Applying for funding

[RA2018]

I've deferred my enrollment to a PhD program to fall 2019. When should I start applying for funding? I also noticed that many of the fellowships don't have applications and you have to be nominated. In that case, what can I do as an incoming grad student?

[posi+ivity]

Where are you applying? And what fellowships are you referring to? If you are applying to universities in the US, then there is usually no separate application for their internal graduate fellowship programs. If you are referring to NSF, Wenner Gren, Fulbright, etc., then obviously it depends on their own deadlines and rules.