Category: Fellowships

UK Graduate Programs: What to Look For

Lisa Gates / / Fellowships, Graduate School Funding, UK

Back from a quick visit to the UK. I visited multiple schools (9?) in one week and will profiles those I saw in additional posts. The most important take-away for those considering graduate study in the UK is to do your research about the university and the program. There are many excellent opportunities available for students at UK universities, and some are considerably less expensive than their US analogs. There are scholarship opportunities through Rhodes, Marshall, Churchill, Gates Cambridge and Fulbright for those who qualify. But there are also scholarships at the institution too–and I encourage interested students to research those as well. On the plane ride home, for example, I sat next to an American grad student who had just completed the first year of a DPhil (that’s PhD in the US system) in anthropology at LSE and received a full-tuition grant from LSE to support her program. Given the expense of graduate education these days, it’s worth exploring all the funding options open to you. A good place to start is looking carefully at the Russell Group of UK universities–this is an excellent collection of top research universities throughout the UK. See http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk . You want to research the program and faculty to determine whether this is a good fit for you. In addition to reading the websites, that will likely mean communicating with faculty and program advisors (and for a research degree or a fellowship application–that is a must!). You want to know that this is an excellent program for you, but also that you are a competitive applicant for the program in terms of your academic record, course and/or research background.

Summer Notes for British Scholarship Applicants

Lisa Gates / / Fellowships, Graduate School Funding, Study Abroad

For those thinking about applying for a British Scholarship (Churchill, Gates-Cambridge, Marshall, Mitchell, Rhodes) in the fall, here are some notes and suggestions to get you started:
If you haven’t yet sent me a preliminary application, we should talk! I am around for much of the summer, but will be traveling too—so my ability to respond to you may be faster or slower depending on when you contact me. In general, I will be  unavailable during the following times: June 14-July 2; July 13-18; August 2-5; and August 18-26. So plan accordingly, be patient and maybe a little bit of both. Contact me at fellowships@middlebury.edu or x3183.

Please note: The schedule below is organized around the competitions requiring nomination by Middlebury. The Gates Cambridge is a direct apply fellowship. You do not need to be nominated to apply, but I am glad to talk with you about the process and discuss essays with you. There are other fellowships supporting study in the UK not discussed here, either because you apply directly (without nomination) or there’s a much later nomination deadline (St. Andrews). See list of UK ideas in earlier post, and also look at the Fulbright as another option (again, earlier post).

Application Process and Timetable:
By July 1: Identify the program(s) you are interested in applying to; determine which scholarship competitions are appropriate; and which faculty or program contacts are important for you to connect with. You will want to have conversations (typically done through email, sometimes phone) to discuss your research interests, how they align with faculty in the program, and be certain this is a program that will help you reach your educational objectives (and that you’re a good candidate for it!). If you’re planning on pursuing research with a faculty member, you will need to talk with them about your interest and affirm their interest in having you join their lab/project.
By July 30: Draft research proposal and/or application essays due to me. Share with relevant faculty/advisors for feedback. Share with me your ideas for letters of recommendation.
September 2 noon: Submit applications for nomination for Churchill, Marshall, Rhodes, or Mitchell. If applying for nomination for both Marshall and Rhodes, you need only submit nomination materials for the Marshall. Required materials for nomination: 1. Draft of application form; 2. Application Essays;  3. Current resume; 4. Degree progress report. Note: These competitions have moved onto online platforms. You may register and work on an application, but DO NOT add recommenders yet (we don’t want them getting requests for letters if you’re not nominated) if the form generates an automatic email when you add their names. Also do not submit the application yet, again, until you know whether you are going to be nominated. And if you have questions let me know.

Sept 9-12: Nomination interviews will take place. You will need to sign up for a date/time. Note, this may interfere with class time–you will need to talk with your professors about that if there is a conflict.

Sept 13-September 30 or /November 11: Work on revising and polishing application and essays. Marshall, Mitchell, Rhodes final deadline is October 1; Churchill is November 11. Gates Cambridge is October 15 (Round 1); December 3 (Round 2)
The schedule above is intended to help you organize the different parts of the application and get everything done so that you are ready to go by the early September nomination deadline. Note: the campus submission deadline, that campus interview, and foundation deadlines are hard deadlines.

Scholarships for Study in the UK

Lisa Gates / / Fellowships, Graduate School Funding

For rising seniors and alumni interested in fellowships for graduate study in the UK, there are several programs worth exploring. These are all highly competitive and all require a strong academic record (and some specify minimum GPAs) among other criteria. But one of the most challenging issues for many students is citizenship. Not all programs are open to citizens from all countries. So below is a rough breakdown of the scholarships open to US citizens and to citizens of other countries.

For US citizens:

For citizens of countries other than US:

Also look at scholarships at specific universities. For example, Oxford lists several for different citizenship types and/or programs of study. If you’re interested in a particular program at a particular university, it is worth looking around the website to see if there are scholarships you may be eligible for!

