Mitchell Scholarship

Candidates for the Mitchell Scholarship Program must meet all the following criteria:

• Be U.S. citizens
• Be 18 years of age or older, but not yet 30, on September 30 of the year of application (those who turn 30 on 1 October are not eligible).
• Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university before beginning study as a Mitchell Scholar. Degrees from international accredited universities are acceptable, if all other conditions are met.
• While married applicants or applicants with partners are accepted, no allowance is made for the expenses of an applicant’s spouse, partner, or
• 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.

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.

The Mitchell Scholars Program requires that Bowdoin students secure a formal institutional endorsement from the College. In order for the Committee to consider endorsing you, you must submit the materials listed below to the Office of Student Fellowships and Research by the “Initial Bowdoin Deadline.” The Committee will review these materials, and those students who are deemed competitive will be contacted to schedule an interview date and time. Based on the submitted materials and the interview, the Committee will decide which applicant(s) will receive Bowdoin’s endorsement.

• Personal statement (some details provided under the "Final Application" tab; complete details can be found on the Mitchell Scholars Program website)
• Unofficial academic history from Polaris.
• Current resume
• A listing of at least three specific proposed graduate programs at three different universities in Ireland and/or Northern Ireland
• Signed and witnessed "Permission Form and Waiver"

• Four letters of recommendation.  A recommender should electronically submit his/her letter to Gina Pappas (gpappas@bowdoin.edu) by the "Initial Bowdoin Deadline".

The above items should be electronically submitted as PDFs to gpappas@bowdoin.edu.

Materials for the Final Application. If you receive Bowdoin’s endorsement, it is your responsibility to continue revising and collecting your materials. Endorsed candidates are strongly encouraged to use the online application system to register Janice Jaffe, Acting Director of Student Fellowships and Research, as their fellowship advisor. This will allow her to view, but not edit, your application before it is submitted to the Mitchell Scholarship office.

By the “Final Bowdoin Deadline” endorsed applicants must electronically submit a complete, online Mitchell Scholarship application, including letters of recommendation and supporting documents (as described on the Mitchell Scholarship website).  Once your application has been received and certified as complete by the Mitchell Foundation, you will receive information about the required video.  You will have approximately 48 hours to submit the video interview to the Foundation.

An electronic copy of your application should also be submitted to Gina Pappas (gpappas@bowdoin.edu).

More about the Selection Process. Initially, a team of readers evaluates the application packets, based on the application, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and academic transcript[s]. Following evaluation by the readers, roughly thirty semi-finalists are selected and may be invited for semi-final interviews held in late October via Zoom. Semi-finalists will be invited via email and assigned a fixed date and time for the interview. Approximately twenty finalists are then invited to Washington, DC for interviews with the selection committee the weekend before Thanksgiving.  All applicants who wish to become Mitchell Scholars must be present on both days. Travel and accommodations arrangements and costs are the responsibility of the finalists. 

Julia Maine '16