WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
105 Fisk Hall * Middletown CT 06459
Tel 1 860 685 2550; Fax 1 860 685 2551; Email csorkin@wesleyan.edu


APPLYING FOR INTERNATIONAL POST-GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS: 2012
 

There are many opportunities to do graduate work or intern abroad, some of which are competitive fellowships overseen, at Wesleyan, by various people on campus. This document provides basic information on fellowships for which application is made through the Office of International Studies (OIS):

Gates: http://www.gatesscholar.org/
Keasbey (no official website)
Luce: http://www.hluce.org/lsprogram.aspx
Marshall: http://www.marshallscholarship.org
Mitchell: http://www.us-irelandalliance.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=2
Rhodes: http://www.rhodesscholar.org/
St. Andrews: http://www.standrewsny.org/standrews/content/scholarship-program

Other useful sites:
British Council: http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa.htm
On Course: http://www.oncourse.co.uk
UK Education: http://www.educationUK.org
Research Assessment Exercise  http://www.rae.ac.uk/  and click on 'results'
     Exercise (rates academic departments at UK institutions)


To begin the application process
The first step is to let me know that you are interested, and in which fellowship(s), so that we can determine eligibility and begin the process. You can do this by phone (x2550), email, or a visit to the OIS.

Submit a one-page curriculum vitae or resume and the Graduate Fellowships Applicant Information form (available on the OIS web site) with Draft 1 of your personal statement(s). The CV/resume should be a graphically clean document highlighting your leadership, research, extracurricular activities, work, and other notable achievements. You will not submit it in this format to fellowship, but it will be provided to Wesleyan's International Fellowship Committee before your on-campus interview, which both determines whether the university will support your application and gives you experience with fellowship interviews. If Wesleyan nominates you, it is your responsibility to submit materials, including your transcript and letters of recommendation, directly to the relevant fellowship committee or the fellowship advisor (me), as appropriate.  You will work with me, in either case, on coordination of materials submission.

There are various internal Wesleyan deadlines for each scholarship, as follows:

Deadlines:

Personal Statements and Brief Scholarship Descriptions
This is not your college-application personal statement; it is essentially a research proposal, in which you should outline what you plan to study, where you want this experience to take you (academically and professionally), what you have done that prepares you to make the most of the opportunity, and why what you are proposing to do Matters. These awards tend to go to people who are pretty focused, so construct for yourself a relevant plan for your future. You may well not stick to it in the long run, but it's important for you to think about where you'd like to be professionally in 5, 15, and 25 years. I can forward you sample personal statements written by past Wesleyan applicants who reached the interview stage or won a fellowship, so you'll have an idea of what's successful.

The Gates Scholarship supports graduate study at Cambridge. You must apply for admission directly to Cambridge; if you are accepted, indicate interest in Gates funding. In other words, Wesleyan does not nominate students for this scholarship.  Include a description of what you want to do academically at Cambridge, which means investigating what fields and courses of study Cambridge offers, and who teaches there. In addition to discussing academic goals and interests in your 1,000-word personal statement, be sure to discuss other experiences and plans you have that relate to your preparation and future. Since Gates places great emphasis on public service and leadership, consider the relevance of both your academic and long-term professional goals in this light.

Wesleyan is invited to submit applications for the Keasbey Scholarship once every three years; We are eligible in 2012 and again in 2015. The Keasbey is for graduate study at certain colleges of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, as well as the University of Edinburgh and the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. In the 1,000-word personal statement, discuss what you want to study and where, which means researching faculty and courses (programs, not classes) available. Also mention other things you have done or hope to do that relate to your qualifications and to how this experience will help you reach your goals. You must be interviewed and nominated by the Wesleyan International Scholarships Committee in order to apply for the Keasbey. Wesleyan can submit up to two seniors as candidates each year we are eligible.  Application will be available in early fall through the OIS.

The Luce is for graduates with little background in Asia to spend a year of internship and language study in Asia.  For the Luce, you need to outline a project, and to have the usual combination of academic achievement and personal breadth (and charm).  Visit the site and do some homework on what you think you'd want to do.  The personal statement should be 1,000 words long, and should not specify particular countries or organizations for placement.  You must be interviewed and nominated by the Wesleyan International Fellowships Committee in order to apply.  Wesleyan can submit up to three candidates per year, either seniors or graduates at the time of application.  The application form is available online, but application materials must be submitted through the OIS.

