Application Help
Once you have completed your registration, the application process could take up to several hours to complete. You can save your work and return to where you left off at any time (before the application deadline). The following is a general outline of application questions.
| Provide | Write* | |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship Type | Select Senior or Junior Fellowship (descriptions on the application); if prior military box is selected, may choose to be considered for the Admiral Paul A. Yost, Jr.-James Madison Fellowship | |
| Career Plans and Professional Goals | Brief essay (up to 375 words) about career goals, including future career plans for teaching in the classroom | |
| Undergraduate Academic Achievement and Ability | Institution name, Institution City, Institution State, Start Date (month/year), End Date (month/year), Date Degree Received or Expected, Major Field of Study, Cumulative GPA (matches transcipts) | |
| Graduate Academic Achievement and Ability | List the institutions you have attended beginning with your current or most recent and continuing in reverse chronological order. | |
| Include only academic courses towards a graduate degree, even if you did not complete the degree. If you have attended more than five institutions for graduate degrees, list those that are most significant. | ||
| Institution name, Institution City, Institution State, Start Date (month/year), End Date (month/year), Date Degree Received or Expected, Major Field of Study, Cumulative GPA (matches transcipts) | ||
| Work Experience | Employer Name, Dates Worked (month/year), brief descriptions (150 words or less) | |
| Activities (up to 5) | Organization, Dates of Participation Start (month/year), Dates of Participation End (month/year), Position Held, Responsibilities (up to 150 words) | Up to 250-word essay explaining the significance of all these activities to your personal and professional aspirations. |
| Honors and Awards | Organization Name, Date Received (month/year), Description of Award (up to 150 words) | Up to 250-word essay explaining the significance of all these honors and awards to your personal and professional aspirations. |
| Personal Essay | Up to 500-word essay about any unique situations about yourself, your background, or your life experiences that you wish the Selection Committee to know about you. | |
| You may use this space to explain issues, such as any social and/or economic impacts you have encountered, gaps in your professional or academic background, reasons for low undergraduate grades, or any other matter important for the Selection Committee. | ||
| Proposed Degree | Degree Sought, Area of Concentration (Field of Study), School Name, City, State | |
| U.S. Constitutional Courses Requirement | Class Title, Course Number, Course Credits | For each course listed, write a short answer to explain why you would chose that course as a U.S. Constitutional Course Requirement. Additional details on courses eligible are on the application. |
| Constitutional Essay | Up to 900-word essay on the following prompt: Please explain which principles you believe are important to teach about the U.S. Constitution, how the Constitution helps when teaching American history or civics, and the role of primary sources as related to teaching the U.S. Constitution. | |
| Elected Officials | Name of U.S. Representative and U.S. Congreassional District, Name of Senior and Junior U.S. Senator for your State, Name of Governor of your State. | |
| Select At-large for U.S. Representative if you are a resident of one of the nonvoting delegations of American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. | ||
| If you are a legal resident of American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, enter N/A for both Senators on this page. | ||
| Transcript Upload | Submit all transcripts (unofficial or official) that pertain to your undergraduate and graduate degrees. If you have already started a master's degree program, also include your most recent transcript from that institution. All transcripts must indicate the courses taken and grades awarded. Acceptable formats are .pdf, .jpg/.jpeg, or .png. | |
| Recommendations | First Name, Last Name, Email [personal preferred], Relationship to You, and whether or not the recommender is a James Madison Fellow. More detailed instructions are found on the application page. | You may write a brief message that will be sent to the recommender in a contact email from Kaleidoscope. |
| NOTE: Letters of Recommendation are no longer accepted, instead recommenders are asked to fill out a survey about you and your academic abilities. The end of the survey will have a brief space for any other remarks your recommenders believe will be useful to the committee. | ||
| Summer Institute on the U.S. Constitution | Checking a box requiring you understand the requirements of the Summer Institute on the U.S. Constitution. Detailed requirements are found on the application page. | |
| Certification | Checking a box attesting you did not use Artifical Intelligence in any place on the application. A.I. policy is found throughout the application, including at the beginning. | |
| Digital signature attesting all things in your application are true, complete, and correct to the best of your knowledge. |
*These are general descriptions of the writing you will be expected to do. Please see the actual application for the specific prompt.
Tips for Making a Great Application
Review the entire application to ensure that you have time to complete it and to gather the necessary documents.
Review all the section prompts before answering any to ensure that answers are in the most appropriate categories.
Write all information at a graduate level, including capital letters at the beginning of sentences; no textspeak or emoticons; etc. The Selection Committee will see your application exactly as you submit it.
Thoughtfully answer each question; polish and proofread your answers.
It will be to your advantage to answer all questions, even those marked optional.
Use most-to-all available characters in your responses. Short responses might be perceived as a lack of effort on your part.
Avoid casual responses.
If cutting/pasting from elsewhere, edit the original to ensure that answers match the prompts.
Ensure that your educational history (institutions, courses, GPA) match the transcripts that you submit.
Diligently research the plan of constitutional studies at your proposed university and list specific course numbers and course titles. Explain why you chose these particular courses and how they fit in with your overall degree program, especially regarding your study of the Constitution.
Follow up with your recommenders to ensure that they submit their recommendations on time. They are busy people, and they will appreciate a gentle reminder from you as the due date nears.