Brown Fellows Scholarship

Bfellow14 · December 30, 2010, 10:49am

Hello all, (I posted this under the scholarship forum, but I also wanted to share this directly with parents).

In 2009, the James Graham Brown foundation in Louisville KY started a new leadership and educational initiative at the University of Louisville and Centre College called Brown Fellows (based on the Robertson scholarship at UNC and Duke), that would attract top students from both in and out of state and provide them with opportunities for leadership, service and international experience. Full tuition and stipends for room, boards, and books are provided, but in addition to that, every student is taken on an all expenses paid international trip with their fellow class members before the beginning of the school year. In 2009, the class of 2013 was taken to Panama. In 2010 we were taken to Vietnam and Cambodia, and next year's trip will be to Italy.

Every summer each fellow will receive $5,000 to support an enrichment project, and throughout the year will have special opportunities in their community. For example. In September the Brown Fellows dined with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra when they came to Kentucky for the world equestrain games, meet conductor Gustavo Dudamel and attend the performance the following evening. Also, the fellows have opportunities to meet with university advisers about things such as medical school applications and national/international scholarships such as Boren, Gilman, Goldwater, Fulbright, etc.

Students chosen are the best of their class. To become a finalist, students must have high gpa, test scores and a record of ECs and volunteering, and submit multiple recommendation letters as well as a proposal for a possible service project. Finalists chosen are then interviewed and selected based on multiple factors such as leadership potential and the ability to work well with a team.

There is no racial quotient or selection based on need. It is purely merit based. For more information, you can visit Brown</a> Fellows > Home

curmudgeon · December 30, 2010, 11:38am

Looks great. Thanks for getting the word out.

Bfellow14 · January 4, 2011, 12:24pm

No problem. I can answer any further questions anyone might have.

Laminate · January 4, 2011, 3:27pm

BFellow14 – Wow, very interesting program!

I do have a couple of questions: how heavily is “committed to remaining in Kentucky” weighed in the selection process? (Seems to me an OOS student would have a difficult time convincing anyone that Kentucky is definitely their forever-home.)

And question #2 – how easy/difficult is it to get to and from Louisville airport? Thanks!

Bfellow14 · January 4, 2011, 4:41pm

That’s an excellent question, because I think any 18 year old student would have a hard time saying that anywhere would be there forever, especially in 21st century globalization. None of us have had to sign contracts (haha) and I’m pretty positive that all of us are keeping our post-undergrad options wide open.

I can’t speak for the foundation members and tell you what they mean by that, but here’s my opinion: the Brown Foundation has been responsible for a lot of civic improvement in Louisville and the state of Kentucky. Businesses, museums, the red cross, the zoo, etc (you’d have a hard time finding any charity in Louisville that hasn’t gotten financial support from them). So ultimately by bringing leaders from in the state and outside of it, they are hoping to better the state community as well as improve the academic reputation of the state. Do you have to get married to the state? Of course not. But you should want to have a sense of bettering the community in the state through volunteering, research, etc (things that most students who plan on being competitive for graduate/professional school were going to do anyways). Basically, they are looking for more than the overachiever that just wants to take advantage of a full ride and to feel important.

As for the airport question, if you mean by a car then it’s not hard at all because our airport is pretty small. Did you mean just navigating through it or flying from other cities?

Bfellow14 · January 4, 2011, 4:45pm

rtsp://i think this video might be helpful. It’s from the press release when we were recognized this summer.

v6.cache1.c.youtube.com/CjgLENy73wIaLwlSHd_SWurkYhMYJCAkFEIJbXYtZ29vZ2xlSARSB3Jlc3VsdHNggoaRj5CR2pFNDA==/0/0/0/video.3gp

Bfellow14 · January 4, 2011, 4:48pm

I’m not sure if that link is working, but if you youtube ‘Brown Fellows’ it should be the first link.

Laminate · January 4, 2011, 9:27pm

My airport question related to getting from the airport to campus without a car – are taxis inexpensive and readily available? Is there any kind of shuttle service?

Keilexandra · January 5, 2011, 1:25am

Very interesting new program. I don’t know much about U of Louisville, but have heard good things about Centre. I’d expect the Fellows’ average stats to go up significantly in a few years as the scholarship becomes more well-known.

