Rhodes Scholarship

Mercer University Faculty Advisor: Charlotte Thomas

Election to the scholarship is normally for two years but the scholarship may be held for one year only, depending upon the degree program pursued by the scholar. The Trustees impose no requirement that a scholar should study in Oxford for more than one year. A scholarship may be renewed, at the complete discretion of the Trustees, for a third and final year for those who were initially admitted to Oxford to pursue a doctoral degree.

All educational costs, such as matriculation, tuition, laboratory and certain other fees, are paid by the Rhodes Trustees. Each Scholar receives in addition a maintenance allowance adequate to meet necessary expenses for term-time and vacations. The Rhodes Trustees cover the necessary costs of travel to and from Oxford, and upon application, may approve additional grants for research purposes or study-related travel.

Selection Criteria / Eligibility

(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.

Underlying these standards is the aim that Scholars be physically, intellectually, and morally capable of leadership, that is, persons who, in Mr. Rhodes’ phrase, will "esteem the performance of public duties as [their] highest aim." From this statement one may infer that he expected his Scholars to play an influential part in the betterment of society, wherever their careers might lead them.

Much of the distinctiveness of the Rhodes Scholarships stems from this comprehensive set of criteria. Intellectual excellence is obviously required, but not in isolation from other qualities. Mr. Rhodes sought Scholars who were more than "mere bookworms;" he wanted their intellectual talents to be combined with concern for others. Thus the Selection Committees assign the highest importance to this blend of character with intellect.

Because Rhodes Scholars are selected for their potential over a lifetime, importance is properly attached to their capacity to meet the demands for physical fitness imposed by an active career. Satisfying the second standard does not require evidence of outstanding achievement in organized sports. All applicants, however, should be able to demonstrate the physical vigor which will enable them to make an effective contribution to the world around them.

In each of the fifty states, a Committee of Selection is authorized to consider applications from applicants who maintain their legal residence within that state or who will have received two years of college or university training and a bachelor’s degree in that state before October 1 in the year following application. Each State Committee nominates applicants to appear before a District Committee of Selection. Each of the eight District Committees, in turn, is empowered to designate four applicants from the group of District finalists as Rhodes Scholars-elect.

Committees of Selection have available to them a substantial body of materials pertaining to the strengths of each of the applicants, including academic transcripts, a brief essay prepared by the applicant, and letters from persons suggested by the applicant. To identify those best qualified, the mandatory personal interview plays a decisive role.

After the eight District Committees have named the Rhodes Scholars-elect, the Warden of Rhodes House in Oxford, who is the CEO of the Rhodes Trust, seeks places for them in the departments and faculties of the University and in its colleges. Because the Oxford colleges make their own decisions on admissions, election to a Rhodes Scholarship does not automatically guarantee entry to Oxford. Election to a Rhodes Scholarship is formally confirmed by the Rhodes Trustees only after the Rhodes Scholar-elect has been accepted by a department or faculty and by a college. Two samples of recent written work, approximately 2,000 words each, are required for admission to read for any degree in any subject other than a mathematical or scientific subject. Rhodes Scholars enter Oxford University in October of the year following election.

Procedures for Application

In the United States, applicants for Rhodes Scholarships must be United States citizens, aged eighteen or over but not yet twenty-four on October 1 in the year of application. They must have academic standing sufficient to assure completion of a bachelor’s degree before entering Oxford the following October in the event of election to a Scholarship.

Applicants apply in one of the fifty states: either in the state in which they will have received at least two years of college training and a bachelor’s degree before October 1 in the year following application, or in the state where they were legally resident on April 15 in the year of application.

Persons interested in applying for the Rhodes Scholarship are advised to begin preparing their applications well in advance of the October deadline. Gaining the institutional endorsement and gathering some of the documents requested (an academic transcript, a photocopy of the birth certificate) may take some time. Applicants should give careful thought to the preparation of a 1000-word essay in which they set forth in their own words their interests and aspirations, and their detailed reasons for wishing to study the specific areas of proposed academic work at Oxford. In addition, applicants are asked to supply a brief description of their activities during their college years.

Applicants are required to secure the formal endorsement of their college or university and to provide the names and addresses of at least five and no more than eight persons who have agreed to write letters of recommendation. No fewer than four of these must be persons under whom the applicant has done academic work at a college or university.

Deadline

October 2

Mercer deadline Summer 2006

Source: Office of the American Secretary - The Rhodes Trust Web site

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