Applying for the Fulbright: A Beginner's Guide

Every week, I receive dozens of questions about how to apply for the Fulbright. I’ve decided to put together a newsletter to answer the most common ones. (FYI, I am a Fulbright Scholar, but I do not work for any Fulbright organization. This advice is based solely on my personal experience. I hope you find it helpful.)

The Fulbright Program offers many different programs for students (high school all the way to postdoctoral), scholars, teachers, and researchers in many different countries. The first thing you have to do is to decide which program you want to apply for.

Start by asking yourself, “What do I want to do?” Do you want to go abroad to study? Teach? Conduct research? Before looking at the programs available in your country, you must first define your own goals.

Next, do some research about the programs that the Fulbright offers in your country. If the Fulbright doesn’t offer any programs that fit your goals, then you might want to apply for something else instead.

Third, find out where the Fulbright Office is in your country. In some countries, the Fulbright Program has its own offices. In other countries, you might have to apply to the Fulbright through the US consulate or embassy. Each country is different. If you get called for an interview, you’ll need to know where to go.  

Fourth, identify people from your country who’ve gotten the Fulbright and do something similar to what you want to do, whether it’s getting a degree, teaching, or conducting research. Read about their work and find out which institutions hosted them. This will give you ideas for how to craft your own proposal.

Fifth, once you’ve drafted your proposal, ask other people to read it and give you feedback. This is especially important if English is not your first language, though native English speakers will benefit from professional editorial feedback, too. Make sure your final draft is clear, concise, free of grammatical and spelling errors, thoroughly addresses all the questions on the application, and states clearly what you intend to do on your Fulbright.

Some of you have asked me whether you have to present all your documents in English, or if the Fulbright will accept documents in other languages. Some countries may have different rules, but based on my experience in Morocco, you need to present your documents in English. Even though I speak, read, and write French, Arabic, and English, I’m not a sworn translator, so I had to hire a sworn translator to translate my documents from French and Arabic into English for the Fulbright application.

Finally, you’ll need to prepare for the required tests. If English is not your first language, you’ll have to pass tests such as the TOEFL and IELTS. I’ve already done a newsletter about preparing for those tests, so I won’t repeat all of it here. I encourage you to check out that newsletter.

Hopefully this answers some of your basic questions. I love to support aspiring Fulbrighters, and I offer guidance and advice for free, so if you’d like me to look at your application materials or answer any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. Please just be sure to contact me a few months in advance since my schedule tends to fill up quickly!