A guide for Afghan

Students to Apply for

Fulbright Scholarship
Brief guide, tips and links for applying to
the Fulbright Scholarship
Rohullah Azizi
8/14/2009
Hello every body,

I hope you are fine and have a great time. Lots of my friends had questions
about the Fulbright scholarship and asked me to give them information about
this scholarship. As I found it necessary to write down some of the
information I have and my experience for applying to the fulbright
scholarship, I decided to make a brief guide and distributed to all Afghan
students who are interested to continue their education to some prestigious
university of USA. It is what I could prepare; I hope you find it helpful.

What is Fulbright scholarship?

Fulbright is a prestigious scholarship for both Americans and International
Students around the world which paves the way for graduated and
undergraduate educational programs. This scholarship is one of the most
famous scholarships that a student can think about. It is fully paid
scholarship and annually …of students from…countries go to USA for their
education through this scholarship. For Afghan Students, it is a really golden
chance and I personally encourage you to apply for it. To do so, some basic
information is giving to you, hope it works for you. For further information
about Fulbright scholarship, please refer to the following resources:

http://fulbright.state.gov/
www.iie.org/Fulbright/

http://www.cies.org/about_fulb.htm

http://exchanges.state.gov/education/fulbright/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulbright_Program

http://www.scholarshiphelp.org/interview.htm

What is the process of applying for Fulbright Scholarship in

Afghanistan?

To be awarded by the well-known scholarship of Fulbright, you need to

complete a long procedure which takes more than one year. This really
requires high patient. It will be better if you arrange applying to this
scholarship when you have almost one year, like one year to be graduated or

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you should be busy with a job. Because waiting this much time is really
boring. You need to follow these steps:

1. Fill the application form:

Application form can be filled online. In Afghanistan, refer to the US
embassy site at (http://kabul.usembassy.gov/ and/or
http://kabul.usembassy.gov/fulbright.html) on April. The US Embassy
will announce the starting date of filling the application and the link
that you start from. The link is something like this:
https://apply.embark.com/student/fulbright/international/20/
You need to make a username (which is your email address) and a
password. Be sure that keep your password in mind or save it
somewhere, because you may need to refer to this site often and you
can only enter by entering your username and password. The
application is made of several pages, started from filling very basic
information. It is advised that you be careful about answering every
question or filling every blank. Try to give accurate data and try to
insert as much required and helpful data as you have, like the honors
and achievements you have had, your research and publications,
experience etc. It is a good skill to keep the balance of giving enough
helpful and required information and being concise. As you go through
application and filling that, you will face to very important parts which
are writing about your personal statement, study objective and/or
essay. There, you will find information that says who can upload their
resumes like law students. Since, these writing are very important, I
would like to talk about each separately.

a. Statement of purpose
Here are some online resources, but you can find more. Be
careful to just know the structure and style of writing for any of
these topics, but don’t copy it fully. You should use your mind and
write what is about yourself, not what is mentioned as a sample
or example.
http://www.scholarshipnet.info/scholarship-tips/sample-
statement-of-purpose/
www.statementofpurpose.com/
www.accepted.com/grad/personalstatement.aspx
http://kabul.usembassy.gov/successful_statement.html

b. Study objective
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 c. Essay (sample of writing)
I am not sure if you need to write an essay as sample of your
writing. But if it is required, then think about a good topic, be
creative, have your own idea and obey all the points that an
essay must have. You may find some information about essays
here:
www.essaywritinghelp.com/format.htm
http://www.essay-paper.net/essay_format.html
http://lklivingston.tripod.com/essay/

d. Resume
Try to make a resume which is more academic rather than for job
purposes. The difference is that in an academic resume, you
need to highlight the point which relates to your academic
background, like your honors and achievements and scholarly
works, even the merit letters you had or the high percentage of
your score during school or university.
e. Recommenders
You can introduce three different recommenders with their
contact address. You may need to talk with them in advance
about your application. Remember that what your recommender
writes about you and who he/she is, will be considered in your
case. By introducing them as your recommenders, an email will
be sent to them to fill a form or write about you. Also, you need
recommendation from these people later. You may need to have
their recommendation letter sealed in a pocket and submit it on
the interview day to the interviewer.

Note: Be careful to review the form using the review option that you
have in your tools at the left. Check whether you have completed all
the required information or not. If there is something wrong with any of
the files you have uploaded or you want to make it better, do it. Also,
consider the deadline and it is better to submit your application some
days before the deadline date. But the meantime, keep in mind that
filling the application as good as possible requires lots of time to think
about everything you write. Especially, think a lot about the articles I
mention above and consult with other. Check them and let others also
check them. See that your articles should be very competitive and
there should not be grammar mistakes, lack of punctuation and also it
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 should have
a creative idea in it.