Bfellow14 · January 6, 2011, 1:22pm

[Cab</a>, Taxi, Transport, Pickup, Airport, Conventions, 4th St. | Ready Cab, Louisville, KY](<a href=“http://www.readycab.com/]Cab”>http://www.readycab.com/)

I think this might help.

egesegedresp · January 13, 2011, 11:43pm

Bfellow14,

Thank you for making this post. When it says that last years selected students had 3.9-4.0 gpas, does that mean that only students with that criteria will be considered this year? Would a 3.87+ be out of luck because it would lower that average? Also, in what way does Centre calculate gpa? Do they consider 9th grade and first semester senior year in that number? And how about courses like PE that were not college prep? Do they round a gpa up? 
Sorry if I am being nosey, it’s just that I’m excited about this opportunity. Thank you

summersoundtrack · January 20, 2011, 3:54pm

The GPA requirement for eligibility is a 3.35. So no, technically a 3.87 would not knock you out of the competition. The 3.9-4.0 range is just the the average. And yes, Centre will take your cumulative GPA from the beginning of freshman year until your seventh semester. Also, PE and other “regular” classes are required (humanities for example). Unless you took a lot of unnessecary electives, they won’t harm you. And no, they don’t round your GPA up. They take exactly what is on your transcript.

Bfellow14 · January 21, 2011, 2:16pm

To clarify, the 3.35 GPA requirement only applies to UofL. Centre doesn’t have a cutoff.

Bfellow14 · June 4, 2011, 6:35pm

Update:

Since a lot of time has passed since I last posted here, and because most people around here get started on college/scholarship searches well in advance, I thought I’d move this back up, with some additional details.

Another exciting enrichment opportunity:In may, all the fellows attended a lecture and private luncheon with Nobel-Prize winning scientist Dr. James Watson (most of us were unaware that he was still alive, so we were all very excited). Here is a link to a press release: [UofL</a> hosts address by Nobel Laureate, DNA structure co-discoverer James Watson — University of Louisville](<a href=“School of Medicine — School of Medicine University of Louisville”>School of Medicine — School of Medicine University of Louisville)

The upcoming class of 2015 has been chosen, and in July the 20 of them will be traveling to Italy. Students hail mostly from Kentucky (which is understandable as most applicants are from the Commonwealth), but also from Texas, Indiana, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, and Tennessee (there is no bias towards being an in-state or out-of-state resident. To my knowledge, you can even be internationa). As for the current 40 fellows for the class of 2013/2014, this is a general list (as of April) of what most of us are doing this summer (with names removed).

Louisville, Class of 2013
Depending on where I will be this Fall, my summer will involve classes and either internship #2 at Universal Studios with a more in-depth look at industrial engineering in theme parks and some more complicated projects, or a service project involving industrial design and facility layout for an animal sanctuary in Australia.

Centre, Class of 2013
I’m teaching children from indigenous and migrant families in South America through a Global Vision International program. I’ll be in Otavalo, Ecuador for 5 weeks, the Pueblos Jovenes of Arequipa, Peru for 4 weeks, and Salvador, Brazil for three weeks.

Centre, Class of 2013
On June 21, I’ll be going to Ireland for a five week program with USAC. The first thing is a short tour of Dublin, but the group will quickly move to Galway, where the classes will be held. While there, I’ll be studying the island’s traditional music and the Irish language, both of which will come in useful to my career goal of becoming a musicologist and all. For the rest of the summer, I’ll be ravenously devouring jazz and other 20th century music theory.

Louisville, Class of 2014
I leave May 30 for 2 months in Santiago, Dominican Republic. I will be taking Spanish classes at the University. After the courses end, I will be volunteering in a public hospital.

Centre, Class of 2014
I will be working with Dr. Gillian Carr, a Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge who is currently working on a research project on the German occupation of the Channel Islands. I will be able to witness and participate in professional historical research as I help Dr. Carr by transcribing interviews and number crunching data that she has obtained through the course of her project. Though I will be at Cambridge for most of the time, I plan to go to the World War II Museum in Copenhagen with her in June and will hopefully spend about a week in the Channel Islands as she works with a film-making company to create a documentary on her research.

