Distinguished Fellowships Resources

That depends on which fellowship we are talking about. The threshold for a few is set very high; others not as much. Many fellowships, even those considered among the most prestigious, have qualifying GPAs that can be described as reasonable. If you have a 3.0 grade point average or above, we encourage you to set up an appointment with our office and we will find at least one award for which you could apply.

Make an appointment with our office. Together we can sort out which of these fit best with what you have accomplished already and what you hope to accomplish in the future.

Absolutely. Students are encouraged to apply appropriately AND broadly. In other words, you should apply for every fellowship that will get you to where you want to go and with which your qualifications fit snugly. But remember, you never do yourself a favor when you force yourself into a fellowship competition in which you either clearly don’t belong or only barely.

Absolutely. Although it is best to start the process as early as possible, mustering a competitive application, like most things in life, is not about how long you work at it but rather how well. What matters most is that your qualifications meet the priorities of the fellowship, and since you think this particular fellowship is "perfect" for you, it is worth applying to. Set up a time to meet with our advisors as soon as possible.

Our office is a one-stop shop, and among the many things we supply, beyond encouragement, guidance, and support, is the institutional endorsement itself, written by the Director of Distinguished Fellowships on the candidate’s behalf. The institutional endorsement is one reason why it’s better to begin the process of applying as early as possible: The longer we have to get to know you, the better the letter that we write for you is likely to be. The same logic also applies to the recommenders you selected to write their own letters to support your candidacy.

As with so many things about fellowships, the answer here is: "it depends." Some fellowships encourage students to request letters of recommendation from high-ranking professors, while many others are more flexible than most people think. Since the applicants we work with are current or recent undergraduates, it makes sense to have Rutgers faculty represented in your recommendations. However, for some awards, it may be better to have someone from a volunteer organization or internship write for you. 

The bottom line with recommendations is that they must be detailed, specific, supportive and enthusiastic. To receive a recommendation like this, you must choose someone who is willing and able to write the sort of letter described, whether the recommender is a professor or a supervisor. It is important that the recommender knows you well and likes you so that they can craft a great letter that is detailed, specific, supportive, and enthusiastic. If the substance of your relationship with a professor is nothing more than having received a high grade in her class, that is not enough to generate the quality of letter you are looking for and you should search elsewhere.

We can help you brainstorm about whom to ask and provide more information about the requirements of recommenders during advising.

This is truly one of our most frequently asked questions! Letters of recommendation are a major source of anxiety for most students. To make it easy on yourself and your recommenders, follow these tips:

• Talk to your potential recommender (in person or by video call) well in advance of the deadline -- at least one month is best.
• Provide your recommender with all the details about the fellowship and why you're applying for it, as well as how and when to submit the letter.
• Give them a copy of your resume/c.v. and possibly copies of your application essay drafts.
• Follow up a week before the deadline with a reminder and an offer to provide any additional information for them. 
• Thank them! Let them know you appreciate their time, and let them know the results of the application.

One other common myth we'd like to clear up: you CAN ask the same recommender for letters multiple times! Once recommenders have a letter written, they can update it for a new opportunity and continue to support you. 

BOREN SCHOLARSHIP

John Woods, Linguistics, School of Arts and Sciences (Taiwan)

CRITICAL LANGUAGE SCHOLARSHIP

GaHyun Yoo, Information Technology and Informatics, School of Communication and Information (Turkey)

Wilhelm Esguerra, Public Health, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning Public Policy, School of

Arts and Sciences (Brazil)
Murod Khikmatov*, Economics, School of Arts and Sciences (Turkey)
Faith Lee*, French and Medieval Studies, School of Arts and Sciences; Education, Graduate School

of Education (Taiwan)
Maria Lopez Brena, Public Health, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy,

School of Arts and Sciences (Mexico)
Mikaela Peters*, Business Analytics, Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick;

Russian and European Studies, School of Arts and Sciences (Finland)
Amrutha Ramaswamy, Public Policy, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy/

School of Arts and Sciences (Turkey)
Adriana Scanteianu*, Mathematics, School of Arts and Sciences (Spain)

GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP

Tai Wai Hu, Physics, School of Arts and Sciences
Jacqueline Mehr, Biological Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences

MARSHALL SCHOLARSHIP

Maya Ravichandran*, Computer Science, School of Arts and Sciences

PRINCETON IN LATIN AMERICA FELLOWSHIP

Carson Cummins*, History and Spanish, School of Arts and Sciences

SCHWARZMAN SCHOLARSHIP

Julien Rosenbloom*, Political Science, School of Arts and Sciences
Malike Naibi, Finance, Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick

