Checklist for Academic Candidates

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.