how to write personal statement for fulbright scholarship

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Fulbright Program

Global u | graduate school, main navigation, tips for writing a personal statement, length: one single-spaced page .

The Fulbright website provides the following description of the personal statement:

“This statement should be a narrative giving a picture of yourself as an individual. It should deal with your personal history, family background, influences on your intellectual development, the educational and cultural opportunities (or lack of them) to which you have been exposed, and the ways in which these experiences have affected you. Also include your special interests and abilities, career paths, and life goals, etc. It should not be a recording of facts already listed on the application or an elaboration of your statement of proposed study.”

The Fulbright personal statement is an opportunity for you to share with the committee information about yourself that is not available in other parts of the application. In it you can provide the committee with a sense of your personality and your interests. Ideally, your personal statement will complement your written proposal in some way. For example, if you are proposing a research project, you might discuss the origin and development of your interest in that field of research.

There is no one format or approach that will work well for every application. Some applicants choose to write an intellectual autobiography highlighting the key moments in their academic development. Others discuss their passion for travel, the topic of their proposal, or the host country, detailing the origins of their interest and how it evolved. Many students give an overview of significant experiences and reflections, while others tell one particular story as an example of a larger point about who they are.

Keep in mind that engagement with the community in the host county is an important criterion in selection as the primary purpose of the Fulbright Program is to encourage mutual understanding between people from the U.S. and people from other countries. Your application should indicate how you expect to become involved in the local community, whether through volunteer work, extra-curricular activities, and/or simply pursuing a hobby—sports, music, cooking, etc.—in the host country. The personal statement is the best place to include this information.

Prewriting:

Writing a personal statement is an exercise in self-reflection. To write a good statement, you will first need to think about your accomplishments and past experiences. These can be personal, academic, or extracurricular, including any significant insights or experiences that relate to your interest in international exchange, the host country in which you hope to do your work, or the specific project or area of study you plan to pursue. Your goal in this personal statement is to give the committee a sense of who you are and how you became interested in applying for this particular project in the context of an international exchange.

A free writing process will help you sort through your experiences and narrow your focus to two or three central issues or experiences you can use to frame and anchor your essay. Consider the following questions:

What problems or questions intrigue you? How did you become
What sorts of things have you done outside of the classroom? What have you learned from your extracurricular or work experiences, and how have those experiences contributed to your growth?
Have you had to overcome any unusual obstacles or hardships (for example, economic, familial, or physical) in your life? If so, what were these obstacles and how did you face them?
What might be unique, special, or distinctive about your life story or past experiences?

You are encouraged to work with a writing proctor even at this early stage. Talking over your experiences and reviewing your initial thoughts with someone else can help you narrow your focus and determine what you really want to discuss in your personal statement.

Your personal statement should not be a narrative version of your resume, listing events, activities, and accomplishments one after the other. Rather, it should provide the committee with a snapshot of yourself that connects to why you want to pursue this particular Fulbright in the country you have chosen. Doing this in one page is no small feat. The best statements undergo multiple drafts and revisions over a period of time. Give yourself plenty of time to write your statement, and allow it to evolve along with your understanding of why you want to pursue the project you are proposing.

In general, your personal statement will contain the following three sections:

The opening paragraph will contain a statement, example, or anecdote that grabs the readers’ attention right away, while providing a solid frame for your essay as a whole. This is the most important part of your statement, and it will likely be one of the hardest parts for you to write. When drafting, don’t get stuck on the opening paragraph. You will revise it many times as you revise the essay as a whole.
The body presents more specific detail, building on the framework you have established. The rule of thumb here is to use concrete examples to illustrate your points. Show, don’t tell. Rather than simply telling the committee “I am curious,” “I love science,” “I am patient and dependable,” etc., consider using one or two anecdotes that can help you focus and bring specificity to the discussion.
The concluding paragraph can address your future goals and how your work/experiences as a Fulbright scholar fit into your future plans. Your personal statement should not repeat information already represented in your proposal; thus, you should not conclude your personal statement by making an argument for why you need a Fulbright to conduct your study. Instead, you should discuss more generally how your proposed Fulbright year relates to your future goals and aspirations. The scholarship committees want to award Fulbright awards to people who will use their Fulbright experiences as bridges from where they are now to where they are going.  Students have a tendency to be too general and rely on abstractions or clichéd phrases when describing their experiences and interests. Show your passion for neuroscience through the experiences you’ve had and the skills you’ve developed, show them you believe in the value of being open-minded through a specific example, show them that you care about issues facing developing nations by talking about your experiences helping to develop new irrigation techniques in El Salvador one summer, etc. The more specific and concrete you can be about illustrating your interests, the better.

FRONT MATTER
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Fulbright Scholarship

The Fulbright Scholarship provides funds sufficient to complete a proposed research or study abroad project for one year. Applicants submit written documents detailing their research or study plans, which may include a year of graduate study, original dissertation research, a creative or performing arts project, or a teaching assistantship. Because the study is undertaken abroad, applicants must have sufficient maturity, character, and literacy to work within the host country.

The Fulbright Scholarship Selection Criteria

Criteria that selectors use to award Fulbright Scholarships include:

likelihood of the candidate and project to help advance the program and promote mutual understanding among nations;
sufficient written and spoken literacy in the host country’s language;
feasibility and specificity of the proposed plan.

A final criterion is the ratio between the number of awards offered in the target country and the number of applications received—i.e., students applying to countries that receive fewer applications have a greater statistical chance of acceptance. Applicants can assess competition statistics and other details for a particular country by consulting the Fulbright website linked at the bottom of this page.

Composing a Personal Statement and Statement of Grant Purpose

The primary written portions of the Fulbright application are a one-page personal statement and two-page statement of grant purpose. As usual, the personal statement is your opportunity to discuss personal motivations, your experience and activities, and future goals. Though your examples should still be concrete, you have the room to reveal your personality—indeed many applicants view this as their chance to let the selectors know them as individually as possible, and they use lightly entertaining anecdotes to set themselves apart from other candidates. In plain terms, the goal is to write an essay that no other person could have written

In writing the statement of grant purpose, begin by making sure not to repeat material from other parts of the application unnecessarily, and present detail tailored as much as possible to the host country. If you can show that you have performed research on (or, better yet, in) the host country already and have made contacts with potential supervisors, you increase your odds of success dramatically.

The Fulbright website cautions writers against the use of discipline-specific jargon, and a good rule of thumb is to define any jargon that you do use in context, keeping the focus of your statement of grant purpose on addressing problems that will provide valuable contributions to society and within your field. Also, practicality and feasibility are principal concerns, so the best applicants provide a timeline, discuss their methodology and goals, and analyze such variables as the host country’s cultural and political climate and resources. Finally, of course, you must demonstrate as necessary your linguistic ability as it applies to the country and your proposed plan, especially if your primary goal is a teaching assistantship.

Evaluation of Written Materials from Two Sample Fulbright Applications

The first sample essays provided in the pdf link below do an excellent job of making the case for the writer’s personal and intellectual readiness for the proposed project. The personal statement focuses on the student’s experiences as inspired by his service-oriented grandparents—members of the Mennonite Church. These role models inspired the student to travel to Peru and contact the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). As we learn in the student’s statement of grant purpose, he wishes to work on a grassroots project in Peru related to rice farming, and he shows that he has earned the support of the MEDA Consulting Group, underscoring the feasibility of his plan.

The two essays in the second set of samples are also neatly intertwined, and the writer opens the personal statement with a delightful anecdote about her family puzzling over why a woman would be interested in geological research. The student uses the essay to detail her science background and educational travel, including a month in Thailand, where she plans to do her proposed seismic research. To underscore the urgency of such research, she opens her statement of grant purpose with a poignant narrative and statistics about the devastating effects of a 1999 earthquake in Central Taiwan. Some readers might have valid concerns over whether the statement of grant purpose is too technical at times, and whether its sources should be cited internally, yet these essays remain impressive overall. Indeed, the writer was named as a scholarship alternate.

The Fulbright Scholarship program website is extensive, including everything from statistics on the previous year’s competition to advice about how to prepare your personal essay.

Visit the Fulbright Scholarship website.

Fulbright Scholar Program (Dr. Ramón Galinanes)

Fulbright Application

Tips from Universities and a U.S. Embassy

Preparing for the Fulbright Interview
Legacy of J. William Fulbright
Speaking with Wofford's Director of Post-Graduate Fellowships This link opens in a new window
Wofford OneSearch
PASCAL Delivers & WorldCat--to find resources at schools besides Wofford
Databases for Articles
Journals & Newspapers A to Z This link opens in a new window
Streaming Videos, DVDs, & Images
Country Profiles, Timelines, Facts, & Travel Advisories
Identifying Scholarly Resources
Citing Sources This link opens in a new window
Interlibrary Loan
Speak with Wofford Librarian
Tips for Writing a Fulbright Personal Statement / from the Fulbright Program, University of Utah
Tips for Writing a Fulbright Research Grant Proposal / from the Fulbright Program, University of Utah
Sample Successful Fulbright Essays: For Teaching Assistantship Proposals, for Research Proposals, and for Study & Research Proposals / from the Student Fellowship Office, University of Rochester
Writing Fulbright Essays: The Personal Statement & the Statement of Grant Purpose / from Yale University
Writing for the Fulbright Scholarship [with samples essays] / from Penn State University
Fulbright Personal Statements: Tips & Guidelines / from the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan
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Last Updated: Mar 6, 2024 5:11 PM
URL: https://libguides.wofford.edu/Fulbright

2024-2025 competition is closed. 2025-2026 competition will open on April 2, 2024

Current U.S. Student

United States citizens who are currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs are eligible to apply.If you are currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at a U.S. college or university, you will apply through that institution, even if you are not currently a resident there. Find the Fulbright Program Adviser on your campus.

U.S. Citizen but not a Student

If you are a U.S. citizen, will hold a bachelor’s degree by the award start date, and do not have a Ph.D. degree, then you are eligible to apply. Non-enrolled applicants should have relatively limited professional experience in the fields (typically 7 years or less) in which they are applying. Candidates with more experience should consider applying for the Fulbright Scholar Program .

The Getting Started page will provide information on eligibility and next steps.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program welcomes applications in the creative and performing arts. Arts candidates for the U.S. Student Program should have relatively limited professional experience in the fields (typically 7 years or less) in which they are applying. Artists with more experience should consider applying for the Fulbright Scholar Program .

Creative & Performing Arts projects fall under the Study/Research grant category and are available in all countries where Study/Research grants are offered.

U.S. Professor/Administrator

If you are a U.S. citizen and a professor or administrator at a U.S. institution and are interested in applying for a Fulbright Scholar Award, you will need to apply through fulbrightscholars.org .

To support your students in applying for a U.S. Student Program award, please connect with the Fulbright Program Adviser at your institution.

Non U.S. Citizens

If you are a non-U.S. citizen interested in applying for a Fulbright Award to the United States, you will need to apply through the Fulbright Commission or U.S. Embassy in your home country. Find out more information on the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program or Fulbright Foreign Student Program .

