I'm an RPCV (China 2)-turned journalist/author, now a professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, where I teach Nonfiction Writing. Posting here because one of my MFA students is an RPCV (Guatemala)-turned journalist who is benefiting from our fully-funded program as he works on a book. If you're interested in an MFA in Nonfiction, please see our program's website, or DM me. One of our most recent graduates is shortlisted for this year's National Book Award, and many others have published their thesis manuscript and gone on to careers in publishing or academia. Plus, Pittsburgh is a great city! Applications open December 10, and close on January 7.

Hi hi! Some of you may remember me well I asked for advice and good luck about my interview for Mongolia. Well here's the update i promised you, I got in.🥳🥳🥳 I'm super excited and happy about this. Honestly I was a nervous wreck waiting for the decision to be made so now I can be normal again lol.

So I submitted my application yesterday, and while I was filling out the medical form this morning, I realized that I had put my birthday in wrong somehow on the initial application. I have no idea how I missed it, but it's only one digit off (ex, I wrote 1 instead of 10). So now I can't submit the medical form because the birthdays don't match. I emailed the recruitment email, but when I call the general phone line, it just hangs up on me. Does anyone have any advice as to who I should contact? I realize how dumb this mistake is, but I'd like to fix it asap. Thanks for any help:)

I speak Spanish. do you feel that you can connect better with people in the community and have a better more effective service if you come in already speaking the language? or does it not matter?

Hello im a 20 year old undergrad, I'm still in school studying environmental geoscience my plan is to graduate in a year and join the peace corps to use my degree to help people affected by natural disaster. I specialize in air and soil health; I want to work more on a hands-on humanity level which is why I think the peace corps will work for me. Ive heard both good and bad things from teachers and mentors in my life about the peace corps. I suppose my question for those who have served is, did you represent a foundation you respect? Did you feel morally good about your work and do you think I'll fulfill my goal there?- sorry if this is super out of touch I clearly have more research to do, but where else do you start besides reddit lol.

How many references need to complete their forms to get an interview?
2/3 of mine submitted.

Hoping to get some opinions on my qualifications for PC Response, and some advice for the application processes...

My strongest qualifications are as follows:

• Graduating from a dual-master program in May 2027 with a Master of Social Work specializing in Social Work Within Justice Systems, and a Master of Public Health in Community Health Sciences.
• Over five years of experience working in youth case management programs in Chicago, IL. (3 years as a case manager working directly with migrant youths, victims of human trafficking, incarcerated or justice-involved youth, young mothers and children, and youth with significant mental health diagnoses) (2 and a half years of program management experience managing state grants for a violence prevention team. Included supervision and leadership for a staff of 20, monitoring and evaluation, program data reporting, partnership development, and strategic planning.)
• Created my own after-school boxing program for youths under juvenile probation.
• I also have a couple of years of experience working in the United States Forest Service as a wildland firefighter in California and Oregon.
• A2 Spanish speaking and comprehension skills.

I would prefer a health sector position, but realize that I might be more qualified for a youth development posting(?) and just have a couple of questions before I start to pull the trigger on some of these applications:

1. How many applications are we allowed to submit at one time? Is there a different review committee for every application?

2. Would it be bad to tailor or word my resume and experience differently for different positions? I'm guessing that might raise some red flags.

3. Is anyone going to care about the wildfire experience? To me it’s relevant in a lot of ways that are more intuitive, but not as technically applicable.

4. I've seen some posts saying how most of the response positions are for PCVs. How true is this? I applied and was offered a PC posting in 2022, but turned it down to pursue my career/education in Chicago. Would love to hear how competitive my experience would be for one of these positions.

Thank you in advance!

Can Whereabouts be used against you? If you take an overnight trip without approval but report it in Whereabouts, does Peace Corps actually go through the system looking for people who may have violated travel rules, or is it just used for locating volunteers in an emergency?

The country in which I’m serving requires proof of visa for marriage. Only my PC passport has the visas for the country, not my personal. am I allowed to use the PC provided no-fee passport as identification when applying for the marriage certificate? assuming my have my CDs approval. Thanks

Use this thread to vent your frustrations. We're all here to lend an ear.

Hey everyone, I know this is a bit of an odd question, but I wanted to see if anyone could give some insight on the references process.

I have been living overseas for university, and one of the references I’d like to use is my boss for my tutoring job. Tutoring has been a major reason behind increasing my interest in the peace corps, but my boss cannot speak much English.

Are the references mainly called or contacted via email?

I would like to use them as it’s my only reference who could comment on my work experience that’s applicable to peace corps. However, I also don’t want to waste one reference if the reference process is heavily dependent on phone calls.

Hello! I will be in Lilongwe for 3 days in December. Are there any cheap guest houses or hostels that y’all typically stay at? Let me know, thanks!

If you had the RPCV opportunity to earn an Associates degree (2 years) at no charge, what choice of degree would you select and why? Think in terms of 2030, what’s in high-demand, and what seems to be working and not working in today’s job market. Thanks!

