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Fulbright Program: U.S. Applicant Podcast

Transcript For: Fulbright U.S. Student Guidance Session, May, 2008. Q &A, Part 2

Fulbright U.S. Student Guidance Session, May, 2008. Questions & Answers, Part 2

Question:          My name is Paul and I have a question about Canada and it has to do with language requirement, and the need for students to be able to speak French. If somebody is going to Quebec or Northern New Brunswick where French is spoken, but they are working on a project that might not actually require French, can they get away with that?

Jody:                It’s going to be tricky. And we’re talking about again culturally sensitive issues. In Quebec, people speak French, and the fact that you have no French could hinder your application. What I suggest you do is start taking French. So you’re indicating a real, sincere interest to learn that language before you take up the grant. That would go a long way.

Question:          But with respect to other areas of the East Coast or the West Coast, where French isn’t spoken it’s not an issue?

Jody:                It’s not a problem.

Question:          Hi, my name is Faith, and I’m applying to a project in the Philippines. And I was wondering, the area that I’m hoping to do research in, is primarily Cebuano speaking so not Tagalog, and I cannot yet find a professor of Cebuano or xxx?, so is there any flexibility in whom I could get to do my language evaluation?

Jonathan:          So you already have language skills in Cebuano?

Question:          Beginning… self taught.

Jonathan:          That’s still better than most applicants, I would say, to the Philippines. In cases where the candidate is applying with a language that’s less commonly taught in the US, of which of course Cebuano would be one, if you can find someone who is a native speaker of Cebuano, is a professional, who could do the evaluation for you, that’d be fine. Cause I don’t even know if there are any Cebuano professors in the United States.

Question:          I just have one quick question. My undergraduate studies are in physics, and I studied on the side landscape and geography and I also did some projects over summers, but certainly on my resume landscape and geography won’t come out as the one thing that I’ve spent a lot of time on in the past couple of years. So I was wondering, is really the most significant thing, in that aspect, having a lot of affiliates who can say, “Regardless of what this guy has studied, we’ll take him on and we think that he has what we want to work on these projects” or is it also significant that you show that you’ve spent a lot of time in the past on the topic that you’re interested in? I need to contact professors over there. I still don’t have something that I know people can support me with, but I’m interested in studying public transit in Switzerland and in that area and issues of local energy research.

Theresa:           It’s difficult to say without seeing a project.

Jon:                  I was going to add to that, for your references you submit with your Fulbright application, I’d make sure you select professors in the field of study that you’re doing your Fulbright project in.

Question:          I have a question regarding applications, getting back to that. The general deadline is in October. Is it possible to submit the online application in say July or August and then submit the hard copy application in September?

Theresa:           Why would you want to do that? You could. But why would you want to? Once you submit your application, you don’t have it to edit after that.

Question:          But as far as supplementary materials are concerned? That’s what I’m concerned about. For example, I need to submit a film. I need to submit something less than 6 minutes in length and if I don’t have that yet, I’m going to need to make that. You understand?

Walter:             I understand what you’re saying, but make it and hold it, and send it all in together.

Jody:                Let me answer this too. The issue of submitting your online application in July… As you’re working on your application online, one of the things that you’re hopefully going to be doing is getting feedback. You might be getting feedback from people who are submitting your letter of reference, you might be getting feedback from people who are going to be your affiliation in the host country. There’s no need to submit it electronically in July. And once you submit it, you can’t edit it anymore. That’s it. That’s done. That is your application that’s going to be seen and read. So it really doesn’t make any sense for you to submit it electronically so early.

Theresa:           And until you know that all your referees have completed their references and your language evaluation has been completed, you can’t submit it, so it just doesn’t make any sense to do it that early.

Jody:                We’re not going to read it.

Theresa:           Nobody’s going to see it until November or December so just…

Question:          My name’s Jessie. I had a question about the European Union application. Is that reviewed by the different countries that you wanted to work with within the European Union? As it relates to what you were talking about where your chances decrease as more people look at it, or is it just one European Union evaluating it?

Jon:                  Those grants are administered by the Belgian Fulbright Commission, so they’re the ones who would eventually make the decision.

