Marshall Scholarship

• Applicants must be citizens of the United States of America (at the time they apply for a scholarship).
• By the time they take up their scholarship (i.e. September after applying), applicants must hold their first undergraduate degree from an accredited four-year college or university in the United States.
• Applicants must have obtained a grade point average of not less than 3.7 (or A-) on their undergraduate degree. (Exceptions will be considered only on the specific recommendation of the sponsoring college.)
• Applicants (Bowdoin alums) must have graduated from their first undergraduate college or university after April two years prior to their application.
• Applicants must not have studied for, or hold a degree or degree-equivalent qualification from a British University
• Applicants should be aware that the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs is involved with the campus review process.  Students with serious social or academic violations, such as those that are included as part of their permanent record at Bowdoin, are advised to consult with the Director of Student Fellowships and Research early in the process.  Students may also consult with their dean for guidance.

Applicants are urged to read carefully the Marshall Commission's "Candidate Evaluation Criteria".  In addition, students are encouraged to read Info for British Fellowships for tips on putting together a competitive application.

Interested students are required to complete an intent to submit application in the spring preceding the fall in which they hope to apply. Members of the Student Fellowships Committee will review the applications and briefly interview each candidate. Based on each candidate’s preliminary application and interview, the Student Fellowships Committee will either endorse, conditionally endorse, or not endorse each applicant.

• Endorsed:  The candidate has received the College’s endorsement and does not need to be interviewed by the Student Fellowships Committee again.

• Conditionally Endorsed:  The Student Fellowships Committee invites the candidate to continue to work on their application over the summer and be re-interviewed by the Committee at the end of August or early September, at which point the Committee will make a final decision about endorsing the candidate.

• Not Endorsed:  The Student Fellowships Committee determines that the candidate is not yet ready to apply.

Students will be required to provide information about themselves (e.g., class year, citizenship, etc.) and whether they have any Honor Code violations. Applicants will also be required to indicate which fellowship(s) they are interested in applying to and upload the following three documents:  

• Unofficial Academic History from Polaris
• Resume (PDF format)
• Personal essays, which should be submitted as a single PDF addressing the following five prompts. Please label each prompt and put your name in the header. 
  1. Please describe why you are interested in applying for this particular fellowship(s) (500 words). The primary purpose of these fellowships is not to offer financial aid to students in need but rather to create a community of scholars who will fulfill and carry out a mission particular to each national fellowship. But another way, each fellowship is looking for students who possess intellectual merit, a history of exercising leadership, and a "something else" that is particular to the mission of that fellowship (e.g., Marshall's "something else" is ambassadorial qualities and Schwarzman's "something else" is a reason for wanting to better understand China). Briefly explain why you believe you possess the "something else" that is particular to the fellowship(s) to which you intend to apply and how your affiliation with the particular fellowship(s) will enable you to better achieve your aspirations.
  2. Proposed Academic Program (600 words). Describe the graduate degree you propose to undertake during your fellowship(s) and at what institution(s). Please follow the guidelines provided by the fellowship(s) to which you intend to apply. For example, if applying to Marshall, please provide two, two-year plans. Describe why this is the appropriate course of study for you (e.g., are there particular faculty you want to work with, are there particular research centers at this institution that you would like to engage with, etc.). If your proposed academic program requires a thesis, outline what you might focus on. Have you been in touch with anyone at these universities?
  3. Connection to Your Future (300 words). How will the graduate degree(s) you have identified build on what you have done to date and prepare you for your future professional goals?
  4. Leadership (500 words). All the national fellowships that support graduate study value leadership. Please describe a time when you exercised leadership, regardless of whether you were in a position of authority. What changed because of your actions? What impact did your efforts have on others? Please be as specific as possible.
  5. Engagement (300 words). If you are awarded a fellowship, in what ways will you engage with your local community and/or new institution(s)?
  6. Recommendations. Who would you ask for letters of recommendation? If you are applying for the Rhodes, please list eight names, including titles and brief descriptions of how you know each individual. If you are applying for any of the other fellowship(s) please list four recommenders, including at least one that could speak to your leadership qualities.

In the intent to submit application, you will also be asked to identify one Bowdoin faculty mentor. The application will automatically generate an email to that individual, asking them to submit a letter of recommendation on your behalf. Please make sure you have already discussed this recommendation with your mentor before you complete your intent to submit application.

By the Initial Bowdoin Deadline, (see above), applicants must:

• Electronically submit the Marshall Scholarship online application. Please note that by “submitting” your application, you are releasing it to the Office of Student Fellowships and Research; you are not actually submitting it to Marshall at this time.

  • The online application should include your three letters of recommendation (see the Marshall application for guidance as to whom you should ask to serve as a recommender). The people who are named as recommenders are contacted by the online system via email with a login which allows them to enter their letter into the system. The form for these letters is word limited to 1000 words (approximately two pages). Anything over this will not be accepted. The form provided will allow recommenders to type directly into the form or copy and paste a Word document. They will also be able to edit and save their letters as often as they wish until they submit it. If you receive the College's endorsement, your recommenders will have an opportunity to revise their letters.
  • Note:  If you are also applying for the Rhodes Scholarship, your letters of recommendation required for the Initial Bowdoin Deadline should be submitted in a different way.  Please contact Cindy Stocks to discuss the specifics. 

• Unofficial academic history from Polaris.  This document should be electronically submitted to gpappas@bowdoin.edu.

• Signed and witnessed "Permission Form and Waiver" to the Office of Student Fellowships and Research.  This document should be e-mailed to gpappas@bowdoin.edu.

The Committee will review these materials and interview all applicants deemed competitive. Based on the submitted materials and interview, the Committee will decide which applicants will receive Bowdoin’s endorsement.

If you receive Bowdoin’s nomination, your electronic application will be released back to you so that you may continue revising it. It is your responsibility to continue to collect your materials and to remind people writing your recommendations of all relevant deadlines. By the “Final Bowdoin Deadline,” nominees must:

• Electronically submit a completed, online Marshall Scholarships application form, including three letters of recommendation and official transcripts.

The Office of Student Fellowships and Research will be responsible for securing a letter of institutional endorsement (1000 word limit) and uploading it to the nominee's online application. As with the letters of recommendation, an applicant will be able to see when his/her letter of endorsement has been uploaded, but the contents will not be accessible to the applicant. Once complete, the Office of Student Fellowships and Research will submit the application through the system to the appropriate regional committee.

Bill De La Rosa '16

A sociology and Latin American studies double major, Bill is currently a Truman-Albright Fellow at the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He is passionate about immigrant rights and has conducted grant-funded research on the human consequences of border security and volunteered for organizations that provide food, water, and medical assistance to migrants in distress in the Sonoran Desert. As a Marshall Scholar, Bill will study for master's degrees in Migration Studies as well as Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Oxford beginning in the fall of 2017.

Linda Kinstler '13

An English major and 2013 graduate, Linda is currently a contributing editor at Politico, based in Brussels. She has been a Google journalism fellow and National Press Foundation Washington Reporting Fellow. After graduating, she was a reporter and editor at The New Republic where she covered the crisis in Ukraine. As a Marshall Scholar, Linda will study nationalism in Eastern Europe in the University of Cambridge's European Literature and Cultures program.