Notes for Fulbright Applicants

Q. What is necessary to get nominated by UR for the Fulbright?

A. Two things are required for Fulbright nomination by UR:

  1. Completion of the campus Fellowships Preliminary Questionnaire (FPQ) . This is a questionnaire all about the applicant's academic background, achievements, interests, and goals. It is available for download from the UR fellowships homepage (or for pick-up from Lattimore 312) and can be submitted via e-mail to fellowships@mail.rochester.edu or dropped off with Amy Preziosi in the Center for Academic Support, Lattimore 312. The preliminary questionnaire is mandatory and should be submitted as soon as possible, even if you're not yet entirely sure about applying for the Fulbright; it helps us better advise you on your potential competitiveness and the actual content of your application. Additionally, the information you provide in the FPQ will help us compose a more individualized nominating report or letter in support of your Fulbright candidacy. Should you begin the application process late, you are still required to complete the FPQ.
  2. A complete, polished draft of the actual Fulbright online application must also be submitted at the end of August (8/28/07) for critical review by the campus faculty evaluation committee. This process includes a mandatory campus interview, which will take place in September. You can still apply even if you will be studying or interning away from campus in the fall semester; your interview may be conducted by telephone.
  • The Fulbright application is completed online through the Fulbright website ( http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html ) ; the online application becomes available May 1 st for the upcoming competition. Applicants complete the online application by the August 28 th deadline and electronically release/submit it for review by the campus Fulbright Program Advisor (FPA ) / Director of Fellowships , who will print the applications for presentation to the faculty committee.
  • Prior to the August 28 th deadline , applicants must first submit both Fulbright essays (the 2-page project proposal and the 1-page curriculum vitae (personal essay) for review by the Director of Fellowships / FPA.
  • No Fulbright application will be presented to the faculty committee without the applicant first having submitted both essays for review. Essays should be done using a word processing program and submitted as e-mail attachments (no faxes) to fellowships@mail.rochester.edu .

Q. How do I get help with things like deciding which country to apply to, what kind of project to propose, which institution to affiliate with, and what should be included in the two Fulbright essays?

A. Several resources are available to assist you:

  • Extensive information is available for prospective applicants on the official Fulbright website ( http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html ); this should be the first source for details about the participating countries, what kinds of grants are available and for whom, project restrictions or fields of study that are especially encouraged, application preparation tips, recent competition statistics for countries, etc.
  • For general questions about Fulbright program rules, procedures, benefits, etc., applicants may consult the campus FPA by e-mail ( fellowships@mail.rochester.edu ), by telephone (585-275-2354), or by visiting the Center for Academic Support (Lattimore 312); call for FPA walk-in and appointment hours. Answers should first be sought on the Fulbright website or in the official Fulbright bulletin.
  • For country-specific questions, applicants may consult the campus FPA but may also need to consult the Fulbright Program Manager at IIE in NYC who is responsible for the area of the world to which they are applying. Fulbright welcomes queries directly from applicants--really, they do. Program Managers are indicated on the Fulbright website under the Participating Countries section. Click on the appropriate world region to access contact information. If you do e-mail Fulbright, it would be helpful if you would also copy fellowships@mail.rochester.edu on your question and forward to the FPA any reply you receive as well.
  • Applicants are expected to consult with the campus Fulbright Program Advisor / Director of Fellowships throughout the application process to discuss their Fulbright project ideas and the development of their essays. Consultations may be held over the summer in person, by telephone, and by e-mail. It is helpful if the Fellowships Preliminary Questionnaire has already been submitted before or along with any drafts of the essays that are submitted for feedback.
  • Faculty mentors and professors in the field of your study or research project should also be consulted for advisement on the development of the project proposal.
  • See the Fulbright online application for instructions regarding the content of the two essays. Check the archive of Applicant Newsletters ( https://us.fulbrightonline.org/thinking_applicant.html ) on the Fulbright website for helpful articles on preparing the Fulbright application.
  • There are also examples of essays from past UR Fulbright winners on the UR fellowships website . Additionally, more examples of Fulbright essays are available for review in the Fulbright Binder in the Center for Academic Support. See Amy Preziosi for access to the binder.
  • Fulbright requires that applicants also include in one of their essays a plan for community engagement while abroad. If the community engagement is related to the project proposal, then the proposed activity should be described in the project essay. If the community engagement is more of an extra-curricular activity, then it should be described in the curriculum vitae, or personal essay.
  • Applicants are also encouraged to sign up to receive the Fulbright applicant newsletter for helpful reminders, tips, etc. This can be done from the Fulbright website.
  • There is also a University of Rochester page on the Fulbright website ( http://us.fulbrightonline.org/program_universities_school.html?id=185 ); it can be found under the list of institutions by state. This page contains the campus deadlines, basic information about the campus application process, and UR contact information.

