NCAT Extraordinary Opportunities

NCAT Extraordinary Opportunities (NCAT EO) is a unit in the Honors College that helps North Carolina A&T State University's undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni, regardless of Honors College membership or current merit scholarship status, learn of and apply for nationally competitive and prestigious scholarship and fellowship programs.

• These programs, which are branded at North Carolina A&T as "extraordinary opportunities" or "EOs," are external to N.C. A&T and they span a wide range of experiences and typically have in-depth applications.  Incoming students who are looking for tuition-related funding internal to N.C. A&T should first contact both the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships and their academic department and/or College.
  • Scroll all the way down after reading to view a list of 70+ highlighted EOs below and click on the hyperlinked names to start learning more.
• Most EOs are fully funded, and some also include stipends.  The funding is typically connected to one or more of the following: undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs (sometimes at a specific institution), internships, international programs and activities, servant-leadership development, language programs, and independent projects and research.
  
• The oldest and most well-known of these EOs is the Rhodes Scholarship, which was created in 1902 and allows for at least two years of postgraduate study at the University of Oxford for people who meet the Rhodes selection criteria.  Many EOs, as well as some undergraduate four-year merit scholarships, are modeled closely on the Rhodes Scholarship and at least one of its criteria.
• Only a few EOs, such as the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships and the Fulbright US-UK Summer Institutes, have very high GPA minimums (3.700). 
  • A very high GPA will not compensate for a lack of engagement outside the classroom. 
  • Other EOs may request minimum GPAs of 3.000, and there are several that do not have a minimum GPA.

There are two categories of EOs: those that require endorsement (about 10-15) and those that do not require endorsement (55+).

• Endorsed EOs require candidates to first apply in the campus competition to gain nomination, or endorsement before they can apply in the national competition.  Applicants should therefore put their best foot forward for the campus competition.  Campus application deadlines for this endorsement may be anywhere from four weeks to four or more months before the national deadline.
• Non-endorsed EOs do not require this campus vetting process, and applicants should also allot at least four weeks before the national deadlines for non-endorsed EOs.

Next steps:

1. Reach out to NCAT EO for appointments, coaching, or questions.
2. View highlighted news for Aggies who have pursued EOs.
3. Follow on Twitter and Instagram: @NCAT_EO

EOs open to undergraduate students

International/Language

Public Service/Leadership

STEM

Underrepresented Groups

EOs open to alumni, postgraduate students, and students graduating from college

Most/All Disciplines and Career Paths

Career Pathways/Specific Fields

International/Language

American-Scandinavian Foundation Scholarship
Boren Fellowship
Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program
Cultural Vistas (including CBYX)
DAAD Scholarships
Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant
Humanity in Action (HiA) Fellowship
Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program
Luce Scholars Program
Princeton in Africa
Princeton in Asia
Schwarzman Scholars program

U.K. Degrees (various disciplines)

Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities
Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant (also for degrees outside the U.K.)
Gates Cambridge Scholarship (also open to non-U.S. citizens)
Marshall Scholarship
Mitchell Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship (also open to non-U.S. citizens)

Public Service/Leadership Degrees

Think Tanks/Independent Projects

The Detroit Fellowship (HiA)
Echoing Green Fellowship
Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant
Gaither Junior Fellows Program
Humanity in Action (HiA) Fellowship
The US Mapping Democracy Fellowship (HiA)
Rotary Peace Fellowships
Scoville Peace Fellowship

STEM

AAUW American Fellowship (for women scholars)
Dept. of Energy Computational Science Fellowship
Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs for Minorities
Foreign Affairs Information Technology (FAIT) Fellowship
Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant 
Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Hertz Foundation Fellowship
Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program
Marshall Scholarships
Mitchell Scholarship
National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship
Rhodes Scholarship (also open to non-U.S. citizens)
Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship
Soros Fellowships for New Americans

Underrepresented Groups