Why should you trust my words?
Well, I don’t like to boast about my credentials. But my experience as Fulbright scholar (2016 – 2018), member of Fulbright Application Review Committee (Year 2019–2020) and my two failed attempts at Central Superior Services Exam kind off make me worthy enough to trust my written words.
What should you expect in this blog?
Now, this is an updated version of a Facebook Post that I made last year after my pleasant experience as a member of the Fulbright Application Review Committee for the year 2019–20. The response was overwhelming as my inbox was flooded with inquiries. As I am a human, not an AI robot, I found it quite difficult to respond and help out everyone. But this blog will do some justice and I hope it inspirea couple of guys/girls to go for this scholarship.
Each year, USEFP (local body looking after Fulbright in Pakistan) asks Fulbright Alumni to join them for preliminary review of applications. The content of this blog will pretty much remain the same as the previous post, except that I will add additional information for Fulbright aspirants.
Why I write this and not binge watch Netflix:
Last year, I came across words that some of our Alumni (including fake ones) from Fulbright Fraternity were charging exorbitant rates for reviewing Fulbright application Essays of aspirants. This is tragic to say the least. I think Fulbright experience and it core values are all about giving back to your local community, not something to be exploited as a capitalistic venture. This action might be only tenable if someone is doing it out of financial hardship during pandemic, but that is rarely the case. Anyways, I will share some insights from the review experience from last year while keeping myself at bay from not revealing too much to violate the NDA. Hopefully, many people will be spared from such scammers. Remember, no one can guarantee you Fulbright Scholarship for even a million dollar. Yes, they can only guide you but such guidance is easily available from Fulbright Alumni community, which is expanding with each passing year. You only have to act appropriately on social media while asking for such guidance. Don’t waste your money. Period.
What is Fulbright (not Fullbright) ?
The name of this scholarship has nothing to do with the brightness of the mind of humans. It is named after US Senator J. William Fulbright, who proposed this program. Each year 2700–3000 applicants from across Pakistan, apply to this prestigious scholarship to have a chance at studying in the world’s prestigious universities in United States of America. After preliminary review of the applications, 350–400 makes to the interview stage. And then, 150–180 lucky ones get to have the experience of their life. Further information here.
How the application is reviewed?
First, Fulbright is a merit-based scholarship, hence quite a weightage is given to GRE score and your previous Academic record (most probably recent Bachelor’s and Master’s Score). It almost makes up 50 % of the overall weightage of your overall profile. Last year, GRE score was not considered, but things are different this year. GRE is being considered this year and I came across some prep classes from USEFP on YouTube. Your whole academic prowess depends on your CGPA and GRE combined now. Sad day for those, who used to say GPA does not matter.
The rest of the score, is sweet amalgamation of scores for two ESSAYS (PERSONAL STATEMENT, RESEARCH OBJECTIVE) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS(MINORITY, DISABILITY ETC.), REFERENCES, WORK EXPERIENCE AND EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES. Furthermore, there is also small weightage for being in the preferred area of study as mentioned in the advertisement. “Personal Statement (PS) and Research Objective (RO)” are the make and break of the whole application. If you get them right, you will be called to Islamabad and meet the amazing local Fulbright panel for your interview. There is also an Alumni in the Fulbright Panel.
The DOs and the DON’Ts
Now the main stuff. I will share some dos and don’ts based on my review experience and exposure to the whole process.
Spell Check is an amazing tool in Microsoft Word. Google it on how to use it. If you make spelling and grammar mistakes in your essays, you are not serious about going across Atlantic Ocean to North America for free. There are plenty others who knows how not to make such silly mistakes and are more willing to go to Time square in NYC. Get your essays reviewed by competent authority in writing English Essays.
Originality is rewarded. Be original, do not come up with hackneyed and cliché stories. If you were underprivileged for being a female, minority or stricken with any other harsh experience and you have original story (not a made up one, which reviewers can easily see through and ignore), then do include that in your PERSONAL STATEMENT. But if you do not have one and are just making it up to gain some sympathy, then you are playing with fire. Because, after reviewing a few essays it becomes extremely easy to spot fake stories from original ones.
