2010/11 - Bechtel International Center - Stanford University

Assessing the Experience of Applicants for Overseas Scholarships
Kate McKinney, Diane Murk, John Pearson
Overseas Resource Center, Bechtel International Center
About the Overseas Resource Center Surveys
Next Steps
Main Findings Findings- - Survey For Applicants Objectives:
• Elongate interviews dates
Key Points
• Use Skype for overseas applicants
54 respondents
One on one
• Greater focus on guidance before final interview
advising
• Overall high satisfaction with advising services
The campus
• Encourage exploration of other scholarships
interview
• Most useful for respondents were ORC information on the web, email
updates, and one-on-one advising
• Develop system to ensure adequate response
Guidance from the
ORC on personal
time
statements
• Main reasons for pursuing scholarships include funding, the chance to
Your mentor
go abroad, and academic/career interests
Email updates
• Respondents wish they had known earlier to apply early, the
Strengths to Continue:
challenges associated with securing affiliation with an institution
• Quality of assistance with applications
abroad, and navigating the online application systems
Not very Neutral Useful Very Useful
useful
• Scholarship outreach (info sessions, workshops)
• Email updates
Main Findings - Survey for Non-Applicants
• Website maintenance with current information
Key Points
• Mentor program
The Overseas Resource Center (ORC) is
Stanford’s advising center for undergraduates,
35
graduate students, post-docs, and recent alumni
pursuing scholarships for study and research
30
25
abroad. Over 30 scholarships are administered
through this office and include such awards as the
20
Fulbright, Marshall, Rhodes, Churchill, Mitchell,
15
10
Luce, DAAD, Fulbright Hays, Boren and more.
• We provide support in all aspects of the application
5
0
Not at all
useful
process:
• Individualized advising
• Feedback on personal statements
• Interview preparation
• Info Sessions and Application Workshops
• ORC maintains a library of scholarship literature,
35
47 respondents
Not enough time to
compile strong
application
30
binders of successful application essays
• Mentoring Matching program with previous
Acknowledgement
• Main reasons for having not applied were waiting a year, not having
enough time to complete a strong application, and taking advantage of
other opportunities instead
25
Stanford scholars for a few awards
Scholarship(s) not
a good fit for future
plans
20
Project Purpose
We would like to express gratitude to the staff of
the Overseas Resource Center for their hard work
and receptiveness to positive and constructive
feedback. We are also thankful to the students
who took the time to give us their feedback by
completing this survey. Finally, we would like to
thank all of our students for inspiring us through
their drive to succeed to continue expanding and
improving upon our support services for overseas
scholarships.
• Academic preparation was the main concern with meeting the
requirements for the scholarships
Unable to get
necessary advice
from ORC advisors
15
Stanford has been very successful in producing
scholarship winners, and the ORC has received
• Most respondents indicated that their level of knowledge about and
interest in the scholarships before applying was fairly high
Decided to wait a
year to apply
10
5
much positive feedback regarding their guidance in
the application process. However, there is always
• There was a wide range of times at which the student decided not to
apply (some very early, others much closer to the deadline)
Realized I did not
meet award
requirements
0
Neutral Important Very
important
Somewhat
unimportant
Not at all
important
room for improvement. The purpose of this
project is to assess strengths and potential areas
of improvement in our services based on feedback
Main Findings - Feedback from Panelists
Contact information
Key Points
14 panel members of the Rhodes and Marshall Committee
from past applicants, from students who expressed
initial interest in applying for a scholarship but did
not submit an application, and from panel members
Kate McKinney, Diane Murk, John Pearson
Overseas Resource Center
Bechtel International Center
• Panelist’s first interview question should be short answer to put applicant at ease
• Goal of interview to give candidate best chance at the interview
who interviewed the applicants. Using the Qualtrics
• Sense of excitement from panel about the candidate
• Panel members feedback from interview assists with endorsement letters
survey tool, this project surveyed two groups (past
T: 650.723.0856
F: 650.725.0886
E: dmurk@stanford.edu
584 Capistrano Way
Stanford, CA 94305
http://icenter.stanford.edu/orc/
• Role of panel is not to endorse all candidates, but endorse only those who are qualified
applicants and non-applicants) on a variety of ORC
services and analyzed the results to determine
these areas of strength and improvement. The
panelist comments were collected through informal
guided lunch discussions. This feedback informs
future ORC advising services.
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