Finding a mentor
A strong mentor is central to every Mary Gates scholarship application. Whether you are proposing a research, leadership, or community-based project, you will work with someone who knows you and your work and is willing to support your growth through it. Community Investment Scholarship applicants also work with a community collaborator, a second role described below.
Choosing a mentor
Who counts as a mentor differs a little from one scholarship to the next.
For the Research Scholarship, your mentor is the UW faculty member you do research with. At least one letter of support must come from a UW-affiliated faculty member. If you also work closely with a postdoc or graduate student, you may ask that person for a second letter or a combined recommendation letter.
For the Leadership Scholarship, choose one person who knows you and cares about your growth as a leader — a community leader, or a faculty or staff member on or off campus. Family members are not permitted for this role, and current undergraduates are not eligible to serve as your project mentor.
For the Community Investment Scholarship, you work with at least one mentor who can meet with you regularly across the three-to-eight-month funding period, and who can speak in their letter to the project's feasibility and potential impact, as well as your preparation to carry it out.
Developing the relationship
Once you've identified a mentor, set expectations early, share your essay, and keep communicating with them.
Once you have a mentor or mentors in mind, have a conversation before you rely on them — a chance to set expectations about how often you will meet, how you will stay in touch (in person, by phone, or by email, etc.), and what you would like to discuss. Share your application essays and talk through your goals both for the work itself and for your own growth. The more your mentor understands what you are trying to do, the better they can help and write about this in a letter. Ask explicitly for the letter of support once you have had at least one conversation with them and tell your mentor the date by which the letter is due. You are also encouraged to follow up with your mentor to ensure they can submit their letter by the deadline.
How often you meet during the award period varies by scholarship and by what you need. Leadership applicants are encouraged to meet with their mentor about once a week. Research scholars should stay in regular contact and check in with their mentors throughout their award quarters. Community Investment scholars are strongly encouraged to meet with their mentor at least once a month across the funding period. If you are awarded a Mary Gates scholarship and your mentor changes part way through, let the Endowment staff know immediately.
What you and your mentor can expect from one another
Drawn from surveys of past Mary Gates mentors - what they hope for, and what you can count on.
When the Endowment team asked experienced Mary Gates mentors what they expect of the students they work with, two themes came up again and again. The first is communication: they value students who stay in consistent contact and are reliable, responsive, prepared, and organized — willing to share ideas, raise concerns, ask questions, and both give and receive feedback. The second is attitude and work ethic: enthusiasm for the project and a willingness to put in the effort, to take initiative, to challenge oneself, and to work honestly and conscientiously.
Asked what students can expect in return, those same mentors pointed to support and guidance — being accessible, listening, responding to questions and concerns, and taking a genuine interest in a student's progress and development — and to ideas and intellect: helping refine ideas and shape a project into something achievable, holding high expectations, and offering guidance specific to the work. For research, that might mean help with developing a research question, experimental design, data analysis, technical writing, presentation skills, or working with the literature. For a leadership project, it might mean growing as a leader, setting feasible goals, reflecting on a project's impact, navigating challenges, and building confidence in communication.
For Community Investment Scholarships: working with a community collaborator
Community Investment Scholarship projects also need a community partner who confirms the work meets a community-identified need.
Community Investment is the one scholarship that asks for a second relationship alongside your mentor: at least one community collaborator. A collaborator is an individual, organization, or group within the community your project serves — external to UW — who can confirm that the project meets a need the community itself has identified and has that community's support. Collaborators commit to working with you through the funding period and to offering whatever guidance, connections, or resources make sense for the project; they are not expected to provide funding. During the application, you ask your collaborator to confirm their support using the Endowment's community collaborator form, with an optional letter if they would like to add one. UW's Community Engagement Knowledge Hub is a useful resource as you plan this part of the work.
Thanking your mentor
A word of thanks — to them, and perhaps to their organization — goes a long way.
Most mentors take on the role not for reward but out of genuine interest in helping students grow. A sincere thank you means a great deal; you might also recognize your mentor more publicly with a note to their department or organization, or to the Mary Gates Endowment.