application timeline

i have noticed lately that lots of people have been reading this who might not know me but might be interested in peace corps.  i know when i was in the middle of the application process, i was really curious as to what the next steps were and what the heck was going on.  so this is the timeline of my application process.  hopefully it will be helpful to someone out there.

sometime in 2006: i thought peace corps was kinda cool.  i checked out the website and put my name and address on an application form.  then i realized it was a long process, gave up, and forgot all about it. i found a different job.

march 2008: i realized i needed to start looking for a different job.  i looked at the peace corps site again, and again started (restarted) the application form.  this time i was serious, so i submitted the form!

april 2008: my letters of recommendation were submitted.  i completed the background check, fingerprints, and all those other vegetarian/relationship/random forms.

may 2008: my recruiter contacted me for an interview.  we scheduled the phone interview for about a week later.  he called me an hour later than our scheduled time.  it seemed to go alright, but i didn't feel confident.  a few days later, he called again to offer me a nomination.  he gave me two choices:  sub-saharan africa/french-speaking/community development/female for may 2009 or eastern europe/community development for june 2009.  i wanted to leave sooner than later, but eastern europe appealed to me more.  i asked if i could call him back with an answer.  15 minutes later, i called him back with my decision to go to eastern europe in june 2009.  i was thrilled.  he punched it into his computer, but it had already filled up!  he could tell from my tone that i was not sold on the other option, so he scanned through the openings available.  down at the very bottom was a "special skills" opportunity for sub-saharan africa in june 2009 for art education at a deaf school!  it sounded perfect, and he could immediately hear the enthusiasm return to my voice.  he nominated me!  he asked me to email him a list of my art experience to add to my file to make me a more competitive candidate.

(side note:  i did a little bit of research and found that peace corps kenya had a deaf education program.  and kenya had a group leaving in june.  i therefore stopped saying i was nominated for sub-saharan africa and just started saying kenya.)

june 2008: i received my medical packet in the mail.  i freaked out.  there were so many forms, and did i really want to do this?  so i left it for about a month.  i didn't touch it.  i tried not to think about it.  i was afraid i wouldn't get in, mostly.  i didn't want to put so much work into this and then have nothing to show for it.  finally, i got brave and decided to go for it.

july 2008: i completed vision, dental, and medical forms.  i checked them at least ten times to ensure they were completed before i finally sent them off.  i had heard so many stories about long delays if things weren't completed perfectly.  i expected not to hear back from pc for months and months...

july 2008: before my forms are even shown as "received" on the toolkit, my dental had been accepted!

september 2008: my toolkit showed my medical file had been updated.  a couple days later i received a letter in the mail showing i had been cleared!  now, again, i had heard stories about not hearing from pc for months and months, so i braced myself to be patient again.  my nomination was for june, so with the six week/six month rule, i expected i wouldn't hear anything until at least christmas, possibly not even until april.  

november 2008: i received an email from an assistant at the africa placement desk.  she requested more information about my volunteer experience.  i freaked out again.

late november 2008:  a placement officer called me and left a message.  we had three nerve-wracking days of phone tag before we actually talked.  she grilled me on my volunteer experience.  i felt completely inadequate and was certain i hadn't made it in.  at the end of the conversation, she told me she was "finishing up my file" and i would get something in the mail in a few days.  

2 december 2008: i received an email that my toolkit had been updated.  i was INVITED to my program! but of course, i had to wait for the mail to arrive with more details.  i might have screamed.  i don't remember.  i couldn't believe it.  i had been certain i hadn't gotten in.  i made arrangements to have someone stay at my apartment while i was at work, in case fedex came while i was gone.  i didn't want to miss that packet!

3 december 2008 (a saturday): my packet arrived.  usps.  haha, what a surprise!  i frantically opened it... congratulations, you have been invited to serve...in GHANA! oh man.  i cracked up.  i was so thrilled, but so surprised.  for six months, i had been certain it was KENYA.  now my research had to begin all over again!

a few days later:  i called to accept my invitation.  the lady on the phone asked me to tell her a few things i had learned about ghana, i guess to ensure i was serious about this.

a few more days later: i completed my resume and aspiration statement.  

4 may 2009: received information about staging and reserved my plane tickets.

2 june 2009: i will leave for philadelphia for staging

3 june 2009: i will leave for ghana!

so.  my personal advice if you are considering peace corps: give it at least a year from start to finish.  VOLUNTEER...once you receive your nomination, find a way to volunteer in that capacity.  it will help with the placement step.  and be patient.  i think the application process is rarely as bad as you may hear, but brace yourself to go months with absolutely no communication from these guys.  that's it!