Graduate Fellowships

Hello Ladies!

Do you know that there are many government and private foundations that want bright students like yourself to continue your education?! If you are thinking about applying to graduate school, especially to Ph.D. programs, than you should also be thinking about applying to one of the many graduate fellowship programs! 

Having a graduate fellowship can really enhance your educational experience in several ways. The first, and most obvious, way that a graduate fellowship can improve your graduate years is that you get money! Many schools even give fellows a few thousand dollars of bonus spending money as an incentive to students to earn external fellowships. From a less commercial point of view, obtaining your own external funding, barring extenuating circumstances, will allow you to pursue the research you want with the advisor you want! Fellowships can also offer a big professional boost. Not only does having one look great on your resume, but many offer great networking opportunities. Have I convinced you to apply yet? 

Now, before you begin the process make sure you talk to a mentor about which fellowships would be a good fit for you. Fellowship applications require a decent amount of time and effort, so you should be sure that you and your research are good candidates for the fellowship program. Also, start as early as possible, since it takes a while to get transcripts, letter of recommendations, GRE scores, etc. to the fellowship organization. Starting early will also give you time to have you application reviewed by a friend, a lab mate, the writing center, and/or a professor. The more people you can get to read your essays, the better! 

To get you started about thinking about which fellowships to apply to, I’m including a short list of fellowships for engineering graduate students: NSF’s graduate research fellowship program (Deadline: November 14 for engineering, November 15 for CIS), National Defence Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (Dec 16), SMART scholarship (Dec 1), NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (spring), and Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Environmental Study (Jan 10).  (Please verify these dates for yourself, sometimes the websites change!) You should be sure to talk to professors, graduate students, and administrators in your field to find the best fellowship opportunities for you!

NOTE TO UNDERCLASSMEN: Many of these fellowship programs don’t change or only slightly alter the requirements and review process from year to year. If you are an underclassman thinking about graduate school, I urge you to read over a few of the fellowship guidelines to see the qualities that these fellowship programs look for in applicants. 

Good luck!


Questions about graduate fellowships?  Contact us at awe@seas.upenn.edu