I haven’t received anything either.
Just got it! Anyone else?
I got it too!!
YES! So excited!!!
Is there a facebook group for the new gates Scholarship? If so what is it called? I would like to join.
Just curious. There was not a lot of buzz about the new Gates Scholarship this year…In fact, A lot of people never heard about it before the deadline. Even my college counselor at school said she didn’t know. How did you hear about it? (I heard from my sister / former Gates Millennium Scholar; she received an email.)
Does anyone have a rough idea of how many applicants there were this year? Perhaps the percentage that became semifinalists is really high because not many people knew about or applied.
I heard about it mid July from my high schools counseling department. I was soooo pumped! Anyways we had a Gates Millenium Scholar in 2016. Maybe that put my school on some sort of list, so the counseling department got an email from the Gates Program, which they shared with the Senior class this past summer. But I agree, many other schools were unaware. But more chances for us! They cut the Scholar number by 70% (1,000 to 300) so we need all the luck we can get!
@FreeMoneyHustle There were 55,000-60,000 applicants per year when they were choosing 1,000 winners. So even though they’ll only pick 300, I don’t think nearly that many appled this year. It was really low on the radar with this new one. Seriously , if you’re now a semi finalist, at this point you have a 1 in 7 chance of getting it. (300 of 2000 will win). That’s crazy to realize the odds are that much in your favor!!
They will announce the total number of applicants, semifinalists, finalists and scholars at the end if their past history is any indicator. I would not assume there are less than in the past. In the past you had to write massive essays, get recommenders to write lots of essays JUST to apply for the first round. My foster son was one of 57,000 applications the year he became a scholar in 2015! Your cohorts initial application was very simple by comparison, although I do agree it was likely low awareness. Especially in the Northeast, the application deadline of 9/15 came very soon after many NE schools start the school year, so that could have lowered numbers further.
Best of luck to all of you!
Essay #1
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela
Describe a change you would like to make in the world. Tell us about how you would plan to make that change, and what obstacles you might encounter along the way. * (No more than 400 words)
Essay #2
“Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.” - Cesar Chavez
What does it mean to you to be part of a minority community? What challenges has it brought and how have you overcome them? What are the benefits? * (No more than 400 words)
Essay #3
“It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are.” – Malala Yousafzai
Tell us three things that are important to you. How did you arrive at this list? Will these things be important to you in ten years? Why? * (No more than 400 words)
Know thyself.
Essay #4
“The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.” - Wilma Mankiller
They were released on that date.
Anybody know what to do when a recommender won’t be able to complete the form, but it shows as “completed” on the site? I had to add extra recommenders…when they submit, will I be able to select which recommenders’ forms will be sent?
@jaqv1206 I don’t think there’s a way to choose which ones are sent. I would just contact TGS through the message center and request that a certain recommendation be ignored or, perhaps they can remove it themselves. As long as they are notified in some way.
So I completed my semi-finalist application and submitted, but I haven’t recieved an email telling me if I am a Finalist or not. Have you guys recieved anything yet?
@OneLoveOneWorld i have not received anything. Finalist notifications will begin in March. Im thinking we should know by mid March possibly.
All decisions will be released on March 1
Where did you find this information? I’m just wondering
I’d like to know as well. I don’t see anything on the website that explicitly states March 1st. All I see is March 2018.
The Gates Scholarship Phase 2 Status Update Sheet is a downloadable PDF at the top of the Applicant Dashboard, and it says, “As a reminder, all materials are due Monday, January 15, 2018, at 11:59 PM PST. Finalists will be announced on Thursday, March 1, 2018.” I am also sure they sent the Update Sheet as an email to all semifinalist.