Elizabeth Ransone of Mathews studied hard as a biology major at the College of William and Mary, and her hard work paid off when she was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship.

Then she went into a panic when she found out she was also the recipient of a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. 

Because she was going to spend 10 months abroad doing host-microbe symbiosis research on the Fulbright, Ransone hadn’t even bothered to apply to graduate school, and the deadlines had all passed. After all, she only applied for the research fellowship as practice.

“I knew the GRF was a long shot,” she said. “I just figured I’d try it to see what my scores were. I figured it would help in the future because they tell you your strengths and weaknesses.”

Suddenly, Ransone had to try to get into a graduate school. Not only that, but she had to tell them she wouldn’t actually be attending for another year. She said she ye...