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What Fellowships You Should be Examining When

The first key to success is to begin the process early. This may not mean completing forms but rather getting involved in activities required on resumes and to qualify. Most fellowships are looking, in addition to a GPA of often more than 3.5, for leadership roles &/or community service. The critical part of the application process is writing statements about yourself and what you want to do. Another part that requires skill is securing the best people to write recommendations for you.

For some graduate-program fellowships such as the Daad, Fulbright, Gates, Luce, Marshall, Mellon, Mitchell and Rhodes, you register and BEGIN the APPLICATION process in the SPRING SEMESTER of your JUNIOR YEAR.

The Beinecke and Truman are also for graduate programs, and for these you begin the application process also in the Spring Semester BUT of your SOPHOMORE year. Most fellowships can be used abroad.

You submit final applications for most fellowships in the year prior to the year in which you use the fellowship but are awarded the fellowship later in the same school year in which you apply. One exception is the Beinecke which is open only to undergraduates on financial aid and although applied for & awarded in the junior year, it for post-graduate study so that when applying to graduate schools in senior year, you can do so from a stronger financial position. For the Truman, while 90% of the scholarship pays for graduate programs, 10% is used in senior year.

The Boren Undergraduate Scholarship (not to be confused with NSEP’s Boren Graduate International Fellowship) and the Daad Undergraduate, Killam and Udall fellowships are applied for in your sophomore year for use in your junior year.

For sophomores, there is also the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship administered by the Office for Institutional Diversity. The Udall is used while still an undergraduate and juniors apply, too, to use it as seniors.

For specific advice about which fellowships you should be looking at:

If you are a FIRST-YEAR, see: First-years and Sophomores
If you are a SOPHOMORE, see: Sophomores and Juniors
If you are a JUNIOR, see: Juniors and Seniors
If you are a SENIOR, see: Seniors