The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships is successfully getting students to apply for competitive scholarships, but its role at Penn is shifting.
As of this year, the center is no longer represented on the selection committee for the Thouron Award, which is presented by Penn to qualified graduating seniors and funds up to two years of study in Great Britain.
Instead, the center deals solely with the beginning of the application process.
Meanwhile, more students have expressed interest in the scholarships that are the center's main focus. Last year, 35 students applied for the Marshall scholarships and 39 applied for the Rhodes scholarships, the two most competitive awards undergraduates can win, according to center Director Art Casciato.
This past fall, one student took home the Marshall and another the Rhodes.
And Casciato thinks the change in the center's role makes sense. He said that, because the Thouron Award doesn't entail competition between universities like other fellowships, it doesn't fall under the center's domain.
"It's a wonderful award, but Penn wins them all every year," he said.
Still, the center is making sure to advertise the Thouron Award to students. This year, seven out of 62 applicants won.
Casciato said that the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships has gotten such results by working with what was already there.
"There's no secret here," he said. "We get [students] in here and give [them] good advice."
And officials at the center are determined to make sure the number of Penn applicants for these types of prestigious awards stays large.
"The reason we didn't win [in the past] was that we didn't apply in the same numbers as our peer institutions," Casciato said.
The center's programs target potential applicants as early as the spring of their freshman year, inviting all students with a GPA of at least 3.65 to attend an information session about the center's role on campus.
These introductory sessions fall in line with others that are held to inform students of their options. Programs are geared toward students from all four undergraduate schools.
"The fact that we have a great number who qualify is somewhat daunting," Casciato said.
And many students are pleased with the center's efforts.
"I indeed copiously used CURF's help when I applied for fellowships this fall," said College senior Ruth McAdams, who won a Thouron. "I'm not even sure how one would go about applying for fellowships without CURF's guidance."
The center also works closely with the University's Benjamin Franklin and University scholars programs, which are made up of students who have already demonstrated both an interest in and an aptitude for undergraduate research.
But while the center boasts a growing number of applications, others say that the number is still not high enough.
"The one weakness that [the center] has is that not enough Penn students apply," said Wharton and Engineering graduate student Jayanth Komarneni, a Thouron winner and a Rhodes finalist.
Komarneni attributed this shortage to Penn's "pre-professional environment, [which] makes people almost hesitant to apply for anything that does not immediately seem to translate into future professional success."
But Casciato, well aware that this mentality could be an issue, tells students that the process of applying for these fellowship is worthwhile in and of itself.
