Rangel Fellowship 2018

[Julius_M]

Hello everyone! 

Congratulations to all of you for your hard work. My name's Julius and I'm starting rather early in beginning the process for the 2019 rounds of Rangel and Pickering (I'm in the Peace Corps right now, so I wouldn't be going into grad school until fall of 2019 anyway). But I'm really hoping to get a major jump on this whole process (I guess the applications for next year would open in September 2018 or so) and have already started writing the statement of purpose and whatnot. 

I just wanted to ask if any of you guys had any advice with writing the SOP and the other aspects of the application and some of the insights you have gained since you've already been through the gauntlet.

Anyway, I'm so appreciative for you guys having this forum and I wish you well in all of your endeavors going forward.  

[KitKat99]

Anyone out there nervously awaiting results? I'm on pins and needles here

[ayasofaya]

14 minutes ago, KitKat99 said:

Anyone out there nervously awaiting results? I'm on pins and needles here

Yeah! But at the same time, the grad school decisions were enough drama for a while. Maybe I need to rest.

[KitKat99]

14 minutes ago, ayasofaya said:

Yeah! But at the same time, the grad school decisions were enough drama for a while. Maybe I need to rest.

Just wish we had an actual date so I could concentrate at work the next two weeks

[mrs12]

Last year was March 29th, the year before that March 27th. So I'd assume we're not looking at this week. :3

[KitKat99]

12 hours ago, mrs12 said:

Last year was March 29th, the year before that March 27th. So I'd assume we're not looking at this week. :3

Thanks for letting me know ! That will take the edge off for a bit...

[mrs12]

You're welcome, @KitKat99! 

I really like your avatar, by the way.  Pusheen is the cutest!

[KitKat99]

Thanks @mrs12!!!

[ayasofaya]

PICKERING NOTIFICATION IS OUT

[ayasofaya]

It's a no on Pickering for me this year :((((((((((

[ayasofaya]

I'm suddenly very stressed out. Not that this was a shoo-in or anything, but the Fulbright ETA just went from something I wanted to something i need. Not only to boost my profile for next year but to approve me to defer admission (has to be SAIS now) so I can have that in my hand at re-apply. The Fulbright ETA and $3,000. Both of which are long shots at the current moment.

[mrs12]

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.......

I'm a Pickering Finalist...

I don't believe it. Seriously. I think this is a mistake. I've tried so many times now, is this even possible???

@ayasofaya I'm so sorry! I was hoping to get to meet you at the interview day, somehow. You have to keep trying. Seriously. I hope the Fulbright ETA comes through for you, but even so, congratulations on your grad school results, you're doing amazing. I know just how this moment feels, after waiting so long, and having so much pinned on it, and I want you to know that you're awesome and all of your hard work will pay off somehow/somewhere. 

[ayasofaya]

10 minutes ago, mrs12 said:

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.......

I'm a Pickering Finalist...

I don't believe it. Seriously. I think this is a mistake. I've tried so many times now, is this even possible???

@ayasofaya

THIS IS AMAZING AND I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!! What did you do differently this year that helped? Actually didn't you skip Pickering last year? It may have just been a better fit than Rangel the whole time.

[BNichole]

@mrs12 congrats!!! Thats so amazing!! 

[Micr]

Hi all! Glad I found this thread. Congratulations for those who got into Rangel & Pickering :).

I also applied to Pickering but didn't get in. It was my second application so it's heartbreaking to face rejection twice... aaand I'm dreading telling the news to my recommenders/family/support team. But it hurt a lot less this time.

@mrs12, it's amazing to hear that you got in after numerous attempts. Any advice on what you did differently this time around? 

[Dan_H]

On 3/19/2018 at 5:51 PM, mrs12 said:

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.......

I'm a Pickering Finalist...

I don't believe it. Seriously. I think this is a mistake. I've tried so many times now, is this even possible???

@ayasofaya I'm so sorry! I was hoping to get to meet you at the interview day, somehow. You have to keep trying. Seriously. I hope the Fulbright ETA comes through for you, but even so, congratulations on your grad school results, you're doing amazing. I know just how this moment feels, after waiting so long, and having so much pinned on it, and I want you to know that you're awesome and all of your hard work will pay off somehow/somewhere. 

Congratulations, mrs!  I'll be seeing you in Washington on the 17th or 18th :-)

[mrs12]

@ayasofaya, @Micr:

I have no freaking clue, honestly. Ayasofaya is right, I didn't apply to the Pickering last year, just the Rangel. But I did apply to the Pickering the year before, as a Junior in college and received a rejection. So, thus far, I've been rejected from the Rangel twice and the Pickering once and then just now made it to the finalist stage. My applications have all basically been the same from year to year barring my essay which I always completely redo. I'm a good student, but I don't have that many extracurricular or tie-ins and my GRE scores are average (my math score is horrible, actually). So, really, I'm as flummoxed as everyone else.

