Endorsement Process
Congratulations! You have decided to apply for a prestigious external scholarship. Now what? The University of Alabama Committee on External Scholarships and Fellowships reads all applications, interviews applicants and decides whether and whom to endorse. We then provide an institutional endorsement letter, signed by President Stuart Bell. You will see on our website that there is a campus deadline approximately one month ahead of the national deadline for each major award requiring institutional endorsement.
Once you have carefully ascertained eligibility for a specific award and have spoken with the appropriate campus representative about your plans to apply, follow these steps:
Application
Submit by email to the appropriate campus representative a well-polished draft of your completed application, along with an unofficial transcript, by the campus deadline. This is a hard deadline.
Letters of Recommendation (LORs)
Ask all those providing LORs to email draft letters to the campus representative, also by the campus deadline. Draft LORs are fine at this stage and do not need to be sent on letterhead. If you are selected for endorsement, our office will work with faculty and other recommenders on fine-tuning letters. Find more tips here on LORs.
Campus Interview
Meet with members of the Committee on External Scholarships and Fellowships for your campus interview. Our office will schedule the interview soon after the campus deadline and well before the national deadline.
Submit the final application
If endorsed, we will provide feedback on your application, unless you are applying for the Rhodes Scholarship, or any other award where feedback is not permitted. Make all final revisions in time for the national deadline and submit if possible before the cutoff. Application portals can become congested and have been known to crash.
Finalists
Let the Director of External Scholarships and Fellowships know the minute you hear from the foundation. If you are a finalist, we will work with you on interview prep.
Celebrate
All applicants are winners. There is value in the process. If you do not receive the award, explore other opportunities and try again. In the spring of each year, we will invite all students who complete an application to join us for a year-end reception.
Helping Your Recommenders Help You
Your goal is to help your recommenders write a letter that is effective and speaks specifically about why you are a good choice for the scholarship, fellowship or graduate program for which you are applying. An effective letter demonstrates that and why you are an unusually good choice for a particular program or fellowship. Here are some suggestions for helping your recommenders help you in their letters:
- Give your recommenders information about yourself and the scholarship. Discuss your goals. Describe those of your characteristics, accomplishments and experience that best align with the award (its mission and the personal qualities it is looking for in recipients). Tell your recommender how you plan to use the fellowship and discuss your longer-term goals. Provide a one-page “cheat sheet” on you and on the award itself. Most foundation websites offer pointers for letter writers. Add the URL for this information on your cheat sheet.
- Provide general background about yourself: GPA, notable extracurricular activities, important honors or accomplishments. Emphasize relevant experience and describe it succinctly.
- If your recommender is a professor or supervisor with whom you have not worked or studied in a while, bring that person up to date about your activities and learning since you took their class or worked for them.
- Ask recommenders if there is any additional information that they would like to have in order to help them write the strongest possible letter for you.
- Give recommenders ample time. Let them know the campus deadline well in advance, follow up with a reminder a few weeks before that deadline, and let them know that draft letters are fine at this stage. If you are endorsed, they will have time to make final edits and submit your LOR on letterhead by the national deadline.
- Finally, keep your recommenders informed about outcomes and be sure to thank them for their support.