Application Tips

Pay attention to etiquette 

The way you conduct yourself has consequences for how your mentors regard you.  Reliability when you make commitments, and graciousness in your communications go a long way toward encouraging faculty and other mentors to have confidence in you as a mature person to be enthusiastically recommended to graduate schools and fellowship foundations.  Consider sending an appreciative follow-up email or note for a helpful reference or an insightful meeting with a professor.  Remember, too, that when you ask for letters of reference, courtesy demands that you explicitly thank your recommenders after they have submitted letters on your behalf, and that you keep them informed about the status of your application(s). 

Expand your knowledge of the world

Enrich your perspectives on people, places, and events.  Entertain fresh viewpoints by participating in intercultural events, attending lectures, following the news, and reading broadly.  Read one major daily paper (The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal).  Check out weekly magazines like Harpers, The Economist, The New Yorker, all available at the library. 

Conduct undergraduate research in your field 

Whether you are working on an independent research project or as part of a team, as a researcher you are positioned to be an active contributor to knowledge in your field, rather than merely a recipient of knowledge.  In the process of conducting research and writing about your ideas and findings, you will gain an understanding of your field and its methods far and above what you could gain by classroom experience alone.  

Gain experience

Fellowship boards want to know that you not only have an interest, but that you are doing something about it. Intern, work, or volunteer to gain experience in your field. Use every summer productively.  Start looking for such experiences now.   The fellowship advisor is available to assist you in developing your application for internship opportunities.

Be, in your own way, a leader

Work to improve the world beyond the classroom.  Give generously of your time to support public service or volunteer programs dedicated to addressing social problems or needs about which you care most.  Think about what you can do beyond “lending a hand,” and then dedicate yourself to doing it.  If a service or program or does not yet exist to address a need you see, consider developing one that will.  Seek out professors and other mentors to help you think through how to implement your goals.  Convince likeminded folks to help.  As needed, apply for internal or external funding. 

Get involved in extracurricular activities that are meaningful to you

There are no formulaic “best” activities.  What is important is how you think about these activities: what value you see in them.

Consider submitting essays for prizes, undergraduate conferences, and undergraduate journals

Undergraduate publishing and conference opportunities

Faculty in your major are a good resource for these opportunities.  Prior recognition by boards that vet other competitions can enhance your profile in the eyes of foundation selection committees.  Note that working to improve your essays for submission will have salutary effects on your writing.  The fellowship advisor is available to give you feedback on your essays in preparation for submission to journals and other venues.

Consider competing for smaller scholarships

Benefits are much like those for submission to prizes, conferences, and journals. 

Work on your communication skills

Many fellowships require interviews in addition to essays.  Take courses in the liberal arts to develop your oral and written communication skills and to learn how to construct effective arguments.  The skills you gain will help you develop strong fellowship essays—and, if your fellowship application process requires an interview, will help equip you to speak effectively about your ideas.

Reflect upon your credentials and goals

Take time to reflect upon what it is that most speaks to you and most nourishes you in your various activities and pursuits.  Doing so will help you clarify your direction in life, and help reveal what steps you should follow to reach your goals.  It will also help you determine which scholarships, fellowships, internships, or research opportunities best fit your situation.  The fellowship advisor is a prime resource for you: meet with her to develop new ways of thinking about the significance of your activities, goals, and priorities.