The CBYX Application & Interview Processes

From the moment I found out about CBYX in late 2015 until the application submission deadline on December 1, 2016, I had a post-it stuck above my desk that read "CBYX Application 2016." This was not an opportunity that I was willing to let slip from my brain.

With the help of my trusty post-it, I remembered to start the application process in September 2016. The entire application and interview process looks something like this:

1) Submit application to apply
2) Submit application by December 1st
3) Wait patiently until January for interview notification
4) Interview in February
5) Wait patiently until March for acceptance notification

Of course, there's more to it all than that, so I'll try to give you a general overview of each step here.

1) Submit application to apply

This part sounds... dumb. But it makes sense! To ensure that you will be a viable candidate for the program at the most basic level, they have you submit a teeny-tiny application in order to kick-start the full application process. This step is, by far, the easiest and the fastest.

2) Submit application by December 1st

Once you are accepted to apply, you have from the day you log into the application portal online until December 1st to get all of your application materials together. These materials include:

• Basic info about yourself (address, DOB, hometown, etc.)
• 1-page resume
• Work and volunteer history
• Your congressional district and representative
• 5 short essays (<200 words)
• 2 letters of recommendation (1 from professor, 1 from work supervisor)
• Scanned copy of high school diploma
• Scanned copy of government ID
• Official transcript sent by your University
• Headshot (optional)

That seems like a lot because it is. Most of it is pretty straightforward. Of course, however, letters of rec can be tricky and I ended up spending a lot of time choosing who I would ask to write my letters for me. This is important--you have to make sure you're getting the most appropriate recommendations for the program. For example, I chose my supervisor for my job at the Sustainable and Resilient Economy program at OSU to write my letter instead of my supervisor for my resident advisor job. I did this because it was a better fit for my goals in Germany, and helped make my application more cohesive. 

Another tricky part was the essays. Because you only have 200 words to answer the questions they ask you, you have to be clear and concise in your answer. I edited mine myself at least 4 times, and I had my friends comment on them probably 4 more times after that. I even asked a friend who had studied abroad in Germany what I needed to know about the experience to make sure I knew what to expect and how to best make sure that the people reading my application would see me as a candidate who understood the nuances of what it's like to be away from home for a year. 

After nearly 3 months of work, I submitted my application on November 30, 2016. 

3) Wait patiently until January for interview notification

The wait was terrible. Like anything you get excited about, it was really hard to be patient and not think about the email I would inevitably receive. The worst part is having everyone ask you, "have you heard back about CBYX yet?" No. No, I have not. 

My notification, though, came on the perfect day. I was in a ski lodge in New York with my boyfriend, Patrick, and his mom, Heather, and we were taking a break after snowboarding. I got an email notification, and the subject like was "CBYX Interview Notification." The first line said, "Congratulations!" so, naturally, I immediately started crying and handed the phone to Patrick to read the rest because I was a hot mess express. 

4) Interview in February

The interview notification tells you not to worry about prepping, and to just "be yourself" in the interview. However, as soon as I got the news that I was one of the 150 applicants to receive an interview, I immediately started prepping. I reviewed the essays I wrote, I came up with possible answers to the classic interview questions, I came up with a list of relevant experiences that I had outside of the ones I was able to include on my resume, I researched the German political and governmental systems, studied German current events like it was another one of my classes... I was doing a lot, and I only had a month to prepare myself.

All my prep, though, was mostly to make me feel better and less nervous about my interview. I tend to worry, and preparing kept me sane for the month I had before I had to sit down and impress the people who had the power to determine the next year of my life. 

5) Wait patiently until March for acceptance notification 

This was even harder to handle than waiting for my interview notification. Every day, someone asked me, "Have you heard back about Germany yet??" and I would say, "No," quietly while weeping internally. I was told that I would hear back by early March, but early March came and went without word. That was frustrating.

My notification came, once again, at the perfect time. I was on spring break and driving through rural Idaho with Patrick and his two siblings. I was staring at the Grand Tetons until I got an email--the first line of this one was, as before, "Congratulations!" so I cried again. It was two days before my 21st birthday, and I couldn't have asked for anything better. I read the email probably 10 times before I could believe it was actually true, and that I was really going to Germany in July.


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That was a lot of text! the TL;DR is that the application and interview process took a long time, and I spent much of it fretting. However, it was all totally worth it, and I could not be happier that I chose to apply.