Interview with Rebecca Lippman, Accepted Admissions Consultant [Show Summary]

Accepted’s own Rebecca Lippman is a veritable fountain of knowledge when it comes to scholarships and grants, and in this podcast she shares tips on how to find scholarship opportunities and how to position yourself to win them.

Everything You Need to Know About Grad School Scholarships and Grants [Show Notes]

Our guest today is Rebecca Lippman, who recently joined Accepted’s team of admissions consultants. However, she is here today mostly in her capacity as scholarship expert, having personally secured funding for her masters and doctoral studies in Comparative Literature, as well has having worked for 3.5 years in UCLA’s Scholarship Resource Center. Let’s learn her secrets.

Can you tell us a little about your background and how you became interested in Comparative Lit? [1:53]

I knew from a young age that I wanted to study abroad and learn another language. I grew up in Oakland and heard a lot of Spanish at school. I went to UCLA because I knew there would be plenty of opportunities to study abroad and get a double major at the same time, and Comparative Literature was one of the majors where I could do that. That was how I was thinking when I was 18! I did stick with it, however, and learned Portuguese and Spanish which allowed me to have access to research in literature and film I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.

You earned your masters in the University of Cambridge in Latin American Studies. Why there for Latin American Studies, and how did you get fully funded for a humanities masters degree? [3:46]

Cambridge has a Latin American Studies center that has experts in Latin American film. At the end of my senior year I was thinking what I wanted to do. I really liked film and thought it would be neat to keep studying film, but I wanted a regional focus. Most schools have a language/literature department and then a film department. But Cambridge had everything in one department, which is primarily why I applied there. In terms of funding I also applied to Cambridge knowing they had the Gates Cambridge Scholarship available. I was a finalist but didn’t get it, and was instead offered a large, partial scholarship. It was great because I did not have to work for that funding.

When we talk about “Fully funded” does that mean tuition, living expenses, everything? Or is it just tuition? Also, does part of that funding require work – TA’ing or working in some other capacity? [5:49]

I wouldn’t compare it to a full-time salary in any other sector, but when I got into UCLA for the PhD program in Comparative Literature I received a package which includes guaranteed TA-ships. You have 1-2 years where you don’t have to teach and can focus on your coursework, and the rest of the funding includes a TA-ship which means you TA for your department and then tuition and fees are waived plus you get a living stipend.

While pursuing your PhD, you’ve been helping UCLA’s students get awards, grants and scholarships. Before we turn to some of the specific scholarships, what are 3 top tips for getting awards and grants? [7:17]

I would say being creative is incredibly important to identifying scholarships in the first place - not just looking at obvious places where scholarships might come from. If you use me as an example,