This year, after two years of rejection from various fellowships, I decided to just shuck the traditional essay style and write my own thing. I figured it couldn't be worse than what I'd always been writing and gotten rejected on. So, in the past I tried to write persuasively about my passion for public service and background, and the year before that I wrote primarily on the thirteen dimensions and my experiences at my internship with State and my desire to be a part of that community. These were all really polished essays and I felt strongly about them. This time around I threw all that out the window, and tried to write about everything else. I trusted that my resume and letters of recommendation would speak to those traits and experiences, and instead wrote a more personal narrative that highlighted my rural background and my desire to represent a multifaceted America. I gambled and figured either they'd throw it out as absurd or it'd catch someone's eye -- because clearly my past attempts hadn't.

So, if I had to guess... Maybe this time around it was more sincere? Or different enough that it caught people's attentions? Or perhaps it was just less staid. I've always been a good writer, but I wasn't trying so hard to have the perfect essay this year. I wanted to share my story, and write what felt natural. Maybe that was the difference? But I've heard from past finalists and everyone has a different essay, some more personal, some more formal, some directly addressing the 13 dimensions, some never even touching on them. All I can speak to is my progression to this point, and I think the big difference was writing to my strengths. That is, writing the type of essay that I tend to write best. So whichever sort of narrative lets your writing voice shine best, maybe that's something to consider. 

So... yeah? I hope that's helpful, even though I'm afraid it's not a very obvious answer. Thanks for the well-wishes and support! Sorry it took me so long to respond, I kind of got the news and freaked out and retreated for a while. 

@Dan_H Hey, there! Congratulations! I applied for the 17th testing date. So if that goes through, maybe we will see each other! Good luck with the preparation! Remember that you're awesome, so try not to panic too much at this point. (If you can avoid it.) I think even though nothing is determined this will just be an interesting and fun experience!

[Dan_H]

21 hours ago, mrs12 said:

@ayasofaya, @Micr:

I have no freaking clue, honestly. Ayasofaya is right, I didn't apply to the Pickering last year, just the Rangel. But I did apply to the Pickering the year before, as a Junior in college and received a rejection. So, thus far, I've been rejected from the Rangel twice and the Pickering once and then just now made it to the finalist stage. My applications have all basically been the same from year to year barring my essay which I always completely redo. I'm a good student, but I don't have that many extracurricular or tie-ins and my GRE scores are average (my math score is horrible, actually). So, really, I'm as flummoxed as everyone else.

This year, after two years of rejection from various fellowships, I decided to just shuck the traditional essay style and write my own thing. I figured it couldn't be worse than what I'd always been writing and gotten rejected on. So, in the past I tried to write persuasively about my passion for public service and background, and the year before that I wrote primarily on the thirteen dimensions and my experiences at my internship with State and my desire to be a part of that community. These were all really polished essays and I felt strongly about them. This time around I threw all that out the window, and tried to write about everything else. I trusted that my resume and letters of recommendation would speak to those traits and experiences, and instead wrote a more personal narrative that highlighted my rural background and my desire to represent a multifaceted America. I gambled and figured either they'd throw it out as absurd or it'd catch someone's eye -- because clearly my past attempts hadn't.

So, if I had to guess... Maybe this time around it was more sincere? Or different enough that it caught people's attentions? Or perhaps it was just less staid. I've always been a good writer, but I wasn't trying so hard to have the perfect essay this year. I wanted to share my story, and write what felt natural. Maybe that was the difference? But I've heard from past finalists and everyone has a different essay, some more personal, some more formal, some directly addressing the 13 dimensions, some never even touching on them. All I can speak to is my progression to this point, and I think the big difference was writing to my strengths. That is, writing the type of essay that I tend to write best. So whichever sort of narrative lets your writing voice shine best, maybe that's something to consider. 

So... yeah? I hope that's helpful, even though I'm afraid it's not a very obvious answer. Thanks for the well-wishes and support! Sorry it took me so long to respond, I kind of got the news and freaked out and retreated for a while. 

@Dan_H Hey, there! Congratulations! I applied for the 17th testing date. So if that goes through, maybe we will see each other! Good luck with the preparation! Remember that you're awesome, so try not to panic too much at this point. (If you can avoid it.) I think even though nothing is determined this will just be an interesting and fun experience!

I also requested the 17th, because I'll be in DC to visit Georgetown the week before and am hoping to avoid having to stay another extra night.  It was interesting to read about your different approaches to the application essay.  I wrote about the 13 dimensions, but I tied them to my experience as an intern with the Department and to my experience as an LGBTQ activist.  The consul under whom I interned was one of my recommenders, and I asked him to try to focus on the 13 dimensions as well, so maybe our writing just complemented one another's!