UDALL SCHOLARSHIP

Morgan Mark, Bioenvironmental Engineering, School of Engineering (Honorable Mention)

BEINECKE SCHOLAR

Nathaniel Serio, Philosophy and Linguistics, School of Arts and Sciences

CRITICAL LANGUAGE SCHOLAR

Annalise Burke*, Public Policy and Korean, School of Arts and Sciences

ERTEGUN SCHOLAR

Jonas Tai*, Classics and History, School of Arts and Sciences

FULBRIGHT STUDENTS

Ezekiel Medina*, Public Health and Latino and Caribbean Studies, School of Arts and Sciences (Argentina)
Leigh Mueller*, Language Education, Graduate School of Education (Taiwan)
Mansi Shah*, Cell Biology and Neuroscience, School of Arts and Sciences (Spain)
Kathryn Slusarczyk*, Korean and Linguistics, School of Arts and Sciences (South Korea)
Megan Stanton*, German, School of Arts and Sciences (Germany)
Breana Stevens*, Public Policy, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy (Spain)

Ian Stuart, German, School of Arts and Sciences (Germany)
Maegan Sunaz, Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies, School of Arts and Sciences (Indonesia)
Elena Wei*, Cell Biology and Neuroscience, School of Arts and Sciences (Colombia)

GOLDWATER SCHOLARS

Tanvi Banota, Cell Biology and Neuroscience and Linguistics, School of Arts and Sciences

Noah Paladino, Physics, School of Arts and Sciences

LUCE SCHOLARS

Melanie Arroyave*, Labor Studies and Employment Relations, School of Management and Labor Relations

Shivram Viswanathan, Economics and Mathematics, School of Arts and Sciences

MARSHALL SCHOLAR

Diego Atehortúa, Art History, School of Arts and Sciences

PRINCETON IN LATIN AMERICA FELLOW

Madhumita Kaushik*, Spanish and English, School of Arts and Sciences (Dominican Republic)

TRUMAN SCHOLAR

Dylan Serrentino-Mullins, Political Science, School of Arts and Sciences

BARRY GOLDWATER SCHOLARS 

Mariya Galochkina, Geology and Physics, School of Arts and Sciences
Rikab Gambhir, Physics, School of Arts and Sciences; Mechanical Engineering, 

Brandon Gomes, Physics and Mathematics, School of Arts and Sciences 

DAVID L. BOREN SCHOLAR 

Mikaela Peters, Business Analytics and Information Technology, Rutgers Business School; Russian, School of Arts and Sciences (Kyrgyzstan) 

CRITICAL LANGUAGE SCHOLARS 

Anna Baker*, Animal Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (Arabic) 

Sonay Barazesh*, Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science, School of Arts and Sciences (Turkish)
Annalise Burke, Public Policy and Korean, School of Arts and Sciences (Korean) 

FULBRIGHT STUDENTS 

Anna Baker*, Animal Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (Spain) 
Crystal Lam, English and Chinese, School of Arts and Sciences; English Education, Graduate School of Education (Taiwan)
Karina Lee, Biological Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences; Biological Sciences Education, Graduate School of Education (Taiwan)
Marina Martinez*, Social Work, School of Arts and Sciences (Czech Republic)
Alexandra Nicolaou*, History, School of Arts and Sciences; Social Sciences Education, Graduate School of Education (Greece)
Emma Sullivan, English, School of Arts and Sciences; Foreign Language Education and ESL, Graduate School of Education (Taiwan) 

GATES CAMBRIDGE SCHOLAR 

Sridhar Sriram*, Public Policy and Computer Science, School of Arts and Science

PRINCETON IN ASIA FELLOW 

Samuel Snyder*, Public Health, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (Thailand) 

SCHWARZMAN SCHOLARS 

Mussab Ali*, Economics and Biology, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark 

Nicholas Pellitta*, Political Science and Economics, School of Arts and Sciences 

Haoyang Yu, Computer Engineering, School of Engineering 

TRUMAN SCHOLAR 

Aasha Shaik, Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies, School of Arts and Sciences 

