The new Gates Scholarship – what you need to know

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The new Gates Scholarship is now available!

Application deadline: SEPTEMBER 15, 2017!

High school seniors graduating in 2018: REJOICE!  🎉🎉🎉 🙌🏽 🙌🏽  🙌🏽

While the 2017 graduating class drew the short straw (1 year too late for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program and 1 year too early for the Gates Scholarship), the 2018 class is right on time to be a part of the inaugural Gates Scholarship Cohort!

 

The details for the Gates Scholarship are as follows:

  • What is it?
    • Full Scholarship for high school seniors
    • Will cover up to 5 years for a bachelor’s degree
    • 300 awards given per year
  • What’s the eligibility criteria? Must meet all of the following
    • High School seniors
    • Minorities (African American, American Indian/Alaska Native*, Asian & Pacific Islander American, and/or Hispanic American). *Proof of tribal enrollment will be required.
    • Pell-eligible
    • A US citizen, national, or permanent resident
    • A minimum 3.3 GPA (cumulative weighted GPA on a 4.0 scale)
    • Must plan to enroll full-time, in a four-year degree program, at a US accredited, not-for-profit, private or public college or university.
  • When is the application deadline?
    • September 15, 2017
  • What is the process?
    • July 15, 2017 – application opens
    • September 15, 2017 – application deadline
    • November 2017 – semi-finalists notified
    • November 2017 – Phase 2 application opens (only for semi-finalists)
    • January 2017 – Phase 2 application deadline (only for semi-finalists)
    • March 2018 – Finalists announced
    • March 2018 – Finalists interviewed (in-person or online depending on applicant location)
    • April 2018 – Scholarship winners announced!
  • What do you need to apply? Note: all these documents will be requested at different points in the process. Not all are needed for Phase 1
    • Create a myTGS profile
    • Copy of your transcript
    • Student Aid Report (SAR), once the FAFSA has been completed
    • Letter of admission to a four-year bachelor’s degree program at a not-for-profit, private or public university
    • Financial Aid Award Letter from the university
    • Enrollment Verification from the university

We’ll update this with more information as they become available!

As always: We will provide FREE help while you’re applying to the Gates Scholarship! 🙂

 

~Ngoc Nhi Le

Gates Scholarship replaces the Gates Millennium Scholars Program!

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UPDATE: The new Gates Scholarship program is now live! Applications for the 2018 graduating class will be open July 12 – September 15, 2017.

https://www.thegatesscholarship.org/scholarship

——–Updated July 7, 2017——–

Congrats, 2016 GMSP applicants! You’ve submitted those applications (eight long, grueling essays included) and scrambled to get those recommender and nominator forms in on time!

Word on the street (aka, the internet) is: 2016 is the final year of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program. Fear not! GMSP award winners from the 2016 cohort will still receive ALL 10 YEARS of funding.

According to reports, the “Gates Millennium Scholars Program” will be replaced by the “Gates Scholarship“. The new Gates Scholarship will start accepting applications in 2018.  Sorry, high school graduating class of 2017! 😦

So far, the following details have been announced: The Gates Scholarship will

  • Support students through their undergraduate studies (translation: there will be no support for MS and PhD degrees)
  • Award 300 scholarships per year
  • Be administered by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund but will NOT be limited to Hispanic students

CHECK OUT THE NEW GATES SCHOLARSHIP HERE: https://www.thegatesscholarship.org/scholarship

Click the following links to read more: The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Impatient Optimists (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog), Navajo Times, and Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

 

~Ngoc Nhi Le