How to apply
This application information will help you think about how to structure your Leadership Scholarship essay, what to include, and how to prepare for an interview if you're selected. They aren't step-by-step instructions, and they aren't in any order of importance. If anything about your timeline, project, or circumstances is unusual, write about that too. You may also find it helpful to attend an information session before you begin.
Apply when you're ready
The strongest applications come from students who are already in motion.
Most students who do well in this process are past the "idea" stage and have begun planning or carrying out their ideas — making contact with the people involved, scheduling and organizing meetings, recruiting volunteers or participants, writing a mission statement, drafting a project timeline, or getting elected to office. The committee needs to be able to imagine you in action.
How to apply
Start with the scholarship information and selection criteria, identify your mentor, then apply through the online portal.
Begin by reviewing the materials for the Leadership Scholarship, especially the selection criteria; the profiles of past scholars can be useful too. When you are ready to prepare your application, identify the mentor who will write your letter of support. Start through the online application login.
The application lives in our online portal, and you complete it in seven short sections. You sign in with your UW NetID, so your name, student number, and email are already filled in — you don't enter those.
The seven application sections, in order
- Personal information — mostly pre-filled from your UW record
- Additional information — program questions, not evaluated
- Records release — permission to release your transcript
- Project details — title, 50-word summary, funding quarters, weekly project hours
- Mentor information — your mentor's name and email for their letter
- Project essay — three-page PDF
- Impact question — one-page PDF
When all seven show a checkmark, you review everything and submit.
Most of the seven sections are quick. Two of them are not, and those are the two worth starting early.
The two pieces to start early
The poject essay is a three-page PDF (double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins) describing the project you propose, how it will challenge you as a leader, how you define leadership, and what you want to learn. One optional extra page is allowed for references or figures.
The impact question is a separate one-page PDF on how your project and the scholarship shape your education and your future plans.
Everything else
The remaining sections you can complete in a sitting:
- Your project title and a 50-word summary
- Which two quarters you want funding for
- Your expected hours per week on the project
- Your mentor's name and email (make sure this information is correct)
A few things that are easy to miss
- Your mentor's letter is separate from your application and has its own deadline — two days after the application deadline. Don't wait until submission day to ask them for their letter.
- The transcript is required, but you don't upload anything. One section simply asks your permission to release it.
- The "additional information" section isn't evaluated. It's collected for program data. Answer it honestly and don't overthink it.