Advice for Students

Become Competitive

In order to become competitive for most scholarships, you will need to put together a compelling application. This is an ongoing process and one that you should begin as a first year student and continue to develop throughout your undergraduate career.

Take charge of your education

Take advantage of your professors’ office hours—strong letters of recommendation come from professors who know you well.
Develop mentoring relationships with faculty, staff, and others.
Don’t wait for others to ask if you’d like to engage in opportunities like EXCEL Research, the McKelvy Scholars Program or other opportunities; it is up to you to make sure that you are not just another student face in the crowd.
Network—you’ll never know where those connections will lead.
Carve a unique niche for yourself.

Become well-rounded & informed

Consider making Arts and Letters Daily your homepage.
Stretch yourself; explore & develop new interests and talents; don’t be shy and don’t pass up unique or interesting opportunities.
Regularly read a reputable newspaper and one or two news weeklies (e.g., Newsweek, The Economist, Time, etc.).
Listen to NPR, BBC News, etc.
Watch PBS, C-Span’s Book TV, etc.
Attend brown bag seminars; attend departmental and public lectures.

Become involved

Join groups (on- and off- campus) that represent issues you care about. Get involved in significant extra-curricular and service activities.
Don’t just join organizations for a “line item on your resume”—get involved!
Find your niche within these organizations/groups, and discover ways in which you can make unique contributions which will help lead their efforts.
Find ways to present your own research or significant public service or internship experiences to others; submit research for conferences (many professional conferences are accepting submissions from undergraduates); give your own brown bag presentation!
Keep a personal record or “working” résumé of your activities, research/course papers, etc. Make each entry detailed (e.g., number of hours participated; nature of activity; what thought about the activity; etc.). This document will later become important for writing your personal statement and scholarship résumé/Curriculum Vitae. It is easy to forget what you do; by keeping an informal but detailed record you will be able to assess your strengths, weaknesses, and areas where you may need to get more involved.

Become a speaker/discussion leader

Find opportunities to speak publicly. Volunteer to lead class discussions; make public presentations on behalf of a campus organization; join the Forensics Society Team; and generally seek out other chances to get in front of a group. Public speaking is excellent preparation for scholarship interviews which often take place in front of selection committees.

Be forward-thinking

It’s hard to know now what you will be doing with the rest of your life, but start thinking about it! Where do you see yourself five years after college? Ten years after college? Imagine that someone is introducing you at an alumni event in the year 2022 – what are they saying about you?
Developing goals for yourself based on what your potential future career might be.
Use your summers wisely: partake in research, internships, and service projects in the US or abroad. Consider applying for an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) or other internship opportunity.

Become an excellent writer & be able to write about yourself

The personal statement is one of the most important components of most applications. The personal statement provides the reader with insight into your background, life experiences, interests and aspirations.
Keep a journal to help you remember highlights from your life experiences, and to strengthen your writing skills.
Learn how to write academically and critically. Take advantage of the College Writing Program .

Be a strong student

Take courses that will enrich your academic career as well as satisfy your intellectual curiosity and development. Scholarship selection committees look at your transcripts for breadth and depth—lots of lower level courses as a junior or senior can work against you.
Keep up your GPA. Most competitive awards require a minimum GPA of 3.2 or above; some, like the Marshall, require a 3.7 or above.

Be a planner; Think ahead

Make an appointment (externalscholarships@lafayette.edu) now to talk about scholarships that might interest you later. It’s never too early to plan!
Finding the right scholarship opportunity is not easy–it can be time consuming. Prepare to spend hours searching the web and various databases for appropriate programs; keep a note their deadlines.
Look for programs that are the best fit for you. Read their guidelines carefully and make sure you meet their minimum requirements. If you don’t fit their criteria, focus your energies elsewhere.
Don’t limit your search to scholarships for which you are eligible now (as a first-, second, or third-year student); instead, identify those programs for which you will be eligible down the road (e.g., as a junior or senior).
Organize your applications by deadline and requirements; a spreadsheet might be helpful here.
Be realistic about your time. Completing strong, polished applications can take up nearly as much time as a class.
Communicate with your potential recommenders early in the application process. Provide them with relevant information, materials and the deadlines, etc. Let your recommenders know that our office will be happy to address their particular questions or concerns.