Louisville, Class of 2014
I will be taking part in a month-long medical internship in Sri Lanka. (Along with another fellow).

Louisville, Class of 2013
I’m planning to spend the month of July in Spain participating in the KIIS Spain II program. I will be taking two classes there, but I will also continue my research of the differences in educational systems by visiting several schools. For the rest of the summer, I’m staying in Louisville, working at the natatorium on campus as a swim instructor and lifeguard.

Louisville, Class of 2014
I will be traveling to Kalutara, Sri Lanka, along with Cole Dabbs, to do a medical internship at a hospital there. I leave May 3, promptly 5 hours after my last final, and return on June 2. I will try to keep a blog while I’m there, and you can access it at [My</a> Trip Blog](<a href=“http://www.mytripblog.org%5DMy”>http://www.mytripblog.org). Just click the link to take you to the Sri Lanka blog, and you can search around for my blog there!

Centre, Class of 2014
I leave May 28th for 9 weeks in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua where I will be interning with a local non-governmental organization, CECIM, that focuses on raising the standards of living in the community through programs formative education, development of vocational skills and successfull financing of start-up businesses through a microfinance revolving fund. The internship is facilitated through the Foundation for Sustainable Development International.

Louisville, Class of 2013
I plan on traveling on a pediatric medical mission trip to Guatemala for nearly three weeks, working in a hospital setting as well as villages. I will be helping physicians take vitals and histories as well as translating in any capacity they need. In addition, I will also be making a documentary on the health disparities/inequities in the Guatemala. Later on, I also plan on traveling to the Patajanli University in Hardiwar, India, to shadow and work in an Ayurvedic healing/allopathic clinic to see how some of the natural compounds, fruits, and spices that I have researched in cancer prevention are used to heal and treat people in a clinical setting for about 3 weeks also.

Louisville, Class of 2014
I am going to Prague to take two classes at the University of Economics. One is about International trade and the other is Changing Economies of Post-socialist countries.

Centre, Class of 2014
I’m studying abroad in Spain for a month with the KIIS program. I’ll be in Segovia doing a homestay and taking two Spanish classes.

Centre Class of 2013
I will be doing research at Georgetown University concerning nephrology and hypertension, specifically dealing with nitric oxide filtration rates. This is a sector of renal research. My project has a grant from the DOD (Department of Defense) as well as the NIH (National Institute of Health). This will be a 10-12 week project with some of the preeminent renal researchers in the world. In addition, this research will be in collaboration with Nobel Laureates from Scripps Research Institute.

Louisville, Class of 2013
I’ll be in Louisville and Oldham County for about half of the summer, working with my fraternity, appearing as the Cardinal Bird, and if everything goes well, hopefully working as Buddy Bat for the Louisville Bats. Around the end of June, I plan to go to Israel to study firsthand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and relate that to Apartheid-type systems and social subjugation.

Louisville, Class of 2014
I’ll be going to France for about 7 weeks to do research with a professor at the Universite du Paris-Sud in Orsay. I will be working in a lab with Professor Tatiana Giraud doing research on the Microbotrym Violaem which is a virus that infects the anthers of plants in the carnation family. We will be looking at how this affects the plant on an ecological and molecular level. Dr. Michael Perlin from the University of Louisville is helping me to make the plans, but I will going on my own and will hopefully find a family or friend to live with during my stay.

Centre, Class of 2014
Headed to Berlin this summer through the KIIS program for nearly 5 weeks. I will be studying the German Enlightenment while having the opportunity to explore Europe on the weekends.

Centre, Class of 2014
This summer I’ll be in Costa Rica from June 2nd to July 3rd working on marine biology research. After I get back from Costa Rica I’ll be coming back to Centre and doing research with the professor of Biology Dr. Klooster.

Centre, Class of 2013
I plan to spent 9 weeks in Ecuador, assisting researchers from Ohio University, in their Chagas Disease project. I also plan to do further research at the Kentucky Department of Public Health in Frankfort, KY.

