Master's Student in Environmental and Water Studies Engineering, Stanford University, CA

Written in: March 2000
By Sara Browning (sab@ermuk.com)

During my undergraduate final year project I noticed that the papers that really interested me had predominantly been published by American universities. When I graduated I realised that I did not want to start the jobs that I had been offered, and decided to research the possibility of studying in the USA. The first place I looked was the internet, and throughout the entire application process it has been my principal source of information.

After my initial web searching I became extremely excited by the prospect of attending a US university. I wrote to my undergraduate tutor, the head of my department and one of my bosses at the company who sponsored me at university, asking them to recommend possible institutions.

I very quickly became aware of the complexity of the process and realised that the most difficult thing was going to be finding financial support. At this stage I contacted the careers department at Nottingham University and spoke to the careers advisor who had helped me when I had applied for jobs and who therefore knew a bit about me. He immediately suggested that I went to the Fulbright library. So I made the trip to London and spent 3 days in the library, looking at the subject directories, Peterson's Guides, university prospectuses and funding catalogues. I knew very specifically the area that I was interested in studying and had my list of possible institutions which enabled me to narrow down very easily. I also attended a workshop on applying, which made me feel very daunted about the whole process, however I was comforted by the fact that the woman who gave the presentation said that funding for engineering was generally good, so I came away thinking that it all might be possible after all!! My main concern when I left Fulbright House was that I was trying to do something that was way out of my league.

At this stage I wrote to my three preferred universities, I looked on the net and selected a professor at each of them who was carrying out research in my field of interest. I sent them each a short e-mail outlining my ambitions and a copy of my CV, and was thrilled when two of them wrote back saying that they thought I stood a good chance. They also offered me advice concerning the courses that they felt most suited my ambitions. It was then that I finally sent for application packs, applied for the GRE, started drafting my statement of purpose and filling in various scholarship applications. During this stage I sent my draft statement of purpose to a Fulbright Advisor, whose help was absolutely invaluable. At times it felt very confusing but the advice and help I received was always clear and supportive.

My advice to anybody thinking of applying is to leave plenty of time. I started to sort things out 6 months before the deadline and I still had a panic at the end as one of my referees didn't send enough copies of references. Before starting any research it helps if you know exactly what you want to study, not just the general subject but individual aspects within it. There are so many institutions and so many courses that I would imagine that without this it would all be too much. I would encourage people to e-mail professors, they wrote to me very quickly and were very helpful. In addition, take full advantage of Fulbright House, as soon as the advisors know that you are serious in your intentions their help is invaluable in guiding you through the minefield of things you have to do!!