 

Summer Notes for Fall Fulbright Applicants

Lisa Gates / / Fellowships, Teaching English Abroad

For those thinking about applying for a Fulbright grant in the fall, here are some notes and suggestions to get you started:
If you haven’t yet sent me a preliminary application, we should talk! I am around for much of the summer, but will be traveling too—so my ability to respond to you may be faster or slower depending on when you contact me. In general, I will be generally unavailable during the following times:
June 14-July 2; July 13-18; August 2-5; and August 18-26. So plan accordingly, be patient and maybe a little bit of both. Contact me at fellowships@middlebury.edu or x3183.

Fall deadlines: I may need to adjust slightly—will know more in August, but it won’t vary greatly from what I’ve outlined below.

Application Process and Timetable:
By June 15: Have read through carefully the Applicants section of the Fulbright website, any/all country pages you are considering and have identified the place, grant type and rough project idea for your application.
By July 1: Create an account for the Fulbright U.S. Student Application 2015-2016 online. Link available through the “Applicant” section of the Fulbright website http://us.fulbrightonline.org/about . You may begin filling out the application, but DO NOT submit names of recommenders until you have talked with me about who you plan to select. Why? Because when you enter recommender names into the Embark system, an email link is sent to them, allowing them to upload a confidential letter. If you change your mind about who you want, that can create awkward situations! Also note that you will be applying through Middlebury College (you’ll see Prof. Jeff Cason’s or my name).
By July 15: Draft research proposal and/or application essays. Send to me and (as possible) share with relevant faculty/advisors for feedback. Relevant faculty/advisors are people who know something about the academic project and/or geographic area.
By August 30: Have arranged for letters of recommendations to be submitted by September 27.
Early September: Look for on-campus workshop/info session, date/time TBA.
By September 15: Have secured a letter of affiliation and made arrangements to have language evaluation (if needed) completed by September 26.
By September 24: Have picked up your transcript from my office to upload into your application. My office will order transcripts on your behalf (no charge!) based on active applicants earlier in September.
By September 26 at noon: Have submitted all components of your application. Essays must be polished with no grammatical or spelling errors. There will be very limited opportunities for revision after this date, generally in cases where there are observations made during the campus interview process that need attention.
Early October: You will sign up for a brief interview about your application. This interview is required for us to evaluate your strength as a candidate and we share that evaluation with Fulbright.
October 13: All must be done, proofed, in place, etc by end of day for me to send your application to Fulbright on October 14.
Most of these deadlines above are not absolutes, but guidelines intended to help you organize the different parts of the application and get everything done so that you are ready to go by the September deadline. Note: the campus submission deadline, that campus interview, and that October 13 final check—those really are hard deadlines.

A few important notes:

  • Faculty and contacts abroad may be less available when semester is not in session. Contacts abroad may also have a different definition of responsiveness to email, depending on culture—so you need to give yourself several weeks in many cases to secure your letters of affiliation and/or research proposal feedback. Letters should be on university/organization letterhead and signed by recommender.
  • When asking for letters of recommendation: for Middlebury faculty/staff, ask 3-4 weeks in advance of the deadline. For recommenders from elsewhere, depending on where, you may need to allow even more time. When asking for a letter, share your current draft of a research proposal or ETA statement of purpose and a current resume. Also share the recommender guidelines from Fulbright. You want your letters to address the selection criteria Fulbright is evaluating you on!
  • For you ETA folks, you will need 3 letters of recommendation too. However, Fulbright requires them to fill out a form with short answers to questions that focus on ways in which you express yourself in English; whether you have any demonstrated experience with teaching/mentoring; how well you work in unstructured situations; and anything else that would have bearing on your ability to work successfully in the ETA position.
  • Some research proposals will require IRB approval. What’s that? Why might you need it? Look at their website at go/irb . Good news—you DO NOT need IRB approval to submit the Fulbright application in September. But if you’re selected as a finalist in January, we have you go through the approval process (as needed) so that when you do receive the grant, you will have a safe and vetted research proposal and methodology ready to go. Point being—be aware that your research proposal may fall into this category and know that conversation about this may come up during the campus interview in October.
  • All letters of affiliation and recommendation must be in English. If your letter is written in another language, there must be a translation provided in addition to the original. For letters of affiliation, you can provide that translation, since this is not confidential and you upload that letter. For letters of recommendation, your recommender must obtain that translation (and not from you!) and upload both documents him/herself.
  • Performing/creative arts candidates: You will need to submit your supplemental materials by the Sept. 26 deadline as well.
  • Transcripts: if you transferred to Middlebury or have courses from other schools that are relevant, you are responsible for obtaining and uploading these transcripts.
  • Foreign language evaluation form: required for non-English speaking countries. Some exceptions for ETA grants—but read the country/grant information carefully. In most cases, you will be able to take care of this in September with a Middlebury faculty member. If you’re an alumnus or seeking evaluation in a language not taught at Middlebury, you would need to find an appropriate professional language teacher to complete the form.
  • Critical Language Enhancement Supplement required ONLY if you’re applying for one! The Critical Language Scholarship grants may also be a good source of additional language support prior to the Fulbright grant beginning— see http://www.clscholarship.org/ .