The Career Center Fellowships team can provide an information session for your class or student organization on fellowships and scholarships opportunities tailored to an area of interest, discipline, or fellowship.  Please contact the Career Center at least two weeks prior to your desired class session. We can schedule a time and location that works well for your class or student group and Career Center staff.

Faculty recommendation letters are a crucial part of any fellowship application. They provide selection committees with an important perspective from an experienced professional source. The Career Center is available to provide support and answer questions regarding writing letters of recommendation, including suggestions on length, format, tone, what to highlight, and even how to address the letter. Click here to read Tips for Writing a Letter of Recommendation.

Fellowships and scholarships can be a critical step for students in pursuing the areas and experiences that interest them and which will enrich their academic and professional experiences. Thank you for being a supportive and engaged partner of the Career Center as you help Vanderbilt students to access incredible opportunities. Some ways you can help include:

• Familiarize yourself with the major awards associated with your field, and send students our way if you think they’d be competitive candidates. See our Awards section to get a quick overview of everything that’s out there.
• Consider participating in a Review Committee for our nominated awards. These awards often permit only a limited number of nominations from each university, and so we convene a group of Faculty members to review applications and select those students who will continue on to the national competition to represent Vanderbilt. Faculty feedback is also incredibly useful in helping students improve their application materials.
• Write a letter of recommendation for a student. Providing an excellent recommendation letter for a student is a commitment of time and effort—one that can make or break a student’s application.
• Review student application materials, including research proposals, personal statements, short answers, and even descriptions of professional goals. Your input will serve to strengthen their applications enormously.

For awards requiring Vanderbilt nomination, a committee of faculty members is often necessary to review students’ applications. The committees determine which students will go on to represent Vanderbilt at the national level, and provide feedback that is used by the student to improve their application.

Review committees are rewarding opportunities to engage with promising Vanderbilt students, faculty from other disciplines, and to develop a deeper awareness of the application process for these competitive awards. Different committees convene at different times of the year and can vary in level of commitment. Please contact the Career Center to communicate your interest in serving on a review committee, whether generally or for a specific award.