Q. What else must I do for my project proposal?

A. Unless otherwise indicated in the country description, applicants wishing to undertake a program of university study or conduct independent research are strongly advised to establish contact with an individual at the proposed host institution to work out the arrangements for the research project or to find out the mechanisms for enrolling in courses at the institution and in a particular department. These details will be required for the project proposal and can take months to develop. Therefore, it is wise to start this process early--before the end of the academic year, i.e., spring semester preceding the fall application deadline.

  • It is the applicant's responsibility to find out and adhere to the enrollment requirements, procedures, and deadlines of the proposed host institution. Note that some countries require applicants to be formally enrolled in a university during their Fulbright tenure.
  • Applicants proposing to do an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) will not know their placements until after they have been offered a grant. In most countries offering ETAs, Fulbrighters do not work full-time and should propose a program of study or research that they would like to do as a complement to their teaching duties.
  • Research projects will need to be supported by a letter of invitation/affiliation from the individual at the host institution with whom the applicant will work. This letter should be sent to the Director of Fellowships/Fulbright Program Advisor, but it is not necessary to have obtained it before the campus interviews in September. The Director of Fellowships will offer guidance to the person providing the invitation as to the content of the letter, which can be sent later, so long as it arrives by our mid-October mailing deadline.
  • Enrollment/affiliation invitation need not be finalized by the September campus interviews, but where relevant, applicants must be aware of requirements and prepared to discuss the status of affiliation arrangements in the project proposal and at the campus interviews.

Q. What are my chances of being nominated by UR?

A. There is no limit on the number of candidates an institution may nominate. Applicants compete only against other candidates applying to the same country or region for the same kind of grant. We may nominate multiple applicants to the same country.

Q. When are recommendation letters and other supporting documents due and how are they submitted?

A. August 28 th is the due date for the three letters of recommendation (Form 9). If you are required to submit a Foreign Language Report (Form 8), it is due by September 6 th . Language assessments are required for applicants to countries where English is not the national language or where the project will require use of a language other than English if the applicant has some prior knowledge of the foreign language. Language reports must be completed by an instructor of the language being evaluated or by a native speaker of the language when no instructor is available to do the assessment. All applicants to non-English-speaking countries must also complete the Language Background Report (Form 8A).

