Foreign Fulbright Scholars 2017

[Stemlike]

Hi guys.

I haven't found a thread for this year's Foreign Fulbright Scholars, so I just created one so that we can exchange experiences and clarify our questions.

I have applied to a couple of Biomedicine PhD Programmes and have just heard back from one yet. Anyone else in the field?

Best of luck!

[tere93]

Hi there, I am also a Fulbright scholar, and have applied to PhD psychology programs. Have been accepted in Kansas and UC Davis for now

[Merantau]

Hi @Stemlike thank for starting this thread! Too bad we're not in the same field, but I'm sure as fellow Fulbright candidates (some say you're not officially a Fulbrighter until you actually board the flight taking you to the promise land) we can have a lot to talk about.

Congratulations for the acceptance @tere93! I am restlessly waiting for admission results despite having been accepted to one university, SUNY at Albany. 

Let's keep each other updated!

[tere93]

Congratulations to you too @Merantau !! 

[Ella16]

Hi everyone, so I'm not a fulbright scholar (yet) but I'm a semifinalist and have my interview in a couple of weeks. Do you have any recommendations on how to prepare? I know it varies by country but I assume they are looking for the same things essentially. I'm talking about grad programs btw

[DogsArePeopleToo]

On 3/10/2017 at 10:44 AM, Ella16 said:

Hi everyone, so I'm not a fulbright scholar (yet) but I'm a semifinalist and have my interview in a couple of weeks. Do you have any recommendations on how to prepare? I know it varies by country but I assume they are looking for the same things essentially. I'm talking about grad programs btw

Ha, it seems I have just what you might be looking for. I have these notes from 2016 when I did my own interview (I'm a principal candidate about to finalize my placement).

----

1. Why Fulbright?

2. How would you contribute to [country name] upon return?

3. You're already very familiar with the US, how do you think spending more time stateside can help you contribute more toward cultural exchange in your country? (I had been a US undergrad 7 years back)

4. What is the biggest compliment someone can pay you?

5. How are you going to overcome ethnic prejudices to get a public service job upon return?

6. What would you do if you were placed at a university you hadn't even heard of?

7. What adversity have you overcome and how?

8. You went to [US undergrad school name]? How did you end up there?

9. Do you have relatives in the US?

10. What qualifies you to study public administration?

11. Your English seems perfect. Are you better skilled at your native language or English?

12. You work with XYZ, a respected US organization. What would bring you back after Fulbright when you could continue with XYZ in the States?

13. What universities would you like to go to?

14. Have you applied to the DV Lottery?

15. What countries have you been to?

----

In my case, the panel consisted of five people: two Fulbright administrators from the respective embassy, a State Department official flown in from DC, and a Fulbright alum.

 

[DogsArePeopleToo]

On 12/17/2016 at 7:55 PM, Stemlike said:

Hi guys.

I haven't found a thread for this year's Foreign Fulbright Scholars, so I just created one so that we can exchange experiences and clarify our questions.

I have applied to a couple of Biomedicine PhD Programmes and have just heard back from one yet. Anyone else in the field?

Best of luck!

Congrats on the acceptance!

 

I'm a prospective Fulbright scholar waiting for my placement for a master's program. Got into all four places IIE shopped me to. Only one was my own preference list. Now waiting to see where I will end up come fall.

Good luck to everyone!

[Ella16]

@DogsArePeopleToo omg, thank you so much! This seems around the same as I've read from other countries but I can't find any for my own. Btw how long did it take you to get your response after the interview? Mine's this thursday so your message is right on time

[DogsArePeopleToo]

@Ella16 I am not sure I remember exactly how long after, but it was around three weeks, maybe?

At any rate, the post-interview period will end faster than you think. Besides, there's a sweetness to having something potentially exciting to look forward to.

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes.

[Ella16]

So I had my interview, not sure how it went honestly. At first it was going really well but then they spent a lot of time asking me exactly where I wanted to work after grad school. They wanted to know the exact position within the exact subdivision because they said my interests were too wide. I got a bit frustrated honestly and so did they. They did say I had a good profile and that my choice of unis were good even though I picked only top schools so I think that's a good sign that they think I could get into those schools. Did you ever feel like they were hounding you a bit @DogsArePeopleToo? I had read before that Fulbright interviews can be hostile in order to see if you can defend your argument and if you're clear on your goals. 

Anyway these are some of the questions I was asked, in case it helps anyone in posterity. 

--

Why do you want to study an MPP and why through Fulbright?

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Name 3 specific jobs you would like to have.

What are the main issues affecting your area of work now?

Why do want to do this program at a certain university instead of that one? (HKS MPP vs. MPA/ID).

Why not study in Europe or Asia since you’ve studied there before? Why the US?

You name gender issues as one of your points of interest? What exactly within gender issues?

[DogsArePeopleToo]

14 hours ago, Ella16 said:

At first it was going really well but then they spent a lot of time asking me exactly where I wanted to work after grad school. They wanted to know the exact position within the exact subdivision because they said my interests were too wide. I got a bit frustrated honestly and so did they. They did say I had a good profile and that my choice of unis were good even though I picked only top schools so I think that's a good sign that they think I could get into those schools. Did you ever feel like they were hounding you a bit @DogsArePeopleToo? I had read before that Fulbright interviews can be hostile in order to see if you can defend your argument and if you're clear on your goals.

Congrats! Looks like it went very well for you. In my case, the questions were more probing than hostile. I have a strong American accent owing to growing up on CNN and a living a few years as an undergraduate in the US. Their fear was whether I spoke my native language as fluently (I do, I am an occasional TV pundit) and whether I would be accepted back in my country given how "American" I appeared to them (I am already here and feel pretty accepted). They stuck around this them for a bit, but I thought I deflected them fine.

I have heard from a former Fulbright program manager that some applicants appear overbearing/haughty in an effort to show the panel how accomplished they are. Some appear thankless by not showing enough gratitude for the opportunity or by acting like they're entitled to Columbia or Stanford, appearing to refuse to entertain "lesser" schools during the interview. The program manager told me these people are seen as one's who can be brilliant applicants, but they're not good "diplomats," good cultural representatives. That's the cardinal sin. Most other interview hiccups are pardonable. You have several panelists anyway, and each will evaluate you differently.

About your university choices: they know most students err toward the ambitious on their list. Almost everyone invariably includes one or more of the Ivies or Ivy-like schools, some doing so with justification, others less so. The list doesn't count against you at all because, as you know, at the end of the day, IIE and the relevant embassy make the final submission plan based on your TOEFL and GRE/GMAT scores, which will come later.

So, in a nutshell, be glad you're done with the most important oreliminary step. Try to enjoy the wait and the feeling of having something exciting to look forward to. And let us know how it goes!

[Ella16]

8 hours ago, DogsArePeopleToo said:

at the end of the day, IIE and the relevant embassy make the final submission plan based on your TOEFL and GRE/GMAT scores, which will come later.

thanks for the input! I guess we shall see. In my country it's a bit different since we have a separate commission which is specifically in charge of managing the Fulbright fund, it's not done through the embassy. We actually turned in our TOEFL and GRE before the first deadline along with the rest of our application, got interviewed a month later, and will hear the final result at the end of may. Having to wait so long for the result is a bit annoying but from what I understand they actually evaluate the interview along with the rest of the app instead of doing one first and then the other. Which country are from btw @DogsArePeopleToo? I have also heard that in other countries you can't pick which university you attend though that's not the case in my country. 

Edited March 24, 2017 by Ella16

[DogsArePeopleToo]

26 minutes ago, Ella16 said:

Which country are from btw @DogsArePeopleToo?

It's one of the -Stans