Discover ONSA and How It Can Help You!

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On Monday, April 14, the Office of National Scholarship Advisement (ONSA) will host a series of information sessions introducing UMass students to a variety of national scholarship opportunities. ONSA serves as the university’s hub for national scholarships such as the Fulbright Program, the Gilman Scholarship, and many others. 

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Mujtaba Hedayet, Academic & Scholarship Advisor

ONSA supports students throughout the entire application process—from the first information session or email to final acceptance. Mujtaba Hedayet, Academic and Scholarship Advisor at ONSA, encourages all students interested in national scholarships to attend ONSA info sessions to get a better sense of what is available. 

According to Hedayet, these opportunities generally fall into two broad categories: those for study abroad and those for study within the United States. He also points out that not all scholarships are U.S.-based; some are offered by other countries, including the United Kingdom and Germany!

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Madalina Akli

Madalina Akli, Director of the Office of National Scholarship Advisement, emphasized why interested students should apply for these prestigious scholarships. “Our students are bright, and it is important to motivate them to apply for national scholarships and compete for nationally and internationally. They are the pride of the Honors College and the University when they put forward strong applications and projects.”

Steps to Applying

Students interested in applying are encouraged to contact ONSA by onsa [at] honors [dot] umass [dot] edu (email), fill out an advising form on the ONSA website, or attend one of the scheduled information sessions. Each scholarship has a slightly different application process, but Hedayet offered a general overview using the Fulbright Program as an example. The process begins with preliminary advising, where students receive basic information about the scholarship. After that, they are encouraged to set up one-on-one advising appointments to review their resume and select a program — and in Fulbright’s case, a country. Students then submit a pre-application to ONSA and go through an essay review process. Much of this work happens over the summer, as most scholarships have October deadlines. 

Akli also noted that students who are interested should recognize the effort that must be put into their applications. “The application process is intense, with sustained drafting, design of a project, writing of essays and personal statements, identifying graduate programs in the U.S. or abroad, and securing letters of recommendation. We usually work with applicants on the average of three months to finalize a Fulbright application.

Although many of these scholarships are aimed at juniors and seniors, first-year students and sophomores are also encouraged to get involved early and begin planning ahead. Hedayet acknowledged that the process can be lengthy, but emphasized that ONSA is there to support students every step of the way as they pursue these prestigious opportunities. 

When asked why students should consider applying, Hedayet responded enthusiastically:

 “A lot of Fulbrighters and other scholarship recipients are heads of state, members of Congress, successful people — these are very high-impact opportunities that students should take advantage of!”

For students feeling uncertain, particularly in today’s unpredictable environment, Hedayet offered words of encouragement.  

“The Fulbright application for the next cycle opened on March 31st, and ONSA has already begun working with applicants,” he said

Students interested in learning more or beginning their application process should plan to attend Monday’s info session or visit the ONSA website for additional information and upcoming sessions.