Automatic consideration?

[nushi]

Hi guys...

In American universities, does sending an application makes me considered for fellowships automatically, or does one have to submit additional material or requests to be considered for fellowships? 

[TakeruK]

It depends on the fellowships and the school.

For external fellowships (not awarded by the school), you will have to apply to them directly, of course. But you were probably asking about internal (school) fellowships.

Usually, you should follow the instructions on the website for the department. The most common case is that everyone who is eligible is automatically considered. However, you should double check in case there are some where you need to indicate your interest in some other way.

Note two important things:

1. Some fellowships are just sums of money that the school/department has and will award to their students on whatever basis they want. So it's not necessarily even a competition. It might be that they will just call all the department-funded money for all students the "X fellowship" or something. Or, they might just award them to the top X students who are admitted.

2. Some fellowships have strict eligibility criteria and/or require a nomination from the department first. You will find out if you have to submit further materials after a nomination when the department contacts you.

[nushi]

Thank you so much Takeruk for your very valuable response