Critical Language Scholarship
Aasha Shaik

CEAIE Teach in China
Taylor Au

Emerson National Hunger Fellowship
Antoinette Gingerelli

Fulbright Student Grants
Elizabeth Baran, Colombia
Shelby McMullan, Germany
Massimo Guglietta, Slovak Republic
Elise Zhou, South Korea
Sarah Regn, Taiwan
Sarah Lin, Taiwan
Hope McCraw, Taiwan
Emily Chen, Taiwan
Colin Chehanske, Taiwan
Keana Mirmajlesi, Bulgaria
Charles Rabolli, Italy
Delfina Picchio, Spain
Ashley So, United Kingdom
Alexander Lopez-Perez, Indonesia
Anna Alves, Philippines
Megan Kenny, Ecuador
Christopher Markosian, Armenia,
Diego Atehortua, Brazil
Jennyfer Javier, Brazil
Michelle Arias, Brazil
Cecilia Salazar, Mexico
Sarah Schrading, Mexico
Tenaya Clark, Germany

Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Michael Antosiewicz

Goldwater Scholarship
Maine Christos
Nicholas Page

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Juilee Malavade
Wesley Kendall

Princeton in Asia Fellowship
Elise Zhou

Public Policy and Leadership Conference
Aasha Shaik

Beinecke Scholarship
Diego Atehortua
Charles B. Rangel Fellowship
Eunice Ajayi

Department of Energy Fellowship
Jennifer Coulter

Fulbright Student Grant
Vandana Apte, Czech Republic
Elizabeth Hamilton, Sri Lanka
Ayah Issa, Malaysia
Alex Lin, Taiwan
Kathryn Lobo, Colombia
Ellen Miller, Taiwan
Sejal Mistry, India
Jennifer Noji, Germany
Katia Oltmann, Indonesia
Matthew Rosado, Czech Republic
Esther Rose-Wilen, Spain
Joyce Samarina, South Korea
Jan Siess, Slovak Republic
Tayla Williams, Taiwan

Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Chelsie Riche

Goldwater Scholarship
Viktor Krapivin

Luce Scholarship
Kayla Jackson (Declined)

National Defense Fellowship
Jennifer Coulter

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Jennifer Coulter
Jacob Kupferberg
Daniel Naumenko
Jamie Wooding

Princeton In Asia Fellowship
Frank Policastri
Langley Oudemans

Public Policy and Leadership Conference
Sridhar Sriram

Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship
Rohini Baumik

Truman Scholar
Mussab Ali

Amgen Fellowship
Christopher Markosian

CASA Fellowship
Janna Aladdin

Charles B. Rangel Fellowship
Nathan Gwira

Fulbright Student Grant
Raul Aguilar, Germany
Mary Conlon, Colombia
Gabriel Cummings, Argentina
Kristen Licciardello, Morocco
Sarah Neiheiser, Turkey
Krupa Patel, Indonesia
Shaheena Shahid, Brazil
Ireh Michelle Shin, South Korea
Jeremy Yeaton, Bulgaria

Fund For Education Abroad
Na-Yeon Park

Goldwater Scholarship
Jennifer Coulter

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Aditya Park

Public Policy International Affairs Fellowship
Antoinette Gingerelli

Public Policy and Leadership Conference
Sarah Lin

Critical Language Scholarship
Rahul Ghosal
Zahra Janoowalla
Shireen Hamza
Austin Hudgins

DAAD Scholarship
Stephanie Marcus
 

Fulbright Student Grant
Olympia Christofinis, Malaysia
Sarah Gay, Macedonia
Kiranjot Kaur, Malaysia
Katlin O’Connor, Slovak Republic
Isaac Song, Spain
Camille Ungco, Indonesia
Vetri Velan, Germany
Zachary White, Turkey
Julia Xia, Indonesia

Goldwater Scholarship
Alina Afinogenova
Varun Arvind
Maggie Morash
Aditya Parikh

Luce Scholarship
Diana Won

Mitchell Scholarship
Thomas Golden

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Alexandra DeMaio

Wayne Duke Post Graduate Award Fellowship
Campbell Sode

Churchill Scholarship
David Kolchmeyer

Critical Language Scholarship
Austin Hudgins, China
Zachary Laporta, China
Meryem Uzumcu, Turkey
D.A.A.D Scholarhip
Rebecca Lindemulder, Germany

Fulbright Student Grant
Sabrina Arias, Malaysia
Dawn Barcelona, South Korea
Anna Boofice, Taiwan
Genevieve Campisano, Poland
Matthew D’Elia, South Korea (declined)
Kevin Dahagi, Macau
Rutu Dave, Spain
Judith Foo, South Korea
James Goodrich, Sweden
Jennifer Kong, Malaysia
Vera Lentini, Bulgaria (declined)
Jane Lo, Taiwan
Stacey Milliman, Thailand (declined)
Rashmi Singh, Malaysia
Nicholas Vanarthos, Brazil
Katelyn Versprill, United Kingdom
Maxwell Williams, Colombia

