I thought I would go ahead and starts this thread since the application is supposed to open sometime today. Who else is going to be applying?
Any advice from previous scholars will be helpful and appreciated!
@QMusic Good Luck! Should you make it to the interviewing stage I really wish you the best. They really do appreciate when you try to give them an insight into who you are as a person and your own cultural background (however diverse it is). I am a current scholar, and just from what I’ve experienced so far as part of the organization is truly all encompassing. They really did try to make the adjustment (via their orientation) truly comforting to make a smooth transition. If you have any questions feel free to ask me I’m always open to helping people when I can. 
Plus I just really love college confidential.
Hey, @qmusic, I also applied. Good luck!
Hey @BlackHuntress…do you have any suggestions on preparing for the interview process?
@JMcClellan have you been contacted about an interview or is that just a random question? And there is another thread for this year’s JRF Scholars applicants that is more active. Good luck to you.
@JMcClellan sure. I personally would do my background check on JR if you don’t know who he is. It doesn’t have to be in great detail because I don’t think they just want someone to regurgitate the facts as much as want to see what you take away from his experience.
Really be calm and be yourself. I say this not to be cliche (because i’m a realist and personally when people tell me this all the time it’s not always accurate lol) but because I think they can really tell if you’re being yourself and who you say you are. I met another candidate who was going before my interview and the parent was very friendly and encouraging but the candidate wasn’t / didn’t seem to be as engaging so just try to be as engaging and yourself as you can.
I personally just thought of questions they may ask like “why do you want to be a scholar”, “what do you know about JR?” etc and prepared myself for the answer i would give. They asked me about myself, one mistake i’ve made (really important to focus on what you took away from here), and a social issue etc. Literally I also combed CC for past JRF questions and when i found out they asked social issues i tried to think of at least 2 current ones/ recent ones. One of the interviewers asked me what was a question I thought they would ask and IM NOT JOKING my guess was the social question they were going to ask which was on the BLM. DON’T BE STIFF. lol. You’re not a robot, you’re a human who is supposed to change the world and be engaging. I joked around and actually made them laugh as well as showed them/ had prepared on my phone some stuff about me (like the fact i draw portraits and landscapes so i showed them and they were impressed ).
Finally something I find sometimes helps is if you gear your responses to the mission, goal, or general purpose. In this case, I learned about the life of JR and the JRF and tried to gear my responses towards his life purpose.
Really this whole experience is about leaving a good first impression. Leave them memory of someone who is a person and not just one of the people they are interviewing. Leave them memory of someone they can talk to casually but also professionally. Give them insight into who you are, and what you want to be. Like my dad always says, you only have one chance to make a first impression!
I hope this helps, feel free to message me or tag me on here if you/ anyone has any other questions! I love CC and helping if I can.
Do you know if an email will be sent, or will there be a phone call? Just curious since it is June 15.