Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program (seniors & graduates)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

Offers full scholarships for any graduate or professional degree offered at Stanford University, plus leadership development, aimed at preparing leaders to find creative solutions for the world's greatest problems. Eligible are graduating seniors and recent graduates, from any country. Apply to the Knight-Hennessy by their deadline in early October, and to the Stanford degree program of your choice by the deadline for that program.

The Susan Rappaport Knafel ’52 Scholarship for Foreign Study or Traveling Fellowship (seniors)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

Scholarship for Foreign Study – up to $36,000
The scholarship will be awarded to a member of the graduating class who displays a desire for learning and an ability to impart knowledge and judgment to others.  It will fund a year of study at a foreign institution to pursue a specific subject that requires contact with foreign scholars, libraries or other resources.  

Traveling Fellowship – up to $36,000
The fellowship will be awarded to a member of the graduating class who displays an interest in and an acceptance of others, and who displays the ethos of a Wellesley education.  It will fund a year of purposeful travel abroad to explore a particular interest with the requirement that the recipient not remain in the same area for more than two months.

Killam Fellowships Program (students)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

The Killam Fellowships Program, administered by Fulbright Canada, allows undergraduate students from Canada and the United States to participate in a program of binational residential exchange. Killam Fellows spend either one semester or a full academic year as an exchange student in the host country. Students can apply either to the direct exchange program, which is limited to certain participating university partners, or to the open competition, allowing for participation from (and to) any accredited degree-granting college or university in either country.

Elisabeth Luce Moore ’24 Wellesley-Yenching Fellowship at Ginling College in Nanjing (seniors & graduates)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

Each year the Wellesley-Yenching Program sponsors two English teaching fellowships in cooperation with Ginling College, part of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China. Wellesley College seniors or graduates are eligible to apply for this one-year fellowship which can be extended to a second year. The Wellesley-Yenching Committee interviews applicants, then sends the credentials of one or two nominees for final approval by Ginling College.

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship (sophomores and juniors)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

Supports one or two years of undergraduate study in the fields of mathematics, engineering, and natural sciences. Eligible are college sophomores or juniors who are US citizens, permanent residents, and nationals intending to pursue research careers in STEM fields. Campus application deadline typically in late November/early December.

Projects for Peace (students)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

Created in 2007 by Kathryn Wasserman Davis (Wellesley College '28), the Projects for Peace program offers undergraduates and graduating seniors funding to design a grassroots project for the summer of 2024—anywhere in the world — that promotes peace and addresses the root causes of conflict among parties. Projects may employ innovative techniques for engaging project participants in ways that focus on conflict resolution, reconciliation, building understanding and breaking down barriers that cause conflict, and finding ways to resolve conflict and maintain peace. Any current Wellesley student is eligible to apply. Campus application deadline typically in January.

Churchill Scholarships (seniors & graduates)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

Supports one year of graduate study (including one-year research degrees) in science, mathematics, or engineering at Cambridge. Eligible: graduating seniors and recent graduates of Wellesley College who are US citizens with majors in appropriate STEM fields. Campus application deadline typically in early October.

Chinese Government Scholarship (seniors and graduates)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

The Chinese government has set up a variety of scholarship programs to sponsor international students, teachers, and scholars to study and do research at Chinese universities. Wellesley may nominate graduating seniors and graduates for these awards. Campus application deadline typically in early in the new year.

Carnegie Junior Fellows Program (seniors & graduates)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

The James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Program supports a year's work at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC. Eligible are graduating seniors and recent graduates who are eligible to work in the US for a year. Campus application deadline typically in November.

Boren Awards (students)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

Supports study abroad of less-commonly-taught languages in world regions critical to US interests, and underrepresented in study abroad. Study abroad programs of a year are preferred, but a spring plus summer can be a good option and summer programs will be considered for students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Eligible for the Scholarship are Wellesley first years, sophomores, and juniors who are US citizens, and Wellesley seniors who are also applying for U.S.-based graduate programs might apply for the Fellowship. Campus application deadline typically in January.

Wellesley students should seek advice about appropriate study abroad programs from the Office of International Study, although the Fellowships office is happy to offer advice on Boren Scholarship applications.

Beinecke Scholarship Program (juniors)

Kate Dailinger
Kate Dailinger

Supports two years of graduate study at a university in the US or abroad for those aiming to pursue degrees in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Eligible are US citizens and nationals who are current juniors. Campus application deadline typically in January.

Financing Your Graduate School Education

Wellesley Career Education logo
Wellesley Career Education

Everyone will specific questions regarding their financial situation and how it impacts the entire application and funding process. This resource provides information to help you project costs and possible methods of funding including loans, school-based aid, PhD specifics, outside funding, fellowships, and scholarships.

Writing a Personal Statement

Wellesley Career Education logo
Wellesley Career Education

A personal statement is a narrative essay that connects your background, experiences, and goals to the mission, requirements, and desired outcomes of the specific opportunity you are seeking. It is a critical component in the selection process, whether the essay is for a competitive internship, a graduate fellowship, or admittance to a graduate school program. It gives the selection committee the best opportunity to get to know you, how you think and make decisions, ways in which past experiences have been significant or formative, and how you envision your future.

The Role of the Essay in a Graduate School Application

Wellesley Career Education logo
Wellesley Career Education

The application essay is a critical component in the selection process, whether the essay is for a competitive internship, a graduate fellowship, or admittance to a graduate school program.

The essay or personal statement gives a selection committee its best opportunity to get to know you, how you think and make decisions, ways in which past experiences have been significant or formative, and how you envision your future.

Requesting Faculty References

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Wellesley Career Education

This resource provides best practices for letters of reference — both for those requesting them and those writing them. Review the resources below to make sure your letters will be effective and on time, and that the process will run smoothly for all involved.

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