Do not make your whole essay about your struggles and hardships only. It is OK to start initially with your “ORIGINAL” story of challenges of one’s life and then getting back to the real purpose of the ESSAY (which will be stated ahead). But making the whole essay about it will not be a wise idea. I repeat, DO NOT MAKE YOUR WHOLE ESSAY ABOUT HOW UNDERPRIVILEGED YOU ARE. We would like to hear about your achievement of past along with your vision for a better future despite this underprivileged or difficult circumstances of your life. How you will make an impact. Let’s say you have concern for gender issues in Pakistan and it has impacted you somehow, therefore you feel the need for change in this aspect of Pakistan’s Society. Then, you can make such a case as part of your vision to transform Pakistan’s Society, but the whole essay should not be about this aspect only. Don’t go on a rant about debilitated situation of women in Pakistan as if you are writing an editorial for Dawn. Being an avid reader of Dawn editorials, I felt some Personal Statements should have been mailed to Dawn Office, rather than being sent to be considered for Fulbright Application.
Essay writing is a slightly technical phenomenon. Get your PERSONAL STATEMENT and RESEARCH OBJECTIVE reviewed by someone competent who knows how to write English Essays and are aware of its technicalities. The reason of my demise in the two Civil Services has been Essay Paper, so I know what I am talking about.
Essays have a certain structure: Introduction, Body, Conclusion and then Topic Sentence of each paragraph, and use of single idea in each paragraph, unity, coherence etc. Google all this stuff about Essay technicalities, please. This space is too short for explaining these technicalities. Sharing a link to help you people get started.
Bombastic words will take you nowhere. Do not use complex vocabulary and clumsy long sentences, which become difficult to comprehend for reviewer. The essence of your essay is to convey ideas in a simple language. The purpose of an Essay is to convey your idea in simple words. I got some PERSONAL STATEMENTs and they wrote some extremely difficult and convoluted essays. Know your audience. If you are a lawyer, you use your law-based LINGUA FRANCA then it will be difficult to comprehend for the reviewer and he might not get what you are conveying and loose precious points. See, how I used “lingua franca” instead of a simple word “language” to sound cool yet elusive. At the end of some essays my brain would be like “ARAY KEHNA KYA CHAHTE HO ” (like the Professor in this scene in Amir Khan’s Movie 3 Idiots)
Do not try to outsmart the reviewers. We have been there and knows all the tricks of trade. There are some preferred areas of study, if your intended program NATURALLY falls into that, you get some extra score for that. Do not force your program into the preferred list if it does not come under any category. It just deprives you of a good score for your profile. It is like you are saying one thing, but you intended program and work experience say something else. Divergence of your intentions and your words will make you look bad and you will lose points. And it is easy to judge that. Given that we have been through this whole process, we know you are trying to hoodwink us into believing us something which is not your real intention. Like it is tenable for a candidate who wants to go for Master’s in Electrical Engineering program to make a case for Energy area, but untenable for a candidate with intention of doing MBA. How will your MBA help alleviate Pakistan’s Energy Crisis? Seriously, do not test our mental acumen, the room of reviewers is filled with more than 25 smartasses. Thread carefully if going along that path.
One common question related to the previous point; can one switch their program from previous academic program? I get a lot of this. Yes, you can. Given that you can back it up with sound argument based on your previous work experience, research project, and coursework. Like you did Electronic Engineering but end up joining Transport Industry and have 5 years experience working in that industry. You can make a good case for yourself if you are smart person. However, this does not mean you just switch programs based on your personal whims and career growth. I received quite few queries from Engineers who wished to do MBA to help them in their career in the industry. How would you make a case for such program? I am yet to meet an Engineer, in fact, a non-Engineer as well going for MBA on Fulbright. It is untenable in my opinion. Switch careers and intended programs, Yes!! But with tenable arguments.
Extra-Curricular activities and Work Experience also have some weightage. This will be a make and break for some people. Try to include that elaborately in your PERSONAL STATEMENT and application. Don’t lie though, you will be figured out in interview.