Goldwater Scholarship
Kaiser Loell
Alina Rashid
Asher Wasserman

Luce Scholarship
Benjamin Chin
Mitchell Scholarship
Matthew Cortland

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Julia Gonski
Eileen Hwuang
Laura Medina Motto
Joseph Pottackal
Amy Zhang
Soros Fellowship
Michael Alvarez
Natalie Jesionka

Amgen Scholarship
Chiagozi Jeffrey Chukwuneke
Ashley So

Fulbright Student Grant
Jeffrey Adler, Colombia
Kevin Apodaca, Taiwan
Rohini Bhaumik, Slovak Republic
Arthur D. Casciato, Japan
Jocelyn Chokkattu, Malaysia
Elix Colon, Spain
Matthew Cortland, Taiwan (declined)
Dimetri Duckrey, Brazil
Andrew Foltz-Morrison, Malaysia
Rubab Hassan, Turkey
Timothy Hauser, Germany
Nicholas Hughes, Indonesia
John Karayannopoulos, South Korea
Alexander Kelsen, Turkey (declined)
Spencer Klein, Germany
Vera Lentini, Bulgaria (declined)
Henry Mason, Brazil
Kara McCloskey, Malaysia
Kira McDonald, Slovak Republic
Shane McFadden, BrazilAlexander McKenna, Germany
Kelvin Mei, South Korea (declined)
Aidan Milner, Indonesia
Veena Rathakrishnan, Malaysia (declined)
Aviva Rosenberg, Bulgaria
Taha Saeed, Malaysia
Sonia Szczesna, Turkey
Jonathan Weintraub, Malaysia

Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Devinn Lambert
Kelvin Mei

Goldwater Scholarship
David Kolchmeyer
Joshua Yarmush

Humanity in Action Fellowship
Elorm Avakame
Luce Scholarship
Matt Cortland

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Stephen Decina
Humberto Jaramillo
Devinn Lambert

Truman Scholarship
Benjamin Chin

Amgen Scholarship
Jordan Ash

Clarendon
Kevin Tobia, (declined)

Critical Language Scholarship
Jeremy Bender
Ertegun Scholarship
Kevin Tobia

Freeman Asia Scholarship
Ryan Kretch

Fulbright Student Grant
Carly Aulicky, United Kingdom
Jeremy Bender, Turkey
Megan Blazak, Poland
Samia Bouzid, Spain
Joshua David, Thailand
Alexander Firsichbaum, Germany
Joseph Galaro, Germany
Richard Garzon, Colombia (declined)
Angel Gutierrez, Poland (declined)
Munir Harb, Poland
Max Hoyt, Azerbaijan
Murtaza Husain, India
Tara Kousha, Indonesia (declined)
Kristie Kuo, Turkey
Lillyan Ling, Bulgaria
Ashley Park, Korea
Adeed Syed, Malaysia
Michelle Tong, Korea
Ben West, Korea
Cecille Yama, Korea

Gilman Scholarship
Ulker Piker
Anna Szczekutowicz

Goldwater Scholarship
Devinn Lambert
Kelvin Mei

Humanity In Action Fellowship
Janina Pescinski
Mitchell Scholarship
Tara Kousha, (declined)

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Helen Janiszewski
Alyssa Kosmides
Nitish Thatte
Elaine Yu

Truman
Walter Fortson

Amgen Scholarship
Joseph Vella

Hertz Scholarship
Kyle Loh

Fulbright Student Grant
Giuseppe Cespedes, Brazil
Melissa Chedid, Bulgaria
David DeMair, United Kingdom
Sarah Esmi, Spain
Charles Hornstra, Malaysia
Ed Lochocki, Indonesia (declined)
Jessica Martin, Turkey
Sherylanne Meisner, Germany
Esther Min, Korea
Jacob Phillips, Korea
Glenn Poole, Germany
Elizabeth Sahner, Colombia
Artemus Werts, Korea
Diana Won, Colombia

Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Amy Zhang

Goldwater Scholarship
Kiersten Ruisard
Albert Yu

2006

Fulbright Student Grant
Ryan Gogol, Italy

Goldwater Scholarship
Betty Kong
Karl Suabedissen
Joseph Wolf

2007

Fulbright Student Grant
Diana Marmur, Spain
Ian Page, Germany
John Van Schaik, Bolivia

