<p>How hard is it to win? Is participation in sports mandatory?</p>
<p>I was actually curious about this as well. Unfortunately, the Rhodes is the one scholarship that has eluded my school in the past few years, not having one since 97'.</p>
<p>I imagine it's pretty hard to win. As far as I know, sports are not required as neither of the two Rhodes scholars I know (school acquaintances, only one of which I could really call a classmate) did any sports. One was a whistling champion though...</p>
<p>Thanks, anyone have any more information?</p>
<p>It is insanely competitive. 90 are awarded each year with 32 to US citizens.</p>
<p>Check out their website for the details:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rhodesscholar.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.rhodesscholar.org/</a></p>
<p>Look over the biographies of the winners. If your resume looks like theirs, then you have a shot.</p>
<p>I actually did that, and to be honest, most of them were not that impressive even compared to college applicant files that I've found on this website. It seems as if the general profile of these scholars is a high GPA, an extended research project, and one other extracurricular in either music, sports, community service, or debate. I'm sure that these bios are not exhaustive (ie most did not participate in sports in their bios), but they were really not as outstanding as I had expected...</p>
<p>Re sports, all that's required now is some sort of interest in some sort of outdoor activity. So, it's basically a nominal requirement. Also, a reason that the Rhodes profiles aren't necessarily super-impressive is that if you accept the Rhodes, you have to go to Oxford --- and Oxford is not the best college in a bunch of areas.</p>