Distinguishing Yourself

Your scholarly options as an undergraduate are plentiful. However, much depends upon your willingness to take the initiative early and often. From the very outset it is imperative that you:

1. Get to know faculty and their research (don't limit your contact only to faculty in your department or from the courses you have taken)
2. Attend lectures, seminars, and brown bag discussions within your field and/or of general interest
3. Go beyond the basic reading required in your courses (e.g., read journals in your field)
4. Participate in leadership or service activities that you are passionate about

Scholarly pursuits are not limited or tied to coursework. Summers can and should be put to good use beyond "earning money" or "sun, fun, travel, and relaxation." Your academic and professional interests can be combined and wed to the above pursuits in profitable, interesting, and beneficial ways. For instance, you may find a summer internship at a research institution, engage in volunteer work abroad, or conduct a research project with a professor that allows for travel and/or learning new skills. The possibilities are endless.

No matter what you are interested in, no matter what your academic or career goals, make sure you take advantage of the opportunities that are available to you.

So, You Want to Win a Prestigious Scholarship or Fellowship

It is no longer sufficient to meet the minimum requirements for merit-based scholarships or fellowships. The competition is intense. To compete you have to be as good as, if not better than, the rest.

Indeed, a perusal of recent scholarship recipients suggest the following profile:

Scholar X knows Bono and espouses many of his concerns; worked with Mother Theresa's religious order; found a cure for some disease or other; presented and/or published his/her research at/in scholarly or professional meetings/journals; climbed Mt. Everest; is the captain of his/her underwater hockey team; is president of his/her student body; speaks 3 languages; performs in the school orchestra; and is the winner of innumerable departmental and college awards and honors.

OK, that may be a slight exaggeration but it does illustrate the point. (Don't believe us? Check it out for yourself. Profiles of the most recent recipients of the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships can be found at the scholarships' websites.) You may also view winning applications for some awards at www.livetolearn.com. Further, write-ups of recent Illinois recipients may be found here.

Intimidated? Don't be. Below you will find some tips and suggestions for things you should consider at the different stages of your undergraduate career. The difference between the student who is competitive for a variety of prestigious scholarships and the one who is not is based on more than GPA. The competitive student has taken advantage of available academic, extracurricular, scholarly, and service activities.

Whether or not you win one or more scholarships/fellowships, you will certainly get far more out of your education, your life, and time spent while a student at the university. We may be located in "the middle of a cornfield" but that doesn't mean that your undergraduate career should be lackluster. The soil here is internationally renown for its fertility; with a little effort, you can reap remarkable rewards in your intellectual, personal, and social life.

Timeline towards a Strong Application