Gates Cambridge Scholarships

Professor Robert Lethbridge

Provost (CEO), Gates Cambridge Trust & Master, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

Gates Cambridge Trust www.gatesscholar.org

Mr Jim Smith

Executive Officer, Gates Cambridge Trust

NAFA conference July 2011

Value

Core components (per year)

• Living allowance of £13,000 in 2011 (US$21,000)

• University fee – c.£4K to c. £35K (US$6K, to US$55K)

• College fee - c. £2.3K (US$3.7K)

• Return airfare

• Total p.a. between £20K and £50K (US$32K – US$80K)

Discretionary components

• Family allowance, conferences, fieldwork, some fourth year funding for PhD Scholars, hardship funding

Eligibility

• Non-UK citizen

• Must gain admission to one of the following full-time graduate programs at Cambridge:

- PhD (three year research-only degree)

- One year postgraduate course (e.g. MPhil, LLM, MASt, Diploma, MBA etc.)

- MSc or MLitt (two year research-only degree)

• No age limit

Applying

One application pack for:

• Admission to a degree course

• Membership to a Cambridge College

• A Gates Cambridge Scholarship

• Other relevant Cambridge funding

What to submit

• University’s GRADSAF application form

• Three references (2 x academic for University, 1 x personal reference for funding)

• Academic transcripts

• If required, any additional documents

Full details available from website 1 September 2011

Selection criteria and interpretation

Scholarships are awarded on the following criteria:

• intellectual ability

• a good academic fit with Cambridge

• leadership capacity

• a desire to use knowledge to improve the lives of others

No one ‘template’ for a Gates Scholar

Personal statement

The question:

“If you wish to apply for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, please describe below – in not more than 500 words – how your interests and achievements, both academic and extra-curricular, demonstrate a capacity for leadership and a commitment to improving the lives of others. Please also set out why you think there is a good fit between your professional aspirations and the graduate programme at Cambridge for which you are applying.”

• Vital part of application

• Must be targeted to Gates Cambridge

• Help us distinguish them from other applicants

Personal reference

• Joint reference for Gates and other scholarships trusts:

Gates: “Please give below your assessment of the applicant’s leadership potential and commitment to improving the lives of others. Please attach a separate letter if necessary”

• Vital part of application

• Targeted to Gates Cambridge

• Standard, template letters not helpful

Departmental comments: example

Academic excellence

“Joe Bloggs is an outstanding candidate. He is in his final year as an undergraduate at University of Somewhere and has a 3.99 GPA. He was on the Dean’s list for the last three years and has been awarded numerous other honors. He is clearly in the very top bracket academically. “

Contact

“Prof X and Dr Y at Cambridge interviewed him on the telephone and have also had extensive email contact with him. “

Distinguished from other applicants

“He has shown a real interest in gaining experience throughout his undergraduate career by working in various labs. This has allowed him to gain valuable experience in a range of techniques and approaches. What was additionally impressive was his passion for science. “

Understanding of what Cambridge offers

“He had a surprisingly good grasp of what is being done in the relevant laboratory here and his questions were probing and mature. “

Selection process and timetable

US round

15 October

Late November

Mid-December

Late December

Early February

Within a week

International round

2 December

Mid-February

Early March

Mid March

Late March

Within a week

Stage

Application

Departmental ranking

Trust shortlisting committee

Interviewees contacted

Interviews

Selection

Update for 2012 application round

Stage US round Internationalround

Total applications 400 – 500 c. 2000

Ranked by departments c. 200 c.400

Interview 100 120

Successful 35 55

Success rate 7 - 8% 2 - 3%

Interviews:

• US in San Francisco on 3 and 4 February 2012

• International interviews in Cambridge on 28 and 29 March 2012

News for 2012

• Updated on-line application process

• University’s application fees

• International deadline – midnight 2 December

Estimated numbers for 2012

THE GATES CAMBRIDGE EXPERIENCE

FURTHER INFORMATION

• Gates Cambridge website - www.gatesscholar.org

• University of Cambridge - www.cam.ac.uk

• Email Jim: jim.smith@admin.cam.ac.uk