UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
Fellowships Office, Dewey 4-209B, 585-276-5869
Dear UR Fellowship Applicant:
Congratulations on making the decision to launch your quest in earnest for one or more nationally competitive fellowships! We hope you will use this questionnaire as an exercise in honest self-reflection
on your pursuits and achievements inside and outside the classroom, on campus and off; your
educational, professional, and life goals; your values; and the motivations behind your aspirations.
Since most selective award competitions, as well as graduate school applications, will require you to write about these things to some extent in your application, the work you put into your FPQ will pay off when you are faced with specific applications in the not too distant future. The information you provide in your FPQ will also help the Fellowships Office better advise you on a range of appropriate competitive awards to pursue, including those you may not have considered. Further, a thoughtfully prepared FPQ can help us write a more personalized nomination or endorsement letter on your behalf when this is required, one that truly reflects your distinguishing characteristics and unique accomplishments.
We ask those aspiring to compete for selective national fellowships to complete the FPQ well in advance of national deadlines, because preparing a high-quality final application is a process that
takes time. This process includes writing drafts of the application for specific awards and obtaining critical feedback from a variety of helpful resources (e.g. the Fellowships Office, faculty mentors, writing counselors, career and graduate school advisors, etc.). Sometimes a formal campus committee is required to review and interview candidates seeking nomination for particular fellowships; such a committee would also provide feedback to the candidates chosen as nominees, and these applicants would then complete a final revision of the application before it is presented to the national fellowship sponsor or selection committee. Awards that require this kind of internal review process include:
Beinecke, Carnegie Junior, Churchill, Fulbright, Goldwater, Marshall, Rhodes, St. Andrew’s, Truman,
and Udall. However, completing the FPQ would also be beneficial to candidates seeking other highly selective fellowships that do not require formal University nomination, such as CLS, Gates Cambridge,
Ford, Hertz, NIH, NSF, Pickering, PPIA, Schwarzman, and Soros.
Good prior planning is key to managing the fellowship application process along with your regular obligations and activities. You will need to allocate adequate time in your schedule for this undertaking. Bear in mind that the nomination process usually begins in the semester preceding the national deadline for an award, or 2-5 months in advance. Whether or not nomination is required, it is advisable that you always plan to begin your application preparation in the semester ahead of the official application due date, which means working over the summer on applications with early fall deadlines.
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2016.
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After submitting the FPQ, call the Fellowships Office (276-5869) or stop by Dewey 4-209B to schedule an appointment with the
Director of Fellowships (Belinda Redden) to discuss your profile, potential, competitiveness, and application strategy for specific fellowships. Please allow at least three business days between the submission of your FPQ and your appointment date so that your questionnaire can be reviewed before the meeting.

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
Fellowships Office, Dewey 4-209B, 585-276-5869
Cumulative GPA
Fellowships Preliminary Questionnaire AY 2016-17
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Check the box beside the fellowship(s) you wish to apply for during AY 2016-17.
For each fellowship of interest, provide a brief statement (100-150 words per award) indicating why you are a
good fit for the individual award.
Carnegie Junior Fellowship (CJF)
Field of interest:
Career goal:
Churchill Scholarship
Preferred Cambridge degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Fulbright Grant (check one: Study/Research English Teaching Assistantship
Creative/Performing Arts mtvU National Geographic Digital Storytelling)
Field: Country: Language:
Career goal:
Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Preferred Cambridge degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Hertz Fellowship
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Marshall Scholarship
Preferred UK institution:
2nd-choice UK institution:
Career goal:
Mitchell Scholarship
Degree & Field of study:
Degree & Field of study:
Preferred institution:
Career goal:
Degree & Field of study:
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF)
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
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Career goal:
Rhodes Scholarship
Preferred Oxford degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Soros Fellowship for New Americans
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Beinecke Scholarship
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Critical Language Scholarship
Language & Geographic area of interest:
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Goldwater Scholarship
Primary research interest:
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholarship (NIH)
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Fellowship
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Truman Scholarship
Primary public-service focus:
Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
Udall Scholarship
(Please indicate: Environmental Native American/Tribal Policy)
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Intended graduate degree & field of study:
Career goal:
OTHER AWARDS: indicate award name, your intended field of study, intended graduate degree (e.g., M.A.,
MPA, Ph.D., M.D., etc.), career goal or professional aspiration.
1. Award:
Field:
Goal: Degree:
2. Award:
Field:
Degree:
3. Award:
Field:
Degree:
4. Award:
Field:
Degree:
Goal:
Goal:
Goal:
5. Award:
Field:
Degree: Goal:
ACADEMIC INFORMATION
1.
What is the heart of your academic interests and what has contributed to your choice of this/these area(s) of focus? Discuss your choice of major(s) and minor(s). Include some reflection on the role of particular courses, projects, readings, professors, as well as non-academic experiences, in your decision to pursue your chosen field(s) of study.
