Fulbright Scholarships

Hope's most recent winners!! Congratulations!!

2009 Fulbright (and Rhodes & Marshall) Scholarship Info-Sessions were held in January and early September 2009.

If you missed these sessions please read on...

Fulbright 2009/2010 'brochures' (more like a paperback book) and an overview sheet of instructions for the Application Process, the Foreign Language Report and References will be distributed but are available at the CrossRoads office AFTER the sessions. If studying abroad, all information is availabe online here and through the Fulbright links provided on this page. Fulbright 'brochures' for 2010/2011 are now available.

Missed the 'Info Sessions'? - Here's what to do...

Need writing hints? - Here they are...

Deadlines for 2009 submission:

This information may change, so check back often...

IMPORTANT DATES FOR FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIP CANDIDATES Ideally, this process should begin during the spring semester of your Junior year. 2009 Application Process Timeline Printable Version 2009
If you are a junior this year (spring 2009), and are considering applying for a Fulbright Fellowship in the fall of 2009, (that is, if you want a fellowship in the 2010-2011 academic year) your chances will improve if you get an early start on the application process. Here are the important dates in the 2009 Fulbright Fellowship application calendar.
Jan. 30, 2009 (You may do this anytime BEFORE this date, but please do it BY Jan. 30 at the latest.) You will be considered a serious candidate only after submitting the items listed to the right.	Send an e-mail to crossroads@hope.edu, including the following information: 1) Your full name 2) The kind of fellowship for which you plan to apply (Fulbright 'research' or Fulbright 'teaching assistantship') 3) The country to which you plan to apply (Choose only one.) 4) The names of three faculty referees to whom you have spoken about writing a recommendation for you. Talk to your referees early and in person. In addition to your three referees, include your foreign language evaluator, if one is necessary for your program. 5) Your phone number 6) Your e-mail address
Monday, Feb. 23, 2009	Check your Progress: Turn in the following documents to the Crossroads office (VZN 182): 1) Draft of your two-page project proposal 2) Draft of your one-page Fulbright curriculum vitae (personal statement). See the Fulbright website and the Hints we hand out for information about preparation of these documents. Keep working on them, too. 3) A three- to four-page essay on a book (a book! Not a Web site!) that you have read about the country to which you plan to apply. Be sure to include full bibliographic information (author, title, city, publisher, year of publication) for your book.
Friday, Mar. 6, 2009	Turn in completed hard-copy drafts of your curriculum vitae (personal statement) and project proposal to the Crossroads Project office, Van Zoeren 182
Mar. 9 OR Mar. 10, 2009	Attend ONE of the mandatory proposal workshops. We will schedule one workshop in the afternoon and one in the evening. You must come to one (but not both) of the workshops.
April 14 or April 15, 2009	Attend ONE of the second mandatory proposal workshops. Once again, we will schedule one workshop in the afternoon and one in the evening. You must come to one (but not both) of the workshops.
Summer 2009	You should use the summer to work on your project proposal and curriculum vitae (personal statement). The campus deadline for applications is listed below.
September 18, 2009	Turn in your completed application. You will need to complete an on-line application and turn in a hard copy at the Crossroads Project office, Van Zoeren 182. We will schedule campus interviews after the September date listed at left.
Please keep the following points in mind:
If you think you MIGHT want to apply for a Fulbright, but are not yet sure, please provide us with the required information by January 30. Letting us know you are thinking of applying is not a firm commitment. It is better to start early than to start late.
If you want to apply, you must comply with the deadlines outlined on this sheet. We reserve the right to drop you from the process if you miss any of these deadlines without a very good reason (as defined by Professors Cunningham and Gibbs). This is not a process you can complete at the last minute if you hope to be successful.
Be sure to read the materials on the Fulbright Web site (http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html). Click on the links for “Thinking of Applying” and “How to Apply” for more information.

Fulbright Advisors are Dr. David Cunningham and Dr. Janis Gibbs

Fulbright Grants for Educational & Cultural Exchange

• Since 1946 the United States government has been offering grants to recent graduates, graduate students and college faculty to conduct study and/or teaching projects all over the world. These grants usually last between six to twelve months and cover all livings cost as well as providing a modest stipend. These are very prestigious awards, and are available not only to graduates of larger universities but also of liberal arts colleges such as Hope.

  During the academic year 2004-05 three Hope graduates taught in Germany and Austria with Fulbright awards. In addition, two Hope College professors received Fulbright awards for this coming year. So Hope is developing a good track record with these grants.

