Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship 2025: How to Compete for $90,000 to Fund Graduate Study for New Americans

If your life story involves crossing borders, bridging languages, or carrying family responsibilities while chasing academic or creative excellence, the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans is the rare award built for you. It gives up to $90,000 over two years—tuition support plus a generous stipend—to graduate students who are immigrants or children of immigrants and who are under 31. This is not a “one-note” merit prize; it pays attention to academic and creative achievement, leadership, and how the immigrant experience shaped your trajectory.

Think of the application as a portrait commission: the Foundation wants a finely rendered image of who you are—your achievements, your ambitions, and the cultural and civic threads that tie your work to the United States. If you plan your time and materials carefully, you can submit an application that reads like a compelling short book rather than a laundry list of accomplishments.

At a Glance

Why This Fellowship Matters (What This Opportunity Offers)

This fellowship does three things at once: it reduces the financial strain of graduate study, it raises your profile with an award that carries prestige, and it plugs you into a lifelong network of peers and mentors. The monetary package—$25,000 per year for living expenses and $20,000 per year toward tuition—gives recipients breathing room to take intellectual risks, shift toward public or community-centered projects, or accept unpaid internships that matter for long-term impact.

Beyond cash, PDSoros offers development opportunities: cohort retreats, leadership programming, mentorship circles, and invitations to forums where Fellows from diverse fields meet. Imagine being a composer, a public-health researcher, and a policy advocate in the same room; the cross-pollination is real and often leads to collaborations that scale projects far beyond what a single graduate stipend could do.

The Foundation explicitly supports students across all disciplines: law, medicine, architecture, music, STEM, humanities—you name it. What ties successful applicants together is not a single field but a clear record of achievement, intellectual ambition, and a commitment to the New American story in the United States.

Who Should Apply

If you qualify as an immigrant or the child of immigrants and are under 31, this fellowship should be on your radar. Here are realistic examples of good fits:

• A DACA recipient preparing to start law school who has led community legal clinics and plans public-interest litigation addressing immigrant rights.
• A first-generation college graduate applying to a PhD program in biomedical engineering after independent research on health disparities in immigrant populations.
• A composer who emigrated as a child, whose work explores diasporic identity and who has professional concerts or recordings.
• A public policy graduate student in their first year who previously directed community outreach programs for refugee resettlement.
• A medical student in year one who wants to pursue combined clinical-research work focused on diseases disproportionately affecting immigrant communities.

Do not self-eliminate because your GPA or school prestige doesn’t match a peer’s. The Foundation does not use institutional reputation or a numeric GPA cutoff to screen eligibility. What matters is documented achievement, originality, and how your immigrant background has shaped your contributions and future plans.

Eligibility Nuances You Should Know

Eligibility sounds simple but the details matter. You must be a New American—this includes naturalized citizens, green card holders, DACA recipients, refugees, asylees, and children of two naturalized citizens. You must be under 31 on the application deadline and either applying to begin graduate study in the upcoming academic year or be within your first two years of that graduate program.

If any part of your status is complicated (mixed documentation, parents with different citizenship paths), gather paperwork early. The Foundation will ask finalists for documentary proof. Also collect official or unofficial transcripts from all postsecondary institutions and arrange for certified translations if necessary. If your undergraduate institution used a nonstandard grading system, put “0.00” where requested and explain in the application.

Step-by-Step Application Roadmap

Think in terms of three broad steps: prepare, submit, and follow up.

1. Prepare (3–6 months prior): Map your essays, choose recommenders, collect transcripts, and assemble optional exhibits. Watch recorded info sessions to learn how the Foundation evaluates essays and recommendations.
2. Submit (by deadline): Fill out the online portal, paste your essays (1,000-word hard limit each), upload an image of transcripts, resume/CV, test scores only if required by your target program, and register 3–5 recommenders.
3. Follow up (post-submission): Check recommender status and be ready to supply official documents if invited as a finalist. Finalists will undergo two virtual interviews; around 30 Fellows are selected from roughly 77 finalists.

The Foundation makes no deadline exceptions—applications must be complete in the portal by the posted date and time.

Required Materials (What to Gather and How to Present It)

The online application collects demographics, educational history, and materials. Required items include:

• Resume or CV: One to two pages is typical, but clarity trumps length.
• Two essays: Essay One (personal—your New American story), Essay Two (career/academic plan), each maximum 1,000 words and pasted into text boxes.
• Transcripts: Upload images (unofficial is fine at first); official transcripts will be requested for finalists.
• Recommendations: Minimum three, maximum five recommenders. They must register and submit through the application portal.
• Test scores: Only submit exam scores required by the graduate program you want funded (MCAT for medical school, GRE if required, etc.).
• Optional exhibits: Artistic reels, research posters, code repositories, or portfolio items—provide context labels and short descriptions.

