Resources for Grantees

An unofficial, collaborative doc where applicants can share where they applied, when they got notified of acceptance (or not), etc. It is updated every year and you can see the previous years’ data as well. Very helpful to get a sense of when you can expect to hear from Fulbright on whether you were accepted (semi-finalist and finalist; there are two stages of ‘acceptance’), and to see how many others applied to your goal country/program. Since it includes every country on the same document, I find ctrl+F to be helpful in finding my section, especially if the first letter is lower on the alphabet (the 23-24 cycle sheet had 1,100 entries, and South Korea was in the 700s)

The most recent handbook allowed to be shared with the public. It's long but is also a treasure trove of super helpful information, from health insurance and taxes to teaching clothes and homestay gifts. I would recommend reading it all, even though it's long, or at least giving it a healthy skim. Trust me this is SUCH a good wealth of info.

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Keep in mind when looking at this that it is from 2019, so their programs/experiences may be quite different from what you will experience.

Reading blogs (like this one) are a great way to read about the grant experience! There is a document with a comprehensive list of SK ETA blogs to choose from.

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I got some particularly helpful information from a blog by a grantee in the year previous to mine called ​​Smiles Miles and Many Trials. Keep in mind when looking at grantee experiences from 2020/2021 that their programs/experiences were affected by covid and may be quite different from what you will experience. I would recommend looking at those that took place not directly during 2020/2021 because of this, or at least make sure you’re looking at multiple sources, knowing that 2020-2021 programs may not be fully representative of the “common” grant experience. 

Update Dec 20: looks like the domain expired so that SMAMT blog is no longer available :( but I will keep this section as a tribute because her blog was so incredibly helpful in providing/managing information and expectations

This has a bunch of info about deadlines and important travel documentation/resources. Much of it is password protected (which I will not share with you) but much of the pre-arrival information is public. Cross-reference this handbook with the Finalist Resources and other, more recently updated documents

A collaborative doc of the funding allotted to grantees, by year and by country. Written by past grantees, this document can help you get an idea of how much funding you'll have access to for different parts of the year, including flight coverage, settling in allowance, and monthly stipend/income.

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You will see that the funding allotted to SK 2024 ETAs is listed as:

"₩2,100,000 monthly grant amount, Economy travel to Korea covered, $350USD baggage allowance round trip at successful completion, ₩300,000 settling in allowance, ₩70,000 per week orientation allowance, private room in a home stay with 2 meals daily OR studio apartment with ₩200,000 food allowance, TEFL training"

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Plugging Hojin Sajin for helpful insight and beautiful photography.

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The writer of this website is also my friend from New York!

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has a nice website with general information about preparing for living abroad, health & safety, teaching resources for ETAs, Fulbright Commission contact info, etc. It also has a wealth of information on contacting alumni with any questions and has a link to the Fulbrighter Network alumni website. However, this is a password-protected website specifically for grantees so you won’t be able to access it until you have received a finalist notification and hear from your IIE advisor (for me this was the end of March).

/fulbright was quite a helpful resource in getting a sense of multiple aspects of the program process, especially for interacting with other applicants/grantees. Of course, take everything you read with a grain of salt since it’s an unofficial, open-forum platform, but in general I found some good info from it.

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Through Reddit, I found a post about a group chat for SK ETA grantees, something I had been searching for for a while, and that chat was a lifesaver! If there’s one thing you do when you first accept the grant, I would recommend getting in touch with others on the same grant. This is not only good for socializing with potential coworkers/friends in advance but it is PARTICULARLY helpful in keeping track of what’s going on at every point of the year prior to the program’s start. It’s also great to double check info about submission of documents etc.

Every Fulbright ETA grantee is enrolled in the Accident and SIckness Program for Exchanges (ASPE) insurance. Here is the USDOS Guide that provides in-depth Information on coverage and benefits