Fulbright or Direct Admissions?
A 1–1 comparison to help you make the right choice for yourself
There are many ways to get an entry into the states as a graduate student, the most common ones are:
1. Fulbright Masters and Ph.D. degree program
2. Direct Admissions and funding through TA/RA ship
3. HEC Pak-US Knowledge Corridor program (for Ph.D. only)
4. State/university fellowships and scholarships
Hi, I am Sara. I am pursuing my Ph.D. on a fellowship by the Department of Energy. Fellowships can vary by the program and university. So, it’s very difficult to compare them. If you get one that is fully funded, weigh the perks and take it 😊
Now, in this blog, I’ll talk a little about Fulbright and Direct Admissions based on my personal experience and we will compare application processes and pros/cons.
Fulbright
Fulbright sends around 150–200 students each year to different schools through USEFP. The scholarship is offered for various fields except for medicine and the ratio of master’s to Ph.D. scholars is about ~2:1. Degrees awaiting candidates are eligible to apply given they can produce the final degree by December of that year, and GRE is required.
The application process starts in Feb, and applications are accepted until May. By mid-August, USEFP starts calling successful candidates for interviews and the final decisions are made till October. The process further takes a few months, and students submit their verified documents by the end of December.
If you are awarded the scholarship, USEFP will apply to 5 universities on your behalf, and it could take more than a month until candidates receive final placement in a university.
Next comes the visa process, and students are provided with DS2019 on the basis of which they apply for a J1 visa.
Pros
• It’s totally free and costs you nothing to apply for the scholarship. The only cost is GRE and TOEFL which you would take anyway.
• Furthermore, your ticket and visa cost are also taken care of, and if you are traveling to Pakistan to renew your visa, you will also receive financial compensation for that.
• You have to apply for the scholarship only, and they handle the rest, which means you don’t need to apply to the university itself.
• It’s a cultural scholarship and extracurricular activities, leadership experiences, etc. play a big role in selection.
• Some fields are given preference and people from unprivileged backgrounds and gender are given priority.
• Depending on the rest of your profile and essays, you can possibly get placed into top schools with low grades that might otherwise not be possible (vice versa is true as well).
• Scholars are provided with networking opportunities as part of the program and you get to travel to another state within the U.S. once a year for Fulbright seminars, at their expense.
• If you are facing problems at your university, you can get help through Fulbright, and in few cases, you might be able to change your school.
Cons
• You will entirely depend on USEFP throughout the process and have little control over your application.
• Your final placement is not in your hand and many students had issues in the past, you may end up in a place you don’t like.
• USEFP tries to maximize their funding and prefers schools with fewer tuition fees. You can get a placement into a low-ranked university which has nothing to do with your profile but depends on the funding options of USEFP.
• For Ph.D. students, you won’t know about your advisor beforehand so after placement, your options can be limited.
• You can only apply for Ph.D. through Fulbright if you already have an MS.
• You are bound to come back and serve in Pakistan as soon as you graduate.
• The monthly stipends may not be competitive enough compared to most of the fellowships and the payroll stipends in most universities for research assistants.
• Some states might not allow you a social security number, which means you can’t really experience the life of the U.S. Without the SSN, you can’t build a credit report and it has many drawbacks in the U.S.
Direct Admissions
For direct admissions, your academic profile and experiences matter a lot. First of all, you will need to shortlist schools based on your profile. You can also shortlist schools based on non-academic factors like living cost, weather, state, and location, etc. and the admission committee appreciates general interests in their school if your academic profile qualifies for admission.
Some schools automatically offer assistantships upon admission, so you can apply directly to them. For others, you will need to contact relevant faculty or staff to find funding opportunities.
If you are applying for a coursework-based MS, you need to contact program managers and coordinators to learn about any funding resources.
For the research-based degrees, however, you need to find professors working in the field of your interest and contact them for research positions.
Generally, fall admissions open in October and close around the first week of January each year. Each university has different deadlines for graduate school applications each semester, furthermore, some departments have their own deadlines. You need to understand these deadlines and apply accordingly.
Make sure you check the international students’ deadlines and meet both graduate school and departmental deadlines if any.
You also need to look out for early admissions deadlines, these deadlines are for funding, if you apply earlier, you will be more likely to get funding.
Around March, students start receiving offers and if accepted, you will be given i20 based on which you can apply for an F1 visa.
Pros
• You will have full control over your application, and you can apply wherever you want or contact any professor whose work fascinates you.
• You are not bound to come back and serve in Pakistan, and you can work in the U.S. for 1 year by getting authorization through OPT (optional practical training), extendable up to 3 years for STEM programs.
• You can apply for a direct Ph.D. after BS and an MS is not required. If you already have an MS, some universities transfer the course credits.
• The monthly stipends for research assistants can range anywhere between $1600 and $2500 depending on the state, university, program, or professor.
• You can gain experience and make extra money since you are allowed to work for additional hours during summer through work authorization and can get internships.
• You will get a social security number, and will have complete financial freedom for opening and maintaining various bank accounts, and credit cards, etc. You also need SSN to get a driver’s license.
• You also have the freedom to change schools if you like and transfer your courses.
• Once you come to the U.S. and get a job after graduation, you will have a chance to get permanent residency through your employer.
• You can shortlist schools that don’t require GRE and avoid that if you want.
Cons
• You will have to apply to more than one university and bear the cost of the application fee, and sending the GRE report, etc.
• Your ticket and visa costs are also your own responsibility and you get no compensation for travel to home (unless it is for attending a conference).
• You will need to apply to the university yourself and contact professors as well to get funding.
• You might need to pay some program and services and course fee each semester and depending on the number of credits you register for; it can range between $900 — $1800 per semester.
• You are pretty much on your own and find and connect with the community since you won’t get a group of alumni like in Fulbright.
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Takeaway
At the end of the day, both Fulbright and Graduate Assistantship are a means to pursue a graduate degree in the U.S. Everyone has different objectives and circumstances, so act accordingly.
In my opinion, funding for MS is difficult to get, so Fulbright is your best bet in that case. But for Ph.D., your research advisor matters more than the university itself, so I would advise going for direct admissions.
(If still in doubt, I would recommend trying for both, since they have different timelines. Check my previous post on this topic)
P.S. I don’t have personal experience with the HEC scholarship, so won’t be able to comment on that.
Best Regards
Sara Sultan Aqib
