<p>My S met recently with the fellowship advisor at his school and talked about the Fulbright among others. The advisor said the key to the Fulbright is a proposal directly related to the culture of the country to which you are applying. This does not fit S’s rather vague ideas of what he wants to do next, and so he will not apply for it, though he might apply for some other fellowships. Five or six faculty references – from profs, not TAs – and the personal statement are also key.</p>
<p>S’s school does very well with Fulbrights, not so well with other fellowships. It hired someone new to try to up the success rate. So there definitely is gamesmanship involved. (I’ve heard that Yale, for example, starts grooming potential candidates practically from first year.)</p>
<p>Is your goal just to get some money to study abroad? I know someone who, a year or two after college, got a Rotary fellowship to go study a language. Might be worth looking into if you haven’t.</p>