When you engage in Study Abroad or Off-Campus Study

Don’t fall victim to the “out of sight, out of mind” syndrome; stay in touch with your professors, mentors, and others.
Use your time off campus to develop your intellectual, civic, and/or career interests.
Get involved with your host community through organizations, internships, independent study/research, English language tutoring, and community service/volunteer projects.

Writing Essays

Writing Fellowship Essays: A General Overview

Think of your application essay(s) as a part of a larger whole (including the letters from your recommenders, and any other supporting documents such as a list of activities and awards, résumé, or transcripts).
The essay(s) are writing samples; all the rules of good writing (clarity, conviction, and correctness) apply. They are read as indications of clear and organized thinking and effective communication.
Consider your audience; you may need to write for an intelligent, non-specialist or for the specialist. If you are writing for the non-specialist, make sure the terminology will be understandable to someone outside your field and that the tone should be neither too academic nor too personal.
Aim for economy, enthusiasm, and directness; eloquence is welcome, but not at the expense of substance or honesty.
Make sure all information is accurate and that you are prepared to discuss in some detail anything you mention.
Do not pad, but do not be falsely modest either.
Do not try to guess what the selection committee might be seeking; they want to know about you, not a fabrication.
When writing, try completely different versions rather than fiddling with a variant of your first or second draft.
Show your work to a number of readers whose comments you respect. Ask your readers to tell you what questions your essays raise that you might not have considered.
Keep revising until you feel you have written something that is an effective reflection of who you are and what you want to do.
Keep to word limits and all other guidelines.
Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.

Writing the Personal Statement: Overview

Because personal statements are usually short, you need to identify a few points (3-4) that you want to develop; let the other aspects of your application present other important information. Use your personal statement to say what your recommenders and résumé do not say.
Your personal statement should be a pleasure to read: it should start fast, quickly taking the reader into the heart of your “story”.
Maintain focus; establish a consistent story line. Consider one or two anecdotes that can help you focus and lend a human face to your story.
The story you present should be a compelling snapshot of who you are and what contributions you want to make, what your priorities are and the kinds of intelligence and passion you bring to your work.
Remember: A personal statement is NOT a résumé in narrative form. An essay that reads like a résumé of accomplishments and goals tells the reader nothing that they could not glean from the rest of the application. It reveals little about you and is, therefore, a wasted opportunity.

Writing the Personal Statement: Getting Started

The personal statement is an exercise in self-reflection. Below are some prompts to help you think about the “story” you want to convey.

What errors or regrets have taught you something important about yourself?
When does time disappear for you? What does this tell you about your passions, your values?
What ideas, books, courses, events have had a profound impact on you? How so?
To what extent do your current commitments reflect your most strongly held values?
When have you changed? Consider yourself before and after; what does this change mean?
What’s unusual, special, and distinctive about you? What events, people, or family history have shaped and influenced you? What would help the committee better understand you?
When did you first become interested in your field of study? What have you learned since then? What have you learned about yourself in the process?
What drives or motivates you? What are your passions? What makes you tick or gets your blood going? What are you going to do about it?

The Academic/Project or Program Proposal: Overview

Key questions to consider: where, when, who, what, how, why?
A description of your course of study or project; topic(s), research focus, degree goals, methodology, itinerary, (budget).
Why you want to undertake this particular project or course of study at this particular institution and/or country.
The proposal essay should provide evidence that your plans are consistent with your preparation, academic qualifications, and (long-range) goals.
Where applicable, discuss why you are choosing a new area of study, or what makes your project particularly timely.
Regardless of length or complexity, your study proposal should demonstrate the extent of your academic preparation and your grasp of scholarly material and how your proposed study plan complements your career goals, or enhances your potential for service and leadership.

Combined Statements–incorporating elements of the academic proposal within the framework of a personal reflection:

The two parts should flow together. It should balance and weave together both components into a compelling whole.

