The Robertson Scholars Leadership Program is a four year leadership development program that provides full tuition, room and board, mandatory fees and funding for 3 summers as well as up to two semesters abroad for undergraduates at Duke University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Students apply directly for the scholarship and can do so even if applying to other merit scholarships. (there used to be a prohibition about applying for the Robertson and the MC at UNC).
The application deadline for the Robertson is November 15, 2021.
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In prior years you could also get directly nominated as a Robertson semi finalist from the admissions department at either Duke or UNC. While not the same as a likely letter of acceptance it served as a strong indication of eventual acceptance and was often followed by a true likely letter.
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Very few students are nominated by the admissions offices so it is definitely in a student’s best interest to apply directly to the Robertson Program rather than waiting for a potential nod from the admissions office. At that time it is up to the Robertson to decide whether or not to invite the student to apply.
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Not disagreeing but sharing a first hand experience. I completely agree that it is advantageous to apply directly and it is a phenomenal program. My kid had to scramble to complete the application when he was informed of his invite and nomination. It was less then ideal.
AO at accepted student event when asked if it was a coincidence that likely letter and unsolicited Robertson notification came one day a part responded the timing was not related but that the likely letter was related to them putting kid into Robertson SF pool.
I wish everyone luck.
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Does anyone know if Robertson Scholars has sent out any notifications yet for Class of 2022? Acceptance or rejection? Just wondering if there’s a specific date…thanks!
believe the last correspondence before the holidays stated that notifications of those moving to the next round would be sent by Feb 15.
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Mine said mid-February but didn’t specify an actual date
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Best of luck to everyone who will be a semi-finalist! Guessing I am out of the running now because I was rejected from UNC oos. Put Duke first choice and UNC second choice on Robertson app.
I thought I remembered seeing early February in an email but maybe it was mid-February.
Are you not still in the running for Duke?
Well, technically I am still but based on personal thinking I’m guessing I’m not. How could I be a semi-finalist at Duke but not be semi-finalist at UNC? I got flat out rejected from UNC, so it wouldn’t make any sense because the Duke Robertson pool is more competitive than the UNC Robertson pool. Still a possibility I guess, but probably not. I’ll update here when they send out the semi-finalist notifications.
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I see what you’re saying, but idk. People get rejected from UNC out of state and get into Yale. People get rejected from Georgia Tech out of state but get into Harvard. Technically getting the Robertson is more competitive than getting into Harvard or Yale but out of state admissions is generally hit or miss. UNC places a lot of emphasis on GPA, so a lot of great candidates get rejected if they don’t have an incredibly high GPA. For scholarships, essays, extracurriculars, and recommendations matter a lot more than public school admissions (that tends to overemphasize GPA). Obviously it’s unlikely for any of us to get the Robertson or even be a Semifinalist, but you still have a chance. Best of luck to you my dude!
There are many Duke Robertson Alums who were rejected from UNC and vice versa. The schools do not have identical priorities and have different number of students applying from different regions. The Robertson will inform students about interview decisions on a rolling basis between February 8-20th. It is an extremely competitive process but the Robertson interviews a significant number of students. And once you are granted the interview…your interview performance is more important than your actual application.
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That is very helpful information - thank you. Does anyone know how many students make it to interview stage for the Robertson Scholarship?
That’s true, I didn’t think of it that way. Best of luck to you as well; I hope it works out for us!
Oh it’s actually on a rolling basis? Fascinating! Thank you.
I think 120? 120 semifinalists and like 30 finalists. The number of finalists has differed from year to year (25, 32, etc).
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Good luck to all of you. Four years ago (so a bit dated) my kid got a semi finalist email the first week of Feb. He hadn’t applied directly but was referred by Duke’s admissions.
Consequently he had a very short window to fill out the formal application. I suspect that may be why he was informed seemingly early relative to what appeared to be a rolling process.
Semi final interview was extremely intense and took place relatively soon after the application was formally submitted.
For the finalist round there were 32 candidates I believe.
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Oh wow thank you! Knowing this will probably reduce a lot of people’s anxiety when decisions start rolling out!
I just reread my Robertson essays and they are so beautiful. None of my college or scholarship essays line up to that level. I know notifications will come out in the next couple of weeks and if I hear back I didn’t make it, I will be a little hurt. But I also know there are so many amazing candidates and that the people who will receive it will be of their own amazing merit. Best of luck to everyone and I hope we hear good news soon!
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Just for some perspective my son eventually did not receive the Robertson. He described the people he met during finals round as some of the most impressive he had ever met. He ultimately got a LL to Duke. He loved the school and was very disappointed at falling short on the Robertson but self aware enough not to personalize it.
He was also accepted to several Ivies and offered merit at several top 20s. He is now a senior at Brown.
My point being it will work out!! It’s such a stressful time but in retrospect it was a lot of wasted energy given the inability to control so much and or the reality that most all of the outcomes turn out for the better.
Please don’t stress and good luck once again!!
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