[Outreachy announcement] Initial application results are available

[Sage Sharp - Outreachy Organizer]

Thank you to everyone who applied to the December 2019 to March 2020 Outreachy internship round. We received 1,774 initial applications this round. We have approved 612 applicants to participate in the contribution period. There are 78 internship projects available for applicants to contribute to!

If you filled out an initial application, you can find out your results here:

https://www.outreachy.org/eligibility/

Applying for Future Rounds
===

If you were not accepted this round, please consider applying for a future Outreachy internship round. Outreachy internships run twice a year: May to August and December to March.

The May to August 2020 internship round applications will open in late January 2020.

The December 2020 to March 2021 internship round applications will open in late August 2020.

We recommend reading and using the following resources for increasing your chance of being selected as an Outreachy intern:

https://www.outreachy.org/docs/applicant/
https://pragprog.com/book/vbopens/forge-your-future-with-open-source
https://lab.github.com/
https://www.freecodecamp.org/
https://up-for-grabs.net/

Next steps for accepted applicants
===

The next step is for you to pick one or two projects, talk to the project mentors, and make a contribution to the project. You make a contribution by completing a project task. A contribution could be something like fixing a bug in the project code or updating the project's documentation.

Only applicants who make a contribution will be eligible to be accepted as an Outreachy intern. We encourage you to start making on your contributions as soon as possible! The contribution period starts on Tuesday, October 1 at 4pm UTC. Contributions and final applications are due on Tuesday, November 5 at 4pm UTC.

Contacting Mentors
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Mentors will not be assigned to you. You'll need to pick a project and contact the mentor. Many applicants are shy and prefer to contact mentors via email. However, you can often get your questions answered faster if you ask them on the community chat or forums.

It's important for you be in contact with the project mentor during the whole contribution period. Ask questions about the project description. Introduce yourself on the community chat or forums as an Outreachy applicant. If the project description isn't clear, ask how you can make your first contribution.

Make sure to reach out to the project mentor if you're stuck for more than a couple hours. Update your mentor with what you're working on and what progress you've made at least twice a week. Mentors are looking for applicants who have clear and consistent communication skills.

Outreachy Project List
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The list of projects sorted by community can be found here:

https://www.outreachy.org/apply/project-selection/

The list of projects sorted by topic and programming language is here:

https://www.outreachy.org/blog/2019-10-01/pick-a-project/

Finding Help
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Please review the applicant guide:

https://www.outreachy.org/docs/applicant/

If you are having trouble finding a project or contacting a mentor, please reach out to the mentors mailing list or contact the Outreachy applicant helpers:

https://www.outreachy.org/contact/mentors/
https://www.outreachy.org/contact/applicant-help/

Good luck making your contributions!

Sage Sharp
Outreachy Organizer