How to Read an Application to Determine Eligibility for the Rackham Merit Fellowship
These suggestions are intended to help Admissions Committees to identify newly admitted students who may be eligible for the 2012-13 Rackham Merit Fellowship Program.
The Rackham Merit Fellowship is open to newly admitted students in a Rackham graduate program who:
- Have a record of superior academic achievement (same as the existing RMF)
- Are U.S. citizens or permanent residents (same as the existing RMF)
and meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Come from an educational, cultural, geographic or socioeconomic background that is underrepresented in graduate study in your discipline in the United States or at the University of Michigan;
- Have demonstrated commitment to diversity in the academic, professional, or civic realm through their research interests, work experience, volunteer engagement, or leadership of student or community organizations;
- Have experienced financial hardship as a result of family economic circumstances;
- Are first generation U.S. citizens or are the first generation in their families to graduate from a four-year college.
Application and other admissions materials and resources:
- Application Form
- Academic Statement of Purpose
- Personal Statement
- Letters of recommendation
- Transcript
- Résumés or CVs
- Rackham Need-Based Fee Grant
- Rackham Specialized Fee Waiver
- Interviews and campus visits
Once a student has been admitted to a program, the Admissions Committee may seek to determine whether the person is eligible for a Rackham Merit Fellowship and is a good candidate for this award. The four RMF criteria are used to determine eligibility. Information on the application can help Admissions Committees to determine whether a student meets these criteria. Information about race, ethnicity, gender, and national origin contained may not be used.
In almost all cases, no single piece of information will be sufficient to determine eligibility. By carefully reviewing the application form, Academic Statement of Purpose, Personal Statement, transcript, letters of recommendation, résumés and interviews or campus visits, Admissions Committees can cull information that can help determine whether or not a student meets the criteria and would be a good RMF candidate.
Programs may also ask admitted students for additional information that may help determine whether they are eligible for an RMF award, but may not do this on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and national origin.
Please note that national origin refers only to the national origin of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and not to international students who are not eligible to be nominated for RMF awards.
1. Information that appears on the Application Form
A. Personal Information
Birthplace City and/or Country
Birthplace city and/or country may help indicate, when used in conjunction with information in the Personal Statement, academic Statement of Purpose, transcript, and recommendation letters, that the admitted student meets RMF criteria 1, 3, or 4. While an Admissions Committee cannot use birthplace alone to establish RMF eligibility, this information may open the possibility that the student comes from an educational, cultural, geographic or socioeconomic background that is underrepresented in the discipline in the United States or at the University of Michigan. Similarly, it may indicate that the student has experienced financial hardship as a result of family economic circumstances, possibly as first generation U.S. citizens. The Admissions Committee will need to find additional evidence in other information on the application and other application material to support their judgment that the student meets the RMF eligibility criteria.
Native language
Native language may also be an indicator that the student meets RMF criteria 1 and 4. For certain programs, for example, native speakers of a particular language, or languages, may be able to contribute unique or distinctive experiences or expertise that can enhance the overall intellectual quality of the program for all students. Corroborating information may be found elsewhere on the application itself, the academic Statement of Purpose, and the Personal Statement.
U.S. Permanent Resident Registration Number
U.S. Permanent Resident Registration Number indicates that the student is a recent immigrant to the United States. Permanent Residency is the first step to obtaining U.S. citizenship. Generally, this is in itself insufficient to establish RMF eligibility. The Admissions Committee will need additional information to show how an RMF award to a Permanent Resident will meet RMF criteria.
B. Employment Information
Employment information may provide evidence that a student meets RMF criteria 2 or 3. Students may have work experience that demonstrates a substantial commitment to diversity in the professional or civic realm. A student, for instance, may have worked as a teacher in a diverse, low-income school district, worked in an agency providing services to low-income families or immigrants, had a position in a particularly diverse workplace, or in other ways engaged with customers or clients to address issues connected with diversity. Additional information about employment experiences may be found in the Personal Statement, résumé, recommendations, or interviews.
C. Education Information
Educational information on the application, supplemented by transcripts, written statements, and recommendations, may provide indicators that a student meets RMF criteria. Students who finance their own education, for instance, or experience other substantial financial hardship, may interrupt attendance in order to earn money to complete their degree. Similarly, a student who begins postsecondary study at a community college may come from an underrepresented educational or socioeconomic background. The University of Michigan’s UM-TIES program, for instance, is a joint effort with Washtenaw Community College with the purpose of helping academically and/or economically disadvantaged students attain their educational goals. Similar transition programs exist in other state higher education systems, and may be identified in the education information and transcript. Persons who have studied at historically-black colleges or universities, tribal colleges, or urban universities serving culturally and socio-economically diverse populations may also have a background that warrants closer examination to see if they may meet RMF criteria 1, 3 and/or 4.
Transcripts may also reveal whether a student has taken courses, or has a record of academic concentration, that indicate a commitment to the study of diversity and suggest that the student may meet RMF criterion 2.
