Pakistani Math Graduate Wins Fulbright Scholarship to Study Computational Mathematics at Rice University

My name is Maham Aizaz, and I am a Fulbright scholar from Pakistan. I am now pursuing my master's degree in computational and applied mathematics from Rice University, Houston, Texas.

Educational Background

I received my early education in Multan, a small city in southern Punjab, and due to limited quality education there, I decided to pursue my bachelor's degree in mathematics from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore, Pakistan. LUMS is one of the most prestigious institutions in Pakistan, and joining it was one of the key aspects of my journey towards achieving a Fulbright Scholarship.

After graduating from LUMS, I joined Teach for Pakistan (TFP), a highly competitive organization working towards improving the educational landscape in Pakistan. During my time at TFP, I started to actively search and apply to different scholarships around the world. I first applied to a PhD program in Mathematics in Austria but unfortunately received a rejection. I then went on to apply to the famous Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program, only to be received with a rejection again.

The reason I am mentioning my rejections is to highlight the fact that failures and rejections are a part of your journey toward your goal, and they help you realize your weaknesses and shortcomings. While failures hurt you in the short term, in the long term they help you overcome your weaknesses and prepare you better for your goals.

I will also mention some reasons that I believe led to my initial rejections before I go on to share my success. The first thing to keep in mind is, that every scholarship is unique and hence has different requirements. To make your application stand out, you need to be completely aware of your intended scholarship requirements. In my first scholarship application, I believe one of the reasons for my rejection was the absence of a strong research background, that was important for my intended University. In my second application, while I met the minimum requirements to apply, I left some optional fields blank that could have made my application stand out.

Did you need standardized exams? How did you prepare for the GRE?

I then started preparing to apply for a Fulbright scholarship. One of the important parts of a Fulbright scholarship is your score in the GRE. Thus, I started preparing for the GRE in advance. I would suggest spending a minimum of two months for its preparation if you have a Math/Engineering background, but if you have very limited experience with mathematics, then give yourself much more time. Since I had a degree in Mathematics, I spent almost two months in its preparation. I explored all available free online sources and bought some GRE preparation books (Princeton Edition, Baron’s) to enhance my learning. I also spent a lot of time doing practice tests and reviewing my score reports to analyze which areas I am lacking in and hence spent time improving my learning in those areas.

How did you prepare for the Fulbright Scholarship?

After taking my GRE, I received a decent score of 315/340. The minimum score to apply for a Fulbright scholarship is 300. I then started filling out the online application. The two main important essays to write in your Fulbright application are Personal Statement and Research Objectives. Your personal statement should focus on your personal journey leading up to the motivation for applying to Fulbright, while the Research Objectives should focus on the specific subject you plan to study, the research you aim to undertake, and your reason for choosing the United States to pursue this research. One important thing to keep in mind while drafting your essays is to understand the objectives of the Fulbright scholarship. Fulbright aims to promote cultural exchange, and stresses the importance of returning to your home country to serve it, after pursuing quality education abroad. Fulbright also greatly values prior experiences in community service, and the passion to pursue those experiences later in your life.

Thus, among many other things, what stood out in my application was, the fact that I worked in TFP, which is a community service organization. Also, despite my average GPA (3.38/4.0), the fact that I was a graduate of LUMS, along with my adequate GRE score, and my clear explanation of why I aim to pursue my graduate studies in the U.S. and my future goals, led me to clear the first phase, that is the acceptance of my initial application.

After that, I was invited for an interview at the United States Educational Foundation Pakistan (USEFP). My performance in the interview was also important as half of the applicants were filtered out after this step. I was asked some basic questions like my introduction, my reason for applying for Fulbright, why I want to study in the United States, and lastly, they asked me some trick questions and tried to confuse me, to judge my reaction and see if I say anything contradictory to my application. What I think made me clear in the interview stage was remaining calm and composed, and sticking to what I had written in my application, and being clear and unambiguous in my responses.

Everyone might have different experiences in an interview, but these general tips will surely help you ace your interview.

One of the good things about applying to a Fulbright scholarship is the fact that there is no application fee, and there is no requirement to provide a TOEFL/IELTS score beforehand. You only need to take the GRE, and even that is paid by your scholarship in case you need to improve your score.

What would you do differently if you were to apply again?

Even though I have been lucky in securing a Fulbright, if I were to somehow apply to this process again, I would work more on my essays, get my essays reviewed by alumni, and implement their feedback. Also, Fulbright, at least in my country, is becoming more and more competent each year, hence I would put a lot more effort into my application process.

What is your advice to others?

Thus, I would like to conclude my essay and give general advice to whoever is reading my essay. People around me seem to believe that I have been very lucky to receive such a prestigious scholarship, but they don’t see the amount of hard work and effort I have put, and the rejections that I have received. Thus, learn to accept your failures as they are an integral part of your journey. Secondly, with the rise of social media, we tend to view ourselves as a failure, after seeing people’s exciting stories of achievements and success. It is very important to not get overwhelmed by today’s world hyper-fixated on success and celebrations. Every success story posted online has an equal number of failures that are never shared.

Best of Luck to all future applicants!