You are asked to submit three academic letters of recommendation for the Fulbright Scholarship. The Fulbright is primarily an academic scholarship, so the selection committees are looking for honest appraisals of your academic abilities. Testimonials from Congressmen, ministers, judges, employers, and the like - no matter how glowing - will not help your application unless they speak to this question.
You should bear the following in mind when selecting your referees:
§ Letters of recommendation should be from faculty members with whom you have worked, had a class, or conducted a research project. It is desirable that at least two of the letters should be from professors in the field of your proposed project. References should not be from teaching assistants. If this cannot be avoided, you may want to have the teaching assistant co-write the recommendation with the professor.
§ Choose people who know you well. A letter of recommendation is most valuable when it includes detailed comments on the feasibility of your proposed project and your ability to complete it successfully.
§ Identify your referees and contact them as early as possible. If your referees are familiar with you, your plans and the application process, they are more likely to write strong letters of recommendation. The following is a list of helpful items to give them:
§ Drafts of your application and essay(s).
§ A stamped pre-addressed envelope, to be mailed to: Suman Bhatia, Duke University Center for International Studies, Box 90404, Duke University, Durham NC 27708-0404. HOWEVER, it is strongly recommended that you to collect the letter (in a signed, sealed envelope with signature on the backflap) yourself when it is completed and hand-deliver it on campus to: Suman Bhatia, Room 107, John Hope Franklin Center at 2204 Erwin Road.
§ Copy of your transcript(s).
§ Background information on the scholarship.
It is important to show your referees the final draft of your proposal; the academic references should be about your proposal and how qualified you are to carry out that proposal, and not just how good a student you are. A good Fulbright reference puts the faculty member's knowledge of you in the context of your proposal and your future goals.
This webpage is adapted from the IIE Fulbright Scholarship Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Stanford Applicant © 2003
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