Office of Major Scholarship Advisement

Freshman Colloquium

UHON111: An Overview

Community leader and SIU Board of Trustees President, Roger Tedrick (right), asks Alex Dover (left) and Lisa Furby (center) about their interests in public service and biomedical engineering.

The Freshman Colloquium course is comprised of first and second year students enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The students are selected for the course. The Office of Major Scholarship Advisement researches many lists, records, transcripts and other documentation to determine which students will be considered for enrollment. The selection process is intentionally rigorous. The process begins with a list of approximately 3500 students. From that list, 250-300 students are asked to complete an arduous application. The students are then interviewed, and finally ten students are selected to participate in the course. All of the students selected for the course plan to pursue post-graduate degrees. These students represent the best and brightest at SIUC. They plan to compete with the nations best for prestigious scholarships such as the Rhodes, USA Today, Goldwater, Truman, and other nationally competitive scholarships. The class is intentionally kept small for a better class dynamic. Many of the students are academic scholars; Presidential, Chancellor’s, Provost’s, and Dean’s Scholars as well as students who did not enter SIUC as academic scholars but have proven themselves academically.

In this course you will learn to develop plans, strategize applications, prepare for interviews, and revise application essays and personal statements. Working with a variety of faculty with expertise in writing, public service, library research methods, leadership, interviewing skills, study abroad, communication skills, and research opportunities will prepare you to apply for the awards. You will also formulate a proposal that requires you to state your goals with clarity and conviction in a form that reveals a high degree of professionalism.

Community leader Charles Helleny, (left) asks Michelle Bowers, (right) questions about her interest in civil rights.

The Freshman Colloquium is an introduction to a world of opportunities that may support and enrich an undergraduate or graduate education. The awards that the Office of Major Scholarship Advisement facilitates—and others you can find with a little research—represent opportunities to incomparable intellectual experiences that lie beyond the campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The very process of applying for an external award allows you to contemplate, develop, and enhance your vocational goals, intellectual identity, and political awareness. This class will guide you through this process of self-reflection as you craft essays, develop interview skills, and discover research opportunities.This class does not provide all the answers. It does, however, lay out basic information on external competitions that fund a variety of activities in a variety of fields.

Alex Dover, (left) discusses his political views with community leader Wes Wilkins (right).

Applying to college was a walk in the park. You were admitted to a university and now find yourself at the top of your game. Applying for major awards, however, pits students against similarly talented high achievers from schools that rival SIUC in reputation, student body, and resources. While we desire that students concentrate on the perfect fit between goals and abilities, you should recognize up front that major scholarships and fellowships require a special mindset and a special set of application skills. Unlike college admission boards, scholarship and fellowship selection committees are not trying to select a diverse group of intelligent, talented people; they’re looking for students who exhibit precise and well-defined intellectual goals. A foundation that contemplates spending thousands of dollars sending a student to study at a Brazilian university, for example, needs to know more than that a student is a smart, well-educated person; they want to see that you have an idea, a project, or a course of study that you can pursue only in Brazil. If you decide that you have always wanted to see Brazil and then dream up a reason to study there, the result will be a weak application.

Drake Caraker, (right) a music and computer engineering major, at his mock interview with Susan Logue (left), Mayor Brad Cole (center), and Dr. Michael Batinski (right).

How, then, might you proceed, if your superstar status does not automatically qualify you to win big competitions? You need to be centered. First, you must think carefully about what you want to do. You should compose your intellectual autobiography and decide what the next chapter should be. Then you should search for awards that will support your career goals—what you imagine you would like to study or research, where you would like to venture next in life. The primary activity of the application process involves defining and refining those plans, and in the process students define and refine their intellectual and vocational identity.
Practically speaking, the application process requires a great deal of advance planning. Students must be alert early to opportunities they may pursue as juniors, seniors, or recent graduates, and consider applying for summer internships as well. (Not only can an internship be an invaluable experience, but the experience of applying can also help you prepare for the more involved applications you may complete for major awards.) By the end of your junior year, you should already have laid plans to apply for any programs you wish to pursue after you graduate. But remember, too, that some fellowships invite—and even encourage—applicants who have been out of college for a while. This course will offer timetables and strategies for applying a few years down the road. We hope that you stay in touch with us after you have left SIUC.