Advice for Undergraduates

Plan with purpose

One way to view prestigious scholarships and fellowships is that they reward an ideal undergraduate education. While your professors and mentors can help you design such an education, you are its true architect. With that in mind, plan to: 

Strive for excellence in your coursework 

  • Choose challenging courses.
  • Choose diverse courses that allow you to grow your knowledge outside your major.
  • In each course, find something you can be passionate about—and make that passion apparent in your work.
  • Go “above and beyond” what your professors explicitly require in all areas: preparation for each class session, class participation, group work and essays or other writing you submit. Remember that your efforts will be reflected not only in your grades, but also in your academic growth and the recommendations your faculty write for you.
  • Remember, grades are not “the end of the story.” A less than perfect performance in a course or on a given essay or exam, can be rehabilitated by a willingness to revise the work and an interest in better understanding the material, even when such improvements will not improve your course grade. Faculty admire students whose ambitions extend beyond grades. Show that you are such a scholar.

Seek opportunities to get to know and be mentored by faculty

  • Go to office hours. Discuss with your professors aspects of classes you take with them or their fields that you want to understand better and how to improve the quality of your coursework. Even if you are producing A-level work, invite your faculty to tell you what you can do to take your work to the next level. Be open to their input and try to use it. Check back with them for further guidance.
  • Learn about your professors’ research—read and discuss it with them in office hours, even if it it’s mostly “over your head.” Your conversations with them will enhance your understanding of disciplines in which you have an interest and in graduate work generally.
  • Actively seek opportunities to conduct research. If you are unsure of what types of research activities are conducted in your field—ask professors in your department. You might join a lab or develop an independent research project. Your faculty can guide you as learn how to pursue your research questions in your area of interest. If there are expenses associated with an independent research project, you may be able to fund them by applying for scholarships.
  • If you study abroad, take time to cultivate relationships with faculty at your foreign college or university. It may be that you want to return to that country after your bachelor’s degree, supported by an international fellowship. 

Pay attention to etiquette 

The way you conduct yourself has consequences for how your faculty and other mentors regard you. Reliability when you make commitments and graciousness in your communications inspire confidence in you as a mature person to be enthusiastically recommended to the academy, future employers and fellowship programs. Consider sending an appreciative follow-up email or note for a helpful reference or an insightful meeting with a professor.

Courtesy demands that you explicitly thank your recommenders after they have submitted letters of reference on your behalf and that you keep them updated about the status of your applications. Express appreciation for their support whether are not you are selected. 

Show respect in your emails to your faculty. Your email to them should show more care than if you were dashing off a text to a peer. Avoid being overly informal (“hey there”). Instead, address professors with their formal title (“Dear Professor [last name]”). Edit your emails for clarity and lead with a warm and courteous tone. 

Your communication reflects your own excellence and creates a foundation for your professors’ positive assessment of you. Whatever your career or academic goals, you need your faculty to begin respecting you now because of your good judgement and attentiveness to your communication with them. 

Expand your knowledge of the world 

Enrich your perspectives on people, places and events. Consider travel, volunteer work and study abroad opportunities. Remember that at our university, studying abroad may be less expensive than your semesters in the U.S. To explore study abroad options, contact SFSU Abroad. 

Entertain fresh viewpoints by participating in intercultural events and attending lectures and conferences at SFSU and other universities. Consult university websites for their calendars of lectures, events and exhibits. 

Follow the news from different political perspectives and read broadly on a regular basis. Reading academic journals will help you understand debates in your field. Reading creative nonfiction (including book reviews, memoirs, personal essays, literary journalism, narrative history, travel writing and nature writing) will help you become a more versatile writer. 

Consult with your faculty and subject librarians to learn about well-vetted ( “peer reviewed” or “refereed”) academic journals in your areas of interest. 

Conduct research in your field 

Participating in research, whether as part of a lab or team or as an independent researcher guided by a faculty mentor, prepares you to be an active contributor to knowledge in your field, rather than merely a passive recipient of knowledge. Participating in research and writing about your questions and conclusions will enhance your understanding of your field and its methods well beyond what you could gain by classroom experience alone. 

See research opportunities sponsored by SFSU: 

Consider submitting essays to undergraduate conferences and journals 

Look for opportunities to share your research in undergraduate research journals and at undergraduate conferences. Doing so will give you experience communicating the importance of your work to peers and faculty. Recognition by editorial boards that assess the caliber of undergraduate scholarship will affirm your sense of personal excellence and enhance your profile in the eyes of foundation selection committees. The process of improving your essays for submission to undergraduate journals will also sharpen your academic writing. 

See these links to undergraduate conference and publishing opportunities: 

Gain experience 

Fellowship selection committees want to know that you not only have interests, but that you are pursuing those interests now. Promises to do so later do not have much value in fellowship applications. Intern, work or volunteer to gain experience in your field or to address the issues you care about. Use every summer productively. Start looking for such experiences now. 

For internship opportunities through SFSU see, the Institute for Civic & Community Engagement (ICCE) Resources for Students page.

Be, in your own way, a leader

Work to improve the world beyond the classroom. Give generously of your time to support public service or volunteer programs dedicated to addressing social problems you most care about. Remember that even a limited number of hours per week or month, over a long period of time, demonstrates the extent of your commitment. Look for what you can do beyond “lending a hand,” and then dedicate yourself to doing it. If a service or program does not yet exist to address a need you perceive, consider developing one that will. Seek out professors and other mentors to help you think through how to implement your goals. Convince like-minded folks to help. Consider fundraising or applying for scholarships to fund your initiatives. 

Get involved in extracurricular activities that are meaningful to you 

There are no formulaic “best” activities. What is important is how you think about these activities, the particular value you see in them. 

Consider competing for scholarships and awards 

Fellowship applications usually ask for a list of honors and awards. Recognition by scholarship committees provides evidence that you have been willing to compete and have been recognized as worthy of selection in merit-based competitions. 

Develop your communication skills 

Several prestigious fellowship programs interview finalists. Taking courses in the liberal arts will strengthen your ability to construct effective arguments. The skills you gain in those classes will help you develop strong fellowship essays — and equip you to speak effectively in interviews about yourself as well as your ideas, commitments and goals. 

Reflect upon your credentials and goals 

Take time to reflect upon what it is that most speaks to you and nourishes you in your activities and pursuits. Doing so will help reveal your deepest values and clarify your direction in life. It will also help you select which scholarships, fellowships, internships or research opportunities best fit your situation and the future you want to craft. Your conversations with your advisors and with the Fellowships Office will help you develop new ways of thinking about the significance of your activities, goals and priorities. 

This page has been adapted, with the permission of Jim Hohenbary, from “Becoming a Strong Candidate for Scholarships,” Kansas State University.