Application Components: Academic Fields

All applicants must complete and submit their applications via the Fulbright Online Application. This is where you enter data, upload documents, and register your recommenders and foreign language evaluator. The following items comprise the components of the Academic application:

Biographical Data

The Personal and Contact Information pages of the application ask for your basic personal information, such as your name, contact information, birth date, etc.

Complete all required fields: You should take care to accurately complete all of the required fields in these sections.
Use proper capitalization and punctuation: This is a formal grant application, and you are advised to follow the English language rules on capitalization and punctuation. Do not enter responses in all caps. Be sure to proofread your responses in the PDF proof prior to submitting your application.

Program Information

On the Program Information page, you must include a Project Title and an Abstract/Summary of Proposal. These sections are a quick reference for screening committees and other reviewers. They should be able to determine the basic who, what, when, where, why and how of your project by reading this abstract. The project title should be informative, as well.

Field of Study: Select from the drop-down the most closely-related field for the proposed project.
Project Title (90-character limit): A succinct title that clearly introduces the proposed project. This title will be listed in the Grantee Directory, should you be awarded a grant.
Abstract/Summary of the Proposal (1750-character limit): A concise description of the what, where, and why of the proposed project. If you are proposing the pursuit of a graduate degree program, summarize the program and relevance to your career/education plans․
Host Country Engagement (1750-character limit): At its core, the Fulbright program aims to promote mutual understanding and seeks individuals who can be cultural ambassadors while living abroad. This section should offer a description of the ways in which you will engage with the host country outside of your grant activities to fulfill this mission. How do you plan to share your culture and values in your host community? Specific ideas should be included.
Plans Upon Return to the U.S. (850-character limit): A brief description of your future career and/or educational plans following completion of the Fulbright grant.

Statement of Grant Purpose

This 2-page document outlines the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of what you are proposing for your Fulbright grant. If you are pursuing a research project, developing a strong, feasible and compelling project is the most important aspect of a successful Fulbright application.

The first step is to thoroughly read the award description for your selected award and host country to understand the type of grant you are allowed to propose (Independent Study/Research or Graduate Degree Enrollment). Depending on the country and award parameters, applicants may have the option to propose completing a graduate degree program. Some countries have specific arrangements or named awards for graduate study. In this case, applicants should focus on demonstrating the reasons for pursuing the proposed graduate program at a particular institution in the host country.

Whether you are applying for a research project or a degree program, the proposal should indicate a clear commitment to the host country community and a description of how you will engage with it.

Develop an intellectually compelling and feasible project: This is the most important factor in presenting a successful application. Program design will vary by country and award, and while some countries encourage applicants to incorporate coursework into a project, others prefer independent research. You should ensure that your proposed project fits the program guidelines for the host country and award.

For applicants proposing independent study/research projects , address the following points:

With whom do you propose to work?
What do you propose to do?
What is innovative about the research? What will this research contribute to the field/discipline?
What are the specific research goals and methodologies?
What is important or significant about the project?
What contribution will the project make toward the Fulbright goal of promoting cultural exchange and mutual understanding?
When will you carry out the project? Include a feasible timeline.
Where do you propose to conduct your study or research? Why did you choose this location?
Why do you want to undertake this project?
What are your qualifications for carrying out this project?
Why does the project have to be conducted in the country of application?
How will your project help further your academic or professional development?
How will you engage with the host country community? Give specific ideas that relate to your own personal or professional interests.

Design a feasible project: You must demonstrate that your research strategy is viable, including its content, methodology, and time frame. Address the following points:

How will the culture and politics of the host country impact the work?
Will the resources of the host country support the project?
Have you developed a connection with a potential adviser in the host country who has knowledge of the research topic and access to other appropriate contacts in the field?
Do you have the necessary academic/field-specific background to undertake the proposed research?
You should consider that, even if a country indicates that English will be sufficient for carrying out the proposed project, for purposes of engaging with your host community, at least a basic level of language skill should be obtained prior to leaving the United States for the host country.
What are your plans for improving your language skills, if they are not adequate at the time of application?
Are there any possible sensitive topics or feasibility concerns that the project could provoke?

For applicants proposing to enroll in graduate degree programs , address the following points:

Why do you want to pursue the proposed program in the country to which you are applying?
What are your reasons for selecting this particular institution?
Do you have the requisite academic/field-specific background to gain admission to and undertake the proposed graduate degree program?
Why do you want to gain a better understanding of the peoples and cultures of your host country? Please demonstrate specific ideas on how you will integrate into the host country community that relate to your own personal or professional interests.
Do you have sufficient language skills to successfully complete the program, especially if the program is not taught in English?
Do you have the flexibility and dynamism necessary for active involvement in the host country?

Candidates applying through U.S. institutions are urged to consult professors in their field of study or faculty members with experience in the host country, as well as their Fulbright Program Advisers, about the feasibility of their proposed projects. At-Large applicants should consult similarly qualified persons in their fields.

Crafting your proposal:

Be clear and concise. The individuals reading the proposal want applicants to get to the point about the 'who, what, when, where, why, and how' of the project. Avoid discipline-specific jargon and ensure your application can be clearly understood by a general audience.
Organize the statement carefully.
Don't make reviewers search for information. We urge you to have several people read and critique your Statement of Grant Purpose, including a faculty adviser, a faculty member outside your discipline, a fellow student, and/or a colleague.

Adhere to the proper format:

Length is limited to a maximum of two single-spaced pages. The application system will not allow documents longer than two pages to be uploaded.
Do not include any bibliographies, publications, citations, etc., except those that will fit in the two-page limit. Citations are not required for your Statement of Grant Purpose.
Use 1-inch margins and Times New Roman 12-point font.
On line 1: Statement of Grant Purpose
On line 2: Your Name, Host Country, and Field of Study
On line 3: Your Project Title as it appears in the Program Information page
On the second page of the Statement, enter the same information or just Last Name, Grant Purpose, Page 2.
Do not include information in headers, footers or margins.
Do not include links to websites or external files/materials. Adding any URLs to external websites may affect the eligibility of your application.

Affiliation Letter

For Study/Research Applicants, affiliation with an educational institution or other sponsoring entity in the host country is required , even if the grant project is primarily research, an artistic activity, or does not require enrollment in regular classes. All applicants are required to list a proposed affiliation, with some awards requiring a letter of affiliation to be submitted at the time of the application deadline. Please refer to the award description for specific requirements on which institutions or organizations can serve as an affiliate.

Failure to submit a letter of affiliation for an award which requires one at the national deadline may result in an application being deemed ineligible.

The affiliation letter should come from the institution and/or individual in the host country with whom you are proposing to work. It should be written in or translated to English, printed on official letterhead, and should be signed by the author (electric signatures are permitted).

Understand the affiliation requirements for the country to which you are applying: Affiliation arrangements vary by country and may not be required at the time of application. Carefully review the affiliation information provided in the award summary for your host country. All academic grantees must have an affiliation in the host country listed in their application, even if a letter is not required at the deadline.

Countries differ in the kinds of host affiliations that are acceptable. Examples of affiliations include universities, laboratories, libraries, non-governmental organizations, and so on. Pay special attention to the requirements in some countries to attend classes and/or affiliate with academic institutions. Proposing an affiliate that does not meet the requirements for your chosen award may affect the eligibility of your application.

Identify an appropriate affiliation for your project: The affiliation is your proposed host in the country to which you are applying. Fulbrighters have used a number of methods to contact potential hosts and solicit support for their projects. One primary method is to use the contacts and advisers that you already have. Ask current or former professors to put you in contact with the appropriate people in the host country. If the proposal contains a strong research component, you must have host country contacts that can support the research, provide access to required resources, and/or advise you during the grant period. It is your responsibility to identify, contact, and secure an affiliation from a potential adviser.

Potential avenues to identify an appropriate affiliation/host country adviser include:

Faculty at your home campus.
International students.
Visiting Fulbright Professors in the U.S. or U.S. Fulbright Scholars who had grants to your host country. Directories are available here .
Internet searches of faculty at potential host institutions with your interests, or organizations in the host country that work with issues related to your topic.
Other U.S. academics with expertise in the location/subject matter of the proposed project.
Contacts from previous experience abroad.
Educational Advising sections of Embassies or Consulates of your potential host country.

Start early: Obtaining an affiliation letter from overseas can be a time-consuming process, and sufficient time must be given to receive signed affiliation letters before the application deadline. Late affiliation letters will not be accepted after the application deadline.

Request the Affiliation Letter: After identifying the appropriate host institution and the individual at that institution best suited to serve as an adviser for the proposed project, contact the potential adviser to determine if they are willing to write an affiliation letter. Before requesting the letter, you should provide the author with a copy of the Statement of Grant Purpose. The affiliation letter should indicate the author’s willingness to work with you on the intended project and it should speak to the feasibility and validity of what is being proposed. The letter should also indicate any additional resources or contacts that the adviser can provide to support the work.

Scanned versions of the original hard-copy letters with hand-written signatures should be uploaded into the application. Letter writers can either send the original hard-copy letters or electronic copies to the applicants.
Since affiliation letters are not confidential, you will upload the letter yourself into the online application system. Affiliation letters written in a foreign language must be translated into English and both the original letters and the English-language translations must be uploaded into the application. An ‘official’ translation of the letter is not required.
Instructions on uploading letters of affiliation are available in the Fulbright online application system. IIE will not accept any affiliation letters via email, fax, or mail.
The affiliation letter must be printed on an institutional letterhead and must be signed by the author.
Copies of email correspondence will not be accepted.
Do not upload any documents other than a letter of affiliation to this field of the application. Uploading extraneous materials to this field may result in your application being deemed ineligible.

Personal Statement

The statement should be a 1 page narrative that provides a picture of yourself as an individual․ It should detail your personal history, family background, influences on your intellectual development, the educational, professional, and cultural opportunities that you have (or have not) accessed, and the ways in which these experiences have affected you and your personal growth․ Include your special interests and abilities, career plans, and life goals, etc․ It should not be a list of facts already listed on the application or an elaboration of your Statement of Grant Purpose․ Rather, it should be but specifically related to you and your aspirations as they relate to the specific Fulbright Program award to which you have applied․

Do not repeat information from other parts of the application.

Length is limited to a maximum of one single-spaced pages. The application system will not allow statements longer than one page to be uploaded.
On line 1: Personal Statement
Do not include information in headers, footers, or margins.

Foreign Language Forms

Language requirements vary by country, so before starting the application you should review the specific language proficiency requirements of your selected award. You must possess the necessary language skills to successfully complete the project you are proposing.

For programs where language skills are required , you must complete the Language Self Evaluation form within the application, and register an individual to complete the Foreign Language Evaluation Form. The Foreign Language Evaluation Form is completed by a professional language teacher, preferably a university professor.

Submission of both the Language Self-Evaluation portion of the application and Foreign Language Evaluation form is mandatory, even if you have advanced skills or are a native speaker of the language. The application system will not allow the submission of an application if a required Foreign Language Evaluation form is not registered. Failure to submit the required language forms may affect your eligibility.

