Frequently Asked Questions
Applying for nationally-competitive scholarships can help you think creatively about possible personal, intellectual, and professional opportunities and open up new educational, social, and cultural horizons. You will have the opportunity to study or research with internationally renowned experts distinguished for their excellence and ability to mentor. You will build on skills acquired here at Hunter in understanding, networking, and leadership.
Even if you do not ultimately receive a scholarship, you will have focused your areas of interest, developed relationships with faculty, learned to present yourself through interviews and written statements, and gained genuine insight into your own capacities and potential.
These scholarships are extremely competitive and selective. Thousands of applicants often from around the world apply annually. However, Hunter College students compete successfully in a variety of awards each year and our job is to support your quest to enhance your future.
Please see our listing of recipients to learn more.
RecipientsUndergraduate and post-graduate scholarships each have specific requirements.
Review the lists of scholarships and special opportunities:
Each scholarship is unique in its requirements but there are some characteristics that are consistent:
- Excellent academic record (GPA)
- Sustained leadership experience
- Engagement in college-wide and civic activities
Please check the individual scholarship program to determine what is best for you, before meeting with OPS&F Director, Stephen Lassonde.
Immediately!
The steps to completing an application for a prestigious scholarship are numerous and can stretch throughout the four years of college. Begin thinking about scholarships as early as your freshman year.
As described in our section on Getting Started, you should identify your area of interest, read widely in that area, become familiar with faculty in your chosen field of study, develop a mentoring relationship, participate in internships and research, attend internal and external lectures, review our website, and attend workshops.
Each scholarship has a specific deadline for applications, but most of them fall between September and February. You will find specific dates and deadlines in each scholarship application.
A personal statement is your introduction to the selection committee and provides an opportunity to show them who you are in your own words and in comparison with other candidates.
Here you can show how your past and present skills and encounters will lead to success as a scholarship recipient and in turn, how these experiences enhance your goals for the future. Don’t repeat information that is provided elsewhere in the application unless it is to underscore points you are making.
Please contact our office at ops@hunter.cuny.edu for more information on workshops offered throughout the year.
Thinking about recommenders should start early in your academic career. Ideally academic letters should be written by tenured professors with whom you have taken more than one course or advanced courses, conducted research, or have had a mentored internship.
Depending on the scholarship requirements, you will also want to have letters from persons affiliated with your extracurricular and community activities.