Completing the Embark/IIE Online Application

Instructions for the 'Foreign Fulbright Program' Application for Harvard MBA Awards

The following instructions pertain to the 2010-11 Fulbright-British Friends of Harvard Business School (BFHBS) Awards only.

Please read all instructions carefully and follow the step-by-step application guidelines below.

The process has six steps:

  1. Review eligibility criteria and award conditions 
  2. Register online
  3. Complete the online application
  4. Review, print and submit online application
  5. Supplemental forms needed to complete your application
  6. Posting your application to the Fulbright Commission

Application Deadline
The application deadline for awards for enrolment during the 2010-11 academic year is 5:00 pm, Monday, 19 April 2010.

Important note: all application materials including letters of reference/recommendation must be received by the application deadline.

STEP 1: Review eligibility criteria and award conditions

Review the selection criteria, minimum eligibility and Terms and Conditions before making an application. When you begin your application, the system will ask you to confirm that you are eligible for this award.

STEP 2: Register online

Applications are completed online but must be printed and signed, along with several supplemental forms, and posted to the Fulbright Commission. When you click the Apply Now button, you will be asked to register to the Fulbright Commission’s website.

You will then be redirected to the Embark/IIE online application site where you will also need to register. Your email address will be your user ID. It is very important that you keep your user ID and password in a safe place. The Commission cannot retrieve lost user IDs or passwords. Please also note the URL for the Embark/IIE online application site for future reference.

You will be able to log in and out of your application account and will not be required to complete the application in one sitting.

The online application is facilitated by IIE and is used by Fulbright Commissions worldwide.  Each Commission sets its own policies, procedures and country-specific instructions for using the online application system.  When making an application for a US-UK Fulbright-BFHBS Award it is imperative you follow the instructions below.

STEP 3: Complete the online application

General Information

Step-by-step Application Guidelines


Once you have registered on the www.fulbright.co.uk website and confirmed your eligibility for this award you will be redirected to the Embark/IIE application website. Please follow the guidelines below as you make your way through the Embark/IIE online application.

Preliminary Question Page
It is very important that the following questions are answered correctly:
Question 1 - ‘Country of Citizenship’: Ensure that you selected the United
Kingdom. Selecting another country in this field will send your completed application
to the Fulbright Commission in that country and not to the US-UK Fulbright
Commission, thus your application will likely be received late and not considered.
Question 2 - ‘Program’: Make sure that you select ‘Fulbright
Foreign Student Program’.
Question 3 - Have you checked with your Fulbright Program Office?
You should select ‘yes’ so long as you are sure you meet the eligibility criteria and closely follow these instructions for completing the application form. Unless you have specific, unanswered questions, there is no need to ring or email the Fulbright Commission.
Question 4 - Academic level: Make sure that you have identified the proper
academic level: graduate study.

Page 1
Item 1 - Name: write your name exactly as it appears (or will appear) on your UK passport. Please use upper and lower case when entering your name, e.g. Tania Smith. Also, do not use diacritical markings (accent marks) as this can cause computer-related problems.
Item 11 - Application Cycle: Please select 2010-2011.
Degree Objective: Select ‘Master's’ from the drop down menu of choices.
Item 12 - Field of Study: From the choices, select 'Business'. You can briefly elaborate on the exact nature of your objective in the text box that follows.

Page 2
Item 14 - Institutions Attended: Please list all post-A level institutions attended in reverse order (putting the most recently attended first). Please list all post-A level institutions attended even those from which you did not achieve a degree. Do not include education up to and including A-levels. If a scholarship or sponsorship funded your degree, please indicate so by writing the words ‘funded by’ followed by the name of the source of funding, in brackets, after the name of the institution, e.g. UK University (funded by LEA).

Page 3
Item 21 - Position Code: Please select from the drop down menu the position title which best describes the activity in which you are currently (or most recently) involved.


Page 4
You will create essays on pages 4 and 5. On these pages, text entered that exceeds the space provided will not display or print. Therefore, you must limit your essays to 50 lines of text or less. If your specialisation has particular jargon, please ensure that your main area of interest is explained in lay terms.

You have several ways in which you can create your essays:
• You can compose your essay on-line. Please note there is a 40-minute ‘time out’ function. In other words, you will need to either complete your essay in 40 minutes or periodically save your essay. You will not be able to customise the formatting of your essay.
• You can copy and paste text from another document and edit online. Again, please be aware that the online application has a 40-minute “time-out” function. You will not be able to customise the formatting once you paste the text in the online form.
• You can upload text from another document. This is the only option where you will be able to customise your document formatting, e.g. bold, underline, headers, double spacing, etc. While you cannot edit an uploaded document on-line, you can delete your upload, make your corrections in your document off-line, and upload again.

Important note: Pages 4 (study objective) and 5 (personal statement) contain a header that displays on the PDF/print view. Therefore, you must leave a 4 cm (1.5 inches) margin at the top of every page of your essays to allow space for the header that will appear on the print version of your application. You should preview all of your essays to make sure the formatting is correct before submitting your application by clicking the preview button in upper right-hand corner of the screen. When you preview an essay, you must use the “Back” browser button to return to your essay. Closing out of the
HTML preview (i.e. clicking the X in the upper right-hand or left-hand corner) will exit you from your application.