Question:          Hi, my name’s Lianna and I have a question about the English Teaching Assistantships. I’m keeping myself open to thinking about a lot of different countries, but my main priority is working with youth and doing a program where I can work with elementary aged children preferably… I’m looking at certain countries in Europe. Some of the countries have different requirements in terms of language where some say that you need a certain amount of experience while others are open to having those who don’t have the experience with the language yet and there are also different amounts of spots that are open within different countries and so I was just wondering if you had any advice, if there was… in terms of where I should try to focus and apply?

Jon:                  Yea, I can tell you, if you have the brochure in front of you, if you turn to page 105, it lists the statistics for the number of grants available and how many people applied. Also on page 8 you can see, there’s also a list of the number of grants, but as far as Europe’s concerned, probably for the TAs the least competitive tend to be Bulgaria, Slovak Republic we struggle to get strong applications, Turkey, and … that’s probably the main ones.

Question:          Is it ok if I add a part to my question?

Jon:                  Sure

Question:          So in terms of the language requirements, that acts as a detriment if you don’t have the language requirement? I’m getting my teaching credential right now, and I’m learning to work with ESL students, would that maybe act as a counterbalance and help…

Jon:                  Yeah, that would certainly help your chances. It varies by country.

Theresa:           Take a look at the statistics. It’s not going to help you with Spain where we have many, many more applicants than we can deal with.

Jon:                  In Bulgaria, that would definitely help you out.

Question:          My name is Travis. With regard to referees, I’m applying for an academic grant. Should all of my referees be professors from my masters degree or undergraduate degree or should there be a personal referee in there as well?

Walter:             No, they should be people that can talk about not only you but your academic preparation to carry out the project.

Theresa:           Personal references are nice, but they don’t add anything to the application.

Question:          This is a question… I’m planning on applying for Sri Lanka. I’m a BA not a PhD student, I don’t have Tamil or Sinhalese, any language, I plan to study it beforehand and while I’m in the country immediately on arrival and possibly the Critical Language. Should I be considering another region in terms of feasibility?

Jonathan:          Well, the feasibility depends entirely on what you’re proposing because you know the Fulbright program in Sri Lanka does not require any language skills. So if you design a project where you won’t need proficiency in Tamil or Sinhalese, then it should be fine.

Question:          With regard to the overseas research scholarship to the UK, I know it’s mentioned under the University of Oxford that you should mark on your application that you’re going to apply for that also, and that that can then grant you possibly a second or third year of study. I’m interested in doing PhD research at St. Andrews- do I mark on my application anywhere that I’m also seeking to apply for the overseas scholarship which basically gives you the tuition a resident of the UK would get?

Theresa:           For any UK university, if you’re planning on spending more than one year in the UK, you should indicate that you’re applying for the Fulbright for the first year of studies but will be looking for the overseas research award or any other award to carry you through the period of the PhD.

Question:          And is that a detriment if you’re looking to do 3 years of PhD study?

Theresa:           The only detriment would be if you were already there and applying for the second or third year. That would be a no-no. But if it’s for the first year, not a problem.

Question:          Yes, this is Chicago. This is Steven. In deciding whether to apply at-large or through my institution as an alum, what weight does the campus evaluation have in the ultimate decision?

Walter:             It’s like an additional reference in the application packet. And if it’s well written and very supportive it can have a lot of good effect. And if it hangs you, then it doesn’t have so much good effect.

Question:          Hi, my name’s Julia and I’m applying for the journalism fellowship in Germany. Should the project proposal… it’s sort of like you do half individualized study and then you do an internship. Should the proposal follow through to the internship? Or is it just for that first half and then you sort of work?

Jon:                  Yes, you could talk about everything and what you hope to get out of the internship also at the end.

Question:          And they said that we could make requests as to where to work, or who to study with but that Germany handles everything? But, do they suggest we make requests?

Jon:                  They’ll try to accommodate preferences. I mean they can’t always, but they will make an effort to at least.

Question:          My name’s Jessica; I’m applying to Argentina, possibly Chile. I looked at the stats, it’s kind of the same. My issue is that I’ve already had a career for seven years and I’m making a big change in my life. Of those programs, countries do you know if somebody like me is going to—I have good reasons! But do you know, anecdotally, if either of those countries are a good match for the type of person I am?

