I think we can all agree that January is the Monday of the year. It didn’t really hit me until I started grad school and realized that there are a lot of things that happen in January. The biggest thing: funding application deadlines.
January Application Deadlines
In case you don’t believe me, I have pulled from my masterpost of funding opportunities for BIPOC in Classics all of the ones that have deadlines in January. They are:
Helen Maria Chesnutt Scholarship for Equity in Classical Study. This scholarship is intended to support undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups to further their study of the Classics and Ancient Mediterranean world and not excluding reception studies. (15 January 2022)
William Sanders Scarborough Fellowship (ASCSA). This fellowship provides support for graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars in North America whose diverse experiences and backgrounds are underrepresented at the American School, and whose studies, research, or teaching would benefit from residency at the School. (15 January 2022)
Point Scholarship. The Point Foundation (Point) is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit. Point Foundation considers many factors when assessing scholarship applicants, including academic performance, leadership skills, financial need, personal goals and the applicant’s involvement in the LGBTQ community. (26 January 2022)
Rudolph Masciantonio CAMWS Diversity Award (CAMWS). Awardees will be those whom the profession or life circumstances or societal structures have limited in their access to the study of our field. Awarded each year to one undergraduate and one graduate student. (31 January 2022)
Historically Underrepresented Groups Scholarship. The Historically Underrepresented Groups Scholarship (HUGS) intends to increase recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities obtaining degrees in archaeology. Graduate and undergraduate students. (31 January 2022)
Native American Scholarships Fund (NASF). An endowment established to foster a sense of shared purpose and positive interaction between archaeologists and Native Americans. It supports the Arthur C. Parker Scholarship for Archaeological Training for Native Americans and the SAA Native American Undergraduate and Graduate Archaeology Scholarships. Undergraduate and graduate student funding. (31 January 2022)
Preparing to Apply
There are three kinds of people when it comes to fellowship application deadlines. You’re either:
- Highly organized and already have everything prepared and ready to submit
- Particularly stressed by these looming deadlines because you are not prepared at all
- Not applying this year but find it good to keep these dates in mind for the next cycle
Everyone can be each of these, just at different points in their academic careers.
I definitely felt the most stressed in my fourth year, when I was applying for everything in attempt to get something to fund my impending research trip (which, as it turns out, didn’t end up happening). But at other times, I have been really on top of my game and planning well in advance.
I can imagine a lot of stress has also come from trying to apply for funding opportunities when you just don’t know what the future will look like. It’s the curse of an unpredictable and ongoing pandemic.
Still other times I have taken notice of the funding opportunities that I might qualify for and made a mental note to return to them later.
The Ultimate Checklist for Funding Applications
In an attempt to make things easier for everyone – yes, even you folks who think you have it all figured out already – I have created another resource for funding applications.
The first resource was an organizational system for keeping track of all of the funding opportunities you’re interested in.
This time, it comes in the form of a detailed checklist of questions and/or prompts that you can work through throughout the application process. There are also some helpful tips and links to other resources that might be helpful for certain things (like how to create a CV).
You can get the checklist for funding applications here!
How you choose to work through it is up to you. You can work section by section starting from page one, or you can jump around depending on what your current focus is.
Some things covered in the funding application checklist:
- Financial considerations (i.e. is it enough money?)
- Personal statements (for more on how to write one, see this post)
- Curriculum Vitae
- Transcripts
- Letters of Recommendation (I’ve got a post on how to ask for these right here)
If you are one of those people who actually has everything together, you could use the checklist as a way of double checking your work to make sure you didn’t miss anything.
The checklist can be used however and whenever you need it.
I know I’m prone to forgetting things, so having all of the tasks I need to complete in one place is helpful when working on things that have a lot of moving parts.
Of course this checklist is not comprehensive. There are probably some things that I’ve missed, or that are particular to certain applications.
Feel free to add to the list as needed!
If you’re in need of some structure and guidance while applying for funding, download the checklist!