Goldwater Scholarship

About the Goldwater Scholarship

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is designed to attract outstanding students into careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit to students who are sophomores or juniors during the current academic year and who have excellent academic records and demonstrated interest in and potential for careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. Goldwater Scholars intend to pursue higher education and a career in the STEM fields. Nearly all recent Goldwater recipients intend to obtain a Ph.D. Actual award amount depends on financial need. The scholarship covers eligible expenses for tuition, fees, books, and room and board to a maximum of $7,500 per academic year.

Eligible applicants:

– are at least a sophomore (funding is for junior or senior year)
– engage in lab and research work in your field.
– want to attend graduate school (pre-meds are not eligible, but biomedical research is OK).
– have a strong commitment to research and are able to articulate specific research questions
– have a GPA of at least 3.0 (most Goldwater recipients have a 3.8 or higher)
– are US citizens, nationals or permanent residents

University endorsement required?

Yes

Citizenship requirement:

U.S. citizen or permanent resident

The Goldwater Scholarship application process:

Start by reviewing the scholarship website for scholarship requirements, the application process and eligibility.
Applicants must be nominated by faculty members — you cannot apply directly for the scholarship. Look for summer or semester research opportunities to gain research experience and foster relationships with faculty.

Discuss with CFSA and your mentor(s) your plans to apply for the scholarship.

The application is available online on the first Tuesday after Labor day.

Register on the scholarship website and complete the “pre-application” to be approved to access the complete application.

Application components include:
– the completed online application (which includes three short answer questions)
– a research essay
– transcript(s)
– three recommendation letters

Syracuse University may nominate up to four students to compete for the scholarship. The internal SU nomination process occurs in early November. Prospective applicants are evaluated based on the materials that they have submitted to the online Goldwater system.

Nominees continue to revise their application materials and research essays with the guidance of their research mentor.

Referees should email their recommendation letters directly to the CFSA director, Jolynn Parker (jmpark02@syr.edu), a week before the national deadline.

CFSA submits the applications and supporting documents to Goldwater.

The application deadline is the last Friday in January.

Interested? Contact CFSA for more information on how to get started.

Advising contact:

Jolynn Parker  Email:  jmpark02@syr.edu
More Information:  https://goldwater.scholarsapply.org/