Fulbright U.S. Student Program

Award Cycle: 2025 - 2026 (April 2024 - October 2024)

Please note the time zone specifications as there are NO exceptions for late or incomplete submissions.

April 2024: Embark application portal opens

June 7, 2024 @ 5pm ET: Intent to Apply form deadline

• This form is optional and is intended for those interested in more tailored support at an earlier stage.

July 9, 2024 @ 5pm ET: Preliminary Application & Faculty Endorsement form deadlines

• Both forms are mandatory for students who wish to apply internally through the College.
• Prior to requesting faculty endorsement, students should have notified their faculty sponsor of their interest in a Fulbright grant and also shared their project/research ideas with that sponsor.
• Students who do not meet this deadline are welcome to apply as an internal applicant through another home institution or as an external candidate.

August 30, 2024 @ 5pm ET: TC Institutional Deadline

• This is only for TC internal applicants who wish to advance to interviews with the Faculty Review Committee (FRC) in September.
• Internal applicants must submit their applications in the Embark application portal.

September 2024: FRC Virtual Interviews

• This is only for TC internal applicants.
• Conducted via Zoom, the College's FRC interviews applicants after reading their applications. The purpose of the interview is for applicants to receive 1-on-1 feedback directly from TC faculty, many of whom have reviewed Fulbright applications on the national level.
• The FRC will also convene to decide on institutional endorsement for each applicant.
• After receiving this feedback, applicants are welcome to request that the Program "un-submit" their applications in the Embark portal to allow them to make revisions before the national deadline.
  • Applicants who elect to have their applications submitted are responsible for submitting their application AGAIN by the national deadline.
  • Internal applicants at this stage will receive instructions via email on how to request an "un-submit."

October 2024: Fulbright National Deadline

• All applicants (internal and external) must SUBMIT completed applications (online application and supplementary materials) in the Embark portal.
  • Supplementary materials refers to letters of recommendation, transcripts, language evaluations, host affiliation letters, etc.
• Internal candidates whose applications were un-submitted following FRC interviews must SUBMIT AGAIN by this deadline. The Program is not able (or responsible for) submitting applications.

November - December 2024: NSC Review

• After a technical review whereby all applications are screen for eligibility and completeness, IIE convenes the National Screening Committee (NSC) to read and rate applications and make recommendations to the host country.
  • NSC reviewers are are full-time faculty members of U.S. institutions who have discipline or region-specific experience.

January 2025: Semi-Finalist Notifications Begin

• Candidates are notified via email about whether or not their applications have been recommended to their host country.

March - June 2025: Finalist Notifications

• Countries deliberate and select final grant recipients.
• Exact notification dates vary by country and some candidates may not be notified until mid- or late-summer.

Recommended Timeline for Preparing an Application

Eligibility

Students who wish to apply through the TC Fulbright Program as internal applicants must be:

• Enrolled in a degree program; and
• Registered for at least five (5) academic credits (or the equivalent) for both Fall 2022 and Spring 2023

Advantages

Per IIE, students currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at a U.S. college or university, are strongly encouraged to apply through that institution.

Although applying internally requires adhering to a specific timeline, including an institutional deadline by which students must submit the oficial online application and statements, internal candidacy also comes with specific advantages:

• A structured application timeline that includes 1-on-1 support from Program staff
• Interview and faculty feedback
• The possibility of receiving institutional endorsement

Award Types

Each year, the TC Fulbright Program supports internal applicants with two awards:

• Research*
• English Teaching Assistant (ETA)

*Applicants should carefully review this class of awards so as not to confuse it with open study awards or graduate degree program awards.

Pre-Application Process

The 2024-2025 award cycle opens on March 30th, 2023. The TC Fulbright Program institutional deadline is August 30, 2023 by 5pm ET (no exceptions).

The institutional deadline requires students to complete the online application and upload their statements and transcripts to the Embark Portal, as these are the materials the TC Faculty Review Committee will review and reference during interviews. Internal applicants do not need to upload (1) the host affiliation letter or (2) letters of recommendation by this deadline. However, they must upload these items by the national deadline.

To apply internally, students:

• Should submit the optional Intent to Apply form as early as possible or by Friday, June 9, 2023, 5 PM (ET)*.
• Must submit the mandatory Preliminary Application form and Faculty Endorsement form by Friday, July 7, 2023, 5 PM (ET).
• Secure letters of recommendation from at least two TC faculty members (Research award only).

*Please note the timezone deadlines. There will be no exceptions for late submission.

The Preliminary application requires sharing drafts and/or outlines of your statements. In order for this application to be considered complete, students must also submit a faculty endorsement by the deadline. Ideally, the endorsement should come from an academic or dissertation advisor; however, students are welcome to request endorsements from any TC faculty member (adjuncts and lecturers, included). These forms are internal documents only, and are never shared outside of the Program.

