Scholarships and Internships
A Student Guide to Prestigious Scholarships
A Timeline for Prestigious Scholarship Applications
Things you need to do during your freshman and sophomore years (and later on too!).
- Get to know yourself. Now is the time for self-introspection and growth. Identify issues that interest you. All those extracurricular activities on campus or in the community will be enjoyable only if you are passionate about them.
- Get to know your campus. Get involved in campus activities. Friends you make within these activities can introduce you to many more exciting opportunities that you would miss otherwise. Seek leadership roles within these activities.
- Get to know your community. Participate in community service activities about which you are passionate.
- Get to know your professors. Faculty members are a tremendously valuable resource, and can offer you insight, opportunities, and a wealth of knowledge.
- Get involved with research. Research is important for students in every area, and will not only enrich your undergraduate experience but will also prepare you for graduate school. The SMART program can help you identify research opportunities.
- Maintain a high GPA (Anything below 3.7 might put you out of contention).
- Enroll in “ Windows to the World” in the spring semester of your freshman or sophomore year.
- Visit the Office of Student Scholarship and Fellowship Advisement (OSSFA) in BHC 103.
- Above all, have fun. How do you define having fun? If you are not enjoying any of your activities you are involved in, then you are not having fun. It is time to pause, reflect, and regroup. Do not enroll in a dozen activities to make your resume look good. A meaningful contribution in a couple of areas is much better on your resume than membership in a dozen organizations with little or no activity. The scholarship committees are very good at recognizing that.
OK, you survived those years, and the dreams of doing big things are still alive and strong. In your junior year these are the things you need to do:
- Academic goals : As most of these scholarships are offered for students going to graduate school, this is the right time to start thinking of graduate school. Scholarships like to see focused applicants. It is never too early to start preparing for grad school. Your junior year is certainly a good time to do that.
- Start thinking about taking the GRE, the Graduate Records Examination. The GRE is to grad school what SAT is to undergraduate school. Prepare well and get it done early.
- Determine subject areas within your major that interest you and think about possible areas for graduate research.
- (Especially for Fulbright applicants) Make sure you have fulfilled the foreign language requirements. If not, now is a good time to take those classes.
- Destination : Determine the university, department, and professor you wish to study under and be able to justify why this is the right place for you. (Note: You may find it useful to correspond in writing with professors/universities that offer programs that interest you. As a result, you can justify your selection of a university and academic program in your application).
- Career goals : Set goals priorities and milestones for yourself. Remember that some scholarships like Truman require specific career plans.
- Scholarship applications :
- Apply for Truman or Goldwater scholarships if you qualify. The application process tends to be long and intensive, but very introspective and rewarding. Applicants have always enjoyed the process of applying for the scholarship, regardless of the outcome. You will need a mentor to work closely with you. Many Truman applicants sign up for a research course with their mentor during the fall semester in order to prepare a good application.
- Most of the scholarships you can apply for in your senior year have deadlines in early October. They all require serious thought and contemplation, and will take up a significant amount of your time. So, preparation for these scholarships must start during your junior year. Junior year is the time to begin working on your personal statement, which requires significant time for reflection and revision.
Moving on to your senior year. This is where the action is! These are the things you need to do at the beginning of the senior year.
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Complete the application. (If you started the preparation in your junior year as you should have, this is the easy part).
- Double check to make sure you have filled every single column as comprehensively as you can. Make sure your personal statements and research statements have been reviewed by your faculty mentor, and other readers.
- Select your references and contact them early, preferably over the summer. This will give them plenty of time to write a strong letter, and they will not have to worry about writing it during the first few weeks of school. Provide them with all relevant information to write an effective letter on your behalf, including a copy of your resume or C.V., information about the scholarship for which you are applying, and a cover letter.
- Obtain a copy of your transcript and make additional copies if necessary.
- Keep in constant contact with Ms. Sklar regarding deadlines.
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The exhilarating moment arrives when you find out that you are a finalist and invited for an interview. These are a few tips for a successful interview.
- Develop oral communication/articulation skills. This can be done in various ways.
- Take a speech communications course
- Read good books to improve your vocabulary. Reading also helps you with ideas for a good conversation.
- Participate in current events discussions/debates. If you don’t find such a group, create one.
- Arrange for mock interviews. Your friends, your mentor, and Ms. Sklar can help you out here.
- Cultivate your knowledge of current world affairs as well as your knowledge of federal, state, and local affairs. Here are a few thoughts on this one:
- Read a daily national newspaper, such as the New York Times or Washington Post. If you are not already doing so, start right away. Newspapers are available online, usually for free.
- Participate in current events discussions/debates.
- Sample some of the articles and essays available on Arts and Letters Daily
If all the things above interest you, then you should contact the Office of Student Scholarship and Fellowship Advisement by e-mail at ossfa@mail.ucf.edu
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