Advice for Seniors
As a senior you are eligible for a wide range of national fellowships supporting graduate study in the U.S. or abroad. If you are considering graduate studies, if you are thinking about pursuing studies or research abroad, if the idea of public service in the US or abroad interests you, then learning about relevant national scholarships may help you to think through and realize some of your options.
Here are just a few of the wide range of national scholarship offered in the areas just mentioned (these are merely examples, there are many more listed on our website):
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship: Supports research-based graduate study in relevant science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
• Pickering and Rangel Graduate Fellowships Program: Supports two-year master’s degree in a field related to the U.S. Foreign Service (5-year service requirement).
• Carnegie Endowment Junior Fellows Program: Supports research assistants to the Endowment's senior associates on projects such as non-proliferation, democracy building, trade, China-related issues, South Asian issues and Russian/Eurasian studies.
• Spanish Government English Teaching Assistant Program: Provides recent graduates an opportunity to work as a teaching assistant in Spain.
If you want to have a meaningful experience as a “gap” year before graduate study or working, there may an opportunity that aligns with your past activities and future goals. There is a range of programs for teaching abroad (Austria, Chile, France, and Spain, among others), studying a critical need language abroad on a Boren Scholarship, or doing service work.
It’s important to remember that national scholarships are highly competitive, and often require numerous letters of recommendation, transcripts and application essays. The more time you give yourself to plan and prepare your application, the better your chances of success are likely to be. For many of the most competitive scholarships (like Fulbright, Rhodes it is really necessary to begin work on your applications in the spring or early summer before your senior year begins). Many national scholarships have autumn deadlines, some as early as the first week of October, so it’s important to begin investigating scholarships that interest you as soon as possible.
Yes to both questions. Virtually all national scholarships for graduating seniors also permit recent graduates to apply. A few have age limits, or require that you apply within 2 or 4 years of graduation. Others, like the Fulbright US Student Programs, have no age limit at all. The National Scholarships Office will gladly support your interest in learning about or applying for national scholarships after you graduate from Maryland. Be sure to meet with us before you graduate, if you think you might apply for a national scholarship in the next few years. We can help you think of ways to continue strengthening your competitiveness for those awards.
Each national scholarship program is looking for a distinctive type of applicant. In general, national scholarships look for students with strong academic records (minimum GPA requirements vary from 3.2 to 3.8), clear and focused academic or professional interests (often shown through involvement in public service, research or in internships), and quality community service and/or leadership experiences.
The particular strengths and qualifications scholarship programs seek reflect the nature of the opportunities they offer, and the degree of competiveness involved. The National Science Foundation scholarship looks for students with strong interests in scientific research. Scholarships to teach English abroad often look for prior experience in related activities, like tutoring, camp counseling, coaching and classroom experience. The Carnegie, Pickering and Rangel awards look for very strong interests in international affairs. The National Scholarships Office can help you decide if there are national scholarships that are a good fit for your particular strengths and interests.
Your first step should be to determine exactly the requirements of the fellowships that interest you. For example, some graduate study fellowships require that you submit the GRE with you application, often as early as October, so plan accordingly. For fellowships requiring UMD endorsement, be sure to review UMD endorsement requirements and timetables.
Since you will be requesting numerous letters of recommendation from your teachers and other mentors, let them know as early as possible which fellowships you may be applying for, and try to give them at least one month to prepare their final letter. Ideally, your recommenders will already have written earlier letters, which they can then tailor for particular fellowships.