College of the Holy Cross | Graduate Studies

GATES CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARSHIP

Eligibility:		Students from every country except the United Kingdom who will have completed an undergraduate degree with academic distinction
Duration:		From one to three (or rarely four) years.
Award:		Full costs of study at University of Cambridge, England including tuition, living costs and travel
Holy Cross procedure:		You apply independently for this award, but the Graduate Studies Advisor is available to consult with you. U. S. applicants without previous study at Cambridge apply directly for admission as a graduate student. Along with the application for acceptance at Cambridge, you must complete and submit a Graduate Admission and Scholarship Application Form (GRADSAF), available from the website, to the Board of Graduate Studies, which qualifies you for consideration for the Gates Cambridge as well as for other awards offered by the Cambridge Trusts. Application deadline is October 15, 2006. GRE General Test scores may be required.
Essay(s):		The application form requires brief essays that include 1.) A statement of your research degree proposal or reason for wanting to undertake the course; 2.) Additional information in support of your application; 3.) An outline of your career goals and future aspirations
Then what:		Interviews for US candidates short-listed for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship will be held in Annapolis, Maryland on February 9 and 10, 2007.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Established in 2000 through the Gates Cambridge Trust by Bill and Melinda Gates (of Microsoft fame), this award is remarkable. Like the Rhodes Scholarship, it seeks to provide support for study at one of England's two most venerable institutions of higher learning, University of Cambridge. Also like the Rhodes, it values intellectual excellence coupled with imagination and leadership that will allow a Gates Scholar to become a pacesetter in his or her chosen discipline. Unlike the Rhodes, it values nontraditional forms of achievement, leadership, and excellence. Also unlike the Rhodes, it places little value on sports or similar extracurricular activities per se. Gates Scholars are valued for their independence and self-reliance. This attitude is reflected in a rather impenetrable application procedure, one that requires the student to exercise initiative and ask questions to discover the way.

University of Cambridge is world-renowned in many fields of learning. It is particularly noted for achievements in science, and a number of Nobel laureates from many countries did the work for which they were rewarded at Cambridge. Like Oxford, research activities are organized into departments and programs, but undergraduate teaching and social life are organized in colleges. The Cambridge colleges vary in their age, wealth, amenities, and personalities, and selecting an appropriate one can be an interesting challenge. This is important for the Gates, because to be considered for a Scholarship, you must first have been accepted to Cambridge.

The process depends on whether you seek a second undergraduate degree or a post-graduate degree. In general the latter is the encouraged way to attend, and with the establishment of numerous "taught master's" degrees, it is possible for students with American bachelor's degrees to qualify for graduate study at Cambridge. In former times the master's, like the doctorate, was an exclusively research degree with no formal course work, so students needed to have an unusually strong background in their undergraduate preparation to undertake such studies. Depending upon the program to which you have applied, you may be supported to complete one or two master's degrees or even a doctorate. Students seeking second bachelor's degrees (generally in a field that is related to that of their undergraduate study but extends it in a significant new direction) are also admitted as "affiliated" students. Thus your first step should be to identify a program in Cambridge that excites you intellectually and fulfills your goals for the next stage in your education.

If that program is a graduate degree program (or "course" as they refer to it in England), you apply to the University's Board of Graduate Studies. If it is as an affiliated student, you apply through one of the Colleges, and if accepted, your studies and your living will be coordinated through that College.

Application to Cambridge University automatically includes application the Gates Cambridge Trust.

Clearly, you need to have done your homework to succeed in this competition. You should go on the web to identify courses of study (and even potential faculty mentors) which excite your interest. Application materials for the graduate courses are also all available on the web.

Additional material may be found at the Gates Cambridge Trust web site: www.gates.scholarships.cam.ac.uk. Information about University of Cambridge is at www.cam.ac.uk. The Graduate Prospectus, describing all courses and application procedures, is also on line at www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/gsprospectus/. Do not assume that the availability of on-line information means that you can accomplish an application at the last minute.

Despite the predictable difficulties and confusions attending the first few years of a new program, this one shows promise of becoming as influential and prestigious as Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships. Excellent students among you who find the idea of studying at Cambridge exciting should definitely apply.

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