Today’s Boston Globe explains how the relatively small German-studies department at Boston College has become a Fulbright machine, churning out 55 winners of the prestigious study-abroad awards in the last decade. This year alone, 13 seniors — nearly half the department — pulled down Fulbright scholarships. All this with only three full-time professors and no graduate program to add to the haul.

The Globe credits Michael Resler, the department’s chairman, for its success in the Fulbright competition. And the article explains some of his “little tricks” to enhance his students’ chances. One is always to apply for study in some outlying city or in eastern Germany, not in Berlin, which is where everyone else wants to go. Another is to devise a research project that could be carried out only in that less-popular city. Those and other steps help applicants stand out from the crowd.

They also show how, from gaining admission to preschool to winning a top literary prize, it’s always possible to devise a winning strategy. —Andrew Mytelka