For programs where language skills are r ecommended or not required , if you possess some language skills relevant to the host country or proposed project, you should complete the Language Self Evaluation and submit a Foreign Language Evaluation Form. It will be beneficial to have your language ability documented, even if it is not required for the award. Remember, even if a country indicates that English will be sufficient for carrying out the proposed project, for purposes of engaging with your host community, at least a basic level of language skill should be obtained prior to leaving the United States for the host country.

For programs in countries where English is one of the national languages, you do not need to submit any foreign language forms unless a foreign language is required for your project.

If language proficiency is not required for the award and you have little or no knowledge of the language relevant to the host country but plan to acquire proficiency prior to the start of the grant, you may discuss your plans in the Language Self Evaluation. In this case, you should not obtain a Foreign Language Evaluation.

For Commonly-Taught Languages : The Foreign Language Evaluation should be completed by a professional language teacher, preferably a university professor. The language evaluator cannot be related to the applicant.

For Less-Commonly-Taught Languages : If a professional language teacher is not readily available, a college-educated native-speaker of the language can be used. The language evaluator cannot be related to the applicant.

Provide your language evaluator with the Instructions for Foreign Language Evaluators . You can print these out and discuss them with the person completing the form.

If you wish to have the same person complete both a recommendation and a Foreign Language Evaluation, you will need to register the person once for the recommendation and once for the Foreign Language Evaluation. Please check with your evaluator/recommender to ensure they receive the correct forms. If your evaluator/recommender is having issues accessing the forms, please instruct them to email [email protected] for assistance.

Recommendations

You must submit three recommendation letters as part of the application. The authors should be the three individuals who can best speak to your ability to carry out the project being proposed; they should discuss your intellectual and professional preparation, and your ability to represent the U.S. abroad. You should provide the recommender with a copy of your Statement of Grant Purpose before requesting the recommendation letter. The recommendation letter should NOT simply be a character reference, as this will be of no value in assessing your ability to complete the proposed project.

Recommenders cannot be related to you. Do not submit recommendations from a parent, sibling, or other relative.
Provide reference writers with copies of the Statement of Grant Purpose and the Personal Statement so that they can write well-informed recommendation letters.
It is common courtesy to give recommenders at least 4-5 weeks to complete the recommendation letters.. Confirm with your recommenders that they can submit your recommendation letters within this timeframe, and ahead of the national deadline.
You must register the recommenders in the online application system so that they can upload their recommendation letters directly into the application. When available, it is preferred you register your recommenders using their professional or institutional email address. Let your recommenders/evaluators know that they should be expecting an email message with the following information in the header:
From: Fulbright U․S․Student Program ([email protected])
Subject: Fulbright Recommendation for [Your Name]
Recommendations must remain confidential. Applicants cannot upload recommendation letters on behalf of their recommenders, and recommenders should not share their recommendations with applicants.
Recommendation letters should be on institutional letterhead, signed by the authors, and then uploaded into the online application system. Digital signatures are also acceptable.
Provide your recommenders with the Instructions for Study/Research Recommendation Writers
All recommendations must be written in English. If the original recommendation letter is written in a language other than English there must be an official English translation. Because the recommendation letter is confidential, the translation cannot be done by the applicant. Both the original recommendation letter and the English-language translation must be uploaded into the Fulbright application as a single document.
After the recommendation is submitted, it cannot be edited. However, if there is a significant error and the recommender agrees to submit a revised recommendation, the following process must be followed:
The deadline to request a letter be un-submitted is Friday, October 4, 2024 at 5:00pm Eastern Time.
The recommender sends an email from the registered email account to [email protected] to request that the recommendation be un-submitted.
The email to [email protected] must include the applicant’s full name and country of application.
The recommender will need to allow at least 48 hours for the request to be implemented.
Once the recommendation is un-submitted, the recommender can edit the recommendation and resubmit.
All recommendations must be submitted by the application deadline, Tuesday October 8, 2024 . Late recommendation submissions are not accepted under any circumstances.
If a recommendation letter needs to be removed from the application after being submitted, the recommender must send an email from the registered email account to [email protected] to request that the recommendation be deleted from the application.

Note: Applicants and Fulbright Program Advisers cannot request that a recommendation be un-submitted.

Applicants can follow the status of the recommendation (In progress, Submitted) from the Applicant Status Page. Additional instructions and details on the submission of recommendations are available in the online application system.

Transcripts

The Fulbright Program requires a complete academic record of your higher education. You must provide transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions from which you received degrees. Transcripts must also be submitted from other institutions where you studied and received credit for coursework.

You may submit documentation of certificates (e.g.: non-degree programs) only if relevant to your Fulbright Grant Purpose․ However, do not submit extraneous documents as they will not enhance your application․

Failure to submit any required transcripts will result in your application being declared ineligible.

You must upload one unofficial academic transcript from each post-secondary institution from which you received (or expect to receive) a degree. Additional transcripts should be uploaded for coursework and grades not reflected on degree-granting transcripts.
If a degree is still in progress, you may upload a copy that shows the most recently completed semester.
Make sure that the document that you submit clearly shows your name, the name of the institution , and appears as an academic record that is organized chronologically--with course dates, titles, credits, and grades. Screenshots of online academic portals (e.g. a course schedule) will not be accepted․
Graduate-level students who do not include undergraduate transcripts will be considered ineligible.
Consult the Transcript Upload Instructions page for more detailed information.

Ethical Requirements

Applicants proposing research involving human beings or animals as research subjects should have their projects vetted by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at their home institutions. Pending selection, grantees may also be required to obtain research clearance from the host country (where applicable). Strong letters of affiliation should include the host institution’s commitment to guiding the applicant through any in-country clearance processes.

At-Large applicants should conduct an individual ethics review ensuring that their proposed projects are consistent with ethical standards for research involving humans as research participants as outlined in the National Guidelines for Human Subjects Research (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health), and in the National Guidelines for Animal Welfare at the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare or other applicable internationally recognized ethics guidance documents.

Human subjects research includes:

Clinical investigations (any experiment or study on one or more persons which involves a test product/article, whether a drug, treatment, procedure or device);
Social-behavioral studies which entail interaction with or observation of people, especially vulnerable populations (i.e., as minors, pregnant women, inmates, drug-users, the mentally impaired, displaced/refugee populations); and,
Basic scientific research to study the biology of animals, persons, or organs and specimens thereof.

The most fundamental issues in studies involving human research subjects include: valid scientific questions and approaches; potential social value; favorable risk-benefit ratio; fair selection of study participants and an adequately administered informed consent process.

On the ‘Affiliation’ page of the application, applicants must note if their proposed project will involve activities that may require a license to practice and/or involve clinical training and/or patient care.

While IRB approval is not required at the time of application, individuals selected for grants must abide by all ethical requirements before commencing their research on human and/or animal subjects through a Fulbright award.

Study/Research Application Components Overview

Checklist For Academic Candidates

Download a PDF copy of the application checklist to use while you prepare your Fulbright application.

Starting The Application

Contact the Fulbright Program Adviser at your school to discuss the campus application process and note any campus deadlines (pertains only to candidates applying through a U.S. institution).
Carefully review the program summary for the country and award to which you are applying.
Draft responses for the following required short answer questions: 1) Abstract/Summary of Proposal, 2) Host Country Engagement, 3) Plans Upon Return to the U.S.
Draft a Statement of Grant Purpose that is feasible and culturally appropriate for the country of application.
Identify a potential affiliation in the host country and make contact with an appropriate person there who might be able to serve as an adviser and who could write the Affiliation Letter for the Fulbright application. Provide the author of the affiliation letter with a copy of your Statement of Grant Purpose.
If you are proposing a graduate degree program, review the admission requirements and application deadlines of the proposed host institution and program. Applicants proposing to pursue a graduate degree program must apply to the degree-granting program separate from their Fulbright application.
Draft a Personal Statement that provides the screening committee members with a fuller picture of who you are and what has motivated you to pursue this Fulbright opportunity.
Consult with professors and/or colleagues with background in the country to which you are applying or those who have expertise in the field of study of the proposed project.
Solicit critiques on the draft Statement of Grant Purpose from professors, advisers, mentors, colleagues, etc., and make revisions as appropriate.
Contact 3 individuals to write recommendations. These individuals should be those who can best speak to your ability to carry out the project being proposed. You should provide a copy of your Statement of Grant Purpose to each recommender. Allow enough time for the recommender to complete their recommendation before your institution’s campus deadline and/or national deadline.
For candidates submitting Foreign Language Evaluations: Contact the professor or other professional foreign language instructor who will complete the Foreign Language Evaluation form for the application.
Obtain transcripts from each post-secondary institution attended.

Before Submitting The Application

Make any necessary revisions based on feedback from the Campus Interview Committee (pertains only to candidates applying through a U.S. institution).
Check for typos—misspellings, capitalization errors, grammatical mistakes, etc.
Make sure that all of the required fields on the Biographical Data pages have been filled in, including the Project Title and Abstract of Proposal sections.
Check to make sure that the Statement of Grant Purpose, the Personal Statement, and the transcripts have been uploaded into the correct sections of the application.
Confirm that recommenders and language evaluators are registered in the application system and have received the email link to complete the recommendation/evaluation. Applicants can submit their application before the recommendations/evaluations are submitted. After application submission and before the national deadline, applicants can log in to the application and resend email links.
Preview the completed application in the Fulbright online application system by going to the Review page.
Print a copy of the application for your records.

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Everything you need to know to get Accepted

how to write personal statement for fulbright scholarship

October 6, 2022

Writing a Confident and Thematically Driven Personal Statement for Fulbright

Like many large grant organizations, the Fulbright Foundation requires applicants to write both a statement of purpose and a personal statement.

Regardless of your personal background, a strong personal statement for a large grant application like the Fulbright should always have a clear focus: the content of it should always serve the overarching project proposal that you’ve articulated in your statement of purpose.

[For more about the statement of purpose, check out: Writing the Fulbright Statement of Purpose as a Practical Document . ]

4 goals of your grant personal statement

The personal statement is a persuasive text in which your job is to convince the reader that you are excited about and capable of achieving the impactful goals you have set for yourself. The choices that you make as you share your personal history should enable you to accomplish the following goals:

Explain what drives you to carry out this particular project with an authentic sense of enthusiasm, passion, and commitment towards generating tangible impacts.
Describe past experiences that have equipped you to carry out this particular project with a clear sense of cultural sensitivity, collaboration, and purpose.
If your project plays a part in your overarching personal or professional trajectory, show the reader what you have already done to fulfill this mission.
Show the committee what kinds of impacts you plan to have both as you carry out this project, and afterwards. How will the time that you spend on this grant contribute to a future that goes far beyond the project itself?

Below I’ve included the personal statement that I wrote for a successful application to the Fulbright Brazil cohort of 2016. After the original essay, I have provided analysis that clearly shows the argumentative logic and supporting evidence in each paragraph.