2. TOEFL test (Institutional test)

You will be informed that you are shortlisted and that you need to have
a TOEFL test. Make sure that you know the exact date and place. Also
they will tell you what to bring with yourself on the exam day, e.g.
photo, ID card and/or pencils, pen, rubber. You can refer to the site of
TOEFL for further information at:
www.ets.org/toefl/
Or, google about the TOELF to get enough information. For googling I
suggest that you learn about tips of searching on google, it is very
helpful. For instance you can only search for any writing about TOELF
in PDF format (in which you can easily find good and long articles and
books). To do so, you need to type: Tips and tricks of TOEFL or maybe
Guide to TOEFL test and then after a space write “filetype:pdf” and
search. This personalization of searching can be made from “advanced
search” as well.

It is highly advised that you have already read a lot about TOELF
before applying. There are some good TOEFL books (it must has CD
with it) in bookstores. Pay attention that the book should be the newest
version and it should be PBT (paper based test) which is still applicable
in Afghanistan. Beside that reading IBT (Internet book test), previous
versions of TOELF, any TOEFL guide like books that are only for
vocabulary or grammar is very helpful.

3. Interview:
After getting the required score of TOEFL (which can differ depending
on how is the level of the scores), you will be asked for passing an
interview. The interview will take place inside the embassy. Be
prepared, reread your application carefully, your resume as well. Also
be formal and learn about how to have a successful interview. Try not
to be worried and concentrate. Check the time of interview with the
embassy and arrive earlier. Here are some links for the interview:
www.ncs.usyd.edu.au/press/.../Scholarship%20Interview%20Tips1.pdf
http://www.scholarshiphelp.org/interview.htm
http://www.scholarshippreparations.com/category/scholarship-
interview
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 http://studyfund.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/scholarship-interview-tips/

4. TOEFL test
After passing the interview successfully, now you are the final
candidate. You can say that are selected but still there are some steps
to finish. You may need to pass a GRE test, except law students who
are not required to pass this exam, others must. There are also some
books about GRE in bookstore as well as some information you can find
online. Since I haven’t had any GRE test, I don’t think that I could say
something helpful about it.

5. GRE
Here are some links and resources for GRE:
www.ets.org/gre
http://official-gre-test-site.ajd.vivilotz.com/
http://www.takethegre.com/
http://gradschool.about.com/od/gre/Graduate_Record_Exam_GRE.htm
http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b1
3bc3921509/?vgnextoid=302b66f22c6a5010VgnVCM10000022f95190
RCRD&vgnextchannel=d687e3b5f64f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RC
RD

6. Some orientations and gatherings

After passing GRE, it is time to cheer! May be you are invited to some
different meetings and gatherings. You may also have a Pre Academic
Oreintation that gives you information about different important issues
like cultural shock, housing and Do and Donts in the state. During this
time you will be awared about your placement. IIE decides which
university fits for you and will place you there. Well, find enough
information about the university, often check the university webpage
and keep in contact with them. You will receive lots of emails and may
be package from University. Probably you will receive your forma email,
username and PIN or passwords to access to different parts of the
webpage.

7. Visa
Check when your approximate departure date is and get prepared for
it. You will receive some forms from embassy for visa purposes, fill
them carefully and return it to the embassy on time. Then you will be
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 asked for visa interview, and after that you will receive your visa and
then move. Sometimes the visa clearance takes longer time and even
it can take your preacademic courses from you. Just be prepared and
be in touch with University and Embassy and IIE if required. You must
already do your shopping and be fully prepared for departing, but at
the same time be ready that wait for a longer time, in some instances.

8. Departure:
When I thought what to write in here, it reminded me a joke. A person
who was interested to take off an airplane, rented one and found a
guide book of how to ride an airplane, started and successfully took off.
After hours of flying and enjoying being on that above, he decided to
land the airplane, so referred to the book to find out how to do so.
Terribly it was written in there, for how to land an airplane, please refer
to the second part of the book! lol I think I am also in the same
condition, it means that I haven’t left Afghanistan yet. I will write
something for you whenever I leave and earn the experience of being
in US universities…
But do this, open google and type something like “pre departure guide
for international students” and you will find hundreds of very helpful
guides and files in PDF, published by different universities across the
world. I hope you find it helpful.

If you find it helpful and if you think that I can help you in any way, please
don’t hesitate to contact me via this email address: (click here)

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