Completing the Fulbright application is an endeavor that requires several months of preparation and critical reflection. By formally declaring the Intent to Apply and submitting the Preliminary Application early, students should expect to receive 1-on-1 guidance and resources from the TC Fulbright Program.

Embark Portal

• The official online application, including fields to upload supporting documents (e.g. statements, transcripts, language evaluations, etc.)
• Internal applicants must submit this application twice:
• Once by the institutional deadline Wednesday, August 30, 2023, 5 PM (ET); and
• Once for the IIE national deadline (TBA). 
• Between these two submission deadlines, students will have the opportunity to revise their application based on feedback from the Faculty Review Committee.

Campus Interviews

• The Faculty Review Committee (FRC) convenes in mid-September to virtually (via zoom) interview internal applicants.
• Following the interview, the FRC may share additional written feedback. Otherwise, applicants are welcome to request via email that OGE returns their applications in the Embark portal so that they can make revisions based on said feedback.
• Applicants who request their applications back are 100% responsible for re-submitting applications by the national deadline (TBA). OGE and TC Fulbright Program staff not able to resubmit on any applicant’s behalf.

The national deadline -- for all applicants, application process/pathway -- is October 2023 at 5pm ET. The exact date will be announced on March 30th when the 2024-2025 award cycle formally opens. Please note that the deadline is timezone specific with absolutely no exceptions.

Application Components

While the official Fulbright application is submitted electronically via the IIE Embark Application Portal, internal candidates are also required to submit the Faculty Endorsement and the Preliminary Application to OIA. For more information on these internal forms, please refer to the “Information for Internal Applicants” tab.

The components of the application are:

• Online application (Embark)
• Statement of grant purpose
• Personal statement
• Three (3) recommendation letters (research award) or three (3) recommendation forms (ETA)
• Fulbright recommendation instructions can be found here for research award, and for ETA.
• Language evaluation (if applicable)
• Language self-evaluation form
• Foreign language evaluation form
• Refer to “FAQs for Students” >> “Language Proficiency Requirements”.
• Host affiliation letter(s) (for research award only)
• Transcript(s)
• Arts portfolio (for creative and performing arts grants)

Detailed explanations of the application components for the research award and the ETA award are available on the IIE website.

Things to Note

Research Award

• Take note of host affiliation requirements for your specific country, as some countries have specific criteria for affiliations (e.g. academic institutions only, etc.).
• Your affiliation should be a country‐based institution, not an American institution with branches abroad.
• Although the letters of recommendation and language evaluation are uploaded by others, you must upload the letter of affiliation yourself. It must be on institutional letterhead. It cannot be the body of an email from an email correspondence, but you can ask for a scanned PDF.
• We advise that you contact your host organization for the letter of affiliation as early as March. The letter of affiliation cannot be obtained a month or a few weeks before the application due date. Failure to secure a letter of affiliation is oftentimes the reason applicants are unable to complete the application.
• If you need ideas for a sponsoring institution, explore the Fulbright Alumni Community or the Columbia Global Centers.

ETA Award

• In addition to working with their assigned students, ETA recipients must also complete a community outreach project in the local community. Because the Fulbright Program focuses on cultural exchange, this project is a critical component of the application, and students should mention their project ideas in their statements.
• For ideas on suitable community outreach projects, read the Fulbright Blog and profiles of Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors.

Resources

• From Fulbright U.S. Program:
• Fulbright Videos, Tutorials & Recorded Webinars
• Fulbright Grantee and Application Statistics
• Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors & Grantee Directory
• Fulbright U.S. Student Program Events
• Making the Grade: Five Things Every Applicant Should Know About the Fulbright U.S. Student Program Review Process
• Books:

• Tori O'Neal-McElrath and Mim Carlson. Winning Grants Step by Step : The Complete Workbook for Planning, Developing and Writing Successful Proposals. John Wiley & Sons, 2013. (TC Library e-book access)
• Gen Tanabe and Kelly Tanabe. The Ultimate Scholarship Book 2019 : Billions of Dollars in Scholarships, Grants and Prizes. SuperCollege, 2018. (TC Library e-book access)
• Dakota Pawlicki, Chase James, Gregory Michie, and Gregory Michie. The Insider's Guide to Winning Education Grants. John Wiley & Sons, 2013. (TC Library e-book access)
  
• Donald C. Orlich and Nancy R. Shrope. Developing a Winning Grant Proposal. Routledge, 2012. (TC Library e-book access)
  
• Burns, Thomas. The Zen of Fulbright. Los Angeles: Don Davis Press, 2014.
• Schall, Joe. Writing Personal Statements & Scholarship Application Essays. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008.
• Stewart, Mark Alan. How to Write the Perfect Personal Statement. Peterson's, 2012.