Draft Submission Q&A; Politically Sensitive Applications; Other Housekeeping

Dear GU Fulbright Applicants

I hope this finds you well. As you know, drafts were due today, August 3rd. This was the deadline if you want to be absolutely guaranteed that we will get you feedback on your essays.

Q: I’m not ready to turn in my draft. Can I send it to you next week?
A: Of course. We cannot promise you though that we will read it and respond with feedback. Very likely we will be able to. We just can’t make promises.

Q: If I sent you a draft before, do I still have to send you one today as well?
A: No. Drafts were due by August 3rd. If you sent me one before, that’s fine. You don’t need to send me another one unless you’ve revised the previous draft and want more feedback. In that case we will move you to the end of our queue because we want to give feedback first to those who have not yet received any.

Q: Can you still apply for the Fulbright if you don’t turn in your draft?
A: Yes! As long as you can submit your completed application to me online on September 10th, you can apply for the Fulbright through Georgetown and will receive an on campus interview.

Q: What if my application isn’t ready by September 10th?
A: You can’t apply through Georgetown, but you should absolutely keep working on your application and apply At Large, on October 17th. Applying At Large is better than not applying at all. If you aren’t ready on September 10th, give yourself the extra time and apply At Large.

Q: I’m in undergraduate, can I apply At Large?
A: Technically the Fulbright prejudices against undergrads who apply At Large. If you aren’t ready on September 10th though, you should still apply At Large, because we have had At Large undergrads win Fulbrights before, and again it is better to work longer on producing a more stellar application than to submit a weak application early, or to not apply at all.

A couple other things:
1) Please do not send Fulbright related email to our les58@georgetown.edu. We will respond to you faster if you email fulbright@georgetown.edu. Given the volume of email we are receiving at this time, organizationally, this is a huge help. If you’ve already emailed us personally don’t worry– we’ve forwarded everything, but please use fulbright@georgetown.edu for all Fulbright related correspondence.
2) When you email your drafts they should be in Word doc form. And it is incredibly helpful for our coordination if you would include a header with your name in your Word documents.
3) Lastly, for those of you creating applications to countries where your topic might be politically sensitive, here is some great advice from the Egypt Fulbright Commission that is helpful regardless of country. Thanks to Sharan Grewal for sharing this with all of us!

“Many thanks for your interest in the Fulbright programs. To your question, it’s been very hard to predict , especially since the revolution, which topics can be considered too politically sensitive, therefore I can’t really say how your proposed topic will fare with security. Generally speaking, in past years, topics that were politically sensitive did not fare so well with security. This year however, we received clearances for topics such as Egypt’s Constitutional Transformation, Cartoons of the Revolution and Women’s political participation following the Jan 25 Revolution . So my advice to you is to write a well thought out , solid , feasible proposal, taking into consideration the following general recommendations:
1. Putting project statements and project titles in a positive light.

2. Avoiding words and/or statements that shed a negative light on the country, or its government.

3. Avoiding fieldwork that involves the administration of surveys or interviews (especially structured interviews, interviews with government officials and so forth).

It is also very important to note that research that involves a methodology other than review of already published information requires additional permits from the government agency which supervises research in that subject area.

Hope you find the above of guidance. I wish you the best of luck.”

Please let us know if you have any questions moving forward.