Nationally Competitive Programs

• Establish a solid grade point average
• Join organizations, activities, and causes that represent issues that are important to you
  • Your involvement demonstrates your passions and motivations outside the classroom. Find ways you can make an impact in the Hattiesburg community.
• Show intellectual well-roundedness
  • Pursue an ambitious and diverse curriculum. Seek extra-curricular involvement, on campus. Join groups that represent issues that align with your personal and professional interests. Demonstrate commitment and passion. Search for leadership opportunities. Identify a need and fill it. Broaden your horizons.
• Develop close relationships with faculty in several disciplines
  • Get involved through research, internships, service-learning, study abroad, or other opportunities. You want future recommenders to write personally about you.
• Stay informed
  • Read the newspaper daily (The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal) or follow them on Twitter. Listen to podcasts, Ted Talks, or news radio (NPR). Know what is being talked about in the world around you.
• Keep a journal
  • The personal statement is one of the most important components of a grant application in which you talk about your background, life experiences, personal, academic, and professional interests, and aspirations. Keeping a journal helps you know yourself, remember highlights from your life experiences, and strengthen your writing skills.
• Meet with the Project Director for Nationally Competitive Programs
  
  • Complete the intake form and schedule an initial meeting to discuss professional and personal goals.

• Start undergraduate research with a faculty member

• Beginning research early is especially important if you are a science or engineering major.

• Continue your involvement in organizations and with causes

• Find unmet needs on campus and in the community, and determine solutions.

• Show intellectual well-roundedness

• Craft diverse and interesting semester schedules that challenge you and reflect a broad array of understanding. Consider taking upper-division (300-level) courses.

• Look ahead to the summer
  • Seek internships, study abroad opportunities, or experiences that will strengthen your application and broaden your awareness. Reflect upon your life values and goals. Dream big. Clarify steps you can follow to reach your goals.
• Know your award options
  • Review the applications you have an interest in with the Project Director for Nationally Competitive Programs before departing for the summer by completing an intake form. Determine gaps in your application that can be filled over the break.

• Make yourself nationally competitive
  • Start undergraduate research in your junior year and continue throughout your senior year.
• Give back to your discipline
  • Present at conferences, and attend state and national meetings. Depending on your major, give performances, hold an art exhibit, or publish in a reputable journal. Enroll in a graduate-level course if possible.
• Know where you are going and where you have been
  • Consider your future academic goals. Know your "why" and be able to share your plan of study and your passion behind it. 
• Bolster your résumé and transcript
  • Seek an active role in organizations and activities that are personal to your interests and goals. Take challenging courses in and out of your major area of study.
• Prepare for senior awards in your junior year
  • Your senior year will offer many options for nationally competitive awards, such as the Marshall, Rhodes, Gates Cambridge, Mitchell, and NSF. The most successful students begin the application process in their junior year. Meet individually with the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards or attend a workshop to learn more about each scholarship. Assess the areas that you need to strengthen to be nationally competitive, and address these over the summer.
• Start planning for graduate school
  • Define your areas of interest for graduate school, and begin speaking with professors about reputable programs in your field of study. Meet one-on-one with professors to secure letters of recommendation, providing each recommender with an academic résumé and examples of work you did in their class.
• Prepare for national exams
  • Spend months studying for national entrance exams such as GRE, GRE subject exam (when applicable), and MCAT, etc.
• Utilize Nationally Competitive Programs
  • Meet individually with the Project Director, Carlee Causey. To schedule your visit complete an intake form.