Fulbright personal statement example

My fulbright personal statement.

(Original text)

I first studied Portuguese to expand my comparative engagement with Spanish Latin American literature as an undergraduate student. This literary curiosity, however, quickly unfolded into an overwhelming year of music, buses, warm tropical air, and full- time coursework as an exchange student at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in 2007. Captivating Brazilian authors like Darcy Ribeiro and Machado de Assis pulled me deeper into the Portuguese language. The political power of Música Popular Brasileira and the stark creativity of Cinema Novo forced me to reconsider my own historical perspectives regarding the increasingly visible and global role of regional cultures. After that year of international studies my relationship with Brazil continued to expand in dynamic ways.

My first professional role at Glass Lewis required me to conduct research in Spanish and Portuguese, translating documents for the explicit purpose of assessing the monetary value of publicly traded companies in the Americas. There I realized that my affinity for language acquisition and critical thinking put me in a unique position to facilitate access to economic and cultural dialogues regarding the growing importance of Latin America and Brazil. After this experience I attended the University of Cambridge and wrote my thesis on 20th century visual and photographic representations of the U.S.-Mexico border. This project showed me that there are undeniable links between aesthetic representation, technology, politics and economic flows. By continuing my studies at the doctoral level and seeking opportunities to work with Latin America and Brazil, I make choices that allow me to facilitate public access to information, critical dialogue and multiple points of view in a variety of international contexts.

In the classroom I have collaborated with Professor L. to teach students how to translate ethnographic narratives about musical experiences into research projects regarding relationships between global popular culture, technology and individual identities. I have spoken at several conferences about my collaboration with UCLA archivists to make a previously hidden collection of cordel accessible through a highly searchable and detailed Finding Aid at the Online Archives of California. Last year I consulted with a small educational start-up called Endless Mobile, a company that facilitates access to educational information for communities that only have intermittent access to the Internet. At Endless Mobile I served as a content strategist and developed tools for selecting and storing educational content that is now being used in classrooms all over Guatemala.

The knowledge that I continue to develop and gain as I study Latin America and Brazil is only useful unless* I can share it with others. There are a variety of venues through which information can be made accessible to larger audiences, and they are not always in the classroom. In addition to my studies, experiences at Glass Lewis, the UCLA Library’s Special Collections and internet companies like Endless Mobile have shown me that that the stories we tell about relationships between the Americas, whether they are driven by financial or educational needs, play incredibly powerful roles in the contemporary world. As a student, translator, teacher and researcher I aim to participate in these conversations and search for better ways to make them possible.

* This typo was in my original (and successful) proposal. “Unless” should be ‘if.”

Analysis of the argument – paragraph by paragraph

Paragraph 1.

Persuasive goal: Explain my initial exposure to studying in the host country of Brazil as the root of my current desire to study the “increasingly visible and global role of regional cultures.”

Evidence provided in paragraph: As I discuss my experiences studying abroad in Brazil, I clearly reference the main components of my project. The prominent content of my project: “literatura de cordel,” is an object of regional culture, and the complex mechanism I wish to consider: “global visibility,” results from processes of circulation and redistribution.

Paragraph 2

Persuasive goal: Clearly show how my postgraduate experiences were a continuation of the interests I developed during my year abroad in Brazil.

Evidence provided in paragraph: Whether in my professional role as a financial researcher, master’s student at Cambridge, or doctoral student at UCLA, I consistently chose to pursue complex questions related to “public access to information” in cross-cultural, multi-lingual, and global contexts. Again, in this paragraph I’ve chosen to narrate my professional history through the broadest theme of the project: redistribution.

Paragraph 3

Persuasive goal: Demonstrate the active role that I currently play in the process of redistributing educational information through teaching, archival collaboration, and non-research work experiences.

This paragraph ties together a diverse set of work experiences, and purposefully cuts through a number of institutional boundaries. By clearly narrating my recent non-research work experiences as a teacher, collaborative archivist, and content developer for an education start-up, I clearly state my capacity to carry out my mission both within and beyond the university setting.

Paragraph 4

Hey there’s a typo in this paragraph, and I still made it through!

Persuasive goal: Envision a future for myself that will allow me to have broad social impacts through a continuous practice of making information accessible in a variety of institutional settings.

Evidence provided in paragraph: This paragraph clearly expresses a personal mission that is open to the future, wishes to make information available outside of the classroom, and can see beyond this singular project. I acknowledge the powerful nature of cultural relationships between the Americas and, in the final sentence; I firmly plant myself in the contemporary world, even though my object of study is from the past.

Bottom line: what I learned

Hindsight is 20/20. Even though I didn’t know how the events, activities, and interests of my past experiences would add up while they were happening, the personal statement was a chance for me to confidently show the committee that I was passionate about and prepared to achieve the project-based goals that I set for myself.

Need help navigating the grant application writing process? Looking for personalized guidance for your personal statement? Learn how your Accepted advisor can help you achieve your educational and professional goals.

Fulbright 2023-2024 Competition Deadline

Source: Fulbright website

Download our free report: GET YOUR GAME ON: Preparing for Your Grad School Application

Student Affairs Advisor and scholarship expert, Rebecca has six years experience reviewing and editing large grant applications, research-based proposals, statements of purpose, personal statements and fellowship materials. Want Rebecca to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose , a free guide • What I Learned about Grant Writing from Putting Together 3 Fulbright Applications Before Finally Being Selected • Writing the Fulbright Statement of Grant Purpose as a Practical Document

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How to Write a Personal Statement for a Scholarship + Examples

What’s covered:, what is the purpose of the scholarship personal statement, what to include in your personal statement, personal statement example: breakdown + analysis, how to make sure your writing is effective.

Either before or after you’ve gotten into your dream school, you’ll have to figure out how to pay for it. For most students, this involves a combination of financial aid, parent contributions, self-contributions, student loans, and scholarships/grants. Because scholarships are money out of someone else’s pocket that you never have to pay back, they are a great place to start!

Scholarships come in two forms: merit-based and need-based. Need-based scholarships are also often called grants. These designations tell you whether an organization looks at your financial situation when deciding about your scholarship.

Additionally, different scholarships fall under different categories based on the mission of the organization or person providing the scholarship’s financing. These missions typically emphasize different things like academic achievement, specific career goals, community service, leadership, family background, skill in the arts, or having overcome hardship. As you select scholarships to apply for and complete your applications, you should keep these missions in mind.

No matter what type of scholarship you are applying for, you will be asked to provide the review committee with standard materials. This includes your transcript, GPA, and resume/extracurriculars, but also, importantly, your personal statement. A scholarship personal statement is a bit different from your normal college essay, so we’ve put together this guide and some examples to help you get started!

The purpose of your personal statement is to help a review committee learn more about your personality, values, goals, and what makes you special. Ultimately, like with your college essays, you are trying to humanize your profile beyond your transcript, GPA, and test scores.

College essays all have one goal in mind (which is why you can apply to multiple schools at once through applications like the Common App or Coalition App): convince admissions officers that you would be a valuable addition to the university environment. The goal of your scholarship personal statement is different and differs more from one scholarship to the next. Rather than convincing various review committees that you are a generally good candidate for extra funding for college, you need to convince each review committee that your values have historically aligned with their organization’s mission and will continue to align with their organization’s mission.

Common missions amongst those who give scholarships include:

Providing opportunities for students with career ambitions in a particular field
Helping students who have experienced unexpected hardship
Supporting students who show outstanding academic achievement
Funding the arts through investing in young artists with strong technical skill
Supporting the development of civic-minded community service leaders of the future
Providing opportunities for historically underrepresented ethnic communities

If a specific mission like this is outlined on an organization’s website or in the promotional material for its scholarship, the purpose of your personal statement is to show how you exemplify that mission.

Some scholarships ask for your personal statement to be guided by a prompt, while others leave things open for interpretation. When you are provided a prompt, it is obvious what you must do: answer the prompt. When you are not provided a prompt, you want to write a personal statement that is essentially a small-scale autobiography where you position yourself as a good investment. In either case, you should identify a focus or theme for what you are trying to say about yourself so that your application does not get lost in the shuffle.

Prompts include questions like:

Why do you deserve this scholarship?
How have you shown your commitment to (leadership/community service/diversity) in your community?
When did you overcome adversity?
Why is attending college important to you?

If you are provided a prompt, develop a theme for your response that showcases both your values and your achievements. This will help your essay feel focused and will subsequently help the review committee to remember which candidate you were as they deliberate.

Themes include things like:

I deserve this community service scholarship because my compassion for intergenerational trauma has inspired me to volunteer with a local after-school program. I didn’t just sympathize. I did something about my sympathy because that’s the type of person I am. Within the program, I have identified avenues for improvement and worked alongside full-time staff to develop new strategies for increasing attendance.
I overcame adversity when my mother had to have a major surgery two months after giving birth to my younger brother. I was just a kid but was thrown into a situation where I had to raise another kid. It was hard, but I’m the kind of person who tries to grow from hard times and, through my experience taking care of a baby, I learned the importance of listening to body language and nonverbal cues to understand the needs of others (baby and nonbaby, alike).

Without a prompt, clarity can be harder to achieve. That said, it is of the utmost importance that you find a focus. First, think about both your goals and your values.

Types of goals include:

Career goals
Goals for personal growth
The type of friend you want to be
The change you want to make in the world

Values could include:

Authenticity
And many more!

After you write out your goals/values, write out your achievements to see what goals/values you have “proof” of your commitment to. Your essay will ultimately be an exploration of your goal/value, what you have done about your goal/value in the past, and what you aspire to in the future.

You might be tempted to reflect on areas for improvement, but scholarships care about you living out your values. It is not enough to aspire to be exemplary in leadership, community service, or your academic field. For scholarships, you have to already be exemplary.

Finally, keep in mind that the review committee likely already has a copy of your extracurricular activities and involvement. Pick one or two accomplishments, then strive for depth, not breadth as you explore them.

My interest in the field of neuroscience began at a young age. When I was twelve years old, my sister developed a condition called Pseudotumor Cerebri following multiple concussions during a basketball game. It took the doctors over six months to make a proper diagnosis, followed by three years of treatment before she recovered. During this time, my love for neuroscience was sparked as I began to research her condition and, then, other neurocognitive conditions. Later, my love of neuroscience was amplified when my mother began to suffer from brain-related health issues. My mother had been a practicing attorney in Dallas for over twenty years. She was a determined litigator who relentlessly tried difficult cases that changed people’s lives. Now, she suffers from a cognitive impairment and is no longer able to practice law. Oftentimes, she has headaches, she gets “cloudy,” her executive functioning slows down, she feels overwhelmed, and she forgets things. My mother has gone from being the strong, confident, emotional and financial caretaker of our family to needing significant help on a daily basis. Once again, with this illness came a lot of research on my part — research that encouraged me to pursue my dreams of exploring neuroscience.

