Seniors

What to Expect This Year

Welcome to your senior year! Capping off your college experience, senior year is full of climactic moments and looking to the future. Seniors are busy finishing up graduation requirements, some are writing senior theses, and taking a last look at interesting classes and opportunities they may have passed up along the way. Club leaders in their senior year are often tasked with thinking about the long-term longevity of their organization, how to build something that will last beyond their tenure.

Settling In

Senior year starts earlier than most. Already in the summer before senior year, many students will be exploring graduate scholarship and fellowship opportunities, some with deadlines as early as August 1st. If you weren't able to attend the information sessions URAF hosted in your junior spring, be sure to visit our Find Opportunities page and reach out to us at fellowships@fas.harvard.edu to learn more about opportunities of interest. Participating in the fall fellowships cycle can be a big-time commitment though, at a time when many seniors are also trying to juggle a thesis, job applications, and schoolwork, so seniors should be careful about gauging their workload.

Exploring Your Options

Senior year is a final opportunity to explore classes, activities, and research, and is a great time to do so, since you're more experienced and qualified than ever! Take this opportunity to chat with advisors, mentors, and friends about what they wish they had explored while in college. There are still opportunities to do term-time research if you haven't had the chance to do that yet. We'd be happy to talk with you about your options in a one-on-one appointment or in drop-in hours, every weekday from 2-4pm.

Setting Yourself Up for Success

In addition to the URAF advisors, each House has a set of Fellowship Tutors, many of whom have won scholarships/fellowships themselves, who are trained to advise you on fellowship applications—make sure to connect with them! Your faculty advisors and mentors may also have suggestions for scholarship opportunities you should think about. Success in many of these competitions relies not only on your own work, but on the strength of the relationships you've built with faculty. So, reconnect with old mentors, check in with current advisors, and make sure to include them in the application process!

How Can URAF Help?

URAF advisors are available by appointment all summer long and also in drop-in hours during the term time. We will be hosting several information sessions in the fall to prepare students for applying for graduate funding and fellowships. URAF advisors can’t read and critique written application materials (but your House Fellowships Tutors can!) but we would be happy to talk through your application with you and identify areas for improvement.