Alumna offers tips for Fulbright applicants

McKenzie Shelton, left, with Honors College Dean David White at the Makers Fall Reception 2018.

McKenzie Shelton, Honors alumna and EC Scholar Class of 2017, recently submitted a Fulbright proposal and wanted to share the following pointers for fellow Honors College students who are interested in the Fulbright.

So you’re interested in applying for a Fulbright…congratulations! Regardless of whether you’re aiming for the English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) or a Research/Study award, you’re embarking on a journey of self-discovery and intense focus as you prepare for this highly competitive international funding program. Since graduating from the Honors College in 2017, I’ve returned to work for the college as a graduate student, founding the Makers Arts Residency and assisting with the freshman colloquium. I’ve spent the last six months of grad school readying written materials (and my mind) to apply for a Fulbright to begin a PhD in politics at the University of Liverpool making documentaries about arts-driven gentrification. During my prep time I conducted a literature review, wrote regular reflections on my readings, got scholarships to attend conferences in my field, secured an affiliation with two different UK universities, and wrote over a dozen drafts of my statements. Sounds like a lot, right? It is…but it can be done, and it can be fun! (if you like hard work and confronting your ego). Submission was last week, and the application process has been clarifying for me; I’d like to share with you some helpful tips I’ve picked up. For the record, all my recommendations are my thoughts alone and do not represent the opinion of Fulbright or any ECU students, staff, or faculty. If you have further questions about Fulbright, honors, and beyond, you can reach me at mckenzieshelton7@gmail.com and on LinkedIn.

For most award types (there are many different kinds), an affiliation is required. In the best-case scenario, you’ve already secured an affiliation with a university or other organization in a foreign country. Yes, it can be another kind of institution besides a university, though that is the most common form of affiliation. You don’t necessarily have to take classes at your host institution (but pay attention to your award type—some, like mine, require graduate studies), but you do need to identify someone abroad to agree to be your local point of contact. Your affiliation will write your “affiliation letter,” a critical piece of your Fulbright application. If you have an idea for a potential affiliation, you likely acquired this from previous study abroad, a mission trip, or some chance international encounter that rocked your world. I originally wanted to study in Italy but had a really hard time meeting professors who were willing to be my affiliation. However, when touring an Italian university, I ran into some researchers from the UK who were presenting their work which used creative methodologies similar to my own. Finding we had a lot of academic interests in common, we got to chatting and they invited me to apply for a Fulbright at their university—EUREKA! I’d found an affiliation! For those of you who get understandably nervous talking to strangers, I encourage you to remember why it is that you want to study abroad in the first place; harness this energy to get talking! If you can’t get to another country, exhaust all options here at home—ask anyone you know who may be relevant to your country for connections to potential affiliations. We are fortunate to live in an age where networking is a click, email, or video chat away. Go for it!
Know the role of your Fulbright Program Advisor (FPA). Each university identifies an FPA who assists applicants by arranging a campus committee interview, filling out a campus review form, and officially submitting student materials on the application portal. Many universities have a designated staff advisor whose sole job is to help polish student grant applications, including the Fulbright. It looks good for a university when their students are getting lots of money to do cool work around the world! You’ll likely be applying through ECU (although you can also opt to apply “at-large”); at this point, ECU does not have a full-time grant advisor position. Instead, a professor takes it on as part of his/her “service” to the university (if you didn’t know, professors are required to do teaching, research, and service to varying degrees as part of their job). Given that many universities our size get more Fulbright awards than we even submit, our not having a designated paid advisor is a significant administrative hiring issue. Unfortunately, if it’s not an FPA’s full-time job, it’s unlikely that they will give you their full attention throughout the process, unless they’re particularly invested in your success (in which case, that’s awesome!). If you’re reading this when we still don’t have a dedicated FPA position at ECU, sorry for the inconvenience. Rely on your FPA for submitting materials and assistance with your initial edits and always be respectful. This person is imperative to your success (and may offer you some of the greatest lessons to learn). Know your award type in and out and seek other advisors/mentors. Ask professors and administrators to connect you with faculty who have been awarded a Fulbright, especially those who are now national-level reviewers. Reach out to these folks and invite them to join you for coffee so you can pick their brain about their Fulbright experience, what to expect in the application, etc. After a hopefully delightful conversation, politely ask this person if they’d be willing to review your materials before you submit (with plenty of time to spare). If they don’t feel comfortable or don’t have time, it’s okay! Part of this process is overcoming both external and internal obstacles.
Seek outside resources in creative places! Early in my application process, I was hungry for on-the-ground Fulbright info, so I joined a subreddit, https://www.reddit.com/r/fulbright/. On this thread I found truly invaluable information, some of which I’ve linked below, and even did essay edit exchanges with other Fulbright hopefuls. Other forum sites like https://forum.thegradcafe.com/ are great places to hunt for information and posit your questions to an equally concerned and driven community. As well, before I visited Italy on my affiliation quest, I joined a Facebook group called “Girls Love Travel.” I posted about needing a reliable hostel and ended up making friends with a phenomenal young woman earning her PhD in cultural anthropology. Not only did I end up staying in her family’s cottage on the outskirts of Rome, but she hooked me up with people studying in my field at her university. Eventually, no affiliation came from it, but I got a great resource and an even better friend with whom I’m still in contact. These kinds of travel groups exist all over the internet for all kinds of identities. Obviously, if you’re considering upgrading your new online friendship from internet to IRL, you should vet them for possible insanity. Beyond that, get in that digital sandbox and play!
Be prepared to feel unsure of yourself so that, when insecurity arrives, you can use it to grow in your self-worth. When I began this application, I didn’t believe that I was good enough to apply. I thought a few years of grad school had helped me shake off most of my imposter syndrome, but parts of the Fulbright application process brought it back in full bloom. The final few months were the most grueling for me; between a campus interview which made me feel as if all my shortcomings were exposed, finding out my advisor never knew which award I was applying for, and having a recommender drop out a week before submission, there were many times when I doubted my self-efficacy and the dream of a Fulbright. However, I am surrounded by a team of powerfully supportive people including friends, family, mentors, a therapist, and a faith community I relied on heavily during that stressful time. As you go through this process, please start early, take care of yourself, remember that you are worthy, and that grades and grants do not define you. This is so important for people in honors and other merit organizations to learn! I won’t find out whether I’ve been shortlisted until March, but until then, I’m going to enjoy my renewed sense of effectiveness. Remember: before and after this application, you are a passionate, driven person…I believe in you. 🙂

