ok here is the deal:

I applied to Fulbright in my home country but did not get it. Lets just say that every year the one LLM scholarship is only ever awarded to a current undergraduate of a particular university in my home country. So because I studied in the UK instead of my home country (graduating first in clas both at LLB and LLM, various publications, work experience, vast extracurricular and leadership etc which counts for nothing because they decided yet again to award the scholarship to someone who has not even graduated yet and no such work experience...
Anyway, what I am asking now is, whether I will also lose a potential place at Harvard because of this? It is clear from reading the admissions statistics that Harvard usually only admits 1 person from my country to the LLM each year. The 1 person they admit from my country is usually the Fulbright scholar from my country...So now I am wondering if the Fulbright board have a lot of influence over the Harvard admissions committee? If Harvard were judging it on the best possible candidate from our country, I feel that I would stand a good chance but if Fulbright has such a big influence I will be in trouble!

You seem like a solid candidate and you studied in the UK so this even makes you more attractive. I have a good feeling regarding you prospect. BTW- you got me curious, where are you originally from? You can PM me.

I don't think that you should worry. I got the Fulbright grant from my country but I don't feel like I will be admitted!!!

Hi guys, thanks for your replies... congrats on your fulbright! The problem though, is that from what I have heard, fulbright tend to contact the admissions board of whichever schools their awardees wish to attend to help sway the decision- which makes it harder for those who dont have fulbright to still be in the running for a place there- especially when certain schools only tend to offer 1 place for nationals from different countries....but we'll see... all we can do now is wait and see!

Seriously, Fulbright only applies for its grantees. There is no influence to sway whatsoever. Actually, their applications can be adverse for the grantees. In my case, I just found out that they sent an incomplete essays on my behalf to many schools! I'm trying to fix it now and that sucks. I could have done much better by myself.

ok here is the deal:

I applied to Fulbright in my home country but did not get it. Lets just say that every year the one LLM scholarship is only ever awarded to a current undergraduate of a particular university in my home country. So because I studied in the UK instead of my home country (graduating first in clas both at LLB and LLM, various publications, work experience, vast extracurricular and leadership etc which counts for nothing because they decided yet again to award the scholarship to someone who has not even graduated yet and no such work experience...
Anyway, what I am asking now is, whether I will also lose a potential place at Harvard because of this? It is clear from reading the admissions statistics that Harvard usually only admits 1 person from my country to the LLM each year. The 1 person they admit from my country is usually the Fulbright scholar from my country...So now I am wondering if the Fulbright board have a lot of influence over the Harvard admissions committee? If Harvard were judging it on the best possible candidate from our country, I feel that I would stand a good chance but if Fulbright has such a big influence I will be in trouble!

Seriously, Fulbright only applies for its grantees. There is no influence to sway whatsoever. Actually, their applications can be adverse for the grantees. In my case, I just found out that they sent an incomplete essays on my behalf to many schools! I'm trying to fix it now and that sucks. I could have done much better by myself.