Goldwater Scholarship
Sarin Kadakia
Holly Moeller

Humanity In Action Fellowship
Natalie Jesionka, Berlin

2008

Amgen Scholarship
Adam Session
Clarendon Fund Scholarship
Brian Spatocco, (declined)

Critical Language Scholarship
Matthew Greco, Russian
Connie Zeng, Chinese

Fulbright Student Grant
Brian Spatocco

Goldwater Scholarship
Robert Comito
Jennifer Van Saders

Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Suzanne Pilaar Birch
Ronn Friedlander
Michael Hayoun

2009

Amgen Scholarship
Christopher Jakubowski
Boren Scholarship
Jason Froelich, China

Clarendon Fund Scholarship
Corbin Laedlein
Christopher Redmond

Critical Language Scholarship
Sarah Skochko, Azerbaijani
Ethan Payton, Arabic
Matthew Pezzulo, Arabic
Fulbright Student Grant
Tiziana Briscese, Italy
Paul Chiariello, Indonesia
Natalie Jesionka, Thailand
Kaitlyn McGruther, Taiwan
David Stuckey, Colombia

Goldwater Scholarship
Simon Gordonov

Humanity In Action Fellowship
Janine White, New York

2010

Churchill Scholarship
Simon Gordonov

Critical Language Scholarships
Sarah Skochko, Azerbaijani

Fulbright Student Grant
Andrew Bellisari, France
Erin Berg, Germany
Talene Boodaghians, Armenia
Danielle Henderson, Sweden
Amber Henry, Colombia
Eric Knecht, Egypt
Erin Wyckoff, Germany
Rebecca Lindemulder, Germany
Kate Maley, Bulgaria
Rachel Mikida, Spain
Kaylin Padovano, Peru

Goldwater Scholarship
Yuliya Afinogenova
Ed Lochocki
Gregory Zegarek
Humanity In Action Fellowship
Paul Chiariello, Berlin
Amber Henry, Amsterdam

2001

Fulbright Student Grant
Seth Cable, Netherlands
Stephan DiCara, Germany

Gates Cambridge Scholars
Joseph Califf
Truman Scholarship
Avram S. Fechter

2003

Boren Scholarship
Lisa Braff, Egypt

Fulbright Student Grant
Stephanie Hauck, Tanzania
Benjamin Robinson, Germany

2004

Fulbright Student Grant
Fayiza Abbas, Egypt

2005

Boren Scholarship
Jason Shah-Jahan, Egypt

Fulbright Student Grant
Meghan Ference, Kenya
Andrea Mueller, Germany

Boren Scholarship

David Bowman, 1997 (Japan)
Kathyrn Finney, 1996 (Ghana)
Rebecca Mazar, 1997 (Chile)
Keith Timko, 1994 (Russia)

Churchill Scholarship

John Maffei, 1967

Fulbright Student Grant

Christine Carelli, 1993 (Honduras)
Michael Cavaliere, 1994 (France)
Sandra Cvitan, 2000 (Croatia)
Dahlia Goldenberg, 2000 (Ecuador)
Gretchen Head, 2000 (Egypt)
Carol Helstosky, 1993 (Italy)
Robert Rogers, 1994 (Germany)
Douglas Selinger, 1995 (Spain)
Sharon Sokol, 1996 (UK)
Kathleen Walter, 1999 (Canada)

Goldwater Scholarship

Heather Cohen, 1991
Oskar Liivak, 1992
Mark Lynn, 1989
Meera Mani, 2000
Daniel Rabinowitz, 1994
Donna Rosenberg, 1991
Taylor Sohn, 1991
Ephraim Taslik, 1997
Gary Ulaner, 1991

Hertz Scholarship

David Touretzky, 1978
Michael Schneider, 1998

Rhodes Scholarship

Dana L. Brown, 1994
Samuel Arthur Devan, 1911
Edward Francis Drake, 1932
Valentine Britton Havens, 1913
Alan Karl Illig, 1953
Roy Mundy Davidson Richardson, 1916
Randal D. Pinkett, 1994
Francis Marmaduke Potter, 1908

Truman Scholarship

David M. Buckner, 1989
Francine Harbour, 1977
Solon L. Kandel, 1980
Jonathan Rosen, 1999
Monica L. White, 1989
Maureen E. Wylie, 1980

Udall Scholarship

Holly Muller, 1997