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Scholarship & Fellowship Application Resources

Tools to help you craft strong, competitive applications

Writing Resources in STEM, Social Science, and Humanities

Academic Phrasebank. Morley, John. 2019. University of Manchester. Online: https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/

  • A general resource for academic writers. Provides examples of some of the phraseological “nuts and bolts” of writing, organized by the main sections of a research paper or dissertation. Recommended also for non-native speakers/writers.

 Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Lamott, Anne. 1995, New York: Anchor Books. Available in Fintel Library.

 How to Get Grant Money in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Folsom, Raphael. 2019. New Haven: Yale University Press. Available in Fintel Library.

  • A valuable, engaging guide to applying for--and getting--grants in the humanities and social sciences. Folsom shares proven strategies in a series of short, witty chapters.

 On the Art of Writing Proposals. Pzreworski, Adam, and Frank Salomon. 1995 rev. Social Science Research Council. Online: https://www.ssrc.org/publications/the-art-of-writing-proposals/

  • Suggestions for applicants to Social Science Research Council competitions.

 Welcome to Writing Personal Statements Online: A Handbook for Students Applying for Scholarships and Graduate Study. Schall, Joe. 2014. Pennsylvania State University, E-Education Institute. Online: https://www.eeducation.psu.edu/writingpersonalstatementsonline/

 Writing Proposals for ACLS Fellowship Competitions. Gillis, Christina M. 2021. ACLS Advancing the Humanities. Online: https://www.acls.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Writing-Fellowship-Proposals-1.pdf

 Writing Science: How to Write Papers that Get Cited and Proposals that Get Funded. Schimel, Joshua. 2012. New York: Oxford UP. Available in Fintel Library.

  • Taking a story-based approach, this book proves science writing doesn't have to be dry—and gives you the tools to craft your own research narrative.

 Writing Science in Plain English. Greene, Anne E. 2013. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Available in Fintel Library.

  • A short, practical guide full of examples on topics like active vs. passive voice, transitions, and organizing information within sentences and paragraphs.

 Writing Successful Science Proposals: Third Edition. Friedland, Andrew. 2018. New Haven: Yale University Press. Available in Fintel Library in e-book form.

Memoirs, Autobiographies, & Non-Fiction by Recipients of Major Scholarships and Fellowships

 Balik Kampung: Memories of Fulbright ETAs in Malaysia. Ed. Dr. James Coffman, et al. 2017. Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE). Available in Fintel Library.

  • A collection of stories, essays, and reflections by English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) who lived and worked in Malaysia under the auspices of the Fulbright Program.

 Educated: A Memoir. Westover, Tara. 2018. Random House. Available in Fintel Library.

  • Memoir of a young woman whose life changed completely after she was awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge, England. A #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, & Boston Globe bestseller.

 The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Mukherjee, Siddhartha. 2010. Scribner. Available in Fintel Library.

  • Written by a former Rhodes Scholar, this book won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction. Mukherjee began his research as a graduate student at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship.

 Haben: the Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law. Girma, Haben. 2019. Twelve.

Available in Fintel Library.

  • Autobiography of a woman who would not be held back, becoming the first deafblind graduate of Harvard law school. Haben is now a practicing lawyer and disability rights advocate.

 How to be Human: An Autistic Man’s Guide to Life. Fleming, Jory and Lyric Winik. 2021. Simon & Schuster. Available in Fintel Library.

  • Jory Fleming was the first young adult with autism to attend Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. His book celebrates neurodiversity, extraordinary thinking, and every person’s basic humanity.

 Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change. Abrams, Stacey. 2019. Picador. Available in Fintel Library.

  • It can be said that Stacey Abrams’ journey began when she was selected for a Truman Scholarship to study public policy at the University of Texas at Austin. From there she went on to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives, to run for governor of Georgia, to be nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, and to teach at Howard University.

 Lab Girl. Jahren, Hope. 2016. Vintage Books. Available in Fintel Library.

  • Written by a three-time recipient of Fulbright Scholarships, this book is the author’s memoir of her life in science driven by her keen interest in and love of trees. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography and the American Association for the Advancement of Science “Prize for Excellence in Science Books.”

 The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. Moore, Wes. 2010. Spiegel & Grau. Available in Fintel Library.

  • Written by a former Rhodes scholar who went on to become a combat veteran, a White House Fellow, and now the governor of Maryland, this book tells the story of the extraordinary life trajectories that come with pursuit of educational opportunities.