Jody:                This is the study/research grant?

Question:          Oh, I’m sorry, this is the teaching assistantship.

Jody:                What have you been doing for 7 years?

Question:          Communications and international development.

Jody:                Oh, but not teaching.

Question:          No, only as a volunteer.

Jody:                Either of them would be fine for an ETA program with your background, the fact that it’s a new field for you but you have a little bit of experience and you can demonstrate how you’ll be able to be successful as a teaching assistant, either one of them would be receptive.

Question:          And I only spent a week in Argentina but no time in Chile…

Jody:                That doesn’t make a difference. No difference. Just pick the one you like the best. And by the way we have a new program opening up in Colombia, and one of the benefits is it’s running concurrent with the academic year here in the United States. Venezuela and Colombia both have ETA programs that start in the fall whereas the programs in the other countries all start in March of 2010. So that also might affect the country that you apply for.

Walter:             For those of you that are applying to any of the Southern Hemisphere countries, if it’s an ETA or if you are going to be enrolled in a university, you may begin in conjunction with the first semester which could delay your departure to February or March of 2010.

Jody:                Depends on the country.

Question:          I have a question regarding applying through your university. Does your field of research, your Fulbright research, have to be related to whatever you’re studying or can it be completely unrelated?

Theresa:           As long as you’re prepared to carry out the project, it doesn’t have to be anything that you majored in in college, but you have to support that you have the background and experience to carry out the project that you propose. And your referees have to testify to it.

Jody:                And keep in mind who’s going to be reviewing the applications. At the first stage if it’s in a study/research area, it is going to be reviewed by someone, by people, academics not maybe in that particular field, but academics, teaching faculty. And they take research very seriously. And so they expect that, as we were talking about earlier, that if you’re proposing something in a very different field, it’s not that it can’t be done, but it’s incumbent upon you to convince these people that you can do it. And it’s a little bit more challenging. What I suggest you do, in your case, is to have your application vetted very carefully by people in the field, people teaching in the field, and let them help, point out areas that might be weak. You know, “This’ll never fly. You’re going to have to explain this. They’re not going to believe you when you say this.” And this goes for anybody, really, but particularly in your case. You’re going to have to run that through people to make sure that you’ve covered all your bases.

Question:          Hello, my name is Eduardo. My idea of the research project is in India but it’s pretty much art based and my background is in architecture. So, how does the committee evaluate art and architecture?

Theresa:           Architecture is a specific committee for us. It’s a committee of architects.

Question:          But if my project relates to both?

Theresa:           What do you mean by art and architecture? Is it art history? Architectural history? Or is it a practical training in architecture?

Question:          It’s more… it’s not really practical training, it’s much the relationship between the pigmentations of materials in India, for example how are they viewed and how they can be applied to textures and walls and…

Theresa:           That’s an academic project and it would be reviewed by… did you say India? It would be reviewed by an academic committee reading applications for India.

Question:          Hi my name is Beebee.I have a question in regards to the Southern Hemisphere start dates. I’m interested in Australia. The program that I’m interested in is a graduate program that begins in February or March, it’s a two year graduate program. Would it be possible for me to begin that this coming February or March, or I would need to postpone that…

Jonathan:          No, this application cycle you’d be applying for February of 2010.

Question:          2010, OK, thank you.

Walter:             Throughout the course of the competition cycle if you ever need to get in touch with us go to our website homepage, scroll down to the bottom, Contact Us link: everybody’s name, telephone number, and email address is there. We welcome contact with you. You can feel free to email us or telephone us. The only condition is that you get to the point in your emails or your questions.

Theresa:           Just one point before you leave, if you have not entered your name and email address into the computer back there, would you please do that before you leave.

Walter:             Same thing in regional centers. If you haven’t given the IIE rep there your email address, please do so.  What this will do is it will go into our system and it will make sure you’ll get our electronic applicant newsletters which I think you will find extremely helpful. Their content is geared to the way a competition cycle runs and sort of what you’re doing at what point in a competition cycle, what’re the types of things that you should be focusing on. So I think you’ll find them extremely useful. And with that said, thank you very much. It’s been a pleasure.