Due to my experiences with my mother and sister when I was in middle school, I knew that I wanted to make a difference in the field of neuroscience. I also knew that, to obtain this goal, I needed to maintain superior grades in school while also pursuing opportunities outside of school to further my education. In school, I was able to maintain superior grades to the point where I am currently valedictorian in a class of 567 students. In addition, in school, I challenged myself by taking 16 Advanced Placement classes and 19 Honors classes. Two of the most beneficial classes were AP Capstone Seminar and AP Capstone Research. AP Capstone Seminar and AP Capstone Research are research-oriented classes where students are given the opportunity to pursue whatever track their research takes them down. As a junior in AP Capstone Seminar, I researched the effects of harmful pesticide use on the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children. This year, as a senior in AP Capstone Research, I am learning about the effects of medical marijuana on the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Outside of school, I furthered my education through taking advantage of the Duke TiP summer program. Duke TiP is a summer program run by Duke University where students who score extremely well on the SAT as middle schoolers are able to take college classes at different universities throughout the summers of their middle school and high school years. I took advantage of this opportunity twice. First, I went to Trinity University in San Antonio to expand my horizons and learn more about debate. However, once I was done exploring, I decided I wanted to go into neuroscience. This led me to take an Abnormal Psychology class at Duke University’s West Campus. This class opened my eyes to the interaction between neuroscience and mental health, mental illness, and personality. Years later, I am currently continuing my education outside of school as an intern at the University of Texas Dallas Center for Brain Health. Through this internship, I have been able to see different aspects of neuroscience including brain pattern testing, virtual reality therapy, and longitudinal research studies. With this background, I have positioned myself to be accepted by top neuroscience programs throughout the nation. So far, I have been accepted to the neuroscience department of University of Southern California, the University of Virginia, the University of Texas, and Southern Methodist University, as well as the chemistry department at University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.

It is with this passion for neuroscience driven by my family and passion for education driven by internal motivation that I will set out to conquer my career objectives. My educational aspirations consist of acquiring a bachelor’s degree in a biological or health science that would assist me in pursuing a medical career as a neuroscience researcher. I decided to attain a career as a researcher since my passion has always been assisting others and trying to improve their quality of life. After obtaining my Masters and my PhD, I plan to become a professor at a prestigious university and continue performing lab research on cognitive disorders. I am particularly interested in disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In the lab, I hope to find different therapies and medications to help treat the 3.5 million people around the world suffering from ASD. Furthermore, I want to contribute back to underserved populations that struggle because they do not have as much access to medical assistance as other privileged groups. As such, I hope to do a part of my research in less developed or developing Spanish-speaking countries. This will also allow me to pursue my love of Spanish while pursuing my love of neuroscience. I think that following such a career path will provide me the opportunity to learn about the medical needs of the autistic community and improve their quality of health. Furthermore, I hope to train a new generation of students to strive to research and make comparable discoveries. Whether it be through virtual reality labs or new drug discoveries, I believe that research leads to innovation which leads to a brighter future.

This student does a great job of making themself appear competent and dedicated to the field of neuroscience. This is primarily because they provided tangible evidence of how they have pursued their dedication in the past—through their AP Capstone courses, their Abnormal Psychology class at Duke TiP, and their internship at UTD. There is no doubt in the mind of a reader that this student is high-achieving.

This student also engages successfully with a past-future trajectory, where they end with a vision of how they will continue to use neuroscience in the future. This helps the review committee see what they are investing in and the ways that their money will go to good use.

This student has two major areas for improvement. As we have said, the purpose of a personal statement is for a student to humanize themself to a review committee. This student struggles to depict themself separately from their academic achievements. A solution to this would be for the student to establish a theme towards the beginning of their essay that relates to both their values as a human and their achievements.

At the beginning of the essay, the student explores how their interest in neuroscience began. They explain their interest through the following sentences: “During this time, my love for neuroscience was sparked as I began to research her condition and, then, other neurocognitive conditions” and “Once again, with this illness came a lot of research on my part — research that encouraged me to pursue my dreams of exploring neuroscience.” The student made the great decision to tell the backstory of their interest, but they described their research in very mundane and redundant terms. Instead, they could have focused on their value of intellectual curiosity as a magnetic force that encouraged them to research their mother and sister’s ailments. Curiosity, then, could serve as a value-related thematic throughline to taking AP Capstone classes, taking college courses during the summer that weren’t required, and interning before even graduating high school.

A second area for improvement would be avoiding statistics. As the student identifies their valedictorian status and the number of AP classes they have taken, they might turn away certain personalities on a review committee by appearing braggy. Even further, these statistics are a waste of space. The review committee already has access to this information. These words distract from the major theme of the essay and would have been better used to humanize the student.

Throughout my academic career, I have been an avid scholar, constantly pushing myself towards ambitious goals. I held and continue to hold myself to a high standard, enrolling myself in rigorous curriculum, including Honors and Advanced Placement courses to stretch my mental potential. During my junior year of high school, I took four AP tests, two on the same day, and earned the AP Scholar with Honor Award. Additionally, I received the Letter of Commendation for the PSAT/NMSQT, and qualified for Rotary Top 100 Students both my freshman and senior year, a sign of my commitment to my studies. However, school has not been all about having the best GPA for me; beyond the numbers, I have a deep drive to learn which motivates me to do well academically. I truly enjoy learning new things, whether it be a new essay style or a math theorem. I always give each class my best effort and try my hardest on every assignment. My teachers have noticed this as well, and I have received school Lancer Awards and Student of the Month recognitions as a result. It is a major goal of mine to continue to aspire towards a high level of achievement regarding future educational and occupational endeavors; I plan on continuing this level of dedication throughout my educational career and implementing the skills I have learned and will learn into my college experience and beyond.

This fall, I will begin attending the University of California Los Angeles as an English major. I chose this major because I am fascinated by written language, especially its ability to convey powerful messages and emotions. I also enjoy delving into the works of other authors to analyze specific components of their writing to discover the meaning behind their words. In particular, I cannot wait to begin in-depth literary criticism and learn new stylistic techniques to add more depth to my writing. Furthermore, I recently went to UCLA’s Bruin Day, an event for incoming freshmen, where I was exposed to many different extracurriculars, some of which really piqued my interest. I plan on joining the Writing Success Program, where I can help students receive free writing help, and Mock Trial, where I can debate issues with peers in front of a real judge. The latter, combined with a strong writing background from my undergraduate English studies will be extremely beneficial because I plan to apply to law school after my undergraduate degree. As of now, my career goal is to become a civil rights lawyer, to stand up for those who are discriminated against and protect minority groups to proliferate equality.

As a lawyer, I wish to utilize legislation to ameliorate the plight of the millions of Americans who feel prejudice and help them receive equity in the workplace, society, and so on. Though this seems a daunting task, I feel that my work ethic and past experience will give me the jumpstart I need to establish myself as a successful lawyer and give a voice to those who are often unheard in today’s legal system. I have been a Girl Scout for over a decade and continually participate in community service for the homeless, elderly, veterans, and more. My most recent project was the Gold Award, which I conducted in the Fullerton School District. I facilitated over ten workshops where junior high students taught elementary pupils STEM principles such as density and aerodynamics via creative activities like building aluminum boats and paper airplanes. I also work at Kumon, a tutoring center, where I teach students to advance their academic success. I love my job, and helping students from local schools reach their potential fills me with much pride.

Both being a Girl Scout and working at Kumon have inspired me to help those in need, contributing significantly to my desire to become a lawyer and aid others. My extracurriculars have allowed me to gain a new perspective on both learning and teaching, and have solidified my will to help the less fortunate. In college, I hope to continue to gain knowledge and further develop my leadership skills, amassing qualities that will help me assist others. I plan to join multiple community service clubs, such as UCLA’s local outreach programs that directly aid residents of Los Angeles. I want to help my fellow pupils as well, and plan on volunteering at peer tutoring and peer editing programs on campus. After college, during my career, I want to use legal tactics to assist the underdog and take a chance on those who are often overlooked for opportunities. I wish to represent those that are scared to seek out help or cannot afford it. Rather than battling conflict with additional conflict, I want to implement peaceful but strong, efficient tactics that will help make my state, country, and eventually the world more welcoming to people of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. These goals are close to my heart and therefore I will be as diligent as I am passionate about them. My perseverance and love for learning and community service drive my ambition in both education and life as a whole, and the drive to make the world a better place is one that I will carry with me for my entire life.

This student emphasizes two values in this essay: hard work and community service. These are values that go together nicely, and definitely make sense with this student’s end goal of becoming a civil rights lawyer! That said, some changes could be made to the way the student presents their values that would make their personal statement more convincing and engaging.

Structurally, instead of using a past-future trajectory, this student starts by explaining their academic achievements, then explains their career goals, then explains their history of community service, then explains their future desires for community service. This structure loses the reader. Instead, the student should have started with either the past or the future.

This could look like 1) identifying their career goals, 2) explaining that hard work and a commitment to community service are necessary to get there, and 3) explaining that they aren’t worried because of their past commitment to hard work and community service. Or it could look like 1) providing examples of their hard work and community service in the past, then 2) explaining how those values will help them achieve their career goals.

Additionally, like with our other example, this student shows a heavy investment in statistics and spouting off accomplishments. This can be unappealing. Unfortunately, even when the student recognizes that they are doing this, writing “beyond the numbers, I have a deep drive to learn which motivates me to do well academically. I truly enjoy learning new things, whether it be a new essay style or a math theorem,” they continue on to cite their achievements, writing “My teachers have noticed this as well, and I have received school Lancer Awards and Student of the Month recognitions as a result.” They say they are going beyond the numbers, but they don’t go beyond the awards. They don’t look inward. One way to fix this would be to make community service the theme around which the essay operates, supplementing with statistics in ways that advance the image of the student as dedicated to community service.

Finally, this student would be more successful if they varied their sentence structure. While a small-scale autobiography can be good, if organized, every sentence should not begin with ‘I.’ The essay still needs to be engaging or the review committee might stop reading.

Feedback is ultimately any writer’s best source of improvement! To get your personal statement edited for free, use our Peer Review Essay Tool . With this tool, other students can tell you if your scholarship essay is effective and help you improve your essay so that you can have the best chances of gaining those extra funds!

Personal Statement

How to write a personal statement.

A personal statement is a different type of essay than the study or research objective.

Personal Statement essay will allow you to:

Tell a story Consider what’s special, unique, distinctive and impressive about your life story.

Present your life experience Consider why you might be a better and more successful Fulbright grantee than others.

Help your future teacher/supervisor get to know you as a person Consider what personal characteristics you possess.

A good essay

Is fresh, lively, different and concise
Distinguishes you and makes you memorable
Really shows your personality (be yourself)

How do you get started?

Reflect on your life. Talk to friends and family, ask them to tell you what they think is most unique about you and what your strongest personal characteristics are. Do you agree with them?

