The Rhodes scholarship attracts thousands of the best college applicants worldwide every year due to its esteemed reputation. However, only a small number of candidates who most exemplify academic brilliance, a dedication to helping others, and virtues like bravery and kindness are selected for the award, which enables them to attend the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, US News reveals.
Being a Rhodes scholar has a certain cachet, but it’s not the only thing that encourages applicants.
“It’s an honor that will be mentioned in every introduction to every speech they give for the rest of their life, and will be mentioned in their obituary decades from now,” Doug Cutchins, director of global awards at New York University Abu Dhabi, wrote in an email. “It means being connected to other extraordinary young people at Oxford for several years, and then being introduced into a global alumni community of amazing people who are working for the common good. It can open doors that they don’t even know exist right now.”
What Is a Rhodes Scholarship?
Cecil Rhodes, a British politician and businessman who established the scholarship in his will, is remembered by the Rhodes Trust, a British nonprofit that oversees the Rhodes scholarship. Oxford received its first scholars in 1903, making it the oldest international scholarship program.
The Rhodes Trust conducts a rigorous application and interview process to choose about 100 students year from all across the world, including 32 Americans. The quantity of applications is kept a secret by the organization.
The scholarship pays for tuition and fees for a minimum of two years of study at Oxford University, where recipients can pursue a master’s, doctoral, or second bachelor’s degree in a variety of fields.
The award covers application fees; recipients must still apply for admission to Oxford. Along with these costs, the scholarship also pays for travel to and from the United Kingdom, a student visa, health insurance, and an annual living stipend (almost $25,000 for the 2023–2024 school year).
The scholarship’s overall value fluctuates but can total up to $250,000, according to Rhodes Trust staff.
The importance of a Rhodes scholarship, according to Eleanor Wikstrom, a senior at Harvard University in Massachusetts who was awarded one and will start studying at Oxford in the fall of 2024, extends beyond the opportunities it will present. She is majoring in social studies with a focus on colonialism, and she intends to attend Oxford to get a master’s degree in global and imperial history. One of the main draws of the scholarship, according to her, was the opportunity to study that era of British history among students from all around the world.
“I also think that Rhodes offers this really amazing cohort that is not quite as prevalent with any other scholarship,” Wikstrom says. “Of course, you’re going to be part of an amazing legacy no matter what you do, but the Rhodes scholarship being expressly global and also having this locus at Oxford allows you to interact with scholars from other backgrounds, and it facilitates that much more fluently than the other scholarships would.”
Who Can Apply for a Rhodes Scholarship?
Countries have different requirements, but in the United States, applicants must be at least eighteen (18) years old and not older than twenty-four on October 1st of the year they are applying.
Babette Littlemore, director of communications at the Rhodes Trust, states that older applicants who finished their undergraduate degree later than typical may apply up to age 27 in some cases. Additionally, candidates must have earned a GPA of 3.7 or above while completing or planning to complete an undergraduate degree from a college or university.
The qualifications for U.S. students to be eligible for the award have been extended in recent years to include DACA recipients (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and legal permanent residents.
The list of countries from which students can apply has expanded, as well. “With the arrival of the Global Rhodes Scholarships, individuals from any country across the globe are now able to apply,” Littlemore wrote in an email.
Candidates are selected according on their “constituency,” which is the nation, state, or municipality in which they reside. The Rhodes Trust website states that applicants with dual citizenship or those who have lived abroad should select the nation with which they have the strongest ties, such as citizenship or length of residence.
16 districts comprise the states and territories of the United States. The district that U.S. applicants usually select is the one where they have either resided permanently or have spent the most time.
Who Should Apply for a Rhodes Scholarship?
According to Arizona State University’s associate dean of national scholarship advisement, Kyle Mox, successful applicants usually have at least a 3.9 GPA because the applicant pool is so tough. Experts advise that having high academic credentials is only one component of the puzzle.
Over the duration of its existence, the scholarship has mainly continued to support the same principles and attributes, such as leadership and public service. According to Mox, the selection committee is searching for candidates “that are going to provide value to the world.”
Because applicants must still apply to Oxford after being awarded the scholarship, the committee looks for well-rounded students who would be easily admissible, Cutchins says.
“They have to have excelled in multiple areas, and at least ticked the box in most if not all of the major facets of student life: athletics, service, the arts, etc.,” he says. “Someone smarter than me once said that Rhodes scholars are ‘well rounded with a bump.’ They are good at everything, and exceptional in one or more dimensions.”
He advises students to evaluate their own performance to see if they fit the requirements. Even though “the vast majority of students who apply for the Rhodes – 98%+ – are not going to win,” he nevertheless exhorts students who aren’t sure whether to apply.
According to him, students can gain a great deal of experience from the application and interview processes as they start their careers.
“I usually set a low bar, asking students if they are feasible, realistic, plausible candidates,” he says. “If a student wants to be a Rhodes scholar, then I think they should make someone else say no to them, rather than them saying no to their own goals.”
Rhodes Scholarship Application Process
To become a Rhodes scholar, students are typically encouraged to apply during their junior year of college, experts say. The online application opens in early July each year and closes in early October.
Differentiating internal dates for various application checkpoints is a common practice across colleges. Even while it is expressly forbidden for applicants to get assistance with their personal essays, many institutions offer guidance on other parts of the application process, like interview preparation.
1. Required Application Materials
Cutchins notes that although certain aspects of the application remain the same for each constituency, there are differences in certain specifics. A 350-word academic statement and a 750-word original personal statement are required by all screening panels. A complete CV, an official transcript, and five to eight recommendation letters are also required of applicants.
“All constituencies ask that some of the letters are written by people who can comment on the student’s academic ability and others serve as character references,” he says. “Some constituencies detail the exact number of each kind of letter that should be submitted.”
The personal essay should be an incredibly strong and original piece of writing, experts say.
2. University Endorsement
Applicants must first be recommended and approved by their university in order to be eligible for the scholarship. Subsequently, candidates face competition from others in their district or constituency.
Many institutions set up a nomination committee during the endorsement stage, and according to Mox, this committee usually consists of staff, faculty, and alumni of Rhodes scholars if at all possible.
The university issues a letter of recommendation for each student who is nominated, which is signed by the president or a senior dean. If the student is an undergraduate, this recommendation should include a declaration that the student has met or will meet the criteria for a bachelor’s degree in the year after the application is submitted.
3. National Round and Interviews
Each district committee will then choose a maximum of two winners based on the shortlisted candidates’ attendance at a district reception and interview in November.
According to Wikstrom, she was informed that she had been chosen for an interview about two weeks ago. During that time, a number of Harvard fellowship advisers convened a simulated reception and performed tough mock interviews.
It’s important to prepare for the reception even though it’s not a formal component of the selection process. According to Wikstrom, “if you say something during that reception, it is fair game during the interview.”
The Importance of Being Authentic
While planning is necessary, experts advise that authenticity is valued by the selecting committee. During the mock interviews, Wikstrom claims to have received advice to be less “canned” and to express her true self more. In the final days before the interview, she read aloud from her favorite novels, compositions, and essays from class.
“I wanted to steep myself in those materials that meant a lot to me and were really formative for the way I thought about things. There’s nothing that you can do in that last week or last two weeks that will save you. There’s no new fact you’re going to learn. There’s no new method that’s going to save you. You are the sum of everything you’ve done up to that point. You just kind of have to trust the muscle memory will be there when you need it to be there.” – Eleanor Wikstrom, Harvard University Class of 2024, Rhodes scholar