Hello! I (22M) am currently a college student thinking about post college plans. Right now I'm not fully committed to a major, but I intend to do environmental science or civil engineering with an environmental science minor. I am thinking about specifically seeking to go to Nepal, as I actually already speak fluent Nepali because of two years of religious volunteer work(one of the reasons I'm starting college at 22). What should I know, and, more importantly as I'm several years out, what should I do now to prepare? I don't have any actual environmental science experience yet although that's my degree, but I have tons and tons of volunteering experience.

Let's say I want to join the Peace Corps but take certain psychiatric medication that may disqualify me. If I didn't tell the Peace Corps, made sure to choose a country where my medication is available, and paid for the doctors visits and meds out of pocket secretly, is there any way they could find out?

For those of you who have already served or are maybe in the process now, do you have the option to select your housing?

For instance, I’m reading that postings in countries with bigger cohorts that have multiple placements throughout country in both rural and urban environments say you will live with a host family during orientation and then move to independent housing or independent housing may be provided.

Is there a ranking process for those placements where you get to choose your housing situation/placement in a rural or non-rural area or is that automatically assigned without listing your preferences?

I didn’t get an invitation to Panama and am now being considered for Guyana. I have a couple of medical-related questions about Guyana, but I haven’t been able to get in touch with my placement specialist. It’s been almost four weeks now. I’ve been sending follow up emails to the Panama placement specialist to no avail and decided to send an email to Guyana instead this morning. I received an automated email back from Guyana saying the email inbox is no longer being monitored. However, the email was signed by the same person that is in charge of Panama, which I found interesting.

Since the placement specialist seems to be the same for Guyana and Panama, and I haven’t had any luck reaching them, is there a different email or person I can try to get a response from? Would it be worth it to try to contact the medical team instead since it’s a medical question?

Any advice is appreciated!

Looking for feedback on your essay? Have a newbie question you'd like to ask? Something on your mind you'd like to get out? This is the place for it.

Hello everyone! Nothing too cool going on in this text besides sharing my timeline for anyone that is interested.

The deadline to apply was Aug 15th, 2026.

I applied under “put me where you need me” - July 28th

Email regarding contacting my references to move forward - Sep 22nd (once 2 out my 3 references got back to them they moved forward with scheduling the interview, but the 3 references submitted regardless)

Email to schedule interview and program I was assigned to - Sep 24th

Interview - October 5th (35 min interview via zoom)

Email with invitation offer - October 8th

Now it’s all about getting cleared!

Bye!

Hi everyone! I have posted a couple times in this thread, but i am here with an update! Here is my application timeline:

Applied: February 20th to CED position in Uganda

Under Review: May 14th

Interview: May 26th

Know-By Date moved from June 1st to July 1st

July 1st: Told I was being considered for alternative assignment and I would hear back soon

Emailed a couple times about updates but got no response. Finally reached out to a specific staff member who had responded in the past and received a response September 14th.

September 27th: Withdrawn from Uganda and placed under consideration for COD in Georgia!

This process has been very stressful and frustrating, and since I still have not received an invitation im not exactly feeling the best, but an update is still an update! The Georgia position doesn't depart until May 2027, which is much later than my original departure of November 2026. Ive been putting a lot of consideration in and I think if I am offered a position in Georgia I will accept it, even with the much later start date.

I wanted to put out this update for anyone who is in a similar boat with a very lengthy application and not much response from PC.

For reference on qualifications: I have a Masters of Public Affairs, studied abroad 3 times in undergrad with a degree in International Studies, speak 2 languages and a third with difficulty, and have volunteered at a domestic violence shelter for 3+ years as well as have a membership in APO (national service fraternity)

If anyone has served in Georgia or been there for a bit, please let me know about your experience!

Hello everyone!

I applied to serve anywhere, and have now been moved into "under review" for teaching English in Indonesia. Two of my three references have responded, and hopefully the last will answer soon. I have a question about past medicines.

I had an ear infection two years ago, and was given a prescription for Zofran during that time for the severe nausea it was causing. I was given much more medicine than I needed for the duration of my sickness, and thus I still have some that I use as needed when nausea comes up. I forgot to put this down as medicine that I currently take on my medical form.

I also did not put down a vitamin D supplement that I was prescribed in the past. I no longer take it, but from reading various experiences here, I am worried that it was necessary for me to put it down as a medication.

Is there a way to add these without getting NDC'd? I have no intentions to deceive the staff, I am just forgetful with regards to this medication that I no longer take, or that I take as needed.

Share with us any photo from your country of service! Please note that pictures of minors are not permitted.

After I graduate from college, I am interested in pursuing both a Fulbright Scholarship and volunteering in the Peace Corps. Obviously, I have to do one before the other. What do people suggest in this case—Peace Corps or Fulbright first?

For some more context:

I want to do PC in a South American country in the Community Economic Development sector

I would like to either get my MBA/Masters in Management through Fulbright, or pursue history/sociology/organizational studies related research. I am also open to teaching English. I would love to be placed in Finland, but am open to options (ex. By the time of my application, I will have had 2 years of experience studying abroad and working in Germany, so that may be a stronger option)

Edit: I am hoping to go into NGO leadership as a career path, although unsure whether international, US based, or Germany based