Scholarships Related to Language

[eido]

I hope this is the right place to put this. If not, well...

I want to apply for a scholarship relating to language. The two biggest and perhaps most prestigious ones I found were Boren and the FLAS Fellowships program. Both are for less-commonly studied languages with a degree of importance for US national security.

If I've applied for a scholarship, I can't remember. But I know I haven't won any

These look like great scholarships and all that remains is convincing my family I want to go to Korea to study the language full-time for a year and beef up my government vocabulary, possibly stalling my teaching career to make a dream come true. Easy, right?

But if I had to find a way around that, which scholarship would I apply for? I imagine there aren't many.

I don't have fantastic college grades as yet, but my high school stats aren't bad. I'm not old, but still I might be too old for those to matter. (I grew up in the US, by the way, and live there now.)

Any input is appreciated. Like, for instance, how could I possibly have a chance at cracking those massive essays required for the Boren one?

[IronMike]

Most certainly check this site for help. Don't select anything in the drop-down except the last one pick foreign language.

[David1917]

FLAS - This is funding typically distributed to US Schools to support students in learning foreign languages. They have a directory somewhere of which schools get money for which languages. If you're studying for a Spanish degree, I doubt you'll get considered for a scholarship to add Korean, but you never know.

These 3 are for study abroad only:

Boren - Typically, you have to commit to a full academic year abroad, and you also pledge to work for the federal government for 2 years after you graduate. You have to choose and apply to your host university. They give a lot more money due to the extended timeframe and the long-term commitment to "repay" it, but I would not describe it as any more prestigious than these other two that follow.

Gilman - Great for summer programs as well as one-semester programs. You do not have to work for the government after. Priority is given to understudied/critical languages as well as underserved populations. I worked with several people who read Gilman applications and they basically all said "If you can twist anything in your life to being a disadvantage, put it in your Gilman essay." Like above, you have to choose and apply to a host university.

CLS - Critical Language Scholarships are intensive summer programs where you go and have courses, and your lodging is provided by host families so you can gain additional exposure to using the language. This is all-inclusive, you just choose your language and go.

[aokoye]

I think the most important thing for you is that you need to talk to a study abroad advisor at your university if you haven't already. I would do that as soon as possible. As in, contact their office on Monday if they're already closed today. They will likely have a whole host of resources for you (along with they themselves being a resource) including information about scholarships (including the Boren Award and FLAS).

Other things that people haven't mentioned. You should look for general study abroad scholarships (I'm assuming you want to do some sort of study abroad program that will result in getting college credit) including scholarships directly through your university, scholarships through the study abroad provider (which might not be your uni), and scholarships through the government of the country you're hoping to go to (ex the MEXT scholarship). Also your high school grades will probably not matter. I would be shocked if anyone wanted to see them. It's not about you being too old, it's about you being in college.

[Xenops]

I just wanted to say: go for it! If I hadn't majored in science, I would have applied to one of these grants. I think learning in South Korea would be an exceptional experience, and realistically...Korean skills might be more in demand job-wise than Spanish. The U.S. has many many Spanish instructors/speakers, but not so many Korean ones.

[Dylan95]

Go for it. I didn't learn about the FLAS scholarship until the day the application was due. Luckily, I was allowed to use recommendations that I had used for my graduate school applications, so that ended up not being an issue. Anyways, I completed the essay in a few hours and ended up getting the scholarship. I thought I had no chance, but in the end, those few hours I spent doing that ended up saving me 33,000 dollars (15k stipend and 18k off tuition). It is ALWAYS worth a try. I got another FLAS this year and will graduate from my MA program next year without having paid a cent to my school. So many people just don't even give it a shot that you will always have a chance. Half the battle is simply submitting the application. I'm sure it varies year by year, but it's definitely worth a try.

I have one classmate, who received a Boren (they ended up not taking it), and a number of classmates who have received CLS scholarships in the past. It's always worth a try.