Application Procedures: Rhodes Scholarship IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES - Application Year 2015-16 Step Description Date Due Complete 1 Schedule Initial Consultation and/or Attend Info Session Spring 2015 2 Degree Program Selection: With NS&FP and faculty advisor assistance, research and select an appropriate course of study at Oxford. 3 Select and Confirm At Least Six Recommenders in consultation with a NS&FP advisor. 4 Begin Drafting Personal Statement Essay NOTE: Due to changes in the Rhodes Trust policies, NS&FP advisors cannot provide you with feedback on your essay. 5 Begin online application, add contact information for recommenders and institutional endorsement (see note) DO NOT SUBMIT your application. 6 Follow up with Recommenders: Send instructions (see note); recommenders must submit letters online and to the NS&FP office Spring 2015 Spring 2015 Summer 2015 July 2015 July 2015 7 Request and Upload Emory Transcript July 2015 8 Request and Upload Outside Transcript(s): If applicable (see note) July 2015 9 Confirm Submission of Letters by Recommenders August 28, 2015 10 Internal Application Submission: Electronic Application: Complete the online application, including uploading the final draft of your personal statement. Create and save a PDF of your application materials (see note). DO NOT SUBMIT your online application to Rhodes. Email your Rhodes application PDF, NS&FP Checklist, Consent Form, and Schedule of Availability PDF (oue.nationalawards@emory.edu) 4:00 PM August 28, 2015 11 Campus Interviews Sept 7-11, 2015 IF NOMINATED 12 Follow-up Appointment Sept 14-18, 2015 13 External Due Date: Submit Electronic Application Include proof of citizenship, photo, and transcript(s). Create PDF and email to oue.nationalawards@emory.edu October 2, 2015 Next Steps: Finalists will be notified by a Rhodes district committee representative in mid-to late October. The NS&FP office will arrange practice interviews for finalists. District interviews are held in mid-november, with award recipients announced the Saturday of the interviews. National Scholarships & Fellowships Program (NS&FP), Emory University http://nationalawards.college.emory.edu
NOTES Consultation (Step 1) Make contact with the National Scholarships and Fellowships program (NS&FP) to discuss courses of study at Oxford, your eligibility and application competitiveness, and your recommender selection. We encourage you to attend the UK Awards workshops offered Spring 2015. Degree Program Selection (Step 2) In consultation with a NS&FP Advisor and your disciplinary mentor/advisor, research appropriate courses of study at Oxford. Advice on choosing a UK graduate program is available on NS&FP s Blackboard Organization site, National Scholarships & Fellowships Resources in the Rhodes section. According to the FAQs on the Rhodes website: In some circumstances, particularly in certain areas of graduate research, it is appropriate to write to potential instructors at Oxford to see if the proposed area of study is realistic and can be well pursued at Oxford. It is not necessary to apply to Oxford at this time. Rhodes Scholars make application to Oxford after election. You may apply independently to Oxford if you wish to attend regardless of whether you receive a Rhodes Scholarship. If you will attend only if you receive the award, there is no need to apply now. Recommendations (Steps 3, 5, 6, 9) In consultation with a NS&FP advisor, determine your letter of recommendation writers, whom Rhodes refers to as referees. Additional advice on selecting and contacting potential recommenders is available on NS&FP s Blackboard site. Contact these recommenders to confirm they are willing to write letters. The Rhodes requires a minimum of five and up to eight letters; we recommend at least six. The US Rhodes Secretary offers the following tip: With respect to the numbers of letters, there are winners every year with five letters, and many without eight. For most Rhodes selectors, it would be better to see 5 strong letters than 5 strong ones and 3 weak ones. And letters adding little new to what is already well presented offer little of value. At least four of the letters must come from someone with whom you have done academic work (courses or research). The others should highlight your character, leadership, and related service. If one of your recommenders is not able to meet the August 28 due date, please contact our office. 2
Instructions for recommenders: Please submit letters both to the NS&FP office and to the Rhodes online application: Letters MUST be submitted separately to the NS&FP office. o Email attachment is preferred (oue.nationalawards@emory.edu), but the letter may be hand-delivered in a sealed envelope with the recommender s signature across the seal, or the letter may be mailed to the NS&FP office. Dr. Megan Friddle White Hall, Suite 300 301 Dowman Drive Atlanta, GA 30322 Letters must also be submitted to the Rhodes online application electronically. o You will receive emails from Rhodes with a login user name and password and with instructions for uploading letters to the application website. Recommendation letters are due to NS&FP no later than August 28, 2015. Personal Statement (Steps 4, 10) Draft and revise your personal statement. Advice on preparing the Personal Statement is available on NS&FP s Blackboard site. Refer to the Notes of Guidance, which will be available when the application is posted in July, for the essay prompt and formatting requirements. In the meantime, you may brainstorm and begin early drafts based on last year s prompt. Provide a short [1,000 words] Personal Statement describing your academic and other interests. This statement should describe the specific area of proposed study and your reasons for wishing to study at Oxford. The Rhodes now requires that you attach the following statement to your essay: I attest that this essay is my own work and is wholly truthful. Neither it nor any earlier draft has been edited by anyone other than me, nor has anyone else reviewed it to provide me with suggestions to improve it. I understand that any such editing or review would disqualify my application. As a result, NS&FP Advisors CANNOT offer you feedback or editing assistance on your Personal Statement. Online Application (Step 5) Go to http://www.rhodesscholar.org/applying-for-the-scholarship to start your application (available in mid-july). Consult with a NS&FP advisor to determine the Rhodes District in which to apply. We highly recommend that you compete in your home district. 3
