Lifetime Experience Grants

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Imagining Your LTE Grant-Funded Experience

Some students come to the Lifetime Experience Grant (LTE) with a project or purpose in mind, but let’s be real: that’s usually not the case. The solution is reverse planning, or the idea of beginning with the end in mind. 

When you clearly define your goal or target, the pieces needed to achieve those goals become clear too. Reverse planning helps you: 

• "Zoom out" for reflection about where you've been, where you are, and where you're going.
  It's easy to get stuck in autopilot with the day-to-day activities that keep you busy. Reverse planning for an LTE Grant application prompts reflection and aligns your efforts with your goals. 
  
  
• Enhance your self-control and motivation toward your goals.
  When you feel like your goals are still too big, too vague, or too far out-of-reach, it's hard to believe they are possible. With focus on a positive outcome, you can get started on what you know you want to accomplish--and make it happen. 
  
  

Getting Started on your LTE Grant Application

Every grant and scholarship is a potential investor in your academic and professional goals. If you haven’t yet, read about the Lifetime Experience (LTE) Grant to learn which types of investments we are most interested in. 

To propose a strong LTE Grant project, start with your end goal–and plan backward. The process itself is progress; thinking about your goal and working backward to visualize a next step is where scholar development happens.

In fact, the LTE Grant application is built with this planning process in mind. By working through these steps (and taking notes along the way!) you’ll prepare the pieces needed to submit your LTE Grant application.

1. Establish the nationally competitive scholarship(s) that make sense for your interests and identify when you would apply.
1. Review our OSD-supported scholarships on your own and make a list of scholarships you might pursue. 
2. Optional: Reach out to OSD (osd@wku.edu) with your WKU ID, anticipated graduation date, and a brief summary of your academic and professional interests.
   
   
2. Review the selection criteria and application for the scholarship(s) you might pursue. What is evaluated in the application? What types of candidates are typically selected?
1. Investigate the website’s “About” and “Apply” pages 
2. Take note of information for applicants, sample applications, selection criteria, scholar profiles, and FAQs. 
3. Optional: Meet with the corresponding OSD advisor to learn more.
   
   
3. With this new information in mind, consider your current applicant profile. What distance is there between your experience so far and their selection criteria? What might you do to strengthen your application, either in the U.S. or abroad? 
1. Consider the possibility of completing an internship, conducting research or a creative project, pursuing community service or engagement, earning training in your discipline not available at WKU, exploring host institutions, and more.  
2. Evaluate the resources (and funding!) you would need to make it happen. The LTE Grant is up to $3,000 to encourage you to reach farther than you might have otherwise. 
3. Note: We love ideas that combine multiple activities! In fact, hybrid proposals are preferred, as they have greater potential to impact your academic and professional development.   
   
   
4. Connect with a faculty mentor who can help you develop a strong proposal. 
1. Share your academic and professional interests
2. Explain the nature of the Lifetime Experience Grant, well as which nationally competitive scholarship(s) you might apply for in the future and what you’ve learned about their selection criteria and application(s)
3. Explain your early ideas (or ask for theirs!) and request their guidance through the planning process, including the required faculty reference  
   
   
5. Ready to go? Click "Apply for an LTE Grant" on the left navigation menu.