Louisville, Class of 2013
This summer, I will be taking classes again (May 9 to August 8). Also, I will be continuing my bioengineering research on campus. Since school starts back on August 22, I’m trying to fit in a small trip to Leeds, England to set up a co-op for next summer/explore research opportunities. I currently have no concrete plans for my Brown Fellows Project, and I’m not sure how things will work out, but here’s to hoping they do!

Centre, Class of 2014
I will be in Mumbai, India, for the months of June and July working with victims of human trafficking.

Centre, Class of 2014
I’ll be heading to Guatemala for 5 weeks, from June 4th to July 9th, doing a Health Internship with a group called Cross Cultural Solutions. I’ll get to interact with medical professionals in various settings around Guatemala City and get a firsthand look at the needs of community that is different from my own. I figure it’ll be a good exposure experience to see how the healthcare system works in a Latin American country. As for the rest of the summer, I’m currently applying for a research job at UK.

Louisville, Class of 2014
I too will be traveling to Berlin as a part of the KIIS program. While there, I will be taking a German language course and possibly a course focused on the history of Berlin. I am looking forward to exploring Europe on weekends; my plans as of right now are to go to Rome and Paris.

Louisville, Class of 2013
My plans for the summer are to travel to Bangkok, Thailand for 8 weeks to gain experience in wildlife biology research with the King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. I’ll be working with local faculty as well as a professor from U of L, and assisting with various ongoing projects.

Louisville, Class of 2014
I am going to study abroad for a month in Spain with International Studies Abroad. I will be in Madrid for all of June, and I may stay over for a few days after my program is complete.

Centre, Class of 2014
This summer I am planning a trip to the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador as well as the Galapagos Islands. I will be assisting in research and environmental conservation, and I hope to both learn Spanish and teach English.

Louisville, Class of 2014
I’m going to the International Meeting for Autism Research in San Diego from May 12 to 14. I’ll mostly be in Louisville all summer, both continuing research and working with a psychology professor on a community project called ‘Promise Neighborhood 40212: Supporting Healthy Growth and Development of Children’, which focuses on on supporting the connections of early childcare providers in zipcode 40212 in Louisville and providing families with information and knowledge about what babies need in the first five years of life to realize their full potential and be ready for kindergarten.

Centre, Class of 2013
I am going to be doing multi-disciplinary research in secure computing at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. I am going to be there from May 29th-July 22nd, participating in a REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) funded by the National Science Foundation. I am very excited about this opportunity because I would like to pursue a career in digital security and intelligence.

Louisville, Class of 2014
Over this summer I will be travelling to Bangalore, India for nine 9 to study international marketing and international political economy. While in Bangalore—the world’s capital for outsourcing—I hope to visit PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s second-largest accounting firm), volunteer in rural India, gain a very basic understanding of Hindi, and learn a little yoga!

Louisville, Class of 2013
I’m going to Thailand for 6 weeks to intern in a medical clinic, and then I’m going to Abuja, Nigeria where I’m doing teaching a workshop for Teachers Without Borders. The real purpose of the trip is to take meetings with the Red Cross and visit some villages to do some research for a healthcare project I’m going to do next summer, but TWB gives me some grounding in the city and someone to have as a connection.

Centre, Class of 2014
This summer I will be traveling throughout Greece for five weeks with the KIIS program. I will be studying love in ancient Greek literature while also taking an art class.

Centre, Class of 2013
On June 10th, I am headed off to Mills College in Oakland CA where I will be attending the Middlebury Arabic Language School. This is an intensive language immersion program that lasts two months and is the equivalent of one year of academic language study. In addition to teaching Modern Standard Arabic, the program also offers a number of courses in colloquial dialects, including Egyptian, Syrian and Moroccan. Cultural lessons from calligraphy, literature, journalism, and religion also offered in order to create a total immersion environment, in the cultural as well as linguistic sense.

Louisville, Class of 2013
I will be going with the International Study Abroad Program to Sevilla, Spain for five weeks from May 26th-July 2. While there I will be taking a Spanish conversation class and an International Marketing class. After Spain, I will be headed to Guatemala and we will be participating in a pediatric medical trip. Also, we will be filming a documentary on the current health care system in Guatemala, bringing to light some of the problems many of the indigenous people face.