  • The online application system will require you to register your three referees and language evaluator, if necessary. You will be asked to provide e-mail addresses for these individuals. The system will then automatically send a message to each person with details on using the online reference/report feature. Although referees and language evaluators may access the online system, enter their personal information, and review the instructions, they are asked not to actually complete their letters or language reports using the online feature until after the faculty of the campus evaluation committee has reviewed all documents and interviewed candidates . This process should be completed by the end of September.
  • For the purposes of the campus evaluation/nomination process, reference letters should first be submitted by e-mail directly to the Fulbright Program Advisor / Director of Fellowships (Belinda Redden) at fellowships@mail.rochester.edu . Although Fulbright requires that reference letters and language evaluations be submitted through the online application system, this is not to be done until after the campus interviews in September . Because it is not possible to edit letters or language reports after they have been submitted electronically, it is very important that this feature not be used until after the campus review process . Please emphasize to your referees that e-mail attachment is the preferred mode of submitting recommendation letters (no faxes) to the Director of Fellowships for the campus evaluation process. We regret the need for this interim step, but this is the only way to ensure that the faculty committee reviews all letters and language reports before they are submitted to Fulbright.
  • A PDF of the cover form for the reference letters is available through the online application; you may provide this form to your referees. You should be sure to provide your referees with the appropriate Fulbright reference letter instructions, which are available through the online application.
  • For the Foreign Language Report , you will need to provide the evaluator with a hard copy of the report (Form 8), which you can obtain online or from the Director of Fellowships in the Center for Academic Report. For the campus review process, it is OK to provide the language evaluator a copy of Form 8 from the PDF of the sample application and ask him or her to complete this form, which should be submitted to Academic Support in a sealed envelope by September 6 th .
  • If a referee insists on using the online feature prior to the campus evaluation process, it is imperative that he/she save their work and leave it in edit/in-progress mode until after the campus committee meets and approves their supporting document--that is, they should NOT hit the submit the button .
  • After the faculty committee has reviewed supporting documents and interviewed candidates , applicants will be instructed to request that their referees and language evaluators use the online application feature to submit their supporting documents. Additionally, letter writers and language evaluators will need to print and sign their supporting documents from the online feature and submit these to the Director of Fellowships in Lattimore 312, or to the applicant in a sealed envelope with the author's signature across the back flap. These signed hard copies will be due by Monday, October 15 th in preparation for the mailing of the final, revised applications. Fulbright requires that we mail original, signed hard copies of the applications and all supporting documents.
  • Applicants should be sure to share a draft of the project proposal and personal essay with letter writers in advance of the deadline, because recommenders must address the specific merits of the proposed project and the applicant's personal qualities in their letters. In the absence of essay drafts, provide your referees a summary or outline of your project proposal and an up-to-date copy of your résumé.
  • All hard-copy materials may be given to Amy Preziosi , the administrative assistant for fellowships, in the Center for Academic Support.
  • Applicants who have completed college coursework at institutions other than UR (e.g., summer courses) will need to have official transcripts from the outside institutions sent directly to the Director of Fellowships. If you have studied abroad and the grades earned during your term abroad do not appear on your UR transcript, you must request an official transcript showing your courses and grades from the study abroad institution or agency. Make requests for transcripts from other institutions as early as possible, since it can take more than a month to obtain these documents. Outside transcripts must arrive by October 15 th . UR transcripts should only be requested after the campus interviews and the applicant's follow-up meeting with the Director of Fellowships. All transcripts should be sent to the Director of Fellowships. If you receive a transcript directly for inclusion with your application, do not open the sealed envelope, as this will render the document unacceptable. We cannot use transcripts that may be in your academic file for submission with the final hard copy of your Fulbright application. A new, original transcript must be provided.
  • Where necessary, letters of affiliation/invitation from abroad are due by October 15 th . These letters must be printed on official letterhead, signed, dated, and submitted directly to the Director of Fellowships in hard copy. Faxed or e-mailed letters are not acceptable. Affiliation letters that arrive after the mailing of the applications will be sent separately to Fulbright, but there is no guarantee that they will be matched up with the applications.

Q. What happens after the campus interviews in September?

A. Applicants will meet individually with the Fulbright Program Advisor/Director of Fellowships to discuss the faculty committee's critique of their applications and suggestions for revision. Deadlines for final submission of complete revised applications will also be discussed. The FPA/Director of Fellowships will submit the finalized applications in time to meet the October online submission and hard-copy deadlines.

Q. When do I find out my status in the national competition?

A. We will learn in early February whether or not an applicant advanced through the national screening process and was recommended to the proposed host country for further consideration. If your status is "not recommended," you may apply again for a Fulbright in the future. If your status is "recommended," then more waiting is in store, as final decisions are made on a country-by-country basis, from February to early summer.

Q. If I am offered a Fulbright, can I defer the award?

A. No, the Fulbright is not deferrable.

Q. What if I get into graduate school and also receive a Fulbright?

A. You can request a deferral of matriculation from your graduate school. Some schools will be amenable to a deferral while others will require you to re-apply for admission in the future, or you may decide to decline the Fulbright to commence your graduate program right away.

Q. What is the address to which the hard copies of my supporting documents should be sent?

A. Belinda S. Redden
Fulbright Program Advisor
College Center for Academic Support
Lattimore 312, University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-0402

Top