ABOUT FULBRIGHT

Fulbright Program: U.S. Applicant Podcast

Transcript For: Fulbright Alumni Roundtable - Europe. Q&A Part 2.

Fulbright Alumni Roundtable - Europe. Alumni answer questions from the audience.

Questions and Answers Part 2, Europe

Student 12:     I have a question here.  Well, I had two questions.  But the first one, I was wondering if anyone’s done their taxes and if anyone had to pay taxes back.  My second questions was if anyone went with partners or significant others and how that worked out financially?

Nathan:          To answer your question about taxes, that’s something that Fulbright could significantly improve because towards the end of tax season there was people emailing each other, how did you do this?  There was five different theories.  It turns out you were supposed to pay quarterly but then you’re transferring Euros over to dollars, and how do you pay the exchange rate?  In short you had to go to a professional to do it.  It is one of the inherent difficulties

Jonathan:        I was just going to say, on tax questions, if you have any specific ones, you can just ask me.  Send me an email or something after; I’ll give that information out. 

Student 12:     Who is that speaking?

Jonathan:        Sorry about that.  My name is Jon Adler.  I’m the program manager for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia.  So I’ve realized obviously you weren’t here for the intros before, so I apologize for that. 

James:            While we are not tax experts, and you should seek the council of your tax advisor, I was in Greece, and the rule I think is probably the same in many countries, which is if you’re income in that country does not exceed a certain amount, you’re not liable to pay taxes in that country.

Student 13:     I was hoping if anyone there could speak to the idea of how the idea of creative writing or journalism works for the application, specifically journalism. 

Nathan:          Hi.  This is Nathan Bordegaray.  I was an English Teaching Assistant in Spain.  I can at least talk about the case of one of the guys who did a journalism Fulbright.  I believe he was there for six months.  Previously he was working for the New York Post and I think he wanted to do research on gay marriage in Spain because it had recently been legalized.  So he wanted to research that and write a series of articles for a newspaper in the United States.  So a possibility would be to go to a country where there’s an interesting topic going on and see how you could perhaps relate that to the United States.

Jonathan:        There are journalism grants also in - there are five special journalism awards in Germany, and also for the UK they have Alistair Cooke Journalism Awards.  Any other questions in DC?

Student 13:     I think that’s it.

Jonathan:        Okay.  Thanks.  I think we’re going to go to Chicago now.

Student 14:     My project deals with city form and urban planning and it’s almost world wide in scope.  One of the big problems I’ve had is being able to narrow it down and figure out which country or countries I’m going to attend.  My question is what is the Fulbright policy on repeat applicants, like if you’ve been issued a Fulbright grant, you’ve completed your course of study, and then you apply again for say a completely different region of the world?

Jonathan:        Once you have a Fulbright grant you’re ineligible for a second one.  You can only go once.

Student 15:     A two part question.  One, if you know what countries are sort of more willing to take on applicants with a public health background.  The second question I have has to do with affiliation.  In that respect I mean in two ways.  One, on the application side being applying through a university versus at large, and then on the back end I guess being affiliated with an institution but it not coming across as simply working for them, more dealing with your own project.  I was talking with somebody that there’s a fine line between partnering with somebody to work on your own project versus getting coarsed or pushed into doing essentially work for an NGO or a company or something.

Jonathan:        Well I’ll just answer your public health one first, then I’ll pass it to my alumni to comment on your second question.  As far as public health, it’s actually one of the most popular fields of study that people proposed to do Fulbright grants on, and pretty much any country, unless it states otherwise, it is accepted just about everywhere. 

Stephanie:       I didn’t quite understand what his second question is.

Jonathan:        I think his second question was regarding applying at large or as an enrolled student.  Is that roughly what it was?

Student 15:     Right.  I didn’t know if there was given preference to one way or another, or if it weighed differently.

Jonathan:        There’s not.  Were any of you guys at large?

Stephanie:       I was.  I was at large.  I already had my B.S. so I wasn’t affiliated with a university or school; I didn’t have anybody backing me up or helping me with that.  So I don’t know what the difference is.  I suppose it’s helpful when you have advisors from a college or a university.  But I did it, so it certainly can be done. 

Jonathan:        As Stephanie said there, there’s no specific advantage that enrolled students have other than that they get to work with a Fulbright program advisor at their university.  Generally those applications come in a little more polished, but otherwise when the screening panels see the applications people who are enrolled over at large candidates aren’t given any benefits specifically.  It’s just what they put in their application

Student 15:     Okay.  Thank you.

