Eligibility

Before working on the application, it is a good idea to make sure you are eligible and can document your eligibility. You are eligible:

1. If you are a "Green Card" holder. Please provide a copy of your card and one year of IRS tax filings.
2. If you are a naturalized citizen. Please provide the eight-digit number on your Citizenship Certificate and the date of naturalization. A photocopy of the name page of your United States passport can substitute as evidence of citizenship.
3. If you have two parents who are naturalized citizens as of the date of your application. Please provide the eight-digit numbers on their Citizenship Certificates and the dates of their naturalization. A photocopy of the name page of their United States passport can substitute as evidence of citizenship.

Note: These will be independently verified with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

If you do not meet the eligibility requirements under 1), 2), or 3) above, you are not eligible for consideration in the current competition of the Fellowship Program. Perhaps you will be next year.

You may not be older than 30 as of November 30, 2001.

You must be a senior in college or a holder of a bachelor’s degree or at present enrolled in a graduate program. Individuals who are in the third, or subsequent, year of study in the same graduate program are not, however, eligible for this competition. Students who have received a master’s degree in a program and are continuing for a doctoral degree in the same program are considered to have been in the same program from the time they began their work on their master’s degree.

Successful Applicants

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans program is extremely competitive, with an annual average of 800 applications for thirty awards. Eighty-four individuals are called for interviews. We urge you, before you begin working on an application, to read the selection criteria in #1f below very carefully, to read the biographical sketches of the recent winners on our website (www.pdsoros.org), and to consider seriously whether you are likely to be competitive for this award. At the same time, do not forego applying for the wrong reasons. Current Fellows have not necessarily had outstanding academic records, have not necessarily attended prestigious undergraduate institutions, and are not necessarily pursuing careers in high status occupations. Rather, they have, given their ages and backgrounds, shown extraordinary creativity, accomplishment, and commitment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Components of a Completed Application: Please be sure you have completed all nine parts. Make sure that your name appears, in exactly the same form, on all parts of the application, and especially on those parts that are being completed by other individuals. Please write your last name in BLOCK (CAPITAL) LETTERS. If your transcripts, graduate record examination results, or other documents will refer to you by a different name, please put that name in parentheses on your application form. Do not forget to sign and date the application.

1. Formal Application: Legibly and clearly answer all the questions. Put N/A if the question does not apply to you; (e.g., you do not have an E-mail address). There are several areas of possible confusion.

1. Place (s) of family origins – list one or more countries or foreign areas that were homes to you or your parents. You may add an ethnic, linguistic, or cultural tradition that is important to you even though it is not specifically linked to a place or country (e.g., Hmong in Laos).
2. "First Language" means the language you used most growing up as a young child.
3. List the names and address of your parents. If you are eligible because both of your parents are naturalized citizens, list their names even if you do not currently live with both of them. If they are deceased, indicate so.
4. Institution of higher education means any junior college, college, or university. Please submit transcripts for degree-granting institutions, you may include a photocopy of the transcript.
5. If you are applying to more graduate programs than there is space on the application, you may add a sheet.
6. There are three criteria for selection. In addition to demonstrated capacity to undertake advanced academic work, a successful candidate will fulfill at least two of the following:

1. creativity, originality, and initiative, demonstrated in any area of her/his life;
2. accomplishment, activity that requires drive and sustained effort; and
3. commitment to the values expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which includes activity in support of human rights and the rule of law, in opposition to unwarranted encroachment on personal liberty, and in advancing the responsibilities of citizenship in a free society.

You should indicate what evidence you are including in your application to attest to your possession of any or all of these attributes. (See #3 below)

2. Essays: Please be sure to answer the specific questions. It is important that this be your own writing. Those involved in the selection process want to know about you. They want to make sure you can make yourself understood in English, but recognize that New Americans for whom English is a second language may not have complete fluency. So, do not ask someone else to correct or change your essay. The word limitation of 1500 words for each essay is firm. Use both sides of the essay form if you wish.
3. Exhibits: You are encouraged to submit a 1-2 page resume. In addition, you may attach no more than five additional pages that document or illustrate your strengths in one or more of the selection criteria. Appropriate exhibits might include copies of newspaper or magazine articles, excerpts from a portfolio, letters of commendation, programs for events you have organized or in which you have participated. These exhibits will not be returned. Students applying in the Fine and Performing Arts, or other fields where pertinent, may submit one video cassette, tape cassette, compact disc, or no more than twelve slides. Exhibits will not be returned.
4. Recommendation Letters: Two letters are required. One of the letters must come from a faculty member of a college or university who is familiar with you as an undergraduate or graduate student. A second letter should come from someone who is either familiar with you in some kind of work or activity, whether a job, a volunteer assignment, or a project you have undertaken or from anyone you think might best tell us about your strengths in creativity, originality, initiative, commitment to and capacity for accomplishment, and commitment to the values expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. You should not ask a member of your immediate or extended family to write on your behalf. Letters used for other purposes (e.g., admission into medical school, job searches or for other national fellowships) should not be sent. Letters should be sent directly by the writers to The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans office. Put your name in the spaces provided.
5. Institutional Status Form: An institutional status form must be submitted from the institution attended indicating when and whether the present degree program will be completed (this may be completed by a registrar, a dean or director of the program, or other authority). If you have a bachelor’s degree and have not yet enrolled in a graduate program, you need not submit this form. A completed institutional status form should be sent directly to The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans office. Put your name in the space provided.
6. Transcripts: All applicants must submit a transcript from their undergraduate degree-granting institutions. Applicants who have already begun their graduate study must also submit a transcript from the institution where they are pursuing a graduate degree. If a graduate degree has already been completed and the candidate is embarking on a second degree, the transcript of the first graduate degree should be submitted. You may submit a photocopy of the transcript.
7. Documentation of "New American" Status: The appropriate documentation will depend on whether you qualify as a green card holder, as a naturalized citizen of the U.S., or as the child of two naturalized citizens. For further information on documentation please refer to the section on eligibility. A photocopy of a green card or of a U.S. passport for a naturalized citizen, plus the number and date of naturalization, or the number and date of naturalization of parents must be included.
8. Report of Required Aptitude Test Results: If one or more of the graduate degree programs you are applying to requires that you take a test, such as the GRE, GMAT, MCAT, or LSAT, you must submit the results of that test no later than the first week of December, 2001. If you are applying to graduate programs in two fields, you may need to submit the results of two different tests. If you have not received the results of the test as of the date of the application deadline, please indicate when you expect to receive your results. You may submit a photocopy of the score report.
9. Notification of Receipt of Application: The candidate should include a self-addressed postcard to be notified of the receipt of the application.

DEADLINE: Your application forms, essays, and documentary evidence of eligibility as a "New American" must be postmarked no later than NOVEMBER 30, 2001. The institutional status form, recommendation letters, transcripts, and reports of graduate aptitude tests will be accepted after that date, but screening will be conducted during the first week of December, so delay in the receipt of any of these items may adversely affect your chances of being considered as a Finalist and invited for an interview.

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
400 West 59^th Street
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-547-6926 Facsimile: 212-548-4623
E-Mail: pdsoros_fellows@sorosny.org
Website: www.pdsoros.org