How to Apply

Murray McCutcheon, British Columbia '99, and Halvar Mathiesen, South Africa '98, celebrate their survival of PPE finals. Oxford students write exams in traditional uniform known as 'sub-fusc'. The red carnation indicates their last exam and liberation.

Applicants for the Rhodes Scholarship are assessed for their intellectual distinction, physical vigour, character, commitment to service, and leadership.

The first stage of the application process consists of a written portfolio, including:

• A personal statement of 900 words setting forth your general interests, activities, and aspirations; reasons for wishing to study a particular course of study at Oxford; and vision as to future endeavour. Selection committees place special emphasis on this essay and it will be sent to Oxford colleges to which successful candidates apply for admission.

• Curriculum vitae listing your principal commitments and honours while at university, including scholarships, prizes, awards, leadership positions held, athletic record, and extracurricular interests and activities.

• University transcript, listing all courses and grades, certified by the University's Registrar's Office.

• The names and contact details for six referees, who will be asked by the regional selection committee to write a letter assessing your qualification for the award. At least four of these letters must be academic in nature, testifying to your scholastic achievements and intellectual potential.

• A written statement from the President or acting President of your university endorsing your candidacy for the scholarship.

• Photocopy of a birth certificate or other government-issued evidence of age (notarized with English translation, if necessary). To be eligible for the 2011 Rhodes Scholarship, a candidate must have been born between October 2, 1986, and October 1, 1992.

• A digital or scanned head and shoulders photograph.

• Successful candidates will be required to provide a medical certificate establishing that there are no medical conditions that would keep them from taking up the scholarship.

The Rhodes Trust and the University of Oxford require that selection for a Scholarship and for admission to the University be made without regard to race, religion, colour, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, marital status, social background or disability.

Financial need gives no special claim to a Rhodes Scholarship.

Regional Selection Committees

As Canadian General Secretary, Dr. Andrew Wilkinson oversees the selection process for the Rhodes Scholarships. Canada has been divided into six regions, with one scholarship being awarded in British Columbia, three across the Prairies, two in Ontario, two in Quebec, two in the Maritimes, and one in Newfoundland. Students from the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut should apply in the province in which they attend university. If they are studying outside the country, they should apply in the region of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Applicants currently studying at a Canadian university can choose to apply in either their province of residence or in the province where their university is located. In all cases, they must approach the fellowships advisor at their university and take part in the campus screening process. To proceed with a Rhodes Scholarship application, a student must first earn the endorsement of their undergraduate institution. Applications for the scholarship are now filed online, a process which requires an authorization code available through the fellowships office at your university.

Applicants currently studying outside Canada should apply in the region in which they are normally resident. They should contact the secretary of the relevant Canadian regional committee to gain the authorization code required to proceed with the online application.

The deadline for submission of applications is October 15, 2010. These are to be filed through the Rhodes Scholarship online application system. Late applications will not be considered.

Interviews

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview with the relevant regional selection committee in late November. These committees include former Rhodes Scholars and other Oxford alumni; regional secretaries aim to balance the make-up of the committee so that there will be the fullest possible range of perspectives contributing to the interview and decision-making process.

The interview is of core importance as it is here that selection committees have the opportunity to weigh up a candidate's depth of engagement, accomplishments, and aspirations. In posing their questions, committee members draw extensively on the personal statement and other elements of the written portfolio, initiating discussion to help them ascertain who best represents the potential Cecil Rhodes sought to invest in. Proven intellectual and academic attainment of a high standard is the first quality required of Scholars, but they are also required to show integrity of character, sympathy for and protection of the weak, and ability to lead and the energy to use their talents to the full.