USDA-APHIS International Services Claudia Cartwright Fellowship

Hey guys,

So I thought I'd post this here in case anyone out there is interested.

The USDA-APHIS International Services is offering a fellowship called the Claudia Cartwright Fellowship. It's for graduate students in their first year (or who will be in their first year in '09-'10) in agricultural related areas like plant sciences, vet med, etc. I've attached the full information on it in the word document linked to this post, but here's a quick rundown.

• USDA-APHIS-IS will give recipients $25,000 per year for school for up to 3 years
• Recipients agree to work for USDA-APHIS-IS for a certain number of hours while in school (640 hrs, I believe)
• After graduation, recipients go work for them for 3 years (which will likely be over seas and from what I can tell, most likely in South or Central America)
• They're giving out four fellowships next year
• This program supposedly just got funded not too long ago and it doesn't seem like they've advertised it very well, so my interpretation is that applicants will have a great shot. (The Saul T Wilson scholarship program is quite similar and has been around for upwards of 10 years, I think, and they only get about 25-30 applicants a year.)
• Deadline is April 1
• Required application materials include 3 letters of recommendation, a personal statement, and your transcript

Ok, so basically it's a big big monetary incentive paired with a decent sized commitment (like the Saul T Wilson Scholarship, but actually more money). Still, for those whom international work excites, a potentially FANTASTIC opportunity to have someone else foot the bill for school! 🙂

Bump. Just to give people another chance to see it. 🙂

Thanks VetGirl!

I have actually been pursuing the HPSP scholarship because I have a strong interest in a military career but this looks like a good thing too!

I looked into the Saul T Willson fellowship but I am not sure that I am willing to commit ALL of my time off from vet school to APHIS. From what I understand they require you to work the 640 hrs during winter, spring and summer break. You could probably do it all during the summer but you would be working about 60 hours a week. Everyone needs a little time off to "clear" his or her head.

I am torn because I know it is a great experience and the money is helpful but if something happens and you are unable to work for APHIS after you graduate then you are required to pay back all the money that you received through the fellowship. (This frightens me a little)!

Does anyone know if there are any USDA externships that do not require you to work for them after you graduate?

I just called to get some more information about this. Here are the tidbits I learned (disclaimer: you may want to confirm the information if you are going to apply).
First I spoke to someone about the application process.
Me: Any idea how competitive this will be, that is, how many applications you expect?
USDA: Nope.
Me: Can the pieces of the app come in separately (transcripts, LORs, my stuff) as long as it is all postmarked by April 1?
USDA: Yes- include a note about the other components with the statement/resume if they are being sent directly from the schools/ recommend-ers.
Me: Who should write the LORs?
USDA: There should be three, at least two from current professors.
Me: "Current" as in, they have taught me, or are currently teaching me, or...?
USDA: Not sure, probably professors who know you/have taught you.

Then she transferred me to a very nice vet who works in field services to tell me more about the kind of work they do. Forgive my chaotic notes- I was trying to write as she was talking.
-examples of locations of APHIS staff are mexico, guatemala, panama, colombia, argentina, chile, brazil, senegal, egypt, brussels, austria, japan, china, phillipines...
-their job is to protect US agriculture, negotiate safe trade, do cooperation-building
-there is little hands-on contact with animals in general
-there is a lot of epidemiology, public health stuff
-their goal is to find young people who are interested in making this a career; training someone, doing the background checks/ security clearance, and then losing them after they fulfill the contractual commitment is bad for the USDA and their budget. in my case, since I doubt I would make it a career, it would be a little disingenuous to apply. then again, she said that if you're open to it and may fall in love with it, that's cool.
-in a foreign service APHIS career, you move about every three years. you get to state your preference for where you go, but ultimately, they send you where they need you, and you can't decline an assignment and keep your job.
-traits the vet says are useful: enthusiastic, outgoing, flexible, like international work, willing to travel a lot
-there are other jobs in the USDA and in APHIS that allow you to take temporary international placements, or be based domestically but do some work abroad

After this conversation, I don't think I will apply (writing the statement is one thing, but asking for LORs again.. and I just don't think I'm competitive based on my experience) but I will look at other federal jobs I think...
Good luck, all!

