Boren 2018-2019

[zhaile]

14 minutes ago, SecretP said:

I just checked, I got nothing.

Mind if I ask what it was about?

It's a budget confirmation! What country/region did you apply for?

[Borenthrowaway]

4 minutes ago, zhaile said:

It's a budget confirmation! What country/region did you apply for?

Darn... I applied to Jordan

[zhaile]

8 minutes ago, SecretP said:

Darn... I applied to Jordan

Don't stress! They said they are spot checking so maybe something about mine was just unclear.

[Borenthrowaway]

5 minutes ago, zhaile said:

Don't stress! They said they are spot checking so maybe something about mine was just unclear.

Spot Checking? Interesting. Thanks

[Heysquidward]

Since no Europe people have posted, made an account to pipe up and say I received the second budget email from Boren Europe earlier this week. Wouldn't necessarily worry about it as they had very specific things they needed me to change/clarify. Numbers have never been my strong suit, perhaps the rest of you are better bookkeepers. 

[lposmanick]

To the people receiving follow up budget emails: did you apply for fellowship or scholarship? Thanks!

[schoolcat]

15 minutes ago, lposmanick said:

To the people receiving follow up budget emails: did you apply for fellowship or scholarship? Thanks!

I applied for the scholarship.

[Sarahpennies]

Looking at past years threads, there doesn't seem to be a correlation between the 2nd budget e-mail and acceptance! Hopefully that stays the same  I haven't gotten anything from Boren Europe 

[zhaile]

2 hours ago, lposmanick said:

To the people receiving follow up budget emails: did you apply for fellowship or scholarship? Thanks!

Scholarship

[sleepyficteer]

Well, that sure is something. Even if they say the second budget email is only spot-checking, I dunno why they would spot-check someone who they aren't intending to offer the scholarship. Better prepare myself to fork over the payment differential from my first scholarship, I suppose. I'm another scholarship applicant applying for Asia who didn't get the second email, if that helps anyone with the metrics. 

[Borenthrowaway]

1 hour ago, sleepyficteer said:

 if that helps anyone with the metrics. 

Just my nerves, thanks

[Cheshirecaitt]

14 hours ago, sleepyficteer said:

Well, that sure is something. Even if they say the second budget email is only spot-checking, I dunno why they would spot-check someone who they aren't intending to offer the scholarship. Better prepare myself to fork over the payment differential from my first scholarship, I suppose. I'm another scholarship applicant applying for Asia who didn't get the second email, if that helps anyone with the metrics. 

The only way it could make sense that I would receive the scholarship and not get a second email is if those who received the second email are considered canidaites but they noticed something with the budget not acting up.

 

I’m just going to prepare for the worst around the 16th lol.

[drf216]

So, I haven't gotten a second budget update either. However, I'm applying for the fellowship. It appears from the posts that only the scholarships are getting the second email. Any fellowship applicants get a second budget email?

Also, does anyone know for certain that they'll release the award information on the 16th? The fellowship advisor at my university said they're occasionally late.

[d.washing11]

I applied for the AFLI Scholarship and received an email on Friday.

Edited April 9, 2018 by d.washing11

[Sarahpennies]

4 hours ago, drf216 said:

Also, does anyone know for certain that they'll release the award information on the 16th? The fellowship advisor at my university said they're occasionally late.

The past few years they've been pretty consistent about releasing results around the 15th. Last year the 15th was on a weekend, so results got sent out the 17th, and you can see the dates for other years in this Google doc. So we can't be certain, but it's a pretty good guess it will be the 16th this year!

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

[CollegeSkiBum]

Hey guys!

I just discovered this forum tonight. The wait is starting to absolutely kill me, but It'll be nice to have some peers to go through purgatory with. 

Since there seems to have been a fair amount of confusion regarding emails and the flagship programs, I thought I would throw my hat in the ring. I applied for AFLI and received this email from BorenAFLI on Friday: 

"Dear applicant:

We are spot checking our applicant budgets and have a few questions. This process does not in any way guarantee that you will be a Boren awardee. We want to be very clear that not all applicants receiving this message will be awarded.

 

Please respond to this email no later than Monday April 9^th, 2018 to confirm whether or not you will have health insurance coverage for the summer 2018 period. If awarded, we want to ensure that you will have coverage for the time that you will be enrolled at University of Florida for the AFLI summer portion of the program.

 

Please note, you may receive further inquiries based on your specific budget details.

 

Thank you." 

Judging from the previous posts discussing what emails have meant in past years, I am trying not to read into this too much. Although, on the positive side, the language of the email, specifically the "not all applicants receiving this message" tidbit, does seem to logically imply that only certain applicants are receiving the message. Given that the email asks for health insurance confirmation during the Summer, it would make sense if those receiving the email are among the crop of initial recommendations made by the regional review committees. 

