The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program was created to diversify study abroad participation among U.S. students. It uses our tax money to award hundreds of students, twice per year, with awards ranging from $1,500 to $8,000.
To help you put together the most competitive application here are some tips and resources from former Gilman Scholarship recipients from UW Bothell: Rukeya, Heather, Feruza, Helen, Cody and Markus. They received between $2,000 and $3,500 each to fund their summer study abroad experiences in Italy, India, Kyrgyzstan, and Morocco.
Application Tips:
· Know the Gilman Selection Criteria. These are the factors that the application reviewers will score you on, including diversity of your background and your destination, alignment of the study abroad program with your academic and career goals, and the impact that studying abroad will have on you and your community.
· “I would suggest the students relate their academic experience and coursework to the program that they are applying to and how this will benefit them educationally and with their careers upon graduation. I believe making this connection is extremely important and will make them a better candidate!”
· “I would spend some time thinking deeply about why this particular study abroad program is meaningful to you and consider how and in what ways will it change you/help prepare you for maybe 1) a future career or 2) future personal goals. When you are being honest with yourself about it, your thinking process will flow and writing the essay will become easier and enjoyable, rather than scary and daunting.”
· “Show not tell. Your essay will be more compelling if you can get the reader to connect with the experience you’re describing, so they can understand its impact.” This means speaking from your lived experience and using specific examples. Avoid any generic statements that could be written by most applicants.
· “Be creative with your follow on service proposal. Use your networks to your advantage for this.” If you propose a blog, name your specific audience. If you want to talk to people about your experience, who exactly can you have the most impact on? “Be specific about how you want to cater to the target population.”
· “Get as much feedback as you can on your scholarship essay and be specific about your experience, as well as personal, academic and career goals in light of the program’s objectives.”
Get Feedback Before Submitting! Advising by appointment or drop-in is available in the Student Success Center, UW1-160, to review your essays and answer questions. We can also support you remotely via email, or by working on a Google Doc. The Writing and Communications Center is another great campus resource.
“When applying reach out and utilize your advisors, peers, mentors and etc. to assist you with the application because you shouldn’t feel like you are going through this process alone.”
– Rukeya Yassen, Educational Studies
Studied gender and multiculturalism in Rome, with support of Gilman Scholarship
Certification The certifying advisors for UW Bothell students are Danette Iyall for Financial Aid and Natalia Dyba (me) for Study Abroad. You do not need to meet with us prior to submitting your application. we will gain access to your application after you submit and have one week to complete the certification process.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. We’re here to support you!
And, in the end:
“Whether you get the scholarship or not don’t be too hard on yourself and be sure to remember that if you are giving it your best effort than that should reflect onto your application.”
