DECIDING TO APPLY

Given how demanding this process can be, and how competitive all of these fellowships are, you may be wondering whether applying is worth the time it will take. Making the decision whether to apply for fellowships and which fellowships to apply for can itself be difficult, and it is important to seek advice and input from various sources (faculty, your dean, the Fellowships Advisor). Keep in mind a few key ideas as you consider this:

  1. Most Ph.D. programs offer most of their students aid (tuition waivers, stipends, teaching or research assistanceships) for most of their time in graduate school. A prestigious national fellowship may not necessarily offer a lot more money in the short term, but in the long term it can improve your prospects for subsequent grants and for gainful academic employment.
  2. Much but not all of the work that goes into preparing fellowship applications may also be directly relevant to graduate school applications.
  3. A high level of academic achievement may be one of the central selection criteria for these scholarships, but it is far from the only criterion. In many cases, a demonstrated record of extra-curricular accomplishment is also crucial. Indeed, stellar extracurricular accomplishments may be decisive in the case of someone with an excellent but not spectacular academic record.
  4. Fellowships are not prizes given for past accomplishment; they are grants made to accomplished individuals who know clearly what they want to do next and how that connects to what they've been doing,
  5. Your hard work may not earn you a fellowship, but it will still have immediate benefits. You'll be able to express, both to others and to yourself, both in writing and in interviews, what you want to do and why. This may be useful for other applications, but it is also intellectually and personally satisfying in its own right.

Applying for a competitive fellowship at a place like Bryn Mawr
At many colleges and universities, high-performing students receive frequent public acknowledgment, through Dean's Lists, honors programs, honorary societies, and the like. Over the years, Bryn Mawr has deliberately cultivated a campus environment comparatively free of such distinctions. In keeping with the College's Quaker heritage, the Honor Code emphasizes the importance of creating an environment in which each member of the community is able to realize her full potential. Traditionally, students have interpreted this to mean that they shouldn't compare their performance to others, and in keeping with this tradition, the College does not rank students.

The world of prestigious national fellowships has a very different culture, one that distinguishes a small set of students from all others in terms of both achievement and potential. Increasingly, many fellowship foundations are encouraging colleges and universities to identify exceptionally strong students as early as possible (sometimes before the freshman year!) and to begin grooming them almost immediately as future fellowship candidates.

Here at Bryn Mawr, we believe that there is no real need to begin specific fellowships preparations so early in your career. Rather, the best preparation is simply to have a good undergraduate college experience. You should be taking progressively more challenging classes that reflect and develop your interests and abilities. You should try to get to know professors, especially in areas of particular interest to you. You should work to find extracurricular activities that allow you to develop your leadership abilities. You should look for summer activities –jobs, internships, volunteering –that complement or supplement your work and activities during the academic year. Doing your best to achieve this kind of balance should serve you well no matter what you choose to pursue following graduation.

Bryn Mawr does offer some targeted outreach to students regarding fellowship opportunities. Students eligible for the Goldwater (sophomore and juniors) and Truman Scholarships (juniors) are notified by letter. Various workshops are held throughout the year. Rising seniors with GPAs of 3.7 and above receive written encouragement to meet with the fellowships adviser to discuss possible fellowship applications. Beyond this, if you want to learn more about fellowships and the application process earlier in your time here, you should let the fellowships adviser know of your interest. The easiest way to do so is to fill out the questionnaire on this website.

For International Students
Unfortunately, most of the fellowships discussed in this website require U.S. citizenship or at least resident alien status. There are, however, many important exceptions. The Watson and Jack Kent Cook Fellowships are open to international students on absolutely the same basis as to US students. International students may also apply for a Gates Cambridge scholarship, though doing so requires an additional preliminary application and screening. Similarly, citizens of 16 Commonwealth Nations may also apply for Rhodes Scholarships; here too, deadlines are earlier and advance planning is necessary.

Submitting Internal Applications
All fellowships requiring institutional nomination require you to submit an application to the Dean's Office for review by the Committee on Fellowships and Prizes. In some cases, the application you submit will be the full fellowship application; in other cases, you will not be required to complete all the official fellowship forms at the internal stage.

Do not think of the internal application as a “draft” application. Yes, you will have some limited time to make revisions before submitting the external application. But the internal application will form the basis of the Committee's evaluation of your candidacy. It is important that it represent your best work. Check spelling, capitalization, grammar, and sentence structure. The care that you put into your application shows and will be appreciated.

Similarly, you should also put some care and preparation into the on-campus interview. There is no need to dress up, but you should be neat and presentable. Review your application prior to the interview, and be prepared to elaborate on anything contained within it. As much as is possible, prepare orally: that is to say, don’t just think through answers to possible questions: say them! If you feel self-conscious talking to yourself, find a friend or professor to pose questions to you. Be prepared for unexpected questions: an unanticipated response to something in your application, something emerging from an article in the New York Times, or anything else your interviewer chooses to ask. If you don't understand a question, don't be afraid to ask for clarification. Try to answer completely, but concisely. Don't fret over less than perfect answers; even very strong interviews may have a couple of rough spots. Nervousness is inevitable, but need not be debilitating.

You will not usually receive direct feedback on your application or your interview from the committee at the time of the interview. Instead, schedule a meeting with the fellowships adviser for the next day by calling 610-526-5375.

 

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