Before you begin working on your Beinecke Scholarship application, read the Beinecke Overview page to see if you are eligible and to learn whether this award is a good fit for you. Follow the steps below for applying and receiving support from the Office of Fellowships. This application requires institutional endorsement, which is why there is an internal deadline, for both you and your recommendation writers, of February 15, 2024, at NOON.
The Beinecke Scholarship Program supports pursuit of a research-based master's or doctoral degree anywhere in the world in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Law, business, or professional school programs (such as social work, journalism, clinical psychology, neuroscience, or architecture, for instance) are not included. The program is open to U.S. citizens who are juniors in college and have excellent academic records and demonstrated financial need. Thoroughly read the information on our Beinecke Overview to make sure you are eligible and understand the program.
Once you have a good sense of the program and know that you meet the eligibility requirements, head for Step 2!
Talk with us about your candidacy! You know you meet the basic Beinecke eligibility requirements, and you think you would like to go to graduate school. Now is the time to meet with one of the Office of Fellowships staff to get confirmation of your eligibility and make sure you understand the process of applying. If you've met with one of us before, just send Christine or Eric an email with your current availability to set up an appointment. If you have not, request an appointment here so we can get to know you and discuss the Beinecke.
Had a conversation with us? Then let's move on to step 3!
Get educated about graduate school and programs in your field. You can't apply for the Beinecke without doing this critical step, because your entire application will depend on what you want to do for graduate school and your top choices of where you think you want to go. So, how do you figure this all out? You can do this in three ways:
Once you've done your information-gathering, move on to Step 4!
Remember Step 3 where you did all that work investigating graduate programs? Now you get to enjoy the fruits of your labors! Beinecke asks you to complete an Application PDF Form - a pdf where they collect basic information about you including a list of FOUR graduate programs that you think you'll want to apply to as a senior or recent alum. You'll need to enter the level of degree (PhD, MS, MA, MFA, etc.) and the university. To do this, download this Application Form to your desktop. Enter your information, then save it with a file name such as: Last name, first name, Beinecke Form. Save it for upload to the internal application portal (more on that in Step 7).
On to Step 5!
Write, draft, and revise your Statement of Grant Purpose. Start this process in November/early December. The Beinecke application has one essay - a 1,000 words or less statement of purpose describing your background, interests, plans for graduate study, research or creative interests, and career aspirations. The statement should include a discussion of some experiences and ideas that have shaped those interests, plans, and aspirations.
Format: Times New Roman, 12 pt., single spacing, with a line of space between each paragraph. Enter your name and the words Beinecke Scholarship Statement of Purpose as the title.
As you think about what to write in the statement of purpose, you may find it helpful to read examples of essays by winning candidates.
Writing fellowship essays often requires more work than does writing papers for a class. Reviewers read your application materials quickly, so the prose must be crystal-clear. This takes a lot of revision no matter how good a writer you are. The very act of writing and revising will help you figure out what you want to say and even what you think. Allow time for your ideas and phrasing to develop and to receive feedback. Send your essay as a Word or Google doc to Christine, and she will respond with feedback.
Once the essay is in good shape, you can turn it into a pdf for upload.
Essay all set? Move on to the next step!
Revise and polish your resume. You may have learned from the Loeb Center that resumes should be one page long. That is excellent advise and we agree with it - for job applications. For most fellowship applications, however, two pages is permitted. This is because, in addition to wanting to learn about your work experience and research/academic activities, publications and presentations, foundations want to know about your extracurricular and leadership involvements. You still, however, should be concise in your descriptions, use active verbs, clear formatting, and - most important - keep it factual! See good examples of formatting. Some rules of thumb: use 11 pt. font; don't include arbitrary "skills charts" where you rate yourself; avoid too much decoration (or any); make margins reasonable (1 inch is good); don't include a photo; remove high school information/activities.
Request your official AC transcript and study abroad or transfer college transcripts early enough to meet the internal deadline, but late enough that your fall grades are on them. For your AC transcript and for any others that can be ordered through Parchment, complete an “Electronic Transcript Request” and enter Christine Overstreet (coverstreet@amherst.edu) as the recipient. Christine will convert the file to a useable format for combining with the rest of the application, and will send it to you to upload to our internal application portal along with your other materials.
Reach out to potential recommenders. The Beinecke program requires three recommendation letters who can assess your intellectual curiosity, character, and potential for advanced graduate study. In early December, reach out to three faculty members and ask them if they would be able to write strong recommendations on your behalf for the Beinecke. Discuss your graduate school aspirations with them. Give them copies of your resume, transcript, and your personal statement (a working draft is okay!). Inform them of the deadline and format requirements by copying and pasting the info under "For Recommenders" at the bottom of our Beinecke Overview page. We can help you decided who your best recommenders are likely to be for this fellowships, but generally, it is wise to ask faculty who have taught you most recently (not your first-year seminar professor) and who are in your major department(s).
Got your recommenders all set? On to step 7!
Gather the materials you have prepared so you can upload them to the internal application portal (coming soon!) by February 15, 2024. The portal is a Google form and does not allow you to save as you go and return to it. So prepare all the materials listed below offline, then upload them as directed. You will also be asked one or two questions in the portal.
*If you are applying to an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) program, you must submit an artist's supplement as follows:
- Creative writers: a maximum of five pages of double-spaced text, though playwrights, poets, and screenwriters should submit the text in the format appropriate to the genre
- Visual artists: (but not filmmakers - see below): a digital portfolio containing up to ten images of current work, with an image resolution of at least 300 dpi.
- Performing artists (including filmmakers): video sample(s) no longer than five minutes in total
Remind your recommenders to send Christine their letters by the deadline!
Christine Overstreet, Director of Fellowships
212 Converse Hall
413-542-2536
coverstreet@amherst.edu