Item 27 - Study/Research Objective: The study/research objective description that you provide is an essential and highly important part of your application. You should take great care to write a clear and very detailed description of the programme you want to pursue. Clearly identify the area(s) within your field of study in which you want to specialise or concentrate. If there is specific research that you want to accomplish, please describe it here. 


Page 5
Item 28 - Personal Statement: The personal statement is a narrative statement in which you can include information about your education, your gap year (if you took one), practical experience, special interests, career plans, and your purpose in applying for study in the U.S. Please remember that in granting these awards, the US-UK Fulbright Commission is looking not only for academic excellence, but also evidence of leadership and initiative, a wide range of interests, a curiosity about the host country and culture and a clear intention to contribute to the betterment of the United Kingdom upon returning home.

Page 6
Item 29 - 'Additional Information': please leave this page blank and proceed to page 7.


Page 7
University Transcripts: This field is optional. If you are able to do so, please scan a copy of your university final marks (transcript) and upload it in this section of the online application. If you cannot upload a scanned transcript, you may leave this field blank. Inclusion of a transcript is not required as part of the online application process. You will be required to send an original official transcript (signed and sealed by your university) directly to the US-UK Fulbright Commission if you are short-listed for interview. You should be sure to order your transcript well in advance from your university as such requests can take some weeks to process.

Page 8

Personal Information: The information provided on this form will be used by the US-UK Fulbright Commission and Fulbright administrative agencies for internal purposes only.
Item 32 - National Identification Number: This is not a required field. You may
leave this field blank.


Page 9
Personal Financial Information: Since the Fulbright grant that may be awarded to you might only cover a portion of your expenses, you may need to provide funds of your own or other sources in order to complete your study or research objective. Please complete this form to the best of your ability based on information that you have at the time of application. If you should have a major change in your financial resources while your grant is pending, you should immediately inform the US-UK Fulbright Commission.

Page 10
University Preference: You must indicate the MBA at Harvard Business School. Do not indicate any other universities or programmes on this page.

Supplemental Forms Page
Please disregard all supplemental forms on this page. Proceed to the Recommendations page.

Recommendations Page
When you register and enter details for your 3 recommenders, they will each be sent instructions via email for how to submit their online recommendation for you. However, the email they receive will not indicate the deadline for submitting recommendation letters. You must inform your recommenders that they must submit their recommendations by 5:00 pm, Monday, 19 April 2010. The US-UK Fulbright Commission will only accept recommendation letters via the online system, and will only accept recommendations submitted on time, without exception.

You will be sent an email notification when each of your three recommenders submits their recommendation. You may also log in to your Embark/IIE account and monitor the status of your recommendations by clicking the 'Recommendations' button on the left-hand side of the page.

STEP 4: Review, print and submit online application

Carefully reread your application form and when you are happy with it, proceed through the submission process. Please ensure that you print a copy of the application and signature form, both of which will be posted to the Commission along with several supplemental forms (see below).

STEP 5: Supplemental forms needed to complete your application

Your application is not considered complete until the US-UK Fulbright Commission receives all of your supporting documentation. The US-UK Fulbright Commission must receive the following in hard copy by the   specified application deadline. (Documents will not be returned to applicants.)

  1. Printed Complete Application Form
  2. Signed signature form
  3. Completed COMMISSION FORM
  4. Completed FINANCIAL DECLARATION FORM
  5. Official Academic Transcript (if available)
  6. Copy of diploma for all post-A level institutions (where applicable)

STEP 6: Posting your application to the Fulbright Commission

Please ensure that you attach sufficient postage when sending forms/letters to the US-UK Fulbright Commission in London. We will not accept excess charges for items of mail that have been underpaid -- they will be returned unopened.

If you would like confirmation that the Fulbright Commission has received your application, you must send your application via Recorded Delivery. Commission staff will not confirm receipt of applications by email or phone.

Post all application documents in one envelope, labelled clearly with your full name to:

Fulbright-BFHBS Awards
Applicant: YOUR NAME
The US-UK Fulbright Commission
Fulbright House, 62 Doughty Street
LONDON, WC1N 2JZ

Additional Information

Interviews
Within approximately 2 weeks of the application deadline, you will be notified if you have been short- listed. If you are shortlisted, your application is passed to the selection committee. The selection committee then decides which candidates to interview. If the selection committee invites you to interview you will be notified by the US-UK Fulbright Commission by email or post.

Interviews are provisionally set for:

Award category applying to: Interview date range:

Fulbright-BFHBS Awards

Thursday, 29 April 2010

Make note of the interview date and ensure that you are available. Unfortunately, if you are unable to attend the interview date that you are invited to, you will not be considered for an award in this year.  All interviews will be conducted in person; the Commission will not allow telephone interviews for this category.

The selection committees comprise people drawn from the following list: representatives from a relevant professional field, senior academics, senior US Embassy representatives, Fulbright alumni and senior Fulbright Commission staff.

Important note: The US-UK Fulbright Commission is unable to comment on individual applications or the reason for their refusal.