Scholarship Application Timeline

Create Mentors

  • Make one new mentor each semester. Go to the office hours of one professor each semester and build a relationship that will last over the course of your time at Hunter.
  • Meet with OPS&F at least once per semester throughout your time at Hunter.
  • Consider taking winter Personal Statement Writing Workshop or Session I Summer School Course on Writing the Personal Statement.

When to Start

You should begin considering whether you want to go to graduate or professional school much earlier than you think. You may always decide later not to go, or not to go immediately, but the process is a long one, and you should start planning by the second semester of your sophomore year.

If you are majoring in the sciences or physiological psychology, start trying to get into a lab by your sophomore year. You will need research experience.

TIP: If you are majoring in the social sciences or the humanities, take courses that require you to write papers. Keep your papers, especially those that are graded with comments. You will need one or two good writing samples for your application.

Timeline

In the suggested timeline below, some actions may appear more than once, because they are ongoing.

Sophomore Year

  • Continue building your network by talking to faculty, alumni, and students in your major.
  • Take courses that align with your interests, where you can gain needed skills.
  • Consider taking winter Personal Statement Writing Workshop or Session I Summer School Course on Writing the Personal Statement.
  • Meet with OPS&F about Junior Year Fellowships.

Junior Year

First Semester

  • Take courses that align with your interests, where you can gain needed skills.
  • Consider research, work and internship experiences that will confirm your interests and demonstrate your skills.

Second Semester — Assemble the Application

  • Speak with faculty about letters of recommendation for the fall fellowships cycle.
  • Meet with OPS&F to discuss and finalize list of major fellowships to apply for over the summer; determine which you will postpone until after senior year.
  • Consider taking winter Personal Statement Writing Workshop or Session I Summer School Course on Writing the Personal Statement.

Deadlines for major competitive scholarships mostly occur between early September and early November and then again between early January and early March.

Senior Year

First Semester — Apply

  • Apply for fellowships; pay attention to which require endorsements/nominations and therefore have early, internal deadlines.
  • Order transcripts for each fellowship application.
  • Write thank you notes to people who helped you with your fellowship applications.

Second Semester

  • Consider taking winter Personal Statement Writing Workshop.
  • Before you graduate, be sure to request letters of recommendation from faculty with whom you have worked closely but have not yet written for you.