FAQ

  1. Fadel Educational Foundation Frequently Asked Questions (last updated March 22, 2014)
    1. Who Qualifies for the Foundation’s Awards?
      1. I am a graduating college senior, and my post graduate plans are to either attend medical school or a master’s degree program in forensic medicine. What can I send as merit that I have financial need if I do not fill out the FAFSA?
      2. I am a senior in [a 4-yr college]. In the scholarship application, you asked that we submit a ‘financial need report’. I haven’t renewed my application to FAFSA for this year. What would you like me to submit instead?
      3. Is the Fadel Foundation Scholarship available to law school students? If so, how many law school students get a scholarship and how many applicants are there?
      4. How do I send my FAFSA? Do I just print it out and send you the filled-in application or something else?
      5. Can older applicants receive an award?
      6. I am a junior in high school and taking dual-credit college classes during the period of the next award, August to June. Am I eligible?
      7. I’m ABD. May I still receive a grant?
    2. Main Application Question by Question Guide
      1. Applicant Information Sheet
        1. Legal Name and Preferred Alias
        2. Ethnicity
        3. Citizenship/Permanent Resident
        4. Islam Date
      2. FEF Application
      1. Standardized Test Scores
      2. Check the level and category which best describe the nature of your academic program.
      3. Describe your educational and/or vocational goals …
      4. Essay Question
      5. Cash Flow
      6. Grants and loans
      7. Teacher/Professional Recommendation Form
        1. Is this person OK for my letter?
      8. Transcripts
        1. May I submit an unofficial transcript to save money?
      9. I’m missing a document. Is that OK?
    3. Renewal Application Question by Question Guide
  1. Application Processing Questions

Why don’t you want me to send material requiring a signature?
Will you tell me if my application is complete?
When are awards announced?
How are applications evaluated?
May I send you application materials by e-mail?
I want to expedite mailing documents to you. Is that a good idea?

  1. Disbursement Questions

I.A.I am a graduating college senior, and my post graduate plans are to either attend medical school or a master’s degree program in forensic medicine.
What can I send as merit that I have financial need if I do not fill out the FAFSA?

Assuming you do have strong financial needs, FEF will only give consideration when you’ve filled out either of the two forms mentioned in the application, the FAFSA or the CSS FAF. Is there a barrier preventing you from filling out one of those forms? Do you suggest an alternate way of documenting an applicant’s financial need? If submitting a FAFSA is not possible, then send a copy of last submitted federal income tax return.

I.B. I am a senior in [a 4-yr college]. In the scholarship application, you asked that we submit a ‘financial need report’. I haven’t renewed my application to FAFSA for this year. What would you like me to submit instead?

Please follow the application instructions and submit a FAFSA or a FAF.

I.C. Is the Fadel Foundation Scholarship available to law school students? If so, how many law school students get a scholarship and how many applicants are there?

Yes, the scholarship is available to law school students. In sha Allah, I’m planning to put a document on the FEF website about FEF statistics, including the nature of the programs supported. Give me some time though.

I.D. How do I send my FAFSA? Do I just print it out and send you the filled-in application or something else?

In recent years, more and more documents are available to be printed from web sites. In most-cases, search for the “printer-friendly” version of the document. The bottom line is that if what you send us is hard to read, then don’t expect us to read it. Regarding the FAFSA, I believe once you submit it and have a user account with the web site, you can retrieve the printer-friendly format. Whatever you submit should look like this sample FAFSA document.

I.E. Can older applicants receive an award?

Yes. In sha Allah, FEF is planning to put a document on the FEF website about FEF statistics, including age of recipients. Give me some time though.

I.F. I am a junior in high school and taking dual-credit college classes during the period of the next award, August to June. Am I eligible?

Do the college-credit classes require you to pay tuition to the colleges? If so, yes, but make sure you send early in the application process details of the amount of money you’re paying and how an outside scholarship foundation could pay that money directly to the educational institution.

II.A.1. Legal Name and Preferred Alias

We ask for both since we need your legal name for disbursement, and many Muslims use aliases or nicknames, and we want to be able to address you by the name you like.

II.A.2. Ethnicity

In the 2008-9 application, FEF added the category “Decline to Answer.” When that category was not there, some applicants did not answer, and FEF did not know if they skipped the question or declined to answer. FEF also added “check all that apply” to allow applicants who believe multiple answers better describe his/her ethnic identity. Please don’t go into an existential crisis about this question. The only reason it’s there is so that FEF can monitor how its grants are spread out among the U.S. Muslim community. When FEF feels a particular group is underrepresented, FEF increases its advertisement in that area. When applications are being reviewed, there is no consideration of this question.

