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Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships

The Rhodes Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship offer intellectually ambitious, passionate students with leadership qualities the opportunity to continue their education after Union at a variety of different universities in the United Kingdom. The Rhodes Scholarship, one of the oldest and most renowned international fellowship awards, provides 32 young Americans every year full financial support to enroll in a two year degree specifically at the University of Oxford, while the Marshall provides funding for 40 students at a plethora of UK universities. Many degrees are available and popular among scholarship winners from the U.S., including Master’s degrees, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Science, and Bachelor of Arts.

Though there is no minimum GPA requirement to apply for the Rhodes, it is recommended that Rhodes applicants have a GPA of at least 3.85. Rhodes and Marshall’s scholarship committees look for students who are going to be future leaders in any field, and the Rhodes specifically places significant emphasis on student success in sports—mainly because they recognize that participation and success in the world of athletics reflect critical qualities of leadership, teamwork, integrity, and high moral character.

Criteria by which prospective Rhodes Scholars are to be selected:
  1. Literary and scholastic attainments
  2. Energy to use one’s talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports
  3. Truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness, and fellowship
  4. Moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one’s fellow beings

OFFICIAL RHODES SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION INFORMATION

The Marshall Scholarship differs from the Rhodes in that it does not fund second BA’s degrees and has a minimum GPA of 3.7. But these scholarships are not just for the Ivy League—less than 15% of 2013 Marshall Scholarship winners attended an Ivy League school. Union College has had only one Rhodes Scholar, Gregg Meyer ’84 and no Marshall Scholars. This is in stark contrast to the non-Ivy league peer institutions that we compete against, which have won the following number of Rhodes Scholarships: Williams-32, Colgate-6, Hamilton-5, Hobart William Smith-3, Vassar-2, RPI-2. Applicants from these schools have not only been winning these scholarships at a much more competitive rate in recent years, but also have higher numbers in the finalist pools. We can change this!
The Rhodes and Marshall annual deadlines are both in early October.
  
Criteria by which prospective Marshalls Scholars are to be selected:
  1. Talented, independent and wide ranging in their interests
  2. Academic merit (minimum 3.7 GPA; higher is better), leadership potential, and ambassadorial potential
  3. Significant contribution to their own society
  4. Strong motivation and seriousness of purpose
 
Main Application Entailments:
  1. Endorsement of his or her college or university
  2. Letters of Recommendation (Marshall: 4; Rhodes: between 5 and 8)
  3. A personal essay not exceeding 1000 words (Rhodes)
  4. A list of principal activities
  5. A certified transcript
  6. A passport-size photograph
  7. Proof of citizenship (Rhodes accepts U.S. Citizens and some Non-U.S. citizens; Marshall only accepts U.S. Citizens)
  8. Campus and National Interviews (Rhodes and Marshall)
 
Additional Information
  1. Students may apply for the Rhodes and Marshall the same year
  2. Ideally, applicants should be working on their essays the summer after their junior year
  3. Recent graduates of Union College are still eligible and encouraged to apply