Will a fellowship help my CV?

[Snickelfritz]

This might be a stupid question, but I want to make sure I am accurately informed. I am trying to decide on a graduate program (for Clinical Psych Ph.D.). One of my universities has offered me an interdisciplinary fellowship, funded by several departments (all relating to psych, neuroscience, neuropsych). The amount is fairly close to what I have been offered from other universities for RA-ships, but is just a bit higher. Since things are basically equal monetarily, I am trying to determine if accepting the fellowship offer will have more benefits that I am not currently aware of.

Can anyone talk about their experiences with university fellowships, and what they have provided? Could it add to my CV in a significant way? The way I understand it, I will not only be receiving a significant amount of money each year but this will not also be tied to working a certain number of hours in a lab, as with an RA-ship. I will be expected to work on my own research under my PI, I believe, but number of hours is not a requirement (just that I make progress every year).

I feel a little uneasy about the school that is offering me this fellowship... it could be a "risk" for several but I am not sure. Basically if I accept this school's offer, it may be largely due to the fellowship... so I want to know everything there is to know about the benefits of possibly accepting.

Thanks!

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[Ollie123]

It certainly looks good, but I would never, ever accept an offer from a school you weren't comfortable with just because you'll be able to have "Fellowship" on your CV unless your other options were schools without funding. It isn't going to count for that much! That said, it is something you can take serious advantage of and get more work done...it just depends on who you are and whether the setting was conducive to getting that work done.