Writing Resources

Sample essays online from Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
Visit the Truman Scholarship website for more excellent writing advice on personal statements in general, and on the Truman application in particular.
Advice from students:
- Free-write: just sit down and write without initial concern for grammar, style, or length. Find the nuggets later.
- Just write honestly and truthfully about yourself and the significant moments and people in your life.
- Understand that you will write multiple drafts, and give yourself permission to write very, very badly. Chances are the first, second, and even third drafts will be just awful, and that’s OK. Spill it out on the page, let your sentences romp, pretend you’re Faulkner and you’ve never heard of commas and periods. Don’t worry that if tomorrow you are hit by a truck and friends read through your papers they will find your personal essay drafts and decide that you are a fraud. The truth is, perfection is not lovable anyway.
- Only after you’ve written some really terrible drafts will you be ready to begin sifting, organizing, and revision-ing your life story.
Advice from advisors:
- There is no such thing as a model for a personal statement.
  Samples of other applicant’s personal statements can help you see how they tackled the problem of explaining themselves to the world, Your personal statement is yours alone. Only you can write it, and it must be specific to you. That doesn’t mean it must be absolutely unique and the ideas you express must be totally original. It does mean that it must be honest, sincere, and convey something about your ideas, your beliefs, and your experiences that lists of activities and the praise of recommenders cannot. Capture the passion you feel, and don’t worry about whether the committee has heard it before.
- Everybody has a story. Maybe you didn’t endure a traumatic childhood, or spend a year in Bosnia working with refugees, but you have had experiences that are interesting and have been formative to your development as a person and a scholar. Don’t worry about whose stories are most important to or most interesting to committees—just tell yours.
- What’s your line? Telling your story chronologically may help you to remember key moments and turning points, but there are more compelling narrative techniques. What are the threads that tie together the separate pieces of your life? What questions about the world do you find yourself consistently attempting to explore? Was there a moment where you just knew you had discovered what you want to do next?
- Think strategically. You can’t reveal everything about yourself in 250, 500 or 1000 words, so you must decide what personal characteristics to emphasize in your statement. What are the most important life experiences, service activities, values, and ambitions that define who you are? What do you most want a committee to know about you?

Your Résumé

Most scholarships require some form of a résumé that highlights your accomplishments and activities. You should keep a detailed record of everything that could possibly be included on a résumé. Many scholarships limit the size of your résumé so you will have to decide how to best represent your accomplishments.

Sample Résumés are available from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Letters of Recommendation (LORs)

Letters of recommendation can be the decisive factor in a committee’s decision. The letters, therefore, are critical to the candidate’s chances for success in the competition.

The selection committees want to see what others have to say about you as a scholar and a person. As such, your LORs need to be strong endorsements to help ensure that your application is competitive.

Asking for letters of recommendation can be intimidating, but if you go into it with the right attitude and having prepared thoroughly, you should find that it is not so difficult after all. Here are some helpful hints for approaching people about writing your letters.

Seek out the people who really know you well. The letter writer’s depth of knowledge about you is more important than their title.
Ask early! The earlier you approach someone to write for you, the easier it will be for them to plan their time. In general, asking for a letter in less than three weeks is considered inconsiderate.
Do not assume that the person you will ask to write on your behalf will write you a strong letter. You have to ask! Ask them directly: “Will you be able to write me a strong letter of recommendation?” Or ask indirectly: “Do you have time to write a strong letter for me?” Most of your identified recommenders will say “yes” enthusiastically, but framing the request this way gives potential referees the opportunity to decline gracefully. A reluctant referee will generally write a lukewarm letter which is a waste of their time, and a potential death knell to your application!
Prepare a packet of relevant information. The more information you provide, the better. Try putting together a packet with the following: a brief description of the fellowship(s) you are applying for, including criteria for selection; a current résumé; a list of personal data (extra-curricular activities, or organizations) which may not appear on your résumé; a rough draft of your application or project proposal; helpful reminders of great things you did in their class/organization/internship.
About a week or two before the recommendation is due, contact them again to find out if they need any more information or update them on any changes you may have made to your proposal. (This also works as a friendly reminder that the deadline is approaching.)
Schedule an appointment with your recommender(s) to discuss the scholarship in general, the scholarship selection criteria in particular, and your reasons for applying. If you cannot meet in person because one of you is off-campus, be prepared to provide this information via email.
Finally, be sure to write your references a note of thanks, and let them know what happens!

“References Available Upon Request” by Joe Schall, discusses selecting and approaching potential recommendation writers. The article is available on the Web from the 2008 Graduating Engineer and Computer Careers.