The Fulbright Scholarship is one of the most prestigious awards undergraduates across the country can attain. But fewer and fewer Duke students seem to want it.
Over the past two years, the number of Duke applicants for the Fulbright has declined over 50 percent, and students said a number of factors-including the advising system for the scholarship-could be at play.
"I don't know what is causing Duke students not to apply, but the number of students who apply from Duke is decreasing," said Darla Deardorff, manager of international programs at the Center for International Studies and Duke's Fulbright Student Program advisor.
The scholarship-the largest U.S. international exchange program-funds students' studies and research abroad. Sixty-nine Duke students applied for the award in 2005, 43 in 2006 and 29 in 2007, Deardorff said.
Some students, however, said they have felt disheartened by her advice, citing it as a potential cause of the recent drop in Fulbright applicants.
Senior David Wiley said Deardorff strongly discouraged him from applying to his first-choice country, Spain.
"I felt like I was in a meeting with a high school college counselor who was telling me not to apply to Harvard because it was too competitive," Wiley said. "She ended up trying to pass me off to apply to Andorra because nobody ever applies to Andorra."
Despite Deardorff's advice, Wiley proceeded to apply for a Fulbright to study in Spain and ultimately won the award.
"Its understandable that she wants to scare people off-it is a demanding process," he said. "But if you try and you pull it together, you'll get it."
Deardorff said she guides students through the application process, offering advice on where students should look to apply and what will put their applications at the top of the pool.
"It's my job to help students have the most competitive applications possible." she said. "I do encourage students to think strategically about what countries to apply to."
Senior Rachel Weeks, a Fulbright recipient who will be going to Sri Lanka next year, was also advised by Deardorff during her application process.
"[She] didn't think I could put together a competitive application in three weeks and I left her office really really discouraged," Weeks said. "But I had a change of heart and decided to do it and am glad I did."
Weeks pointed out that Duke students in particular should not be deterred by the time constraints or competitive applicant pools in the Fulbright application process.
"Duke people are really resourceful and shouldn't be discouraged with two weeks left to do something," she said. "If you're a good candidate, you're a good candidate, and that's going to come through in your application."
Even the best candidate, however, cannot put together a successful application without the time necessary to fulfill the application requirements, Deardorff said. She added that although she is there to help, it is ultimately the responsibility of the applicant to make his or her application the best it can be.
"It really does take a lot of time, and if [the students] are going to invest a lot of time and effort I want to make sure that they're going to make a worthwhile investment," she said. "The applicants run the show-I just try to make them aware of the realities."
Deardorff reported that the quality of the applicant pool is increasing.
Concurrent with the drop in applicant numbers, the percentage of Duke applicants that eventually received the scholarship did increase from 68 percent in 2005 to 72 percent in 2006, she said.
"[She] has a dedicated, thorough approach to finding the best candidates and encouraging students to apply," said Renee Earle, a Duke diplomat in residence who has worked with Deardorff in advertising the Fulbright program to interested students. "She has been successful in having the most Duke students selected, and I think the numbers air that out."
Some students said they had very positive experiences working with Deardorff.
"Without her I wouldn't have been able to get my application together and have everything I needed," said senior Jesse Silverman, another Fulbright recipient. "She provided very good general advice and I really appreciated her help."
The recent decline in applicants for the Fulbright has coincided with an increase in student interest in other comparable awards.
"This year the level of interest [in the Rhodes Scholarship] increased over the prior year," Babs Wise, assistant director of the Office of Undergraduate Scholars and Fellows, wrote in an e-mail. "[It] could be simply that we had three Rhodes winners the prior year, but interest in the Marshall [Scholarship] and Luce [Scholarship] was higher as well."
Deardorff said she hopes more students will apply for the Fulbright in the coming years.
"Whoever has interest and meets the requirements for the Fulbright can apply," she said.
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