[OneMoreEcon]

Ivo, did you end up accepting or declining the award?

For Jhai, I think the situation might be a bit different since Ivo and Freethinker are both international students coming to the US, while Jhai is looking to leave the US for a year. So I think that changes the considerations involved.

(EDIT: Sorry, person won a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, not a Fulbright.)

As to the two real questions being asked:

"Does anyone know if
A) econ grad schools consider the Fulbright a prestigious program"

If you're thinking in terms of prestigious like NSF, then no. But the reason is because NSF gives funding for grad school (which the dept likes), but a Fulbright won't give you funding for the econ PhD. When grad schools say to apply for prestigious scholarships, they also usually mention the ones that provide funding for grad school (NSF, Javits, Mellon, Hertz, Truman, etc).

If you mean prestigious like a Rhodes or Marshall Scholarship, where the award is regarded as a signal of academic achievement, then my guess is yes (though not as prestigous as Rhodes or Marshall, since Fulbright gives out a lot more awards each year).

"B) the probability that a grad school would let you defer acceptance for a year if you got the Fulbright."

I don't think anyone can give you a solid answer here. But if you were good enough to get in to the school, and you want to take the time to accept a prestigious award and do econ-related research during the year, then I think many schools would allow you to defer.


I realize the application process for fellowships is intense, but your best bet is to start early and apply for Fulbright and grad schools. The worst that can happen is that you get declined for Fulbright and then still have the same options for grad school. I wouldn't worry about potential conflicts between Fulbright and grad schools until those options are all on the table.