D. Awards/Honors/Scholarships Information
A careful reading of this information may help determine if a student meets the RMF criteria. Students may indicate that they have received or applied for national scholarships and awards that indicate that they may meet criteria 1, 3, or 4. Such awards include the Gates Millenium Scholarship, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship Program, NSF Graduate Engineering for Minorities (GEM) Fellowship, NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Scholar, Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, the American Women in Science Kirsten R. Lorentzen Award in Physics and other similar scholarships and awards made by foundations and federal agencies. Industry also provides scholarships and prizes, such as the Ford Motor Company Mainstream Scholarship, Coca-Cola First Generation Scholar, and Northrop Grumman Diversity Scholarship.
In addition, colleges and universities give scholarships and awards to students from underrepresented backgrounds, who demonstrated leadership and commitment to diversity, and who have experienced financial hardship. Undergraduate scholarship programs are numerous, including the Kluge Scholars Program (Columbia University), the Meyerhoff Scholars (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), the Provost Leadership Undergraduate Scholarship (Auburn University), etc. Similarly, many undergraduate institutions give awards recognizing outstanding leadership on diversity within the institution or community, or to alumni who have made important contributions in this area.
Participation in summer research and academic development programs open to students who may match the criteria for RMF eligibility may be listed as an award or appear on the résumé. Such programs include the CIC Summer Research Opportunity Program, the SROP program at Berkeley, the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education Program at Bryn Mawr and Spelman Colleges, and many others.
The great number and variety of these awards, scholarships, and programs may require some online background research. Graduate coordinators may do quick online searching to learn more about a scholarship, award or program that appears on the application or résumé.
The online application asks for information about fellowships the applicant has applied for in open competition, including the CIC Minorities Fellowship and the GEM Fellowship Applicants, and asks applicants to check a box if they are members of the CIC SROP, LSAMP, Meyerhoff Scholar, or McNair Scholar programs. Applicants are also asked to check a box if they are a first generation student, meaning that they are the first generation in their family to graduate from a four-year college. These programs all indicate that the student meets the RMF eligibility criteria. This information has not been appearing in MPathways or on the PDF file applications. Steps have been taken to make this information available to the Admissions Committees for all applications, including those that have already been received and transmitted to the graduate programs.
2. Academic Statement
The Academic Statement may contain information that helps to confirm a student’s RMF eligibility. Such information may include a statement of a scholarly, personal, or professional commitment to addressing issues related to diversity, or an explanation of the academic record that indicates financial hardship as a result of family economic circumstances. In discussing motivation and goals, a student may also reveal features of his or her background and interests that may help indicate RMF eligibility.
3. Personal Statement
Rackham introduced the Personal Statement for the 2007-08 application, for which applicants are asked to write about personal background and life experiences, including social, cultural, familial, educational, or other opportunities or challenges, that motivated their decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan. This statement may provide a wide range of supplementary information that can help determine RMF eligibility.
4. Résumés or CVs
Résumés or CVs may provide additional information that can help determine whether a student is a good candidate for the RMF. Students may list research, internships, volunteer activities, or leadership roles in organizations that promote values of diversity and inclusion.
Eligibility under criterion 2, for instance, may be established by information that indicates an applicant’s leadership in college/university organizations dedicated to the development of underrepresented students. Very many undergraduate institutions have these kinds of student organizations, similar to the University of Michigan’s Pathways to Student Success and Excellence.
Substantial participation in community-based civic organizations, such as a leadership role in adult literacy or job re-training programs, immigration and refugee service organizations, or programs or organizations addressing domestic violence, may help to demonstrate eligibility under criterion 2. Similarly, participation in national programs such as Teach For America or AmeriCorps VISTA are activities that suggest a person may be eligible under criterion 2.
5. Additional information sources
In addition to any information that may appear on the Personal Statement, letters of recommendation, or other information on the application form discussed above, evidence that may indicate a student has experienced financial hardship include whether the student has applied for a Rackham Need-Based Fee Grant. An application PDF file will include a separate page confirming that the applicant has been approved for a Need-Based Fee Grant.
In addition, applicants affiliated with certain national or private organizations, such as LSAMP, McNair Scholars, and Teach For America, are eligible for a Rackham Specialized Fee Waiver. Students who have received this waiver may come from an educational, cultural, geographic or socioeconomic background underrepresented in graduate study. ApplicationPDF files of persons requesting a Specialized Fee Waiver may include a page that confirms their affiliation with these organizations. Not all applications from persons who seek or receive this Fee Waiver, however, will have a page that confirms their affiliation. If this page is missing from the application, Admissions Committees should not conclude that this affiliation does not exist, and may consider information elsewhere on the application that states participation in these organizations.
Application materials may also indicate whether a student has received a federal Pell Grant while an undergraduate. These federal grants are awarded solely on financial need, and usually demonstrate financial hardship.
For questions regarding these suggestions and other matters about the 2007 Rackham Merit Fellowships, please contact Assistant Dean John Godfrey (jgodfrey@umich.edu; 764-8221) or Assistant Dean Shelly Conner (shellyah@umich.edu; 764-8116) at the Rackham Graduate School.
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