But this could also just be my biased and ridiculously hopeful interpretation. I guess we'll find out!

 

I am assuming at this point that notification emails will be sent on Monday, the 16th, if the pattern from previous years holds. 

[mockingjay634]

I’m also an AFLI applicant and I received an email asking whether I would have insurance as well. In prior threads, I never heard about this email sent.

[InGrad]

 

On 4/6/2018 at 9:57 PM, lposmanick said:

To the people receiving follow up budget emails: did you apply for fellowship or scholarship? Thanks!

 

12 hours ago, drf216 said:

So, I haven't gotten a second budget update either. However, I'm applying for the fellowship. It appears from the posts that only the scholarships are getting the second email. Any fellowship applicants get a second budget email?

Also, does anyone know for certain that they'll release the award information on the 16th? The fellowship advisor at my university said they're occasionally late.

I am a fellowship applicant and received a budget confirmation follow up. It was not labeled as "spot check" in the email, and it was only concerning a specific problem they found in my budget, after my response (to the first generic confirmation email) of nothing changing. So i'm not sure if that gives me a leg up or down that they were pointing out a mistake before i even hear my decision. I am also a flagship applicant so it may just be that they have smaller budget committees to check and knit-pick this kind of stuff for a smaller pool of students.

Edited April 9, 2018 by InGrad

[Cheshirecaitt]

The insurance thing is interesting....my school’s program requires insurance throughout and it’s labeled on the program form as well. So hopefully that’s the only reason I didn’t get that email...

 

Even if I don’t get it there is still Bridging and Freeman Asia...

Best of luck to everyone!! 

[Sarahpennies]

I was thinking what Chesire said as well - both of my study abroad programs supply their own health insurance included within their tuition. Maybe Boren doesn't need to follow up with students who they know will have insurance? Just guessing. Now that we are about a week away the stress is real  but it does look good for all of you with second e-mails ( :

[CollegeSkiBum]

Yeah, I don't know for the insurance info. I applied through AFLI in the fall and proposed a CIEE program for the Spring, so I don't believe my insurance was available to them via the application in any way. 

If anything, I would say for those in AFLI it means their application is still in the running at this point. It would be strange to spot check applications this late in the game with no possibility of their garnering an award. 

Edited April 9, 2018 by CollegeSkiBum

[zhaile]

That's interesting @CollegeSkiBum because my confirmation email didn't ask about insurance but rather about my program dates and verifying my financial aid amount. Like @Cheshirecaittand @Sarahpennies, my program also includes insurance and that might be why they're not asking me that. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that we're being asked different things but I'm inclined (or hopeful in the power of God) to think that it's a good thing because it means they want to verify specific things about us individually which would be an odd thing to do this late if we weren't at least finalists or something. Also, they told me to confirm it to them by April 10th because they might have a few more questions which I'm also taking as a good sign because they would be cutting it really close verifying these details this late if we weren't finalists or something. I'm assuming all of this is their way of crossing their Ts and dotting their Is so they don't end up awarding it to someone who has some big issue or disqualifier.

Edited April 9, 2018 by zhaile

[CollegeSkiBum]

@zhaile From the looks of it, the specific insurance email I and several others have recieved seems AFLI-exclusive. That is likely why only a few on here have seen it.

 

Then again, maybe they're just playing a cruel game with us. 

Edited April 9, 2018 by CollegeSkiBum

[DanielleS]

I finally caved and made an account after months of stalking this thread. I received the first budget email back in March, but have yet to receive a second. However, I'm a Fellowship applicant for Brazil, so it sounds like that may be the reason?  

Cheers to the next 7 days of uncontrollable stress. 

(Also, any other Brazil hopefuls out there?)

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by DanielleS

[schoolcat]

I received the same email as @zhaile. Mine was from BorenAsia, and it asked about program dates, program costs, and financial aid. It also said to reply by the 10th. 

Maybe they asked different questions because each region simply has different worries when it comes to budget/insurance. For example, I am applying to study abroad in Japan, so asking for insurance information is not necessary, because every student staying in Japan with a visa for more than three months is required to buy the Japanese National Health Insurance by law. 

At the end of the email, they also wrote a small note mentioning that many applicants have budgets that exceed the maximum award amount, and that we should double-check that amount on the Boren page. When I received the email, I went to my scholarship office first thing in the morning to consult with them about how to reply and if I should provide more documentation confirming my budget. They seemed hopeful that receiving the email is a good thing.

I would assume that they would only send the email to people that they are considering, but do not think that you should worry about not receiving one, because there could be many other reasons why they only sent it to certain people. I might have received the email because my study abroad budget is slightly above the maximum award amount, or maybe because I made changes to my budget after the first budget update email and they simply wanted to confirm my changes. Who knows. At least we will find out soon.