FAQ

Our office provides a wide range of services to students who wish to learn about external fellowship opportunities. First, we try to make students aware of the nationally- and internationally-competitive awards that are available, and we provide information about eligibility for these awards; our main goal here is to help students find opportunities that are a good fit for their interests and goals. Secondly, we provide extensive support to students as they work through the application process. We accomplish this goal by helping students brainstorm and plan, and later draft and revise, the required written materials for applications (personal statements, project proposals, etc.); in addition, we offer advice to help students develop their resumes and make the most of their time at UIC. Our overarching goal in working with a student is to help them put together the most compelling, and competitive, application possible. One part of this process is providing students with logistical support as well, such as obtaining transcripts, submitting nomination materials when needed, and providing other organizational resources.

**While any student is welcome to use our website in their external fellowships search, the services we provide are only available to alumni or students who are currently enrolled at The University of Illinois at Chicago.**

Students are always welcome to talk with UREF staff to discuss external fellowships and scholarships. The Director has many years of experience in partnering with the foundations that grant these fellowships, which means she knows what makes a strong candidate and a compelling application for these opportunities. This knowledge and experience will help her advise you about which fellowship opportunities are a good fit for you, and how you can put together the best possible application for a particular award.

UREF serves all UIC undergraduate students and recent alumni. UREF sometimes serves graduate/professional students, depending on which opportunity they are pursuing – in fact we welcome undergraduate alumni who are currently in graduate programs here.

For students in the Graduate College, there is a full-time Fellowships and Awards Coordinator who provides information and advice on many funding opportunities (both internal and external); you can reach Benn Williams via email at: bwilli7@uic.edu.

Students should reach out whenever they are ready to investigate the external fellowship and scholarship opportunities that are available to them. It’s never too early to start!

Many fellowship applications have a long lead time, so that you need to be writing and preparing weeks, or even months, in advance of the final due date. UREF is here to walk you through the entire process.

For many fellowship opportunities, you may need to position yourself by gaining key co-curricular experiences, like research and internships, over many semesters, including the summers. UREF can advise you about those too!

UREF provides external fellowships advising on an appointment-only basis, both in person and via Zoom.

One great way to get on our calendar is to complete our Student Information Form. Once we receive your information, we will follow up with you to schedule an appointment.

Another great way to reach out is to send an email to oef@uic.edu and we’ll get back to you soon!

UREF’s offices are located in University Hall (the tallest building on East Campus), on the 8th floor in room 800 (for fellowships) and room 802 (for undergraduate research).

We do appointments for fellowships both in person in 800 UH and via Zoom.

Generally, UREF is open for fellowship advising appointments between the hours of 10:00am-5:00pm, Monday through Friday. We are open year-round, including during the summer. All individual meetings for fellowship advising are by appointment only, whether in person or online. You can submit our form or email oef@uic.edu to make an appointment.

UREF has open walk-in hours for undergraduate research advising in 802 UH on Mondays and Thursdays from 10:30am-12:30pm during the 2023-24 academic year. Appointments are also available by emailing our@uic.edu.

The fellowships side of the Office of Undergraduate Research and External Fellowships focuses most of our time and energy on a select group of nationally- and internationally-competitive awards (see Fellowships page). This focus is due largely to the fact that many of the organizations that bestow these awards require a formal nomination or endorsement from UIC. This means that you don’t apply directly by yourself but rather get nominated by UIC, and UREF oversees and coordinates the nomination process on behalf of UIC.

In addition, UREF seeks to help students locate other awards sponsored by organizations outside of UIC, including those that provide funding for graduate and professional school, study abroad, or undergraduate education.

When we say that an award is ‘nationally competitive’ we mean that applicants from other universities across the United States are applying for that opportunity. Similarly, an ‘internationally competitive’ award is open to students from around the world. Not surprisingly, this means there is a higher level of competitiveness for these external fellowships, which therefore may require a substantial amount of preparatory work over time. While many perceive that these awards may likely go to students attending elite private institutions, that is far from the whole story. UIC and many other state universities have candidates who receive these prestigious awards on a regular basis, and we see UIC students every year who are capable of being successful. Please see our Recent Recipients page for recent fellowship recipients from UIC.

Because our office works with dozens of different fellowships, each with their own application timeline, there is no single deadline that students must meet. The golden rule is: It’s never too early to start!

For example, the end of the spring semester and early summer is the ideal time to come to UREF for advice and help with awards that have fall deadlines, such as the Fulbright, Rhodes, or Marshall. These applications take significant planning, so it is much better to work on them a little at a time over the summer; your application will be much stronger, and a better representation of who you are, if you devote adequate time to it.

We welcome talking with first-year students about opportunities they will apply for in future years!

You can find more information about fellowships timing here.

If you are a student with strong grades, you will likely be invited to join honor societies. Most of them are legitimate organizations, but from time to time we hear about suspicious organizations offering membership for a fee which turn out to be simply scams. Honor societies with an established history at UIC have access to your overall GPA, but those outside the university do not. UIC sponsored honor societies are listed on this Honors College page.

Other scholarships are offered through UIC and from outside sources for incoming students, continuing students, graduating seniors, and sometimes alumni. High school students applying to UIC only need to apply to the university and the designated special programs they are interested in (e.g. Honors College, GPPA, Business Scholars) to be considered for ALL scholarships available to incoming freshmen.

Continuing students can apply for UIC-based scholarships through UIC SnAP. Students can find external scholarships on the UIC Scholarships site.

For assistance with scholarships and financial aid, please contact UIC’s Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships by emailing scholarshiphelp@uic.edu.

The UIC Scholarship and Awards Program or UIC SnAP is UIC’s portal for continuing students to apply for scholarships. If you are an undergraduate, graduate student or professional program student you are likely to find scholarships in the system that will fit you. Most UIC scholarships are live in the system in spring and the funds apply to your account the following fall. Some awards require you to write essays and submit a resume. Others may request references or other supporting material. A variety of awards are available year-round. Use your UIC account to log into uic.academicworks.com to apply.