Juniors & Seniors

Dance sculpture in front of FPAC

Make yourself nationally competitive

Start undergraduate research in your junior year and continue throughout your senior year.

Give back to your discipline

Present at conferences, and attend state and national meetings. Depending on your major, give performances, hold an art exhibit, or publish in a reputable journal. Enroll in a graduate-level course.

Know where you are going and where you have been

Consider your future academic goals. Draft a 1000-word personal statement and plan of study, explaining your passion, what led you to this passion and where you hope it takes you.

Bolster your résumé and transcript

Seek an active role in organizations and activities that are personal to your interests and goals. Take challenging courses in and out of your major area of study.

Prepare for senior awards in your junior year

Your senior year will offer many options for nationally competitive awards, such as the Marshall, Rhodes, Gates Cambridge, Mitchell, and NSF. The most successful students begin the application process in their junior year. Meet individually with the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards or attend a workshop to learn more about each scholarship. Assess the areas that you need to strengthen to be nationally competitive, and address these over the summer.

Start planning for graduate school

Define your areas of interest for graduate school, and begin speaking with professors about reputable programs in your field of study. Meet one-on-one with professors to secure letters of recommendation, providing each recommender with an annotated résumé and examples of work you did in their class.

Prepare for national exams

Spend months studying for national entrance exams such as GRE, GRE subject exam (when applicable), and MCAT, etc.

Utilize the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards

Read successful applications from past recipients of nationally competitive awards. Attend one of our workshops on prestigious scholarships for the Marshall, Rhodes, Gates Cambridge, Mitchell, or NSF. Meet individually with Dr. Suzanne McCray and her staff. To schedule your visit contact the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards at (479) 575-3771 or awards@uark.edu.