Questions to ask yourself:

What details of your life (personal or family problems, history, people or events that have shaped you or influenced your goals) might help a person better understand you or set you apart from other applicants?
Consider aspects of your life which have helped to form the person you are now. For example, what significant events have happened to you? How did those experiences influence the choices you have made? Who have been your role models, and why?
Explain relevant stages of your life path and your academic career from early on til now.
When did you become interested in applying to the Fulbright program and going to the U.S.?
As a Fulbright grantee, you will be expected to share your experiences while in the U.S. What aspects of living in Finland will you want to bring forward? When you return to Finland, what do you hope you will have gained? What type of plans do you have after your studies are complete?
What aspects of the Fulbright Program do you find most engaging? Why do you want to be a part of the Fulbright experience?
What major interests do you have outside your academic studies and work?
Do you have some community involvement or organizational experience?
Do you have interest in contributing to the general society or influencing others and the society? If yes, in which way?
Explain your future goals.

Ask your supervisor and college/university officials about yourself:

What personal characteristics do I possess that would appeal to him/her/them?
What academic achievements distinguish my career so far?
What life experience do I have that would convince them of my maturity, integrity, adaptability and seriousness of purpose?
What are the most compelling reasons I can give for my future supervisor to be interested in me?

Note: Take your time. The way a person devises the essay, determines the length, develops the response is all part of the process. The level of effort sends a message.

Remember: Do the essay yourself, be careful, edit it and write as many drafts as necessary. Try not to repeat what is already explained or described elsewhere in the application.

Use these guidelines to help you in the thinking process of writing the Personal Statement. Remember to keep the Statement concise (about 400-500 words).

News & blog.

The cover of the December 2023 issue of the Fulbright Finland News magazine with two open pages showing articles from the magazine. The mock-up magazine is on a grey background.

Read Fulbright Finland News 2/2023 Online!

Campus of the American University of Central Asia

Yurts, Mountains, and a Liberal Arts Curriculum

Learning About Cultural Contradictions

Scholarships often require a standout personal statement that highlights not just academic excellence but also personal achievements and future aspirations. In this section, you’ll find personal statement samples that were crafted for scholarship applications, providing insights into how to effectively discuss your goals and why you deserve the scholarship.

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Fulbright Essays: Personal Statement and Study/Research Objective

by Umair Khan | Mar 22, 2019 | Fulbright Scholarship | 0 comments

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Personal Statement vs Study/ Research Objective- Fulbright Scholarship

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Zariya Mushtaq, Fulbright Scholar, and Harvard law school graduate, explains the difference between Study Objectives and Personal Statement in the video below:

Personal Statement and Study objectives Fulbright Scholar and Harvard Law School student Zariya Mushtaq shares invaluable tips regarding personal statement and study objectives. Posted by Quva on Sunday, February 24, 2019

Fulbright scholarship program requires you to write two essays as part of your online application, namely the personal statement and the study objectives. In this article, we’ll discuss in detail how to effectively write each of these two essays. Before we do that, it is very important to understand the mission of the Fulbright program and what it expects of successful applicants. That will help you define the tone of essays and overall application, and also the mindset with which you apply for the scholarship.

The mission of the Fulbright program is to help people with strong academic histories to study in the United States as ambassadors for their country. More importantly, they expect their candidates to be passionate about serving their country. Successful applicants in the past have returned to their countries and assumed leadership positions in their fields, and the same is expected of future applicants. Frame your Fulbright objectives with these considerations in mind.

Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

Most of what you need to know regarding the Fulbright personal statement has already been covered in my article regarding a general personal statement . (Please read the complete article on Personal statement before reading this article). In addition to the guidelines provided in the previous article , there are some important details relevant to Fulbright’s Personal Statement that we recommend you cover.

How to Write Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan?

The Fulbright Scholarship states on their website

In addition to academic work, persons selected for Fulbright programs are expected to share information about Pakistani life and culture with their U.S. colleagues and with community groups in the U.S. On returning to Pakistan, Fulbright grantees are expected to share their U.S. experiences with colleagues and community groups in Pakistan. Successful candidates should be poised to assume leadership positions in their fields and must be committed to returning and serving Pakistan.

In light of the information provided by the organization itself, we recommend students to discuss the following points in their personal statement to better inform the reviewer of how they are a good fit for the scholarship.

Leadership Roles
Contribution to Society
How will your degree help you serve Pakistan better?

Since the Fulbright Scholarship is looking for leaders who can come back to Pakistan and contribute to the development of the country, it is important that you clearly communicate your leadership potential to the organization. You can do this by giving the example of an international event you participated in and won, or by talking about a technical project that you led and how it impacted your community, or by discussing your work with a community service organization or in any other way depending on your past experiences.

A lot of students have a natural tendency to look down on their projects, to think that their work is not important or significant enough because it wasn’t hard enough, it is important to remember that the measure of importance depends as much as, if not more, on the improvement it brings to the life of its users as it depends on the technical prowess it required. Simple solutions can be extremely powerful.

Also, there is a thin line between writing an intelligent personal statement that neatly connects your aspirations with education and leadership ability, and writing a personal statement that only revolves around your love for the culture but does not make a compelling case for your academic ability. Lastly, if you have not contributed significantly, do not forge examples for the sake of making your personal statement compelling.

Takeaways from the application:

Here are the most important takeaways from the instructions provided by Fulbright on how to write your personal statement:

It should be a narrative account that describes how you achieved your goals related to your area of study. It should not merely be a list of achievements and accolades, but a compelling story of your struggles and motivations to achieve them. Watch the video at the top for details.

INCLUSIVENESS

It should be a comprehensive account, including everything from your education and practical experience to career plans and interests worth mentioning.

How-to-write-personal-statement-for-graduate-application

FORMATIVE FACTORS:

It should describe the most important factors that shaped your educational or professional development.

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE:

It should contain information on the number of years of practical experience relevant to your intended field of study.

NO MENTION OF UNIVERSITIES:

There should absolutely be no mention, whatsoever, of specific universities in the US in which you want to get enrolled. There is another section in the application for that.

Sample Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship

The following are some personal statements of Fulbright grantees. Please do not try to plagiarise personal statements, they are meant to act as reference and USEFP clearly states that plagiarizing can lead to disqualification.

Sample Personal Statement Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan -1

Personal Statement for Fulbright Pakistan

Fulbright-Scholarship-Pakistan--Personal-Statement-and-Study-Objective-Essays

Study/ Research Objectives for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

As the name indicates, study/ research objectives communicate the desired learning outcomes from your degree in US. Study/ Research Objectives are an opportunity for candidates to communicate what they want to study in the US.

How to write study objectives/ research objectives for Fulbright Scholarship?

Writing study objectives/ research objectives clearly is only possible if you are clear about what you want to achieve from your Master’s degree.

Some students are certain about the answer because they are passionate about a certain subject/ area and want to pursue specialization for the love of the subject. Some students are not necessarily passionate about the subject but they like a few subjects/ areas and decide they will pursue one of those areas based on which area adds the most value to their career prospects. Generally, having an understanding and knowledge of subjects/ skills that will be most required a few years from now adds the most value to one’s career.

While there are multiple ways of approaching the question of how to write study/research objectives, one way of doing this is to go to the programs you desire to enroll in and make a list of the learning outcomes given. Then, using the list, create a draft of the learning outcomes that you are passionate about and discuss how those outcomes connect with your past education/ work experience and your future goals. You don’t need to limit yourself to learning outcomes from just one program, you can select outcomes from multiple programs as long as they connect with your future goals and past academic/ work experience. However, selecting too disparate study objectives may not be a good idea.

Here are the most important takeaways from the instructions on how to write your essay on study objectives:

Takeaways from instructions:

AIMS & THEIR REASONS

As the name indicates, it should describe your study/research objectives, supported by your reasons to pursue them.

SPECIFICITY

It should specifically describe your prospective major field and specialized interests within this field.

RELEVANCE

It should describe the intended program and explain how it aligns both with your past education and experience and your future goals.

A common temptation here is to not just state what the objectives are but also to list the program and the university that you want to pursue. It should not mention specific universities. In a nutshell, while the personal statement for your Fulbright application has more to do with what you have done in the past, your study/research objectives relate more to your future in the field of your intended graduate studies.

Sample Study Objectives for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

Sample Study/Research Objectives for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan- 1

Sample Study/Research Objective Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan- 2

Sample Study or Research Objectives for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan- 3

Evaluation Criteria of Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

While the Fulbright Scholarship or the USEFP has not endorsed the following images, they were published online by a Fulbright Alumnus and reading them might give you a better idea of how reviewers approach the scholarship essays and how you should.

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Fulbright Personal Statement Sample

Sample Personal Statement for Fulbright application

Here is Fulbright personal statement sample for aspiring candidates. As you already know, the Fulbright personal statement should be a narrative statement describing how you have achieved your current goals. It should not be a mere listing of facts. The personal statement for Fulbright should include information about your education, practical experience, special interests, and career plans. Describe any significant factors that have influenced your educational or professional development. Comment on the number of years of practical experience already completed in the field in which academic work will be done in the U.S. Do not mention specific U.S. universities at which you would like to study.

Fulbright Personal Statement Sample of a Successful Fulbright Candidate

I was born into a middle-class family in Pakistan. At a very young age, I was taught that I need to follow my dreams. In the year 2000, 738 Million people had access to the internet whereas I was exiled to my room for one year doing something as trivial as using it. I was part of a culture that intends to keep women behind familial bars. Suffering but with a purpose, it took all I had to convince my parents that a BS in Computer Sciences will pave the way for a bright future. I was the first female in my family to go to college. Despite the late nights I spent coding, I couldn’t ignore the fact that the accelerated economic growth of 2004 was carried forward to 2005 universally, all except South Asia. Within Pakistan, even though I could see a rise in IT-related business-service sectors, I also saw that inflation picked up. I saw it in the eyes of the people that were scattered on the streets begging for food. Pakistan’s external debt reached an all-time high at $34.04 Billion. That is when I decided to undertake Finance as my specialty during my MBA degree, as I knew full well that revenue generation was the need of the hour for Pakistan. Culturally, I came face to face with yet a new challenge. I was out on the street. I spent two years of college living in a one-room apartment with a family of five, barely having any food or hot water. Against all odds, I completed my MBA with distinction and got my first paid job at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Advocating women’s right to education and opportunity became second nature to me.

Alongside my job, the era of rapid technological advancement allowed me to combine my creativity and technology to capitalize on my entrepreneurial abilities and establish my own clothing line, amongst other things. Three quarters of the profits from this business were used to fund a trust that I established. As of today, The Giving Hand Trust is supporting the education of underprivileged girls and providing food to nearly 200 families.

Hailing from a developing country, I am privy to some of society’s biggest problems. I worked with a bank, gained experience working in the private sector and served ample time with a human rights organization to know that even though my IT skills and business knowledge will ensure I earn well in life, I will not be able to eradicate the dilemma of economic inequality within the country, the real plight of the people leading to extreme poverty. No real impact, I said to myself.