2.
What are your principal academic/creative interests beyond your major(s)/minor(s)? In what way(s) do you pursue these interests?
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3.
If relevant, please describe your Take Five or KEY program and why you are pursuing it.
4.
What languages other than English do you know? How did you acquire this knowledge and how do you maintain your proficiency?
5.
List merit-based awards, honors, and special recognitions received while in college or for college.
Freshmen and sophomores may include most significant high-school honors. Please do not abbreviate award names. Indicate a) award selection criteria or purpose; b) sponsor of award or honor; c) date received and/or duration (e.g., Spring 2011, Fall 2011-Spring 2012, 2011-15).
6.
Describe any independent study, research, internships, teaching assistantships, workshop
leadership, etc., in which you have participated. Indicate a) when and where the activity occurred; b) duration of your participation; c) basis of selection/how you obtained the position; d) who supervised you; e) your role or duties; f) significance of experience in your academic and personal development, or what you gained; g) presentation or publication of work.
7.
What has been your most meaningful intellectual/creative accomplishment in college thus far and why? If you have not yet had such an experience, what do you hope to accomplish in your studies beyond excellent grades in coursework?
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8.
If you have studied or traveled abroad (including family trips), when and where did you go and why did you choose that destination? How long were you abroad? Discuss the impact of the international experience on your studies, personal growth, world outlook, post-graduate plans, and career goals. If you will study abroad in the future, indicate when, where, and why.
9.
Please explain the circumstances of any semester in which your academic performance did not reflect your ability.
10.
Please explain if there has been any interruption in your education since high school. When and how long were you away from schooling; what did you do during this time?
11.
What are your post-baccalaureate plans? For example, if you plan to go to graduate school, indicate what you plan to study and what degree you will seek; also indicate where you’d most like to study, if you know this now. What profession/career do you aspire to and what do you wish to accomplish in this realm? If you plan to seek employment rather than pursue graduate education, what kind of work do you hope to do and why is this important to you?
EXTRA-CURRICULAR & SERVICE ACTIVITIES
For all activities below, list in reverse chronological order with period and frequency of participation. Also indicate a) any leadership roles; b) the importance of each activity to your personal and intellectual development;
c) your most significant accomplishment(s) or contribution(s) for each endeavor; include how you demonstrated initiative or creativity.
1.
Campus activities—e.g., student government, residential life, social/cultural clubs and associations, committees, political and advocacy organizations, undergraduate councils, athletics, creative/performing arts.
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2.
Off-campus activities—e.g., community/volunteer work (specify whether or not work associated with a University group or office), leadership training, civic engagement, etc. In addition to the information requested above, indicate the full name and nature of the group or activity, how you became involved, and your supervisor.
3.
Reflect further on one recent particularly satisfying public service or volunteer activity in which you participated.
4.
Reflect further on one recent specific experience or activity in which you demonstrated your leadership capacity and made a positive difference on campus or in the wider community.
5.
Describe any special talents you have that are not mentioned elsewhere.
6.
What are your hobbies or special interests? How long have you been engaged in these pursuits and how often do you engage in them now?
SUMMER PLANS:
If not indicated elsewhere, please describe your plans for the upcoming summer.
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EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES
Some fellowships take financial need into consideration; therefore, please indicate how your education is being financed. Indicate merit awards as well as need-based financial aid; specify source (e.g., UR grant, federal loan, etc.) and duration of funding (e.g., one year, one-time, four-year award, etc.). It is not necessary to provide dollar
amounts. Please also note if the necessity of working to help pay your educational expenses has influenced your choice of jobs and/or your level of participation in other activities.
FAMILY
Briefly tell us about your family background. Where did you grow up? Is there an unusual family circumstance that you would like to mention? What is the educational level of your parents and what are their occupations or professions? Are you a first-generation American or first-generation college student? Did your parents immigrate to the U.S.? If so, when and from what country(ies) did they come to the U.S.? How do you maintain a relationship with your/your parents’ country of origin?
RÉSUMÉ
Please attach an up-to-date résumé. Be sure to include dates, as well as locations when appropriate.
PERSONAL ESSAY QUESTIONS
Please reflect on each of the topics below. You may address each question separately or present your responses in the format of a single essay. Confine your responses to a maximum of two single-spaced pages.
a) how you define your most notable character traits; what has influenced them, e.g., ideas, beliefs, experiences b) what makes you outraged
c) what causes you joy d) three things you value in others
e) an experience of failure or great disappointment (beyond middle school), how you handled it, and what impact the experience had on you going forward
f) a recent experience that has taken you outside of your comfort zone and how that experience has affected your worldview and self-perception
g) what compels/inspires you to pursue your chosen educational and career goals; what problems/issues/needs in your field or society do you wish to make a difference in through your work
h) besides previously stated goals, what you would do, either once or as a lifetime pursuit, if there were no limits or obstacles in your way—and why
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