Interested, but not sure where to start? There are a variety of on ramps to fellowships, whether you're a first-year student or a graduating senior. If you are just exploring, here are some things to keep in mind.

Start early!

It is never too soon to start working with the fellowships advisors on campus, whether that be identifying immediate opportunities or charting a course toward becoming a competitive applicant for post-graduate awards. Our coordinator will meet you where you are and provide support at any stage in the process.

TIPS:

• Use the Fellowship Finder to research opportunities.
• Join our Fellowships email list and follow us on social media for up-to-date news and fellowships highlights.

Engage in Undergraduate Research

Whether or not you plan to pursue a research career, undergraduate research has numerous long-term benefits. It exposes you to new disciplines and helps you develop a stronger understanding of interdisciplinarity. Through research, you learn how to tackle thorny or undefined problems, draw upon critical thinking skills to form a coherent research question, and then use the research method to find a resolution (or open up new questions). This is a skill you'll continue to use throughout your career and in your personal life.

As a researcher you not only learn field-specific methodologies, but also hone your project management, teamwork, and storytelling skills as you propose a research plan, collaborate with team members and mentors, and convey your results to a larger audience. In addition, engaging in research can make you a more competitive candidate for many post-grad fellowships and for graduate school.

TIPS:

• Talk with your professors about research opportunities in your department. STEM majors can also visit department websites to search for lab placements.
• Explore the Fellowship Finder for off-campus summer research opportunities.
• Consider joining Disciplinary Honors, which is grounded in research. All students, not just those in Core Honors, are eligible to apply to this research-based program.

Develop Relationships with Your Professors

Networking is daunting, but it is a skill that you can practice by engaging with yourprofessors rather than merely showing up for class. Visit office hours. Ask about their research or career trajectories. Share your own interests and discuss the ways you'd like to get more involved on campus. Marquette faculty not only share their research expertise, but they often introduce inquisitive students to experts in their fields, expanding your network by weaving them into their own. The key is to make sure that your professors know you and know what you're interested in exploring.

Engage in Meaningful Extracurriculars

Marquette offers a wide range of opportunities for you to explore your interests, hone your leadership skills, and broaden your horizons. Leadership and academic curiosity are key criteria that nearly every fellowship agency is looking for in applicants. They want candidates who have taken the initiative on some level, organized and collaborated with others, and encouraged peer engagement. You don't need to join everything, but you should think about putting your time and energy into extracurriculars and work placements that matter to you or taking on meaningful leadership opportunities within those spaces, be they work, clubs, or community engagement.

TIPS:

• Look for opportunities at O-Fest and use Handshake to browse jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities that spark your interest.
• Focus less on chasing an executive title and more on making an impact. Take initiative on a club event or campaign and see it through to completion; and look for opportunities to fill gaps in your organization, department, campus, or the larger Milwaukee community.
• Quality is much more important than quantity. Being engaged in a few projects for a longer period of time is better than joining everything and doing very little in each role.

Become Well-Rounded and Informed

While academic excellence is often a fellowship criteria, most fellowship reviewers truly value intellectual curiosity. They are looking for students who not only value depth of knowledge in one particular major, but also breadth of knowledge across disciplines—students who continually ask "why?" and those who are multi-interested. If you are a psychology major who is also curious about the cultural impact of graffiti art, a chemistry major who wants to learn Portuguese, a theater major who would like to explore linguistics or environmental science, a civil engineering major who competes as a speedskater, or an economics major with an interest in volunteering and researching at a local health clinic, you demonstrate not only your sense of curiosity, but also your multi-dimensionality. 

TIPS:

• Broaden your engagement. Join a dance club or a crew team, start a book club, take an improv class, or volunteer with an organization simply because you want to try something new. Consider researching in a discipline outside your major.
• Attend departmental and public lectures on campus and around the city. Marquette invites many amazing speakers to campus every year. So do local libraries, museums, and other universities in the area. Take advantage of these opportunities and truly see yourself as an engaged scholar in the world, not just an undergraduate student.
• Follow reputable news sources (print, online, radio) and talk with others about what is going on in your community, in the country, and in the broader world.
• Engage in side quests—those opportunities that may not fit neatly into your four year plan. Use your electives to explore new topics or hone new skills. Tag along on a community outing, learn a language even if it's not required, gain teaching or tutoring experiences even if it's not a part of your post-graduate plan.

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WORKING WITH FELLOWSHIPS@MU