It was mainly my aspiration to serve the public interest that finally drove me to join the Civil Services of Pakistan. By virtue of my position within the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) of Pakistan, I know now that a progressive tax system is imperative to an equitable economy, though it is just one aspect. I am also aware that a good tax system cannot be developed without involving all the stakeholders. Improved standards of living within a country like mine have a direct correlation with economic growth making me realize the importance of public policy as a field of goal-driven study. This awareness made me step back into school for my MPhil. The recommendations of my thesis on “Efficient Taxation” are becoming part of the finance bill in 2018.

With twenty years of formal education and six years serving as a Deputy Commissioner in the IRS, I understand Pakistan’s special needs and I know that famous economic theories cannot be blindly applied to inform public policy decisions. I am realistic enough to know that complete eradication of inequality is not an attainable goal. In a developing country like mine, an initiative to improve taxation will address the issue of economic disparity in favor of the poor. The ripple effect of progressive taxation will yield economic growth, reduced inflation, a reduction in tax rates and a tax to GDP ratio that is in keeping with the economic potential of the country.

My unique professional position will allow me to develop and implement an amalgamated approach to tackle socio-economic problems of Pakistan and the developing world, in theory and practice. However, I do need that coveted foreign qualification that a Ph.D. from the US will bring.

For more posts on Fulbright , the GRE and other related stuff related to the scholarship applications, please do subscribe to the blog so that you don’t miss an article that might help you out. All the best candidates. I hope this Fulbright personal statement sample would help you in crafting your own personal statment for your Fulbright application. If you want to know further about the Study objective for Fulbright application you can visit our previous posts on How to write Study Objective for Fulbright application and the sample study objective for Fulbright application .

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Fulbright Scholarship for MS/PhD in USA 2020-21

A beginner’s guide to fulbright scholarship 2020-21, fulbright sample application – completed, 6 thoughts on “fulbright personal statement sample”.

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The Odyssey Project internship is available to undergraduate majors in the humanities, arts, social sciences, and education who wish to work with the Odyssey Project, a program through the Humanities Research Institute that offers free college courses to qualifying members of the Champaign-Urbana community. Odyssey Project Interns are responsible for delivering onsite content and skill support for Odyssey students during class time. Read more and apply at https://hri.illinois.edu/fellowships-research-support/odyssey-project-internship . Deadline is April 8 .

Upcoming LAS Career Services Events!

Spring Series on Service Opportunities. Discover exciting opportunities that can be transformative. Add these to your early April (10-12) list. Kim has arranged for four organizations to meet with you in the LAS Hub . Come meet up with 1) Teach for America , 2) COOP , 3) Peace Corp ., and 4) City Year .

SENIORS: Job Search Jumpstart Lab, April 16, 11-1 pm in 107 Greg Hall – Come with your questions, your laptop, your resume or cover letter drafts, and any concerns that have been holding you back from seeking that first post-college job. Meet other Seniors who are wrestling with the same challenges (you are not alone). Our staff will be on hand during this 2-hour open session (come as long as you need) to answer questions, make suggestions, review drafts, or just help you get started. Lunch will be provided, with veggie options available. PLEASE register in Handshake to order the correct amount of food! (Signing up means you get an email reminder.)

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Fulbright Scholarship Opportunities

Interested in research, teaching, or graduate study abroad? The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards 2,000 scholarships annually for students to conduct research, teach English, or pursue graduate study in 140 countries. For over ten years, the University of Illinois has been a top producers of Fulbright U.S. student awards. Apply to be a 2025 awardee!

Eligibility Current juniors, seniors, and recent alumni in all academic disciplines, who are U.S. citizens, are eligible to apply.

The Fulbright Scholarship funds 1 year of research, teaching, or graduate study. The selection committee rates candidates based on their academic or professional qualifications, language skills, evidence of maturity, motivation, adaptability to a different cultural environment, knowledge of the host country, and the impression a candidate will make abroad as a citizen representing the U.S.

Deadline The priority deadline for undergraduates and recent alumni is June 24, 2024. The required campus deadline is August 26, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. (noon).

Application Preparation If you are interested in applying, please attend our information sessions:

Fulbright General Information Sessions:

Online – Tuesday, April 9, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Register HERE Online – Wednesday, April 10, 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Register HERE In Person – Thursday, April 11, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Rm IUB 514

Fulbright Personal Statement Workshops:

Online -Monday, April 15, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Register HERE In Person – Tuesday, April 16, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.- Rm IUB 514

Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Workshops:

Online – Tuesday, April 23, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Register HERE In Person – Wednesday, April 24, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Rm IUB 514

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Online – Friday, May 3, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Register HERE

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Through our peer-edited, faculty-reviewed electronic and print publications, we strive to develop and display the work produced by our high-achieving undergraduate researchers in all academic disciplines in the spirit of development towards professional research. We aim to inspire interest in research and individual curiosity throughout the student body, faculty, and surrounding community. To review the roles available check out the application below!

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The OL position is designed to offer students the opportunity to implement orientation programming for new first year students and family members. OLs should be knowledgeable about the University of Illinois and have a desire to help new students have a successful transition. OLs attend a paid spring training session to help prepare them to be student leaders for New Student & Family Experience events. All OLs will assist at various events such as International Student Orientation, Fall Orientation/Welcome Days and various other orientation programs. Opportunities for continued fall/spring OL work will also be available. More information will be provided at training. The hourly rate for the OL position is $15.

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You are invited to submit your work to the Madison Journal of Literary Criticism for the Spring 2024 Dream Edition! This edition will encompass what it means to “dream of more,” which includes both contemplating future aspirations and reimagining in a multitude of constructed contexts. Whether it entails the past, present, future, systems, institutions, relationships, methodologies, holidays, politics, fashion, education, emotions…we live in a world of constructs. To break away from these constructs, we dream of something new, something kinder, something better. This edition focuses on how those dreams take shape and will showcase the collective desire—and manifestation—of change that transcends the limits of our current reality. This edition we hope to publish criticism: academic, poetic, in the medium of art or prose or short stories. We hope to have a loose theme as writers and creators are more than willing to interpret, define, and redefine the term however suits them best, so the submitted work does not have to explicitly tie to abolition or social justice. We welcome nuanced perspectives and multiple interpretations, so please submit!

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Minnesota Law

Minnesota Law Remembers Professor Emerita Ann Burkhart

Ann Burkhart , beloved teacher, colleague, and friend at the University of Minnesota Law School, passed away March 26, 2024. A nationally recognized expert in real estate law, she taught land-use law and planning, real estate transactions, comparative property law, and consumer protection law. She served on the faculty at Minnesota Law for 42 years and was most recently the Curtis Bradbury Kellar Professor of Law before assuming emeritus status earlier this academic year. Throughout her time at Minnesota Law, Burkhart taught many courses, but it was in her 1L property law course that she earned a career-long reputation as a beloved teacher and mentor who championed her students and set them up for success.

“ Ann was a pillar of the Law School, a valued colleague, and one of the most beloved teachers on the faculty,” says Interim Dean William McGeveran, Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett Professor of Law . “She will be greatly missed and is remembered dearly at Minnesota Law by all who knew her. When I talk to alumni, they mention her as their favorite teacher almost more than anyone who’s ever taught here. She made a real impression on multiple generations and had a knack for being challenging and rigorous while at the same time supportive and caring.”

Burkhart was highly regarded and beloved among her students, and the feeling was mutual. Before her death, she was interviewed about her long and successful career. Discussing her students, she said: “Enabling [students] to go out and do good was the best part of teaching. It always made my heart beat strong. My students are so smart and so motivated, and I’ve learned so much from them. I have so many that I am so proud of.”

Robert Stein ’61 , Everett Fraser Professor of Law and Distinguished Global Professor, says that during his tenure as Law School dean from 1979 to 1994, Burkhart served as associate dean, a supportive role that Stein deeply appreciated. “She was a model of both an excellent teacher and a good citizen of the University and the Law School,” he says.

Stein also praised her teaching style. “She was a spectacularly good teacher, loved by her students for all the years of her teaching. She won the Teacher of the Year Award so many times it should probably be retired.” Burkhart received the Stanley V. Kinyon Teacher of the Year Award a total of five times.

In 2016, she also received the University’s Graduate-Professional Award, a rare honor bestowed on no more than eight University professors each year. At that time, she was only the third Law School faculty member to receive it. With the news of her passing, Stein shared: “Ann was very dedicated to her students and to the Law School. She was an incredibly successful associate dean during the time I was dean. She was beloved by her students and cared for each of them. She will be greatly missed by the thousands of students she taught and by the entire Law School family.”

"I count myself among the thousands of students who loved Ann and were immeasurably impacted by her intellect, warmth, and kindness," says Associate Clinical Professor Nadia Anguiano '17. “It's hard to adequately describe all the qualities that made her so uniquely gifted at teaching and mentoring students. I’ll never forget a few private moments I shared with her during office hours when she gave me the exact encouraging words I needed at the moment. As a colleague, she showed me that same warmth and kindness in every interaction I had with her. She will be missed terribly, and I will always cherish having had the privilege of knowing her.”

Through the years, Burkhart served in many national and professional capacities. She was a member of the American Law Institute and the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and was also a reporter for the Uniformed Manufactured Housing Act. She was a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and served on the Minnesota State Bar Association Real Estate Section Executive Council.

During her time on the faculty at Minnesota Law, Burkhart expanded her scholarship and teaching as a visiting professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA School of Law, Uppsala University College of Law in Sweden, and Christian-Albrechts University in Germany.

While Burkhart was an exceptional scholar and an outstanding teacher, she is most fondly remembered at Minnesota Law for being a gracious colleague and friend.

“Ann was a dear friend,” says Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Oren Gross, Irving Younger Professor of Law . “As neighbors on the fourth floor of the Law School, I had plenty of opportunities to see Ann and seek her advice and counsel. She was always gracious with her time and advice and welcoming to faculty, staff, and students alike. She was warm, funny, kind, and smart. She will be missed by all who knew her and who benefitted from her presence in their lives.”

Professor Carol Chomsky says she looked forward to celebrating retirement with Burkhart this spring. “She was a valued friend and colleague all the years I have been at Minnesota Law. As many have already mentioned, she was a beloved teacher by generations of students, and we will all miss her greatly."

Peter Estall ’19 , now an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Minneapolis office, was inspired by Burkart’s teaching style and chose to take additional courses with her. “I took those courses not because I was particularly interested in the subject but because of Professor Burkhart,” he says. “She’s one of the best educators I’ve ever had in my life, and I’ve had some stellar ones. She will be sorely missed.”

It is no surprise then that Professor Burkhart was also an outstanding student. She received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law, where she was lead note and comments editor of the University of Illinois Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. After graduating from law school, Burkhart clerked for the Honorable James C. Hill of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She then practiced law with Sidley & Austin in Chicago and with Alston & Bird in Atlanta.

“ Ann was simply remarkable,” says Professor Perry Moriearty . “On a personal note, my father was Ann’s civil procedure professor at the University of Illinois, a connection that Ann and I made shortly after I came to Minnesota. Even 40 years later, my father did not just remember Ann, he revered her. Ann’s intellect, kindness, integrity, and vibrance are not only legendary at Minnesota Law but also were cemented in place long ago when she was a student at the University of Illinois College of Law.”