Student 16:     I have a couple of questions.  I’m thinking of applying for an English language Teaching Assistantship to Italy.  So my first question is, because the ETAs aren’t supposed to present extensive research plans, what would make someone more competitive?  The other part of my question is more specific to my situation.  I actually participated in a very similar program in Madrid.  It was before the Fulbright program was doing this, and so I was an English Teaching Assistant in Madrid.  So I’m thinking if this makes me a less desirable candidate?  Basically my interest is in bilingual education.  So I’m just wondering about that. 

Jonathan:        If anything it would probably make you more competitive because you have experience doing that and it’s not in the host country you’re applying to, so it wouldn’t hurt your chances.  Did you want to comment on it since you were a TA?

Nathan:          There were a couple of TAs who had Master’s degrees in education who were actually full fledged teachers.  I assume so helped their applications.  So having experience as a TA in Europe I think would be helpful.  In terms of an advantage, perhaps having fluency in Italian might help to make you more competitive.

Jonathan:        What was the first half of your question again?  I’m sorry.

Student 16:     It was basically since we’re not supposed to present full research plans, I’m just wondering what would make a candidate more competitive in an English Teaching Assistantship?

Jonathan:        Pretty much, as he said, previous teaching experience, language skills certainly would help your cause, career aspirations to continue teaching.

Student 16:     Can I ask one more question also?  I’m of Italian descent, so do they care?

Jonathan:        No.  That would have no impact.  It wouldn’t be positive or negative necessarily.

Student 16:     Okay.  Thank you.

Student 17:     Hi.  I’m interested in studying Landscape and Design in Switzerland.  A lot of what I’m interested in is very much local solutions to sustainable design problems.  What I’m curious about is you guys have all talked about really engaging in your host country, and it’s obviously very important sort of throwing yourself in there and experiencing it.  But I am also interested in studying Landscape and Design in Switzerland because it’s something I think I can take back to the U.S. and build on that experience in this other setting.  I guess I’m just curious in your applications to what extent you balance your interest in engaging with the host country with your interest in bringing it back and building on it in the U.S.?

Victor:            For me I think I just shopped around for a country.  I didn’t have any particular super interest in Ukraine.  Just kind of saw what was a good fit with what I wanted to be doing for my project and which country sort of needed me.  That was how I made my decision. 

James:            For the country specific part of your application or ultimately your experience, you’ll talk about Switzerland specifically, and then maybe of how the Fulbright will relate to your future plans.  You will discuss how that fits into you bringing it back.

Victor:            You can also discuss perhaps being fluent in French and German, how that helps.  That would be particularly helpful.  But to say that taking those language skills, immersing yourself linguistically in the culture, how that would help you, or perhaps just schools of thought that you’d be exposed to in Switzerland, and how you can bring that back to the United States. 

Stephanie:       I was looking specifically at celebration of a feast in America and how it’s celebrated in Italy.  Obviously it had been brought to the city or community by immigrants from Italy.  I wanted to look at how they compared, how they changed, how they evolved, if they don’t change.  Then it was interesting to see the back and forth with some of the feast people came from the United States to the town in Italy and vice versa.  So I was looking at that and bringing that back to America and bringing actually and American experience to the Italians as well.  One of my ways of interacting was that I actually did sit and work with the women in one town making the artwork that’s part of that feast.  So think about how you’re going to interact; this is really about cultural exchange and that’s a key point you want to make in your project proposal. 

Student 18:     Hi.  I’m interested in applying to continue my studies in M.B.A. in Finland and I was wondering if you knew of any candidate that has not done the M.B.A. program in Spain but has done an M.B.A. program with another country in Europe, in particular Finland?

Jonathan:        I don’t know any offhand that have done Finland, but you can certainly apply for a grant for the first year of study for something like that.  I know for Finland they’re always looking for more applicants.  You’d probably actually stand a good chance there. 

Student 18:     Good.  My second question is do I need to be affiliated with Helsinki University or ____ University (sounds like Calen, which is a university, but could be wrong 12:39).  Would that be a positive, to have already a contact?

Jonathan:        That would definitely be a positive.  What school was it you’re in?  There was a specific school you mentioned?

Student 18:     Helsinki.

