The US Naval Academy in the past identified and started working with their future major-fellowship applicants during their freshman year (because it's about the record, not the application itself).

Have DD ask the head of her university's fellowship committee or office do a pre-screen on her general record. It's not that hard for universities to identify the stronger candidates who should reasonably invest their time, effort, and energy in the application process.

I won a Fulbright from a no name college. But I had a nearly perfect GPA and was fluent in the local language. If you don’t speak the language of the host country, you don’t have a chance of getting award. That leaves only English-speaking countries as your options, and those awards are extraordinarily competitive.

My son is a Truman Scholar (must be heavily involved in service to others in addition to being a superb student. Our neighbor won the Watson Fellowship and she traveled the world.

Your child’s university should have an office dedicated to these opportunities and will advise if the university will strongly support the application.

Watson fellowship is another option.

Definitely too late for many of them like the Truman. Look on the Fulbright page for the schools (especially LACs) that have many winners, then go to those schools' fellowship pages, likehttps://www.smith.edu/your-campus/offices-services/lazarus-center-career-development/fellowships-postgraduate Many schools have extensive programs to help students apply for fellowships. Without the support of a school like that, it's a lot harder.

From my DD's experience applying, the Rhodes seemed slightly more elitist. There were 16 finalists in her district and only three were from public schools. For the Marshall, they were much more welcoming and had more state school representation. They even expanded the # of scholars from 40 to 50! But, to have any shot at these scholarships you need a good narrative for "Why Oxford" or "Why UK" and you really do have to be a superstar. The state university should have a fellowships office to advise her along the way. My DD ended up winning one of them a few years ago, and it was a wonderful experience for her.

Anonymous wrote:If you want free grad education, instead of masters, go for doctorate. Those are often fully or significantly funded programs.

+100

Anonymous wrote:My rising senior is thinking about applying for a post-graduate scholarship. She has been a stellar and well rounded student at her flagship university. My MIL says that these scholarships are mainly for the "elite" colleges and that I should just "pony up" and pay for grad school. Any truth to the assertion that these are only for "elite" colleges? Putting that aside, I know Rhodes is probably darn near impossible to get. What about all of these others?

My kid goes to a T10. They have committees that start seeking out possible Rhodes or Fullbright applicants in fall of junior year. Anyone can apply but they (faculty ) encourage some to, and they screen all who are interested. The ones who make it through screening are told they have “full support “ and then they begin work on the application process spring pf junior yr and through summer. Ask around and it is clear all the elites/ivies/Williams/Amherst have similar and even many lesser elites(T25 not T10). It is an in-depth process that yields wins for these schools and students.
Sure students from other unis can still get them, but that is a much harder road.

Heck even top lawschool admissions is bumped at these elites because of similar faculty advisors that give detailed personal advice for apps to T14 especially.

By the way there are funded grad school programs that are not through Rhodes , Fullbright , et al; have your student investigate in their field

What are other post-grad scholarships that are considered prestigious?

Many companies pay for masters after few years of service.

https://fortune.com/education/articles/these-fortune-500-companies-will-help-pay-for-employees-mba/

Also joining military always helps with tuition and admissions.

If you want free grad education, instead of masters, go for doctorate. Those are often fully or significantly funded programs.

As far as only elite college students getting these, that's a correlation not causation, those colleges admit more go getters who would've gotten these from any school.

Well, only a handful of Fulbright scholars get paid grad school, most only get small stipend to teach english in other countries. Great experience if you need a fun gap year but you can also get it through Peace corps etc and don't have to be a superstar.

My rising senior is thinking about applying for a post-graduate scholarship. She has been a stellar and well rounded student at her flagship university. My MIL says that these scholarships are mainly for the "elite" colleges and that I should just "pony up" and pay for grad school. Any truth to the assertion that these are only for "elite" colleges? Putting that aside, I know Rhodes is probably darn near impossible to get. What about all of these others?