Practical tips: upload non-password-protected PDFs; if a provider gives you a locked file, print and rescan to remove security. Title files clearly (Lastname_First_PDSoros_Resume.pdf). You can submit before recommendations arrive, but your application won’t be complete without at least three recommendations by the deadline.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application (Five to Seven Tactical Moves)

1. Treat the essays as a two-act play. The first essay should make the selection committee feel your personal narrative—details, turning points, responsibilities. The second essay should show a clear academic and professional trajectory, with concrete next steps and how the fellowship accelerates that plan.
2. Use sensory specificity in the personal essay. Small scenes—translating a doctor’s words in a clinic, late-night shifts, a family ritual—give texture. Those images make your story memorable.
3. Choose recommenders to cover different angles: one academic who can vouch for intellectual rigor, one employer or supervisor who can speak to leadership and persistence, and one community or artistic reference who can testify to cultural fluency and character.
4. Quantify when useful but don’t overdo metrics. If you started a program that enrolled 300 participants, say how engagement or outcomes changed under your leadership. Numbers add credibility, stories add heart.
5. Practice distillation for the interview. Finalists face two short interviews; you need 60–90 seconds answers that state the problem, your role, and a measurable outcome. Rehearse succinct narratives for your top three projects.
6. Make optional exhibits count. If you include a creative reel or research poster, add a single-line descriptor for each item explaining why it matters.
7. Get non-specialists to read your essays. If a smart reader from outside your field can understand your significance, so will many reviewers.

These moves require weeks, not hours. Start early.

Application Timeline (Realistic, Backwards from Deadline)

• 16–20 weeks before deadline: Watch info sessions, draft essay outlines, list recommenders, and request transcripts.
• 10–12 weeks before: Complete first drafts of both essays and circulate them to mentors and one non-specialist.
• 6–8 weeks before: Finalize resume, begin uploading transcripts and test scores, register recommenders in the portal.
• 2–3 weeks before: Verify recommenders have started/received invites. Polish essays and finalize exhibits.
• 48–72 hours before deadline: Run a final portal check. Submit early if possible — do not wait for the last hour.

If you become a finalist, expect document verification in January and virtual interviews in late January–February. Winners are typically notified in March and publicly announced in April.

What Reviewers Look For (What Makes an Application Stand Out)

Selection panels want portrait-level nuance. They evaluate evidence of excellence, creative or scholarly depth, leadership, and a meaningful connection to the New American experience. Excellence can appear in many forms—publications, performances, entrepreneurial ventures, policy wins, or sustained community impact.

Standout applications often do three things well:

• They connect past achievements to believable future impact. Don’t claim vague societal change; explain the pathway.
• They show emotional intelligence: how you reflect on failures, ethical dilemmas, or trade-offs.
• They demonstrate community investment: mentoring others, building programs, or translating technical work for public benefit.

In short, show the personal arc, the intellectual engine, and the civic footprint.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Treating the essays as a résumé rewrite. Fix: Tell scenes that reveal character and motivation; use the resume for chronology. Mistake 2: Overloading technical detail in the proposal essay. Fix: Explain the problem, your approach, and the outcome in plain language with a technical appendix in optional exhibits if needed. Mistake 3: Weak or generic recommendation letters. Fix: Give recommenders a one-page packet with bullet points, examples, and deadlines so they can write targeted, vivid letters. Mistake 4: Submitting at the last minute. Fix: Submit 48–72 hours early to avoid portal issues. Mistake 5: Ignoring optional materials that clarify your work. Fix: Use exhibits to show, not tell—short videos, posters, or clips give reviewers quick evidence.

A deliberate, reader-centered application removes doubt and leaves no reason for reviewers to guess.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I apply if I’m already in a graduate program?
A: Yes, if you’re within the first two years of the graduate program you want funded. The first year of the Fellowship cannot be deferred.

Q: Are international students eligible?
A: The Fellowship is for New Americans—U.S. immigrants or children of immigrants. Funds support degrees at accredited U.S. institutions.

Q: Do I need to submit standardized test scores?
A: Only submit scores that your graduate program requires. If you plan to take a test after the deadline, indicate the test date and upload results when available; finalists will need official documentation.

Q: Can I reuse recommendation letters from a previous cycle?
A: No. All recommenders must submit fresh letters through the current application portal.

Q: What’s the word limit for essays?
A: Each of the two required essays has a hard 1,000-word limit and must be pasted into the portal’s text boxes.

Q: Will I get feedback if I’m not selected?
A: Applicants receive status notifications, and finalists receive more detailed interactions. The Foundation publishes resources and recordings that explain scoring and common strengths.

Next Steps — How to Apply

Ready to begin? Start by watching the Foundation’s recorded information sessions—they explain essay expectations and interview formats in plain language. Then create an account on the application portal well before the deadline and add your recommenders’ emails so they receive registration invites.

Save this checklist: draft both essays, register three to five recommenders (three must submit), upload transcript images, prepare your resume and exhibits, and confirm everything is in the portal at least 48 hours before the deadline. If you have technical questions, use the portal help desk; for program questions, consult the Foundation’s FAQ and recorded webinars.

Ready to apply? Visit the official opportunity page for full instructions and to start your application: https://pdsoros.org/application-process

If you want, I can help outline your two essays, draft targeted recommender briefing notes, or create the rubric to score your application before you submit.