Major Scholarship Application Process
MSU has a strong history of students winning prestegious national and international scholarships. Central to that success is the preparation of highly competitive application packets that are submitted well ahead of published deadlines, which requires much diligence and thoughtfulness on the part of the student. We use an internal application process that includes mentoring in application preparation to help you prepare the best application possible. If you are interested in applying, please follow the process outlined below.
Step 1: Review Scholarship Information
Your first step in the process is to review the major scholarship information posted to the Honors College website. You should then browse the granting agency website of all scholarships that seem a good match to your goals and background.
Once you’ve identified a scholarship for which you would like to apply, carefully study the application process and materials required of the granting agency. Then proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Internal Application
Since most agencies require an institutional endorsement, we require an internal application from which a committee of MSU faculty and administrators will select the most competitive applicants for endorsement. The internal application for each scholarship includes the same materials as the granting agency requires - e.g. a two-page resume (also called a curriculum vita, or CV), academic transcript, one or more essays, and reference letters - plus a cover letter. The table below outlines the specifics of each scholarship.
The cover letter should explain a) how you meet the eligibility criteria for the scholarship, b) why youare astrong candidateaccording to the evaluation criteriaforthe scholarship,c)how receiving the scholarship would assist you in achieving your career or life goals, and d) your rationale for selecting the references you did. Length should be no longer than two pages.
Scholarship
Applicant Supplied Materials
Reference Letters
MSU Deadline
Cover Letter
Resume/CV
Academic Statement
Personal Statement
Unofficial transcript
8
August 15
Cover Letter
Resume/CV
Personal Statement
Proposed Academic Programme
Leadership Statement
Ambassadorial Potential Statement
Post Scholarship Plan
Unofficial transcript
5
August 15
Cover Letter
Resume/CV
University of Cambrdge Postgraduate Study draft application
Gates Cambridge Statement
Research Proposal (PhD applicants only)
Unofficial transcript
3
August 15
Cover Letter
Resume/CV
Leadership Essay
Statement of Purpose
Unofficial transcript
5
August 15
Pre-application**
Cover Letter
Resume/CV
Research essay
Unofficial transcript
5
December 6
Cover Letter
Resume/CV
Completed application
Policy proposal
Unofficial transcript
5
December 6
Cover Letter
Resume/CV
Completed application
Udall Essay
Unofficial transcript
4
February 1
Cover Letter
Faculty nomination letter
Resume/CV
Personal statement
Unofficial transcript
2
(in addition to faculty nomination)
March 1
Cover Letter
Resume/CV
Mitchell App
Unofficial transcript
N/A
* Prompts for the Marshall Scholarship are embedded within the online application. Applicants should create an account to access the application and prompts but should not submit the online application until notified that they have been selected for institutional endorsement.
** The Goldwater pre-application should be submitted online through the Goldwater Scholarship website.
Submit the applicant supplied materials as a single PDF in the order indicated in the table to honors@montana.edu by the deadline shown. A separate application is required for each scholarship for which you want to be considered, and should be specific to that scholarship so that you can explain how you meet the specific criteria for that scholarship.
Reference Letters
Be sure to read the scholarship application information carefully for what reference letters are needed. We request at least two more reference letters than the agency requires so that we can a) select the ones for submission that create the strongest overall application packet, and b) use information from the letters not selected for the institutional endorsement.
Note that references will need to describe the nature of their relationship with you, so be sure to select references who know you reasonably well and can speak to your background and qualifications. You should also select references who can each provide different information about you as a person and scholar, as that will make each letter that much more valuable to the overall package. When you ask your reference to draft a letter, be sure to provide them with a description of what the granting agency is looking for in the reference letters, length limitations (if any), etc.
Ask the references to submit their letter on letterhead to honors@montana.edu by the MSU application deadline above, and using the following file naming convention: ApplicantLastName_reference_RefereeLastName
If you are applying for more than one scholarship, you can overlap references so they need write only one letter.
Interviews
To gain additional information in evaluating applicants for any of the scholarships, the scholarship committee may choose to interview applicants.
Step 3: External Application
We will notify you if you are selected to receive MSU’s institutional endorsement. In that case, to the extent allowed by the granting agency, we will offer suggestions to strengthen your application. We will also reach out to references for a final version of the letter and may offer suggestions to them that would further strengthen your application. And the Honors College will write the institutional endorsement. Once we compile all the necessary documents, we will work with you to submit the application at least 24-48 hours prior to the granting agency’s published deadline.
If You are a Finalist
Should you be selected as a finalist, the granting agency will want to interview you in person before making its selection of awardees. You won’t have much time, so the Honors College will help you prepare for the interview by, among other things, conducting mock interviews. We want you to be maximally prepared to do your very best at the finalist interview!
Very soon thereafter finalists will be notified whether they have been selected. Even if you are not selected, the process of applying for such a major scholarship has benefits that will carry with you for years to come. Do your best. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next student featured on the MSU homepage as a major scholarship winner!
If you have any questions, please contact the Honors College at 406-994-4110 or by email at honors@montana.edu.
