Planning for future success

A scholarship, fellowship, and career guide for ES majors and minors

Career advice for:

Scholarship & Fellowship Opportunities:

Summer Research Fellowships

Career advice for:

Everyone

  • Check out the ES ‘Course and Career Planning’ page.
  • Cultivate expertise and skills.
    • Select courses that forward your career prospects – jobs and graduate programs often require specific courses. Ask professors and professionals what they recommend.
    • Find summer jobs or internships (paid if possible) that give you resume-worthy skills and networking opportunities. Usually internships are done for the experience and not for academic credit.
    • Work on non-academic skills: leadership, collaboration, adaptability, curiosity, tenacity, initiative, communication.
  • Visit the Center for Career Engagement and develop job materials
    • Build a resume – visit Career Center and attend the ES Resume Workshop (every fall).
    • Write a cover letter, which should be refined for each specific job or program.
  • Network
    • Seek out opportunities to attend off-campus conferences and meetings so that you can meet and network with professionals.
    • Join the “Gettysburg College Professional Network” in LinkedIn.
    • Informational interviews and job shadowing with Gettysburg alumni, family friends, etc.
  • Read these strategies for identifying a fulfilling, high-impact career: https://80000hours.org/

Seniors

  • Seeking a job? Apply and network!
  • Want to go to grad school? See “grad school preparation”, below.

Juniors

  • Graduate School Preparation
    • Taking the GREs – spring of junior year or fall of senior year
    • Finding a program and identify a potential advisor
      • Research Programs versus Professional Programs
      • Masters or Ph.D.
      • Contact potential advisors early in your senior year.
      • Ask about Research Assistantships, Teaching Assistantships, or Fellowships
    • Writing a statement of purpose
    • Asking for Letters of Reference
    • Visit and decide!!!
  • Law School Preparation
    • Take the LSAT
    • Pre-Law Advising
    • One common application for all universities; requires letters of reference.
  • Choose your capstone: Honors Thesis (ES 460) or Senior Seminar (ES 400)
    • ES400 has a different theme each semester; develop a collaborative research project.
    • ES460 Honors Thesis
      • Requires a 3.3 GPA in the major.
      • Proposal due 1st Monday in April, meet with potential advisor by Feb 1 or earlier.
      • Fieldwork is often completed in the summer, but not all projects require fieldwork.
      • Full ES 460 guidelines are on the website.

Sophomores & First-Years

By the end of your sophomore year, you should choose your ES concentration(s) and make your ES major plan. Consider study abroad and how it fits into your major plan. Your ES advisor can help you out!

Scholarship and fellowship opportunities

Seniors

  • Carnegie Junior Fellowship; November;
    Junior fellows provide research assistance to Carnegie scholars working in a range of fields.
  • National Science Foundation fellowship; November;
    Supports graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in the U.S. and abroad.

If it is very early in your senior year, you might be in time for the Rhodes, Fulbright, Marshall, or Eisenhower Institute Expert Programs (early sept deadlines) or the US State Department Internship (October deadline). See below.


Juniors

  • US State Department Internship and Harriman Fellowship; October; Must apply for the US State Department internship in October to be eligible Harriman Fellowship.
  • Truman; November; Careers in government, the nonprofit or advocacy sectors, education or elsewhere in the public service.
  • Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship; November; Nominated by his or her college. Intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering.
  • Morris Udall Scholarship; February; To students who have demonstrated commitment to careers related to the environment.
  • Eisenhower Fellows; March; Fellowship program through the academic year, sponsored by the Eisenhower Institute
  • Eisenhower Institute Expert Programs; mid September of senior year; In particular check out the Environmental Leadership Program.
  • Marshall; early September of senior year; Minimum GPA 3.7; interest in studying in England.
  • Rhodes; early September of senior year; Interest in studying at the University of Oxford.
  • Fulbright; early September of senior year; Thinking of studying, assistant-teaching English, or conducting research abroad.

Sophomores

  • Hollings (NOAA); January; Majoring in a discipline area related to oceanic and atmospheric science, research, technology, or education. Tuition scholarship for two years and summer internship at NOAA facility
  • Goldwater and Udall scholarships and Harriman Fellowship, described above

Summer research fellowships