What are the application requirements for the American Doctoral Fellowship?

Modified on Fri, 7 Aug at 11:57 AM

All applicants are required to submit the following with their application, in addition to a narrative application:

Letters of Recommendation: Applicants must provide two letters of recommendation from advisors, professors, colleagues, or others who are professionally familiar with the applicant, their scholarly work, teaching, professional, and/or academic background. Recommenders are encouraged to evaluate the applicant in relation to the fellowship selection criteria and support this assessment with specific examples. 
- Please provide a professional email address for their recommenders, rather than a personal one.
- It is the applicants’ responsibility to remind their recommender of the application deadline in order for the application to be completed on time. An application will not be considered complete until the recommendations have been submitted. 
- Applicants are encouraged to register their recommenders through your online application as early as possible in the application process. The application system will send each recommender a personalized link to submit the recommendation online.

Note: AAUW does not accept references from dossier services, such as Parchment or Interfolio, and standardized or form-letter recommendations are discouraged.

Proof of Degree: Copy of all degrees earned to date 
- Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree.
- Applicants must upload copies of all diplomas/degree certificates OR official transcript showing conferral of degree and date of conferral for all programs from which they have received a degree. 
- The documents provided must correspond to the programs and institutions listed in the application and must include the applicant’s full name, the institution’s name, and the degree conferred. 
- Applicants must submit translations for all degrees that were awarded in a language other than English. For the highest earned degree, a certified translation is required.
- Applicants with an equivalent of a bachelor’s degree (particularly if the transcript or degree certificate does not explicitly state it is a bachelor’s degree) must provide an official explanation from the academic institution or governing body, or submit a credential evaluation report from services like WES, ECE, or any National Association of Credential Evaluation Services member that clarifies the equivalency of your qualification to a bachelor’s degree.
- If an applicant holds two degrees at the same level, such as two bachelor’s degrees or two master’s degrees, the most recently awarded degree will be considered the highest.

Transcripts: Official transcripts confirming conferral of all degrees received AND official current
transcript.
- Applicants must upload copies of all official academic transcripts from all programs from which you have received a degree.
- The transcripts provided must correspond to the programs and institutions listed in your application.
- All transcripts must include the applicant’s full name, the institution’s name, the degree conferred, the list of courses taken, and grades received. Transcripts must also include the name of coursework and grades from transfer courses, if applicable. If transcripts reflect transfer courses without grades, a transcript from the institution where courses were taken is required. 
- Applicants must submit translations for all degrees that were awarded in a language other than English. For the highest earned degree, a certified translation is required.
- Applicants who studied at an institution that does not provide a transcript, or a list of courses taken, and grades received, or the degree did not require coursework, must provide an institutional letter affirming the same as well as the degree completion date.
- If an applicant holds two degrees at the same level, such as two bachelor’s degrees or two master’s degrees, the most recently awarded degree will be considered the highest.

A certified English translation is required for all materials provided in a foreign language. Translations must bear a mark of certification or official signature that the translation is true and complete.

If the name on any of the above documents differs from the one provided in the application, an explanation must be provided — such as a marriage certificate or a court-issued name change document.   

Applicants are responsible for the submission of all required documents. Incomplete applications will be reviewed and considered at the discretion of AAUW.