Fulbright Scholarship Program One Path to U.S. Graduate Study

Studying in the U.S. can turn into a very costly experience if students don't plan ahead and budget their money accordingly. For some students, it might even be impossible to pursue their studies in the States, given average annual tuition of more than $30,000 at four-year private colleges.

I was one of those students, too. I dreamed of earning my master's degree in the U.S. before committing to a regular job, and I knew I wouldn't be able to live that dream if I didn't find a way to pay for it. An item in a newsletter at my undergraduate college that talked about a scholarship for studying specifically in the U.S. caught my attention: the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. I decided to try my luck and apply for this prestigious scholarship.

The Fulbright Program was founded in 1946 and ever since has supported exchange students to foster knowledge, cultural and mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries.

Since it is focused on an exchange of students only to and from the U.S., the people working within the program have a lot of experience and expertise with the demands of studying in the U.S. It accepts relatively few students and is known as an elite program, in part because of the amount of support students get: Full scholars in Germany, for example, receive up to $34,500 for tuition per school year. Additionally, the program can also pay academic fees, visa and flight costs there and back, health checks, language tests and more for many recipients.

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Besides those material benefits, there are others: Scholars prepare for their stay in the U.S. through seminars with other scholars and can create a network before they leave, and maybe even find someone at or close to their college. Other seminars along the Fulbright experience in the U.S. support this bigger idea even more. After finishing their studies, Fulbright scholars join a big community of alumni and can prosper from this worldwide network.

Scholars are guided through the necessary degree program applications as well as through preparation and transition, by the Fulbright employees. This comes in very handy as there are a lot of things to consider, deadlines to keep and expectations to fulfill -- from the kind of documents needed for an application, to necessary health checks before takeoff. Also, during the stay in the U.S., there are program officers who help take care of students.

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program doesn't support undergraduate programs, only doctoral and master's degree students or students in programs that aim at certificates for further education. The scholarship is set up for one school year. In certain cases, the stay can be extended, such as if a student complements his or studies with an internship. From my own experience, I know that it is possible to achieve a degree in those two semesters -- I took five classes per semester. This might sound tough, but it is actually doable

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I had five classes per week, worked a busy on-campus job and still managed to maintain friendships and a private life. It's all a matter of willpower and discipline. Some schools might not offer one-year options, but proper research will lead students to the schools that do.

Yes, the Fulbright scholarship is in great demand and if you apply for it there will be a lot of competition. But that should not keep you from giving it a shot. Even though a lot is asked of applicants, the prerequisites for the students and the application process are definitely worth the effort.

The program is not only looking to finance a student's stay in the U.S., but also to build ambassadors of a certain country and culture who will carry a positive image of their heritage. A positive, curious and outgoing attitude and an open-minded and extroverted personality are a must.

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That is also why another requirement is typically that students pursue extracurricular activities. Those could be volunteer activities in the community, passion for a certain sport, political engagement, a job or a little bit of everything. Either way, your field of study and your extracurricular activities should create an authentic picture of your personality.

Fulbright eligibility and applications vary by country, but typically, there are a lot of pieces to an application for a Fulbright scholarship, including high school and college transcripts, letters of recommendation from professors and more. In my case, there were two very important pieces: a detailed curriculum vitae, in text form, where you describe your path of life and how you became who you are today in about one page; and a piece where you present the field of study you are interested in, the reasons that make you choose that specific field, how it complements your academic route and why you want to pursue your studies in the U.S.

Those two pieces were my chance to be authentic and stand out from the crowd. This is also true for the interview that followed, which candidates from many countries will undergo if their application makes it to the next round. I found it was important to stay true to myself. That's what I did by giving honest answers, even when I was alone with that opinion next to the other applicants during our interview.

All in all I can only recommend to anyone who is interested in this scholarship to not be scared of all the work -- and paperwork -- you have to put into an application. Believe that you could be one of the few scholars to attend the Fulbright experience.

Mirjam Milsch, from Germany, received a Master of Science degree in industrial engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology through a grant from the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. She previously studied at Fachhochschule Hannover in Germany.