Daniel Schwarcz, Fredrikson & Byron Professor of Law , shared that Burkhart regularly guest taught property law in his Law 3000 class. “Her sessions were always a highlight of the semester,” he says. “As I witnessed on numerous occasions, Ann's ability to connect with and inspire her students was truly special. Ann was also without fail a kind, gracious, and thoughtful colleague. She will truly be missed.”

Burkhart deeply valued her students and loved teaching and many aspects of real estate law, but she also carried deep admiration and respect for her colleagues at Minnesota Law. In an interview earlier this year, she said she was lucky to have worked with amazing colleagues. “They are the best in the country,” she said. “They are so willing to give their time, and I’m amazed at how much they contribute.”

The passing of Professor Emerita Ann Burkhart is a tremendous loss for the Minnesota Law community. We will miss her dearly. Our deepest condolences to Ann’s husband, Chris, and her family, friends, and countless former students.

If you would like to share your memories or messages about Professor Emerita Ann Burkhart, please add them to this memory board.

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IMAGES

Fulbright Samples by Grad Center
How To Write A Good Fulbright Personal Statement
TIPS FOR Writing THE Fulbright Personal Statement
Calaméo
How to Write Personal Statement for Scholarship
Expository Essay: Statement of purpose for fulbright scholarship

VIDEO

How to write your Fulbright personal statement and Statement of Grant Purpose to win a Fulbright
How to Write Fulbright Personal Statement
Personal statement tips
Winning Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship for Master's and PhD
Scholarship Personal Statement: How to Write a Winning Statement
Personal Statement PRO tips from a Fulbright Scholar // Stop saying this

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PDF Fulbright Personal Statements: Tips & Guidelines
Statement of Grant Purpose or Personal Statement that it hinders the initial brainstorming process. Once you have an initial draft, you can then start to parse out content based on the category criteria. Ultimately, the Personal Statement should complement the Statement of Grant Purpose without duplicating information. Writing Techniques
PDF Sample Personal Statement for the Fulbright Scholarship Student #1
Microsoft Word - Fulbright.rtf. My grandparents have touched many lives: former drug addicts, refugees, neighbors, and my own. They have an uncommon ability to build relationships; they are a paradigm of service— where service is more than what you do and is also defined by who you are. In my own life, I have aspired to affect people in the ...
PDF Guidelines for Writing Fulbright Personal Statements
Guidelines for Writing Fulbright Personal Statements The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards 1,500 grants each year. Applications require a statement of proposed study and a personal statement—a kind of intellectual autobiography, often with a central focus or theme, in which you discuss your academic credentials and
How to Write Fulbright Personal Statement
Learn some strategies and tricks to write an impressive scholarship application essay! This essay tells about your life story and has a lot of weightage in y...
Tips for Writing a Personal Statement
In general, your personal statement will contain the following three sections: The opening paragraph will contain a statement, example, or anecdote that grabs the readers' attention right away, while providing a solid frame for your essay as a whole. This is the most important part of your statement, and it will likely be one of the hardest ...
PDF FULBRIGHT APPLICATIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
FULBRIGHT APPLICATIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON TIPS FOR WRITING THE FULBRIGHT PERSONAL STATEMENT "The Personal Statement should be a narrative giving a picture of you as an individual. Remember, applicants are not interviewed on the national level. The Personal Statement is your opportunity to 'talk' about yourself and to tell the committee more about how you came to this
PDF Personal Statement Samples
Personal Statement (Please structure your essay in paragraphs and limit your response to 50 words, single-spaced. Essays that exceed the word limit are penalized in the scoring.) Tell us about yourself and your goals including the following: What about you background and/or interests make you competitive for this particular
The Fulbright Scholarship
The primary written portions of the Fulbright application are a one-page personal statement and two-page statement of grant purpose. As usual, the personal statement is your opportunity to discuss personal motivations, your experience and activities, and future goals. Though your examples should still be concrete, you have the room to reveal ...
PDF Writing the Fulbright Personal Statement
Writing the Fulbright Personal Statement The Fulbright Personal Statement is designed with three main goals in mind. First, it shows that you are a three-dimensional person who is interesting, globally minded, and committed to the cross-cultural exchange that a year of research, study or teaching English entails. Second, it shows the personal ...
Writing Personal Statements & Proposals for the Fulbright Scholarship
Writing Fulbright Essays: The Personal Statement & the Statement of Grant Purpose / from Yale University Writing for the Fulbright Scholarship [with samples essays] / from Penn State University Fulbright Personal Statements: Tips & Guidelines / from the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan
US Fulbright Program
Provide reference writers with copies of the Statement of Grant Purpose and the Personal Statement so that they can write well-informed recommendation letters. ... Applicants proposing to pursue a graduate degree program must apply to the degree-granting program separate from their Fulbright application. Draft a Personal Statement that provides ...
Fulbright Application Essays: Personal Statement & Study Objective
The Fulbright Study/research objective essay requires the applicant to write down what would they do if granted the scholarship on the Fulbright program, what research do want to carry out in ...
Tips to Craft a Killer Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship
Don't include your whole life story; present it in an impressive way which highlights your strengths, skills and talents. Portray everything using examples rather than just listing your strengths. Follow Instructions given by Fulbright Scholarship: It is always advisable to follow the instructions provided. If they have asked for 700-750 ...
Writing a Confident and Thematically Driven Personal Statement for
Like many large grant organizations, the Fulbright Foundation requires applicants to write both a statement of purpose and a personal statement. Regardless of your personal background, a strong personal statement for a large grant application like the Fulbright should always have a clear focus: the content of it should always serve the ...
Sample Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship
The sample Fulbright personal statement below has been shared with me by an anonymous but successful Fulbright applicant who has allowed me to share her personal statement on this blog. It can be used as an example to give you an idea of how to write and structure your own personal statement for the Fulbright program.
How to Format a Personal Statement for Scholarship/cv
Here are the steps how to format a personal statement for Scholarship. 1. Ist Paragraph. So, you might pique the interest of your reader with an intriguing opening and tell us about your background, your family's history, and yourself. Also, dd any unique familial or personal circumstances that have impacted your need for money.
How to Write a Personal Statement for a Scholarship + Examples
That said, it is of the utmost importance that you find a focus. First, think about both your goals and your values. Types of goals include: Career goals. Goals for personal growth. The type of friend you want to be. The change you want to make in the world. Values could include: Authenticity.
Personal Statement
Personal Statement essay will allow you to: Tell a story. Consider what's special, unique, distinctive and impressive about your life story. Present your life experience. Consider why you might be a better and more successful Fulbright grantee than others. Help your future teacher/supervisor get to know you as a person.
Personal Statement Samples for Scholarships
Scholarship Personal Statement Example that Won $250,000. Here is the personal statement of an applicant who got admitted to several top graduate schools for a degree in business and management. Variations of this personal statement got scholarships of upto $250,000 at Columbia, Harvard, and NYU.
Fulbright Essays: Personal Statement and Study/Research Objective
Fulbright scholarship program requires you to write two essays as part of your online application, namely the personal statement and the study objectives. In this article, we'll discuss in detail how to effectively write each of these two essays. Before we do that, it is very important to understand the mission of the Fulbright program and what it expects of successful applicants.
Fulbright
Deadline for summer matching for feedback on Statement of Grant Purpose and Personal Statement essays (Optional) (Submission form forthcoming) September 8, 2024: UD Deadline for submitting application through the Fulbright online application (Mandatory) (Applications will be returned to you to make changes.) Mid-September to Early October
Fulbright Personal Statement Sample
The personal statement for Fulbright should include information about your education, practical experience, special interests, and career plans. Describe any significant factors that have influenced your educational or professional development. Comment on the number of years of practical experience already completed in the field in which ...
Weekly Round Up!
The Fulbright Scholarship funds 1 year of research, teaching, or graduate study. The selection committee rates candidates based on their academic or professional qualifications, language skills, evidence of maturity, motivation, adaptability to a different cultural environment, knowledge of the host country, and the impression a candidate will ...
Minnesota Law Remembers Professor Emerita Ann Burkhart
Ann Burkhart, beloved teacher, colleague, and friend at the University of Minnesota Law School, passed away March 26, 2024. A nationally recognized expert in real estate law, she taught land-use law and planning, real estate transactions, comparative property law, and consumer protection law. She served on the faculty at Minnesota Law for 42 years and was most recently the Curtis Bradbury ...

Fulbright Program

Prewriting:

The Fulbright Scholarship

The Fulbright Scholarship Selection Criteria

Composing a Personal Statement and Statement of Grant Purpose

Evaluation of Written Materials from Two Sample Fulbright Applications

Fulbright Scholar Program (Dr. Ramón Galinanes)

Tips from Universities and a U.S. Embassy

Current U.S. Student

U.S. Citizen but not a Student

U.S. Professor/Administrator

Non U.S. Citizens

Application Components: Academic Fields

Biographical Data

Program Information

Statement of Grant Purpose

Affiliation Letter

Personal Statement

Foreign Language Forms

Recommendations

Transcripts

Ethical Requirements

Study/Research Application Components Overview

Which program are you applying to?

Writing a Confident and Thematically Driven Personal Statement for Fulbright

4 goals of your grant personal statement

Fulbright personal statement example

Analysis of the argument – paragraph by paragraph

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3

Paragraph 4

Bottom line: what I learned

Fulbright 2023-2024 Competition Deadline

What are your chances of acceptance?

Your chancing factors

How to Write a Personal Statement for a Scholarship + Examples

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Personal Statement

Personal Statement essay will allow you to:

A good essay

How do you get started?

Questions to ask yourself:

Ask your supervisor and college/university officials about yourself:

Use these guidelines to help you in the thinking process of writing the Personal Statement. Remember to keep the Statement concise (about 400-500 words).

Read Fulbright Finland News 2/2023 Online!

Yurts, Mountains, and a Liberal Arts Curriculum

Learning About Cultural Contradictions

Get a Free Personal Statement Course!

Scholarship Personal Statement Example that Won $250,000

Fellowship Personal Statement Examples

Get Personal Statement Templates in your INBOX!

Personal Statement Samples by Field

Personal Statement Samples of Top Universities

Personal Statement Samples Answering Specific Prompts

Personal Statement Samples with Word Limits

Get Free Feedback on your Personal Statement!

Fulbright Essays: Personal Statement and Study/Research Objective

Personal Statement vs Study/ Research Objective- Fulbright Scholarship

Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

How to Write Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan?

Sample Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship

Study/ Research Objectives for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

How to write study objectives/ research objectives for Fulbright Scholarship?

Sample Study Objectives for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

Evaluation Criteria of Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

Fulbright Evaluation Criteria-1

Fulbright Evaluation Criteria-2

Fulbright Evaluation Criteria-3

HEC Attestation Process for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan- Quva

Offsetting low GPA in graduate school application

The Perfect Personal Statement for Fulbright Scholarship Pakistan

Sample Resumes of Fulbright Scholars and students who received funding

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