Final Fellowship Tally

Heard officially from my last fellowship on Saturday (well, Maggie heard, since I'm in South Jersey for a few weeks). Here's the final results breakdown from the five fellowships I applied for:

• Bourse Chateaubriand - Got it. Declined it in favor of . . .
• Kennedy, Sheldon, Lurcy (all Harvard fellowships, one application) - . . . the Lurcy!
• Fulbright - Alternate nevermind, I guess I'm a Fulbright Fellow. (WOOO!)

Now I have to fly to France on an American carrier, get a physical, and submit reports about my progress. Oh, bureaucracy - but I'm not really complaining. 

[Insert great big smile here.]

Lurcy

Today, I found out that I'm next in line to be offered the Georges Lurcy Fellowship for Study in France. (Whoever was first in line got a Fulbright and something else, so that person is being encouraged by the Harvard Fellowship Director to decline the Lurcy, which can't be combined with any other fellowship.)

The Lurcy offers more money than the Chateaubriand, but may be less prestigious (it's given to one student at each of a whole bunch of big research schools - as far as I can tell, it's given out at Harvard, Princeton, Michigan, Tulane, Columbia, NYU, Stanford, Berkeley, UNC, Yale, USC, you get the picture) and may not offer the same kind of institutional support and networking opportunities that the Chateaubriand does. 

I have a few days to decide which one I want, and as I consult with my adviser and others, I'll keep you posted. 

(I hate having to choose, but still, exciting!!)

Another one! (Kind of)

So I got a letter in the mail informing me that I'm a Fulbright alternate - meaning if someone declines their fellowship or for whatever reason can't accept it anymore, or if more funding becomes available, I get a Fulbright! Considering how competitive Fulbrights are for Western Europe, I'm not at all displeased by this - I didn't expect getting anything at all. Hooray! As far as I can tell, it's possible to take a Fulbright and a Chateaubriand, although I probably wouldn't get to keep the combined funding. Still, it'd be cool to be a part of both those programs.

Coming soon: finished prospectus! Double hooray!

We Are Go For Launch

Today we received word that I've been awarded the Bourse Chateaubriand, which will enable us to spend the next academic year in Paris!* To celebrate, we're starting this blog to document our trials and triumphs as we prepare to leave and after we arrive. Wooooo!!!! Celebrate!!!!

Time to start looking for apartments! And to find a subletter (or subletters) for our place here . . . let me know if you have any tips!

Here's to a year full of fun, food, travel, research, and expat adventures.

* I'm still waiting to hear from four other fellowships I've applied for. Depending on what I get, I may end up accepting one other than the Bourse Chateaubriand, but I'd be more than happy to stick with what I've already got.