingle with the other languages at orientation if they're there.

As for the time, I feel like it will be next week, but that's just me trying to not expect anything.

[UnawareInGeneral]

Sooo... next week