I am a nontraditional college student, not having begun my undergrad until I was 31 years old, and I never quite know how people will react to my age when I apply to these things.  I've been successful in every academic application I've completed since I started college - including the Gilman Scholarship, admission and scholarships to the Sciences Po exchange program, and all three of the top grad schools to which I applied.  Nonetheless, I do every once in a while get the sense that some academic authority figure has a negative reaction to me based upon my age.  I hope that doesn't happen on April 17!

Best of luck, and I hope to see you next month.  I'm going to start writing daily practice essays tomorrow, catching up on my back issues of Foreign Affairs, and recruiting friends to grill me in mock interviews.

[ZebraFinch]

1 hour ago, Dan_H said:

I also requested the 17th, because I'll be in DC to visit Georgetown the week before and am hoping to avoid having to stay another extra night.  It was interesting to read about your different approaches to the application essay.  I wrote about the 13 dimensions, but I tied them to my experience as an intern with the Department and to my experience as an LGBTQ activist.  The consul under whom I interned was one of my recommenders, and I asked him to try to focus on the 13 dimensions as well, so maybe our writing just complemented one another's!

I am a nontraditional college student, not having begun my undergrad until I was 31 years old, and I never quite know how people will react to my age when I apply to these things.  I've been successful in every academic application I've completed since I started college - including the Gilman Scholarship, admission and scholarships to the Sciences Po exchange program, and all three of the top grad schools to which I applied.  Nonetheless, I do every once in a while get the sense that some academic authority figure has a negative reaction to me based upon my age.  I hope that doesn't happen on April 17!

Best of luck, and I hope to see you next month.  I'm going to start writing daily practice essays tomorrow, catching up on my back issues of Foreign Affairs, and recruiting friends to grill me in mock interviews.

RE: age. Lots, if not most, Pickering fellows are on the older side. Youngest I've ever known was 25 at the time of the interview, and the rest were all at least 27-29 at the time of being awarded the fellowship. This was different, of course, when the undergrad fellowship existed, but not anymore. So, you won't be that much older than the many or most of the finalists. I do believe you can't get a degree abroad with the program, though.

[Dan_H]

1 hour ago, ZebraFinch said:

RE: age. Lots, if not most, Pickering fellows are on the older side. Youngest I've ever known was 25 at the time of the interview, and the rest were all at least 27-29 at the time of being awarded the fellowship. This was different, of course, when the undergrad fellowship existed, but not anymore. So, you won't be that much older than the many or most of the finalists. I do believe you can't get a degree abroad with the program, though.

Thanks for that, ZebraFinch!  It's definitely been weighing on me.  I'll be 39 when I begin grad school, so definitely older than the median but hopefully not to a detrimental degree.  I know that the FSOs I met overseas mostly came to that career in their 30s and 40s.  It's part of the reason that I felt so at ease there.  I'm really hoping that it works out for the career opportunity, but if not I've already got a great fellowship offer to my preferred Master's program here in California.  

Also: you are correct about the domestic study requirement for Pickering.  Sciences Po was during undergrad.  

[mrs12]

@Dan_H On the contrary, I think you sound like an amazing applicant and that your age only makes you stand out more rather than detract. Honestly, I believe that starting college later in life is a boon in a lot of ways. I started at 20, and just those few extra years really made a difference in my academic path and the things I was able to do. And: Sciences Po and the Gilman? Those are all really impressive experiences! (Especially if you swung going to France for the Gilman, they tend to be chary about more "typical" study abroad locations.)

I would be really pleased if we got to meet up over this process! Are you headed to the Georgetown SFS Open House? If so, I'm also going to be in D.C. at that time, to interview for the FAIT Fellowship.

[BNichole]

@mrs12 I'm not sure how different the Rangel process is from the Pickering, but I'll be at the SFS Open House and I'm happy to give what advice I can if you'd like!

[ayasofaya]

@mrs12 @Dan_H

HOW WAS IT????

[Julius_M]

Hey everyone!

My name’s Julius.
I just had a question to those who have applied to the Rangel Fellowship (and also the Pickering, as I imagine there’s quite a bit of overlap). I’ve been working on getting everything in order for the last several months and have written several drafts for the Statement of Purpose. However, since the official applications haven’t opened yet, I wanted to ask exactly what is in the application versus what should be put into the Statement of Purpose. In your opinion what are some of the key elements that should be covered in the statement that don’t get addressed in the application in other places (since I still have yet to have an idea of what that consists of).
Thanks a lot and I’m wishing you the best with all of your future endeavors.