Rhodes Scholarships are the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship awards in the world. Each year 32 young students from the United States are selected as Rhodes Scholars, through a decentralized process representing the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. Applicants from more than 320 American colleges and universities have been selected as Rhodes Scholars. In most years, even after a century of competition, a Rhodes Scholar is selected from an institution that has not formerly supplied a successful applicant.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen not only for their outstanding scholarly achievements, but for their character, commitment to others and to the common good, and for their potential for leadership in whatever domains their careers may lead. The Rhodes Trust, a British charity established to honor the will and bequest of Cecil J. Rhodes, provides full financial support for Rhodes Scholars to pursue a degree or degrees at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in partnership with the Second Century Founder, John McCall MacBain, and other generous benefactors.

Eligibility Requirements

• a citizen of the United States, or a lawful permanent resident of the United States before and including at least 5 years of the application deadline.
• at least 18 but not yet 24 years of age (i.e., the applicant must still be 23 on October 1 in the year of application).
• sufficiently advanced academically to ensure completion of a bachelor’s degree before October 1 in the year following election.

The applicant must be eligible to apply through one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or one of the U.S. territories: either in the state or territory where he or she was legally resident on April 15 in the year of application, or where he or she will have received at least two years of college training and a bachelor’s degree before October 1 in the year following election.

The applicant must produce:

• the endorsement of his or her college or university.
• five, but not more than eight, letters of recommendation.  At least four of these must be from persons whom you have received undergraduate or graduate instruction, and at least one letter (the fifth) must speak to your character.
• a personal statement not exceeding 1000 words which the applicant must attest as wholly truthful and his or her work.  The link below will provide specific statements and certification requirements.
• a list of principal activities.
• proof of citizenship or lawful permanent resident status.
• a certified transcript (or transcripts).
• a passport-size photograph.

The applicant must be prepared to attend a reception and personal interview and remain for possible reinterviews and the election announcement, in the city serving the respective district region, on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Thanksgiving holiday.

Applicants need to consult the UO Faculty Representative for an institutional endorsement by the fall of their junior year.