For the Marshall Scholarship, the application is online, and the scholarship is for one or two years of study anywhere in the UK; you may split the time into two one-year stints at one or two institutions or attend a two-year program. There is an opportunity for Marshall Scholars to extend to a third year, but this is by no means guaranteed, and there is a one-year option as well. Forty Marshall Scholarships are granted each year. You need at least a 92 (3.7) GPA to be eligible, although winners tend to have significantly higher GPAs than that. You will have to write a 1,000-word personal statement, a much more specific academic program proposal - the former should focus on the forest, the latter on the trees of your project - and a 500-word explanation of why you want to study in the UK. Preference goes to people who don't want to study at Oxford, Cambridge, or London, so focus in the personal statement on your field of study and scholarly goals, and on the relevance of the particular institution(s) you choose. See which institutions are strong in your field at http://www.rae.ac.uk, which rates UK institutions by discipline and research. Then look at the universities' web pages individually, many of which are linked to the OIS web site on the list of approved Europe programs (under Great Britain). The Marshall committee is interested primarily in You as Intellect, but also looks for evidence of substantive public service and leadership, broadly defined, in its deliberations. You must be interviewed and nominated by the Wesleyan International Fellowships Committee in order to apply; Wesleyan can submit as many candidates as the IFC considers qualified.

For the Mitchell Scholarship, the application is online. The scholarship is similar to the Marshall (so read the section above) except that it offers scholarships at Irish universities, and aims to increase American awareness of Ireland and vice-versa, along with its academic and public-service goals. For this reason, your 1,000-word personal statement might do well to reflect the relevance of Ireland to your proposed field of study. You must be interviewed and nominated by the Wesleyan International Fellowships Committee in order to apply; Wesleyan can submit as many candidates as the IFC deems qualified, and candidates can be seniors or graduates.

The Rhodes Scholarship supports two years of graduate study at Oxford University. Include in your 1,000-word personal statement (part of the online application) a description of what you want to do academically at Oxford, which means investigating what fields and courses of study Oxford offers, and who teaches there. The Rhodes Scholarship Committee will be interested in the Whole You, so in addition to discussing academic goals and interests, be sure to talk about other experiences and plans you have that relate to your preparation and future. Since Rhodes places great emphasis on public service and leadership, consider the relevance of both your academic and long-term professional goals in this light. You must be interviewed and nominated by the Wesleyan International Fellowships Committee in order to apply; Wesleyan can submit as many candidates as the IFC deems qualified, and candidates can be seniors or graduates.

The St. Andrews Scholarship is for a year of graduate study in Scotland. Eligibility is determined not only by academic merit and goals, but also by heritage and geography: you must live or study within 250 miles of New York (as a Wesleyan student, you do) and you must be able to show some Scottish heritage. You also must be a senior at the time of application. This application is less onerous than the others; there is a brief information sheet to fill out, and two 200-word essays to write, in addition to the submission of the transcript and the letters of recommendation. You must be interviewed and nominated by the Wesleyan International Fellowships Committee in order to apply; Wesleyan can nominate one candidate per year.


Some of the many international graduate scholarships not through OIS:

The Brodigan Award is for seniors and recent graduates who want to do service and/or research in Africa. Contact Professor Mike Nelson: mbnelson@wesleyan.edu

Contact Professor Krishna Winston (kwinston@wesleyan.edu) about the various German Academic Exchange (DAAD) and Fulbright Scholarship opportunities.

The Watson Fellowship allows graduates from a select group of colleges to spend a year in several countries, traveling and carrying out independent research. See Dean Louise Brown for further information: lsbrown@wesleyan.edu

The Rotary Scholarship is organized through your home-town Rotary Club.

If you come across another international scholarship and would like application support, please contact me directly at csorkin@wesleyan.edu or x2550.


So, what should you be doing this summer?

Figure out why you want this award; you need to really want this and have a good academic or public service reason why. In other words, "I had a great time in country X when I studied abroad and I want to go back" isn't convincing, but "I want to spend the next X time period studying/working on project Y, which relates to my academic interests A and B, and my professional goal C, and on which I already have done the following research:" is. Research options via the Internet or any other method that occurs to you.

Draft your personal statement(s). You need to be thinking about how you want to present yourself after graduation anyway, so consider this bit a Voyage of Personal Discovery.

Polish your resume or CV, taking off anything from before your freshman year of college.

Become (more) literate in contemporary intellectual life. You should be able to talk sensibly about US involvement in Afghanistan, Obama's energy policy, David Mamet's plays, the implications of cloning technology, whether we should abandon the electoral college and such - obviously not everything, but the sorts of issues you find in the New York Times or Wall Street Journal and on National Public Radio and the BBC every day. Know what you like to read and why; have informed opinions about global issues. If all this is completely outside your interests, then this probably is not the right set of awards for you - they really do expect people to be very much engaged in the world at large.


Contact me with questions at csorkin@wesleyan.edu or (860) 685-2550.