Centre, Class of 2013
For the first part of the summer I will be continuing my investigation of prolactin and ring neck dove under the Centre College behavioral neuroscience department. Prolactin is a hormone involved in the reproductive cycle of ring neck dove. When elevated, prolactin has rewarding properties which can become associated with a specific context. This reinforcement mediated by prolactin might be a possible biological explanation of the nest bond. Specifically, my research involves administering daily injections, organizing and running trials, supervising the colony, and analyzing data. I will be spending the second part of my summer at the University of Cincinnati, where I have received an internship to investigate DNA-based species delimitation in the agriculturally important genus, Ravini. I am anxiously awaiting more details of the study and am looking forward to entering a new area of research.

Centre, Class of 2013
This summer for my Brown Fellows Project I am going to be studying in Paris, France through the KIIS program located there during the month of July. I will be taking classes and immersing myself in French language and culture throughout my 5 weeks abroad. I am looking forward to spending more time in France, especially in Paris, where I will be able to become well acquainted with the city.

Centre, Class of 2013
I will be working at Centre on research with Dr. Klooster this summer. I am helping with sampling and then taking the phylogeny of a parasitic plant. I hopefully will be going to Yellowstone and to the dunes in the Northeast with him. I plan on volunteering at the hospital this summer as well and taking the MCAT!!

Louisville, Class of 2013
I will be traveling to Trinidad and Tobago as a part of the International Service Learning Program at the end of May. I am currently working with faculty to extend this trip for a week or two so that I can conduct limited research or possibly volunteer with an NGO. I will depart for Argentina at the end of July. I will be spending the next academic year (through July) studying, interning, and conducting research in Buenos Aires.

Louisville, Class of 2014
My plans are to travel to Wales through the UK-US Fulbright summer study (if accepted) and to tour through China and N. Korea through the Pyongyang Project Delegation trip. I may also attend a medical conference in Seoul, South Korea.

pinkmiss · June 21, 2011, 9:45am

Hi, so centre is actually one of my top choices if I were to get the Brown Fellows =) (I’m actually from ky haha) but I was just curious as to how much time consumption the program actually takes e.g-whether you actually implement your leadership project. And I was also wondering how difficult it actually is to get. I know that the program is very competitive and I suspect more people will apply since it is growing but I would just like to know where I may stand for it.

Bfellow14 · June 21, 2011, 11:38am

Well, participating in the program itself doesn’t take up a whole lot of time. At UofL, there is usually one meeting a month, which plenty of people opt to miss due to class, frat/sor meetings, etc., and there will be a couple of weekend activities sometimes such as the fall symposium where projects are presented. The junior fellows are going on New York trip in the Fall, though I don’t think any of them are too bugged about the time they are losing ;)

As far as your leadership project is concerned, you can spend as much time on that as you feel inclined to, though there’s no “time quota” and although you’ll be working on it in the Summer, you can opt to (and probably should) be developing it over the school year. So that is really up to you, what you see for your project and how hard you are willing to push yourself.

I will be very frank and say that yes, the program is quite competitive to get into, but so are most other things in life worth having so in my opinion that’s not the best way to look at it. Intead, if you feel like you have something to offer and that it might be right for you, you by all means apply, and if you have anymore questions you can message me.

Bfellow14 · October 25, 2011, 9:56am

Hey pinkmiss! It has been awhile since I posted here but I was checking on the thread and I’m just wondering if you are still considering applying for the program!

pinkmiss · November 19, 2011, 12:36pm

Yes I am actually!! I am currently working on my leadership project. About how long are proposals typically? Thanks for your interest!

Bfellow14 · November 20, 2011, 10:17pm

Hey pinkmiss! I do not know how long the Centre Brown Fellows essay is, but at UofL the cut off is at 500 words, and you definitely don’t want to go over. The goal is to certainly be creative, but within reason too. There is nothing wrong with wanting to end world hunger or cure malaria or whatever else, and should you be accepted into the Brown Fellows program, you will find this kind of large scale thinking is highly encouraged, but for the purposes of the essay, be concrete and practical. If the interviews stay true to form, you will probably have an entire interview dedicated to your leadership project essay, so you don’t want to have to try to explain the logistics of how you plan to end poverty before you get your bachelor’s. Hopefully this was helpful, and let me know if you have anymore questions!

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