Thanks for reading! Here are a few more helpful resources for your journey:

Check out this rad crowdsourced spreadsheet which keeps track of when applicants got their status notifications, among other applicant data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Cd86U9AreH9k_-WKLKnLCLn_C5MC3FKvZZ9RhlqSAq4/edit#gid=1535702113

Also this YouTube seminar from the Australian Fulbright people about how to write an awesome application (still very relevant to American applicants): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_yIxiVs1tw

And this fantastic website, https://www.winafulbright.com/, which offers free resources to students who need an extra pair of eyes, ideas, and inspiration for their applications. When I ran into issues with polishing my essays, I had a wonderful coaching phone call with Lauren, who started the site with her unofficial Fulbright advisor. Sign up for their free application crash course. Lauren was like a fairy godmother in this process, so please check out her helpful consulting services and YouTube videos at these links: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCALmLP7WXtiY9Ps1Uyr9Nxg?view_as=subscriber

https://www.laurenlunavaldez.com/

WE LOVE STATISTICS!! At this link, you can view how many people applied/were accepted to your award program in the last few years: https://us.fulbrightonline.org/statistics

It’s easy to miss this little guy who hides in the upper right-hand corner of the Fulbright official website along with his friends “Blog” and “Grantee Directory” (the latter is another sneaky way to potentially locate an affiliation in your host country of interest). Keep in mind that these statistics are at the host country level (there are three levels of review: regional, national, and host country). That is, my award type, the UK Partnership Award, accepts one out of 11-14 applicants per year (11-14 make it to the host country level).

Many, many more application resources can be found at the official Fulbright website: https://us.fulbrightonline.org/

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Honors College