What is Fulbright?

I am graduating very soon, and while I am very excited for what is to come, I am also nervous to start a new chapter since UMASS has been such a great place to call home for the past couple of years. UMASS has also prepared me very well for post-grad life and has supported me greatly in making post-graduation plans. There are many options after graduation, it can become very stressful. Should I go straight to grad school? Should I get a job right away? What jobs should I look for? I went through these questions in my mind. I always knew I wanted to travel and live abroad for a while, but also wanting to add to my teaching resume. I discovered Fulbright, which is a highly competitive government based scholarship award. Recent graduates can either do research in another country or be an ETA or English Teaching Assistant. I applied to be an ETA in Spain which is a great fit with my Spanish major and education minor. The process of applying is pretty lengthy and time-consuming so I highly recommend giving yourself plenty of time to apply. I cannot recommend enough applying through UMASS, you can apply at large with the rest of the nation, but ONSA, the Office of National Scholarship Advisement will support every step of the way. They read your essays and will answer any questions or doubts you have. They are located right here on campus, in the honors college.

What does the application consist of?  

4 References : 3 of these are regular recommendations and one is a language recommendation. I used 2 professors, and a 1st-grade teacher I have worked with. Choose people who can speak well to your skills as it is not a character reference. The language reference is a professor’s evaluation of your target-language skills.

Tip: Give your recommenders enough time to complete your reference. I e-mailed my professors asking them if they would complete one for me about 3 months in advance. Your recommenders will appreciate the ample amount of time to prepare, they will be able to write you a good recommendation if they have the necessary amount of time.

Here is an example of how to ask for a reference: 

Dear (Recommender’s name) 

I am reaching out to ask you to provide me a reference for my application for a Fulbright scholarship. Through this scholarship, I would be an English Language Assistant in Spain. This is something that I have dreamed of doing for a long time.

I think you would be able to provide the kind of insight into my skills that would increase my chances of earning this scholarship.

The application requests the following of recommenders:

The recommenders will be provided an electronic form that they will use to respond to a series of short-answer questions regarding items such as your communication skills, interest in teaching, and ability to work in unstructured environments. Recommenders for English Teaching Assistant Program applicants do not submit their own narrative letters. The recommendation should NOT simply be a character reference, as this will be of no value in assessing your ability to be a successful English Teaching Assistant.

I would provide you with a Statement of Grant Purpose in the next couple of weeks and this will help you to complete the application’s request.

Thank you very much for considering my request. If you accept this commitment, I would give you more information within the next couple of weeks, including my resume, information about the scholarship, and how to access the short-answer question forms.

If you have any questions or need any further information, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Sincerely,

Your name

Make sure to tell them exactly what you would need from them and make sure to give them all supplemental material in a timely manner.

2 Essays:

There is a Personal Statement and a Statement of Grant Purpose with a strict one page limit for each.

While they may seem short, give yourself plenty of time to write them. I ended up having to redo them multiple times, so do not expect them to be perfect the first time around. Send them to trusted family and friends for review. Multiple eyes are always a good idea.

Timeline:

Around the beginning of June, you will receive an email to schedule a time to skype with someone from ONSA, who will ask you some questions about your plan and experience to make sure you are a competitive applicant and will answer any questions you have so far.

At the beginning of September, you will submit your entire application to ONSA. They will review it and schedule an interview on campus with you. Two professors from other disciplines will be there to ask you questions and give you feedback on how you can strengthen your application, specifically your essays. You will then fix your application based on the feedback given and then officially submit your application to Fulbright to be reviewed with the rest of the nation’s.

Please take advantage of ONSA they are awesome and will definitely make your application more competitive.

For more information about Fulbright go to here.

Good luck!