Is it Okay to discuss fellowship application with peers?

[historicallinguist]

Hi. Fellow graduate students! I am now applying for an external(non-deparmtnetal) fellowship that is based on a humanity/social justice theme. I wonder whether it would be considered cheating, if I discuss about my fellowship application with my peers from a different department. In particular, is it okay to discuss with my peers about the philosophy/ideology behind the organization that sponsors the fellowship?

It is my first time applying for a fellowship, and obviously I am not quite familiar with the quirk of fellowship application process yet. Any one has any idea about the norm?

[Eigen]

Yes, this is OK. Not sure why you think it wouldn't be. 

"Cheating" becomes a vague and amorphous term outside of exams/assignments, and is usually limited to plagiarism and getting someone to write your work for you. 

[historicallinguist]

6 minutes ago, Eigen said:

Yes, this is OK. Not sure why you think it wouldn't be. 

"Cheating" becomes a vague and amorphous term outside of exams/assignments, and is usually limited to plagiarism and getting someone to write your work for you. 

Thanks for the information. I was not sure because, when I checked the definition of "cheating", definitions from different sources vary, and it was hard for me to figure out which one to follow. For example, some definitions involve "discussing the materials with other unauthorized parties without prior authorization", whereas some other definitions are limited to what you just said. I checked out the website of the fellowship application organization, and they don't have any clear guideline about how they define "cheating". Nor do they say anything about whether unauthorized discussion is allowed. This is why I was very confused. And I then assumed the organization may just follow some kind of norms of fellowship application in general, but I was not sure what the hidden norms are. This is why I was asking.  

[Concordia]

Then there's the "those people from the Rhodes Trust keep sending me junk mail-- are they hassling you, too, about applying to this secret fellowship?" line, which is probably not too good to drop on your peers.

[rising_star]

It's pretty common at the graduate level to get feedback from your advisors and peers on any fellowship application you submit.