<p>Hey everybody, just found this forum.
I’m a junior from Northwest Ohio. I’m a semifinalist for 2014-2015. I applied for 1) China 2) South Korea, and 3) Russia, all three for summer. I have my interview this week via Skype, so I’m waiting breathlessly for that. </p>
<p>p.s. where is everybody from, what did you apply for, and if you already had your interview, how did it go? </p>
<p><em>hugs and kisses future buddies</em></p>
<p>[ My given name is is Deidra, but Derdriu is the traditional Gaelic spelling, so I like using that. ]</p>
<p>@DerdriuGrace
Heyy~
OMG I have the EXACT same preferences as you <em>high five</em>
I have my interview this Saturday T_T
I’m a sophomore in California I’m Korean too ^.^
Good luck to you xD</p>
<p>@yunallen
Yay! I just had my interview 42 minutes ago( and I’m still hyped up!) it was a lot of fun:)
It went amazingly well! My interviewer said I was a perfect candidate for the program and that she will recommend me! <3 yay:)</p>
<p>I figured a lot of people from California would have chosen Korean and/or Chinese.
Only about a month and a half left (at least) before NSLI-Y notifications!!! Still a long time…</p>
<p>Oh, wow. That pretty fast considering they’re going from 1400 to ~700 applicants…I’m so hyped for this. I’ve already subconsciously made a plan of all the things I want to do in Korea. I’m even re-practicing all my Korean! I’ve been waiting for over 3 years…if I don’t get in this year…let’s not think about that. It would be awesome if I meet one of you in Korea and recognize you guys!</p>
<p>Oh my gosh! I’m super nervous >< Pretty much, all of my life plans are screwed up if I don’t get this xD (I won’t have enough money to attend my dream college so, I won’t be able to study Korean in school and that’s what I want to major in…) BUT let’s think positive ^^ 40% isn’t that bad right?
I wonder what the chances are of being chosen for the year long verses the summer program. So far (for Korea), I’ve only heard of people applying for the summer program and only, like, two other people for the year long (but, I know there’s definetly more). I know that less people are chosen for the year long and like 50 kids are chosen for the summer xD
Egh. I really wish NSLI-Y released official statistics instead of everyone just guessing on their own :P</p>
<p>@Julia
The first part of your post stressed me out for a second… But yeah 40% is pretty good imo.
Did you apply for the year-long program? I applied summer program since I’ve pretty much made a four-year life plan based on a summer NSLI-Y scholarship to Korea. So I HAVE to get in. Haha.</p>
<p>I’m sorry! >< I’ve been a bit stressed out lately and I can’t really vent to anyone because they wouldn’t really understand
I applied for the year long as a gap year ^^ I wanted to apply to a Korean University instead of a US school but, you need to have a HS diploma by Feb to enroll for the fall and I graduate in May ><
I could always apply next year but, then I’d feel like I’m putting off learning Korean O.o
I. Hope we both get in! ^^</p>
<p>Wow, your Korean must be pretty 대박 then. I wonder, have you taken Korean as a language in High School or self-studied it? I actually considered applying to University of Seoul (I don’t know what I was thinking applying to Korea’s top university when I didn’t even speak the language fluently) but decided it was better not to…for now :)</p>
<p>Actually, I’ve been doing some more work on the stats…but I think I’ll keep the results to myself. Although it sounds like I have nothing to do, I actually have quite a lot. For example, aside from coming up with contradictory figures to post here I have been figuring out how to fully use fan cafes on 다음.</p>
<p>Anyway after many late nights, I think I’ve finally figured it all out. If any of you guys applying for the Korean program are interested in joining a fan café and becoming a full member, check out my blog. As of now, I’ve only posted Part 1 of the entire process: yoobumsoo.blogspot.com</p>
<p>Personally, I think it would be really amazing if one of the people I meet on these cafes happens to be my future host sibling.</p>
<p>I’ve only self studied Korean since where I live there aren’t any classes. And my Korean isn’t that good I know the basics and A LOT of vocabulary (I pretty much read my English-Korean dictionary all the time xD) but, I still have a long way to go ^^
I wanted to apply to 3 different universities but, my top choice is Yonsei University (these SKY schools man…)
They have AMAZ</p>
<p>ING intensive language programs! You don’t even need to know any Korean to be accepted ^^
But, you’d have to be in school longer than average because you need to pass the language courses before you can enter classes taught in Korean (it could be 6 years before you get your BA :/)
But, my goal is to be fluent in Korean ^^</p>
<p>And I’m going to go check out your blog right now ^^</p>
<p>I can’t find the one for the current fiscal year anywhere. But here are the numbers the RFP outlines for next year:</p>
<p>Approximately 630</p>
<p>Arabic - 100 summer, 20 year
Chinese - 200 summer, 30 year
Hindi - 30 summer, 5 year
Korean - 65 summer, 15 year
Persian - 15 summer
Russian - 90 summer, 20 year
Turkish - 35 summer, 5 year</p>
<p>The RFP that I found for the year ending in June 2013 was for 610 participants.</p>
<p>So the question to ask now is…How many current semi-finalists put Korean as their first preference :)</p>
<p>But this proves that Arabic and Chinese are extremely popular. If I were to make a conjecture for this program after 10 years, I would say that the number of scholarships available for Arabic and Chinese will decrease. My thinking here stems from the fact that the purpose of this program is to educate students on politically (for lack of a better term) vital languages. As those who have applied to those two languages slowly join the work force, the demand for more Chinese/Arabic linguists will decrease. And then that will lead to more available scholarships for the other languages. Just a thought. What do you guys think?</p>
I’m Korean too ^.^
But yeah 40% is pretty good imo.