TSUJC said:

I looked into the Saul T Willson fellowship but I am not sure that I am willing to commit ALL of my time off from vet school to APHIS. From what I understand they require you to work the 640 hrs during winter, spring and summer break. You could probably do it all during the summer but you would be working about 60 hours a week. Everyone needs a little time off to "clear" his or her head.

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What's interesting is that the Claudia Cartwright information that I posted says that it required 640 hours per year. But the Saul T Wilson stuff says: "The career experience program agreement requires 640 hours of study-related work with APHIS in order to be considered for this conversion and successful completion of the program and graduation with a D.V.M. degree."

That's pulled straight from the brochure and I always assumed it meant 640 hours while you're in school total. It seems weird that their two programs that are so similar would be different in this way. Then again, the are for two drastically different amounts of money. So who knows.

But honestly, if it's 640 while in school, I interpret that as VERY doable. Our summer is 12 weeks long. Say you take 2 weeks for yourself and work 40 weeks the rest of the summer. That's 400 hours already. You really only have your summer after 1st year and your summer after 2nd year (the one after 3rd year is clinics). So very doable, without even taking up 2 full summers, no breaks, not working while in classes, etc. Leaves plenty of time for down time and other experiences, if I'm interpreting it right. Of course, YMMV by school.

I noticed that too. 640 hours PER YEAR is a lot, considering if you worked full time all summer you'd only have about 420 hours.

Even for the other one, I'm not sure you get to pick when you work and when you don't, even if you reach the 640 requirement. It really seems like they completely dictate you schedule for those 4 years of school and 3 years after school.

It's a shame because I'm genuinely interested in that type of work, but I am not willing to sign my life over first year of vet school.

EqSci said:

Even for the other one, I'm not sure you get to pick when you work and when you don't, even if you reach the 640 requirement. It really seems like they completely dictate you schedule for those 4 years of school and 3 years after school.

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Where did you get that impression?? I talked to someone who did the program (a while ago admittedly), but she picked when and where she worked with the USDA during school. It wasn't dictated to her at all. I suppose things could have changed, but what are you basing it off of?

Also, for the 3 years after school, the people I've spoken with say that you have input into where you go. I can't recall now if they give you a few options and you chose, but it was something like according to a lady who did the program a while back and has since been on the selection committee. You also get to indicate to them whether you're interested in field work or not. I'm not sure how much they factor in your preferences, but it's not like the military where they basically can tell you what your life will be like.

I'm really curious to know where you're getting these impressions. I mean, if I'm somehow wrong, I'd love to know. But all of the info I've gathered on the Saul T Wilson Scholarship seems contrary to what you've said. (And I've gathered a fair amount given the fact that I've been looking into it for some time now and just finished applying... I've spoken with the woman in charge, the HR guy involved, a woman who received the scholarship and has served on the selection committee, among others.)

Definitely go with your information then!! The only thing I've read about it is the pamphlet and what others have said on here. I may have to look into it again from what you said. Still, the thought of committing to something so early on makes me nervous, especially since you have to pay them back if you somehow can't work for them.

Do you have any information on that situation? How long do they give you to pay it back? What interest do they charge? etc?

I can certainly find out for myself but I didn't know if you already had the info at hand. 🙂

Eh, now that I think about it some more... I want to be free to explore that experiences that I'm interested in. If I happen to love the work that I did in this program than that's great... but if I don't, I can't help but feel like I'd be ill-prepared for anything else I'd choose to do.

EqSci said:

Definitely go with your information then!! The only thing I've read about it is the pamphlet and what others have said on here. I may have to look into it again from what you said. Still, the thought of committing to something so early on makes me nervous, especially since you have to pay them back if you somehow can't work for them.

Do you have any information on that situation? How long do they give you to pay it back? What interest do they charge? etc?

I can certainly find out for myself but I didn't know if you already had the info at hand. 🙂

Eh, now that I think about it some more... I want to be free to explore that experiences that I'm interested in. If I happen to love the work that I did in this program than that's great... but if I don't, I can't help but feel like I'd be ill-prepared for anything else I'd choose to do.

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I don't know anything about paying it back, but the 202 number that I posted (I think I posted it) is probably the best place to start looking for answers.

I definitely think that if you are reluctant, it's not the right thing to do. That's ultimately why I didn't apply for the Claudia Cartwright one. I can honestly say I'd be excited to do the Saul T Wilson program if I was picked. Not so much for the other one.

There's lots to explore in vet school, so you should take the time to explore it! 🙂