II.A.3. Citizenship/Permanent Resident

Please don’t write to FEF asking to make an exception to this requirement. All recipients must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

II.A.4. Islam Date

The reason for this question is similar to the reasoning behind the ethnicity question. It’s for statistical information gathering to make sure FEF is not practicing a bias in one way or another. When applications are being reviewed, there is no consideration of this question. And of course, there is no requirement in Islam for a person to have a certificate saying that he/she is a Muslim.

II.B.5. Cash Flow

The point of this question is that FEF is trying to figure out how much money you need to get from August 1 to July 31 of the academic year. So if a family member will pay some of your tuition, that would go under the category of gifts. If “Living Expenses” or “Rent” are high due to family obligations, please note that at the bottom of the page. If you plan on working and taking home $1,200/month during year, write $12,000 in the work slot. Etc. Please review the following links for more information.

II.B.6. Grants and loans

Should you be awarded a grant, FEF requires a statement of your accounts before disbursement. Therefore FEF sees whether what you wrote here matches what you actually received. FEF does not write checks with recipients as payees. So if your other grants complete cover all of your educational expenses, FEF will select an alternate recipient. One alternative is to live in student housing (then FEF can pay your dorm room fees) or attend summer sessions (often scholarships don’t cover additional terms.)

II.B.1. Standardized Test Scores

  1. I took my standardized tests so many years ago, I don’t remember what my scores were and I don’t know how to get those scores to you.Standardized test scores are more important for applicants without academic degrees and work experience, i.e. young high school graduates. If you already have a B.A. or B.S, or you have been working several years, FEF weighs your transcripts and teacher/professional recommendation more than standardized test scores.

II.B.2. Check the level and category which best describe the nature of your academic program for the next year.

So if you want FEF to fund your completion of your B.A. program next spring, and your goal is to begin a M.A. in the following fall, choose Undergraduate, not Masters.

II.B.3.

Describe your educational and/or vocational goals and how you intend to achieve them.

The key thing FEF is looking for here is whether you’ve really planned out what you want FEF to fund. Is your proposed course of study going to help you achieve the goal you identify? If your work and family obligations prevent you from taking a full load, can you really complete the degree program in the time you describe? Keeping in mind that FEF’s grant is a maximum $3,500 in an academic year, do you really need to enroll at the private university with the $25,000/yr tuition when the less expensive state university or community college could meet your need?

II.B.4. Essay Question. What is the most interesting book about Islam or Muslims written within the last ten years (not printed, but authored) that has influenced your understanding and practice of Islam, and why? Do not exceed 500 words.

The most common problems FEF sees with the essay are:

  1. People choose books which were authored many years ago and simply reprinted within the last ten years. When you open up the book, find the latest copyright date. Remember that a 2006 translation of a book from the 5th century A.H. does not meet this requirement.
  2. People exceed the word length.
  3. People tell us their life story (see #2).

We’re not looking for eloquence or deep analysis. We just want to know that you read books and that you think about how you practice your religion.

II.C. Teacher/Professional Recommendation Form

  1. Should I seek a academic recommendation or a professional recommendation? In general, you should use a recommendation letter which describes recent significant educational or professional performance. As a rule of thumb, if you’ve spent the last year in school, get a recommendation letter covering the work you did there. If you were working the last year, then get a recommendation related to your work. An exception to this rule may be where you interrupted your studies for health, family or financial reasons and, during this interruption, there was either no work history or the work you did does not correspond well with your intended academic program. In this case, you may want to submit academic letters of recommendation, even if they are dated a few years.
  2. I graduated from college two years ago, and I will be attending med school next year. However, the applications states that the letter of recommendation should come from teachers. May I instead supply letters from individuals who have supervised me at my most recent internships? I feel that these people are more familiar with my recent accomplishments. Whomever you believe can write an accurate recommendation regarding your ability to complete the proposed course of study is the right selection.
  3. I have a letter that basically answer all the questions listed on the form. I wanted to know if I could send these letters and have the teachers sign the form instead of filling out the form.Yes. Make sure the recommender signs and dates the FEF form, noting on it that the recommendation letter is attached.

IV. Application Processing Questions

  1. Why don’t you want me to send material requiring a signature? FEF mail goes into a post office box, so I’m not going to be there to sign for your item. So I go to get the mail from the PO Box, and I find a yellow slip of paper telling me I need to sign before I retrieve an item. I frequently go to the post office outside of business hours, so I then have to bring the yellow slip of paper back and wait in line before receiving your mail. Note that when you send a letter by 1st class mail, the envelope has a postmark that tells the recipient the date the post office received it. FEF relies on the postmark, so there’s no need to “send it fast.” If you’re worried about things getting lost, make a copy of everything before you mail it.
  2. Will you tell me if my application is complete? No.
  3. When are awards announced? Awards are announced in mid-July. I post to the website a list of FEF IDs and the corresponding award. If your ID appears with money, you’ve received an award. If your ID does not appear, you have not received one.

V. Disbursement Questions

%d bloggers like this: