Boren 2017-2018

[mastersbound]

14 hours ago, UnawareInGeneral said:

@mastersbound in case you haven't heard from a friend or classmate, it says right in the email they sent everyone else 'with the exception of AFLI and SAFLI applicants' so you shouldn't have received it. 

Ah ok that makes sense. I didn't ask the two others I know who are doing non-AFLI/SAFLI about what was in their email. I wonder if we get an update... I applied for the spring semester extended program which means I did have to set out my own budget for that one semester (summer+fall they cover it all).

[TrynaLearnHindi]

On 3/9/2017 at 4:00 PM, mastersbound said:

Nope - applied for SAFLI which is probably the reason

Hindi or Urdu? (I applied for SAFLI in Jaipur for Hindi)

[MA2020]

Has anyone who applied for the Scholarship received a budget update email?

[mastersbound]

On 3/10/2017 at 4:45 PM, TrynaLearnHindi said:

Hindi or Urdu? (I applied for SAFLI in Jaipur for Hindi)

Urdu- Wisconsin, Lucknow, then Delhi

[d-hopper]

What's the range of dates decisions came out for the fellowship in April? Has it been consistently the last week of April or ?

[UnawareInGeneral]

Last year decision came out April 15th, don't know about years before. I didn't even know it existed before I started my graduate program so I don't know people who participated other than some folks in 2016-2017 year, but a decision should be forth coming around that time. If people can start a Boren in May, unlikely that decisions are released just days before people would need to commit and then leave the country. Not impossible mind you, but it'd be damned silly. 

Edit: looking at the conversation in older Boren threads from 2015 and further back.... April 15 is a pretty solid date.

 

Edited March 14, 2017 by UnawareInGeneral

[d-hopper]

Thanks! I'm not sure about the scholarships, but June 1 is the first date of an overseas portion for the fellowship. I hope I get mine, but I'm realistic in my chances.

[gabiwankenobi]

Did everyone else get the new budget email?

[Simply.abi]

Anybody also receive the budget update email for scholarship application?

[gabiwankenobi]

23 minutes ago, Simply.abi said:

Anybody also receive the budget update email for scholarship application?

I did. What country did you apply for?

[Simply.abi]

6 minutes ago, ladyben-kenobi said:

I did. What country did you apply for?

I applied for Japan. STEM major summer 9 weeks. How about you?

[gabiwankenobi]

21 minutes ago, Simply.abi said:

I applied for Japan. STEM major summer 9 weeks. How about you?

Súper cool, I applied for Latvia for Russian (Sociology major). I guess we will see if it was sent to everyone or if it is a reliable indicator of our status.

[memez]

I got it too! Doesn't the email say that everyone got it, though, and no decisions have been made? (Or do they say that every year...?)

[gabiwankenobi]

1 minute ago, memez said:

I got it too! Doesn't the email say that everyone got it, though, and no decisions have been made? (Or do they say that every year...?)

Supposedly they say that every year, but during the past years it was a reliable indicator if you were a finalist. We will be able to judge if it is for the next year applicants.

[memez]

Ok, I'm trying to hold off on the excitement for now... ahhhhhh

[Simply.abi]

1 hour ago, ladyben-kenobi said:

Súper cool, I applied for Latvia for Russian (Sociology major). I guess we will see if it was sent to everyone or if it is a reliable indicator of our status.

 Nice!! Well I hope receiving this budget email brings us good news in April .

 

[UnawareInGeneral]

3 hours ago, ladyben-kenobi said:

Supposedly they say that every year, but during the past years it was a reliable indicator if you were a finalist. We will be able to judge if it is for the next year applicants.

It tracked really closely with whether or not you were a finalist for the fellowship or the scholarship in 2015 and 2014, but last year it did not. Last year every student I know who applied in my graduate program received the email (around 15 people) only two were finalists. There is also, somewhere on this forum as I've seen it before, a link to a spreadsheet where people tracked the status of 15-20 2016-2017 applicants who use gradcafe and there was no relationship between receiving the budget email and being offered a fellowship or scholarship. They all received the email, few of them got the final offer. 

[gabiwankenobi]

5 minutes ago, UnawareInGeneral said:

It tracked really closely with whether or not you were a finalist for the fellowship or the scholarship in 2015 and 2014, but last year it did not. Last year every student I know who applied in my graduate program received the email (around 15 people) only two were finalists. There is also, somewhere on this forum as I've seen it before, a link to a spreadsheet where people tracked the status of 15-20 2016-2017 applicants who use gradcafe and there was no relationship between receiving the budget email and being offered a fellowship or scholarship. They all received the email, few of them got the final offer. 

So pretty much we still have absolutely of our status. Welp, back to the wait game. I can see why they would stop the email budget update system. Is there a second budget update or that doesn't matter?

[Simply.abi]

35 minutes ago, ladyben-kenobi said:

So pretty much we still have absolutely of our status. Welp, back to the wait game. I can see why they would stop the email budget update system. Is there a second budget update or that doesn't matter?

Yeah, heres one of the spreadsheets https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-nSiLU3wKgB96JcNHq8r525Vl_6vncQuXmFon2M05g8/edit#gid=0 (2015-2016) 

 

Here's the 2016-2017 one: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fRbfFm_OYBjplV7YsCEgxUlw5PO4elanSgDOZH0Sm_A/edit?usp=sharing

 

Edited March 14, 2017 by Simply.abi

[SwissMister]

I am using a language immersion organization based in Australia (ACICIS) to facilitate my study program at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta Indonesia in August of this year. Past Boren awardees have used ACICIS to facilitate their study programs as well. What I find strange is that they are asking me to complete visa documents, scan my passport, and pay application fees before I hear back about whether I received the Boren Fellowship. These fees are non-refundable, so I'm wondering how I should go about this.

Are any other Fellowship or Scholarship people experiencing similar issues? 

Edited March 25, 2017 by SwissMister

[UnawareInGeneral]

20 minutes ago, SwissMister said:

I am using a language immersion organization based in Australia (ACICIS) to facilitate my study program at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta Indonesia in August of this year. Past Boren awardees have used ACICIS to facilitate their study programs as well. What I find strange is that they are asking me to complete visa documents, scan my passport, and pay application fees before I hear back about whether I received the Boren Fellowship. These fees are non-refundable, so I'm wondering how I should go about this.

Are any other Fellowship or Scholarship people experiencing similar issues? 

Boren is asking you to do that or one of the schools is asking you to do that?

[SwissMister]

1 hour ago, UnawareInGeneral said:

Boren is asking you to do that or one of the schools is asking you to do that?

So, it's not Boren or the host university that is asking me to do it – it's ACICIS, which is an Australian organization who facilitates study abroad programs to Indonesia. They are a very reputable organization that has been used by past Boren scholars and fellows. 

[UnawareInGeneral]

22 minutes ago, SwissMister said:

So, it's not Boren or the host university that is asking me to do it – it's ACICIS, which is an Australian organization who facilitates study abroad programs to Indonesia. They are a very reputable organization that has been used by past Boren scholars and fellows. 

Ah ok. Well I had some thoughts if it was Boren...... maybe they are relevant to this other institution. I haven't worked with this ACICIS before and this is the first time I've ever heard of them, really. However, other programs I've dealt with that service many different regions or that are connected to places where a visa can be a real undertaking ask for things way up front just in case the process takes forever. Indonesia is one of the three countries in all of Asia I've never been to though so couldn't tell you from personal experience what getting a visa is like for an American. It's the only thing that occurs to me however, someone else may have direct experience. Have you looked into other avenues of connecting with students who went through ACICIS for reasons other than a Boren? 

[SwissMister]

23 hours ago, UnawareInGeneral said:

Ah ok. Well I had some thoughts if it was Boren...... maybe they are relevant to this other institution. I haven't worked with this ACICIS before and this is the first time I've ever heard of them, really. However, other programs I've dealt with that service many different regions or that are connected to places where a visa can be a real undertaking ask for things way up front just in case the process takes forever. Indonesia is one of the three countries in all of Asia I've never been to though so couldn't tell you from personal experience what getting a visa is like for an American. It's the only thing that occurs to me however, someone else may have direct experience. Have you looked into other avenues of connecting with students who went through ACICIS for reasons other than a Boren? 

Thanks, @UnawareInGeneral. I've been trying to get in touch with one of the other Boren recipients who went through ACICIS – no response yet. I'm going to go along with the passport and visa documents, but try to buy a few weeks time on the application fees, which are pretty significant ($~450 USD). I can only imagine that they would understand my plight, lol. 

[kbui]

As the day gets closer, I'm getting more and more nervous. I keep on thinking about how amazing it would be to be in Thailand next year. Anybody have the same experience?