The Notes of Guidance, provided with the application on the Rhodes website, provide step-by-step instructions for the application. We recommend that you print them out and refer to them often. Fill in biographic information and proposed course of study. Enter contact information for your referees (this step does not yet trigger notification emails to your recommenders). List referees in order of preference (typically academic first); in the final copy, the letters will be read in the order you listed them. In Step 4 of the application, References, you must register your referees and the institutional endorser to trigger the emails with their instructions. Follow the online instructions to register the endorser and then each referee. Designate President James Wagner as the institutional endorsement name, with the following contact information: Suite 300 White Hall, Atlanta, GA 30322; email: mfriddl@emory.edu. Do not enter President Wagner s actual contact information. Be careful not to enter one of your references in the institutional endorser field. THIS HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST. The NS&FP office will make arrangements for the institutional endorsement for nominated candidates. You should not contact President Wagner s office. DO NOT SUBMIT your application. There is no un-submit feature. (A NS&FP Advisor will authorize you to submit later, if you are nominated.) Emory Transcript (Step 7) The Registrar s Office now makes electronic Official Transcripts available. If you order an electronic copy, it will arrive as a secure PDF; you must save an unprotected copy of the secure PDF before you can upload it to the Rhodes online application. You may instead order a hard copy of an official transcript and scan it yourself (yes, you may open the envelope) and upload it. You must upload your OFFICIAL transcript by August 28, 2015. Outside Transcript(s) (Step 8) If you have attended another college or university to take courses for credit (not including Emory sponsored study abroad), order an official hard copy or electronic copy of your transcript from that school. Rhodes requires a transcript from other schools only IF the course names and grades are NOT listed individually on your Emory transcript. You must scan and upload your OFFICIAL outside transcripts by August 28, 2015. Internal Application Submission (Step 10) 4
By 4:00 PM on August 28, 2015, complete the online application, including uploading the final draft of your essay and list of principal activities. It is not necessary to upload a photograph, proof of citizenship, or transcripts at this time. DO NOT SUBMIT to Rhodes! To create and save a PDF of your application, click on Application Inspector and then Preview Application. Ensure that your recommenders submit their letters to NS&FP by August 28. By 4:00 PM on August 28, 2015, submit your Checklist, Schedule of Availability, Consent Form, and saved Rhodes Application PDF to oue.nationalawards@emory.edu. We understand that your schedule may be somewhat fluid at this point in the summer. It is important that you provide your best estimate, nevertheless, so we can assign interview times. If you make schedule changes after this point, please let us know. NOTE: If it is impossible for you to be present for a campus interview the week of September 7, please contact the NS&FP office as soon as possible to discuss your situation. Interview (Step 11) Arrive 5 minutes early for your scheduled interview time. We will provide interview tips a few days before your interview. IF NOMINATED Follow-up Appointment (Step 12) The NS&FP office will contact you to schedule a meeting to give you committee feedback and to confirm the region to which you will apply. We will unsubmit the application so you can make revisions. Electronic Submission (Step 13) By October 2, 2015: Upload proof of citizenship, photo, and transcript(s). Create a PDF of your final, revised application and email it to oue.nationalawards@emory.edu. Submit your application online. Note that you will not be able to make changes to your application once you submit. Proofread the entire application carefully before submitting. You will receive an email from Rhodes confirming your submission. If you do not receive an email, follow up with the NS&FP office. 5
Scholarship Consent Form I,, do hereby consent to the following initialed items in pursuit of the (Scholarship/Award Name). (REQUIRED) As required under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, I give permission for my grade point average (GPA), transcripts, individual course grades, individual assignment grades, and/or other similar academic information to be used and discussed as a part of faculty and institutional letters of recommendation and endorsements and the applications for this award competition. I also give permission for the Office for Undergraduate Education to request unofficial and official copies of my transcript(s) as a part of the application process. (REQUIRED) I certify that I have completed all required steps for the internal application process for this award (attach checklist). (REQUIRED)I certify that all of the information I include in my application for this award, including listings of activities and awards, research undertaken or planned, and personal statements or other essays, is my own work and is accurate and honest to the best of my knowledge. (REQUIRED) I give permission to the Vice President and Dean of Campus Life, the Senior Dean of Emory College of Arts & Sciences, and the Emory University Registrar or their designees to release information to the Emory College Office for Undergraduate Education from official college records pertaining to academic honesty and conduct offense violations, and to provide contextual information as to the severity of these offenses. This information may be given either in verbal or written form. I waive any right I may have to view faculty and institutional letters of recommendation that are written for the purpose of this award competition. While copies of these letters may be provided to me by the authors, I understand that this is done as a courtesy by the author and does not affect this waiver. I understand that if I do not waive my right to view letters, my recommenders will be notified and may choose to withdraw their letters. I grant permission for Emory University to use my public biographical information to publicize my nomination and/or receipt of this scholarship or fellowship. I consent to have copies of my scholarship essays retained indefinitely and anonymously in the Office for Undergraduate Education and understand that they may be made available to future applicants as an example for them to review as they prepare their own applications. Type name in lieu of signature Date
SCHEDULE OF AVAILABLITY AWARD: SEMESTER/YEAR: NAME: EMAIL: Please download this form and then email the completed document to: oue.nationalawards@emory.edu Indicate the times you are NOT available for an interview by marking the squares with XXX. Include only obligations that you must not or should not miss (class, athletic practice, music practice, paid work, etc.). It is important that you leave as much flexibility as possible. 8:30 8:45 9:00 9:15 9:30 9:45 10:00 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:30 12:45 1:00 1:15 1:30 1:45 2:00 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 4:30 MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY