Fulbright vs Peace Corps

nyxnyx
Sat, 26 May 2012 12:14:23 +0000

Hello. I have been a lurker of CC for a while and have found the info very helpful. Now, I come to you smart folks with some help making a difficult decision.

I started applying to the Peace Corps before I graduated last year. I was told that I would probably be getting a December 2012 invitation. I didn’t want to wait that long, so I decided to apply for a Fulbright ETA (teaching) as back up.

To my amazement, I got the Fulbright! Then a week later, Peace Corps suddenly sent me an invitation for this summer. I am so happy to have been awarded both, but now I am extremely stressed about which to pick. I have thought about doing both, but I simply can’t predict that it will work out: for example, I can do Fulbright, then return and do Peace Corps, but for the latter I have to redo medical paperwork and hope that another invitation is issued soon (and with the amount of people applying, one can easily wait months and months for an invite!). Or, I can do Peace Corps, but then to do Fulbright, I would have to apply all over again and I hope I get in. And being gone for 3+ years doing both programs, to return and start gaining job experience and networking contacts from scratch, far later than my peers, seems daunting…

Both fit with my values and career goals (I want to work in govt, something internationally related, and related to education or development). Both are in a region that I love. Both are solid, prestigious programs. What should I do?!