  If you are interested in an academic year abroad right after graduation, either studying at a university or teaching English, a Fulbright Grant may be just what you are looking for! It can be anywhere in the world, not just Europe!

What Exactly is a Fulbright Scholarship?

There are many different types of Fulbright awards, but the programs of interest to Hope College graduates are the Comprehensive Grants, which support you for a year of study at a foreign university, and the Teaching Awards which place you at a high school or high schools to teach English as an assistant part time.

• To look at the various opportunities, check out the Fulbright web site.
• Or stop by the CrossRoads office to pick up a current booklet (Fulbright calls it a "brochure").

For Comprehensive Grants, students propose a project that they conduct at the foreign educational institution, and are given basic travel and living support to carry out their project. You specify the location.

For Teaching Awards, grantees usually teach about 15-20 hours a week, mostly assisting a teacher in the classroom (i.e. not actually being the teacher). The rest of the time awardees usually work on the language, travel and 'hang out'. You select the country, but that country chooses your placement location.

Hope professor, Lee Forester, had a 2-year Fulbright award in Austria Vienna as a graduate student. He taught about 10-15 hrs a week whenever school was in session (which wasn't that often) and otherwise hung out, finished his dissertation, traveled extensively and got married in the process. It was a great experience for him!

Who is Eligible for a Fulbright?

To apply for a Fulbright Grant, you must be:

• A US citizen
• A recent graduate or graduate student
• In good health

Because this program is quite competitive, your academic credentials should be good. A GPA of 3.5 or higher is advised, though we did get an award for a student with a lower GPA who made it as an alternate.

You also must be ready to spend a LOT of time on your application, writing and refining your essay, your project proposal and discussing it with faculty advisors Dr. Cunningham and/or Dr. Gibbs. It is quite doable but not a project to be taken lightly or at the last minute if you want feedback.

How Do I Get More Information?

If you're interested in a Fulbright, you should spend some time at the Fulbright web site. You can even ask questions about the program.

Here are a few files that may be of interest:

2008/2009 Fulbright Competition Statistics (PDF) or Searchable Online
Fact Sheet (PDF)
Flowsheet of application process (PDF)

As you will see, some countries are more competitive than others. A competitive application will have an excellent personal essay, a defined, feasible and interesting project proposal, strong letters of support and will target a country where you have a reasonable chance (England and Australia are TOUGH!).

How Do I Formally Apply (once all my preparations have been completed)?

You need to finish and SUBMIT the online application by Friday, September 18, 2009. If you are local, you then need to print off a good quality hardcopy of your application and deliver it, along with your non-online materials, to the CrossRoads office (VanZn 182) by Monday, September 21. If you are not local, please following specific instructions given to you by the Hope College advisor you are working with. DO NOT STAPLE any materials to deliver You may submit only one application.

If you would like feedback on your application before the on-campus interview process begins ( and this is very advisable), you are strongly advised to work with Dr. Gibbs, Dr. Cunningham, or another faculty mentor during the Spring semester. We provide stipends to faculty who work with you, so please don't be afraid to ask for this one-on-one help. We generally find that students who wait until September to begin the process will submit substandard (and often ultimately unsuccessful) applications. The most important pieces to submit for feedback are your CV and Project Proposal. These should be e-mailed in Word format.

The "non-online" materials include:

• Official transcripts from all colleges you have attended sent DIRECTLY to our office (i.e., a complete academic record). Do NOT pick them up yourself! (if you do, they will be stamped in red ink "ISSUED TO STUDENT" even though they are in a sealed envelope!) This must include transcripts from other institutions besides Hope, unless those courses are listed (with course names) on your Hope transcript. (If your Hope transcript only lists generic "transfer credit," you need an additional transcript from the other institution.)
• A letter of affiliation from someone at the institution you hope to work at in the host country, if such affiliation is required for your program. (This is not required for some countries, e.g. Japan, nor for some programs, e.g. the teaching assistantship programs.)
• If your field is creative or performing arts, there are additional instructions for submitting samples of your work. Example: slides of artwork, photographs, portfolios, video recordings, & audio recordings all have specific criteria and can be found in the Fulbright "brochure" and will require Form 4 of the application.

Then you sit on your hands and wait until the spring (April - June) to find out whether you got an award or not!

 

This Language Program began in 2007...

This program is offered by the US Dept. of State, Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs and Administered by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers:

CRITICAL LANGUAGE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR INTENSIVE SUMMER INSTITUTES

 

Updated: September 18, 2009 11:58 AM