Letter of References (LORs)are also important. Mostly, in Pakistan people write it themselves and get the necessary signing and stamp from their bosses or teachers. I did the same. But I was careful enough to ask someone else to rewrite 2 out of 3 LORs in their own words. I wanted to make it look like it is written by 3 different people. In order to cheat, one still must use some brains. Some guys failed at that as well, with poor letter of references.
In rare cases, we find the “professional” ones who will want to write everything themselves and send their written responses to USEFP as well. Just make sure that they send your LORs to USEFP before the deadline. As there were some applications whose LORs were missing. They lost valuable points. The marking of LORs is not that strict. It should be comprehensive, fill up the whole space and devoid of any grammatical or spelling mistakes. To flatter yourself is the easiest thing in the world, I guess.
Personal Statements and Research Objectives
Now, coming to the most important aspect of the whole application., Personal Statements and Research Objectives.
What should be the content of your essay. What really you should write to stand out. First of all, the purpose of your PERSONAL STATEMENT, is to give reviewer a glimpse of yourself, personality, life, upbringing, events that shaped you into who you are today, achievements and vision for the future. By the end of your essay I would like to know who you really are. Things to write in PERSONAL STATEMENT can include:
Why should Fulbright choose you? What motivates or drives you? How mature and realistic are your goals and how your previous education has prepared you for it? How much are you committed to Pakistan? How much are your ideas Original? How open are you towards foreign cultures? Do you have it in you to survive in US?
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE is slightly technical than PERSONAL STATEMENT. For Masters, the criteria are slightly relaxed as compared to PhD. I reviewed Master’s Application; hence these words should be taken as truth only for Master Candidates. PhD candidates can get an idea from this and present a more vigorous research proposal. In my opinion it is easy to write this Essay then Personal Statement, All you have to do is look up few university sites of the research work you want to do and make it in line with a problem Pakistan is currently facing. Things to write in RESEARCH PROPOSAL can include:
How much are your goals Realistic and Mature, Easy and comprehensible Objectives, Alignment of previous work experience or studies, If you do this program what is in it for Pakistan and why do you want to really study in USA for this program? How will you resolve a core issue Pakistan is facing?
“Rule of Thumb” Format of Research Objective (Guide, Not Holy Truth): Problem Statement in relation to Pakistan; How it can be solved? What you have done in the past relation to this problem to solve it somehow? What direction you want to work in USA to solve this crisis? Why USA is necessary to solve this problem.
Remember, it is not really necessary to carry out this exact research work when you land in US. You can change everything when you go to your University. Fulbright in US does not care what you do in US, as long as you are keeping your GPA above certain threshold and are on track for completing your intended degree on time.
Selection of Universities
Now my Achilles’s Heel. I wish I were told about this thing while filling my application to save me all the hassle and disappointment. I would have not endured the 8 month long Snowy Winter. Anyways, no crying over spilt milk. So, here is the advice with reference to University Preference list.
First, your university preference list and intended program does not play any role in your selection except this that your intended program should be in line with your research objective. I remember an aspirant who said something else in their research objective essay and intended list of programs included MBAs program. That looked extremely ugly.
When you are entering universities into preferred list in the FB application, do not just fill it randomly. Do proper research about the university you are putting in. Things to consider while putting in your preferred list
1) University Graduate Education Profile: Sometime colleges undergraduate education will be awesome, but in graduate education it might not have enough professors or quality research groups.
2)Research Interests: Do not blindly follow rankings, see the research work or may be the research being carried out by the department. you are interested in. Just because a university is ranked top, does not mean your intended research program or faculty of the school is also awesome. Thread carefully, look at professor’s profile and research groups working in your intended field.
3) City of the university: Matters a lot, Trust me. Small Cities with poor transport system and no subways might hamper your life if you are kind of a person who likes to go out. You might then have to buy a car. Metropolitan cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston have good transportation system and happening life. Choice is yours. You want to go to GIKI in Swabi, or LUMS, Lahore. Big cities can ensure a richer Fulbright experience than small quite cities. Think about it!!
4) Weather of the region: I chose a university in upstate NY, and it snowed pretty much for 6–8 months. I would regret choosing that place when the snow would hamper my plans. So do consider the weather of the region
I hope this helps. Good luck.