Fellowship Award from the National Science Foundation

Here it is...the grandaddy of all fellowships for study in the U.S.A. The NSF program offers an extremely limited number of all-expenses paid three year fellowships to the U.S.A.'s top students. The fellowship covers tuition and a reasonable stipend for living expenses and books. All told, these fellowships are worth about $120,000.

As you can imagine, competition is extremely fierce. There were about 25 available in my field. Just the best students apply, but only about 1 in 30 wins.