This doesn’t matter. Undergraduate concentrations do not need to be in the Mellon approved list. However, if you plan to continue for a PhD and receive funding from the Mellon Foundation, you must be in a Mellon approved field.
Can I apply as a junior? No. Students are selected during their sophomore year with the idea that each student participates in the Fellowship for two academic years. Therefore a junior will not be able to participate fully in the program and is thus not as strong an applicant as the sophomore students.
What if I don’t have a faculty mentor by the time of application?
If you don’t have a mentor at the time of the application, that is fine. When you apply, we do ask for a list of three potential faculty mentors; know that this list is NOT a commitment; mentor list you provide is only a suggestion list. There is no need to formally contact the faculty ahead of your application, as your research interests and the direction of a project may change. On the application, applicants must explain why the list of potential mentors may be good mentors for the applicants plan of research, study and intellectual goals.
We understand that your research ideas and topics of interests are evolving and will evolve over time. While we DO NOT match students with mentors, we will help fellows think through options for mentorship and identify resources within concentrations to seek advice and guidance on the thesis mentoring process. We will require admitted fellows to have a faculty mentor by the time they need to formally prepare for their thesis (end of junior year).