Early application

What? For fellowships? We have had this discussion before. There aren't even close to uniform standards within different fellowship programs within a single institution, let alone the same fellowship at different institutions. There can be variations of 2 years in the timeline. Some programs start looking more than two years ahead of time, while MANY others are still looking now for 2008. The best bet is to contact programs you are interested in and ask them their timeline.

The average timeline for all fellowships is application 18 months in advance, but many have completed their interviews and are making decisions 20 months in advance.

Also, many fellowships will have different rules for internal applicants than outside applicants. Some programs will wait to see if they have a solid, interested internal candidate before they open it up to the outside (but the timeline of that is also variable). Others will not.

 

I don't know, but I'm already applying now for 2009. The early bird gets the worm. At least, I sure hope so.