Jonathan:        If you could maybe contact a professor there or something or prospective business professor and get him to write a letter that he’d be willing to support you or give you access to resources should you be awarded the Fulbright grant, that would be great.  That would certainly help your cause. 

Student 18:     Wonderful.  So having an affiliation with a professor.  Any other benefits of having contacts in Finland?  Obviously I have basic knowledge of Finnish and I couldn’t take a course completely in Finnish but I have basic knowledge.

Jonathan:        Yeah.  That can only be to your advantage.  Anything you can do to further your language skills before going over there would certainly help your chances too.

Student 18:     So show in my application that I have continued to study before applying to the university, something like that?

Jonathan:        Definitely.  That’s also true.  You’d apply for a Fulbright grant.  Obviously you have to apply to whatever M.B.A. program you were applying to separately or course.  I presume you know that.  Obviously at the time of the application you wouldn’t know if you were accepted into that thing.  Should you be selected for a grant you’d have to provide proof that you were accepted into the M.B.A. program you proposed in your Fulbright application.

Student 18:     I’m currently enrolled in an M.B.A. program here.

Jonathan:        Right.  I mean in Finland.

Student 18:     So I would have to find a sponsor and be registered and accepted to an M.B.A. program there to continue?

Jonathan:        Exactly. 

Student 18:     Okay.  Got it. 

Jonathan:        Unless you’re not taking classes and it’s entirely independent research.  But it sounds like you want to do a year of your M.B.A studies there or more.

Student 18:     Correct.  Yes.  Okay, thank you.

Student 19:     Hi.  I’m interested in the English Teaching Assistantship in Poland specifically.  I have two years experience living in Poland previously to this.  I’m just wondering if that makes me a less desirable candidate?

Jonathan:        When was it?  Was it undergraduate study abroad or was it just living?

Student 19:     I was a Peace Corps there actually and it was from ’99 to 2001, so it’s been a while. 

Jonathan:        The general rule is we don’t want people to have extensive living experience in the host country.  For Peace Corps they’re a little lenient on it; it’s not that strict.  But generally they’re looking for people who haven’t lived in the host country for more than six months post grad.

Student 19:     Okay.  One thing I was wondering, for the language requirements for Poland, specifically they say that knowledge of Polish is preferred, so I’m just interested in how that plays in with prior experience living there.  Because obviously living there is how I learned Polish.

Jonathan:        Obviously the two years living there will hurt you and being fluent in Polish will certainly help your cause.  Generally the two years living there would be a bigger disadvantage.

Student 20:     What is the policy about reapplying?  How many times can one apply?

Jonathan:        You can reapply as much as you want.

Student 20:     Is there a disadvantage if you look at it?

Jonathan:        No, there’s not.  There’s plenty of people who aren’t awarded a grant and reapply.  They tweak their projects, and in many cases they are awarded a grant eventually. 

Student 20:     Okay.  Thank you.

Student 21:     After a year abroad do you present your project to somebody, to a panel?

Jonathan:        There is a required Fulbright final report that you’d have to complete, but otherwise I know for non commission countries there’s not anything beyond the final report.  I know in some commission countries they may have different requirements.

Nathan:          In the case of Spain we had a mid year retreat where everybody basically presented their research.  For many people it was in unfinished form or they had setbacks or change.  But as he mentioned, the final reports were you documented everything you had done during the year.

Stephanie:       One of the beauties, or something that really appealed to me about the Fulbright is that in a sense it really is about scholarship.  It’s not so much about some finished product.  There’s a report; you do a mid term report that you file online, the same with the final report.  But it isn’t as though you had to have some thing that you show.  It’s about the process.  That’s kind of novel in a way.

Student 21:     I was wondering with the teaching assistant position if you wanted to do a small, creative project as your proposal on the side is that acceptable or does it need to be academic?

Jonathan:        No, you could do that.  That’s possible.

Student 21:     Okay.  Cool.

Student 22:     One more question.  Is there a deferment option for awarded applicants?

Jonathan:        There is not.  It’s not possible to defer a grant.

Student 22:     Okay.

Jonathan:        Okay.  Well, I want to thank you for all the participants today: the alumni and the prospective applicants who showed up.  Once again, my name’s Jon Adler.  I’m the Program Manager for Europe and Eurasia.  If you have any questions you’re welcome to call me or email me.  My phone number is 212-984-5326.  My email is jadler@iie.org.  So I look forward to hearing from you.  Once again, thank you.

18:37