Where to find Scholarship Opportunities for Grad School

[ALA85]

Greetings,

I've recently been accepted to the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU for art history and archaeology. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or ideas on how to find scholarships or other kind of non-loan assistance for graduate school. In addition to Stafford and Direct PLUS loans that are available, I will also be taking part in federal work-study and as much school employment I can find/handle. I understand that there aren't as many graduate scholarships as undergraduate, but I figured I might as well give it a shot. Again, any information would be appreciated, thank you!

[Adelaide9216]

Schools usually have directories of all scholarships available for students. It is the case in Canada and I do not see why it would not be the case in the US. You should ask the finance and student aid departement at your uni.

[ALA85]

Hi Adelaide9216, I believe you are right and I will indeed be speaking to an advisor next week. I suppose part of my intent in asking the question (though not well expressed) was to see if anyone else had any success with graduate scholarships, if they knew of any "outside" resources for finding them, or advice in general on how to obtain them. I've never applied to a scholarship before so any insight is useful. Thank you for responding.

[Adelaide9216]

I see.

I guess others will jump in if they have more to add to my comments. I don't know what it is like in the US but I live in Canada, and I've been able to get a lot of scholarships after I finished high school. My undergraduate studies were almost entirely funded by scholarships. And I was able to get my first year of master's studies funded as well. It's always quite a lengthy process to apply for a scholarship, I always give myself approx. two months to fill an application. Some scholarships are strictly looking at your grades. Some are based on financial need and will ask you to provide a budget. Others are also looking at volunteer/community involvement. Some are looking for a combination of all three. It's important to look at the criteria to make sure you fufill them.

There are also a lot of "unknown" or "underground" scholarships that people do not apply to because they are sure they will not get them, but it's always worth taking a chance if you're eligible. I've been surprised a lot whenever I was awared a scholarship I did not think I could get.

A lot of those scholarships will also ask you for reference letters. You should identify one or two professors with whom you have a good bound with, or classes in which you had a good grade. You want to pick a professor or a teacher that will remember you. Or a professor that you've been a RA (research assistant) for. Usually, you need to give them at least 3 weeks in order for them to fill out their reference letter. Some scholarships ask you for a combination of professor/teacher and professional reference (so a employer or something like that, someone that you've worked with and that has some relevance to your research topic).

I would also say it's important to have a clear idea of your research project. At the graduate level, they will ask you for a research proposal. You do not need to have a fully finished idea of what your research project will be, but you need to have some "basic" ideas that make sense and that are coherent. Usually, you work on this with your assigned research supervisor.

For instance, for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the deadline was in December, and I began working on my application a few weeks before and started jotting down some ideas of my research topic during the summer before applying. But I worked on my application with my supervisor and asked for feedback from upper-year graduate students who already got the scholarship a previous year.

I hope this helps. 

Edited April 22, 2017 by Adelaide9216

[Adelaide9216]

I also forgot to mention that there are also specific scholarships for women, visible minorities, etc. It's worth a shot to apply for those as well.