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Leaders for America’s Future™

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About the Program

The Gates Millennium Scholars Program (GMS) is funded by a $1 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was established in 1999.

The goal of GMS is to promote academic excellence and to provide an opportunity for thousands of outstanding students with significant financial need to reach their fullest potential.

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About the Program

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is the administrator of the GMS initiative and has partnered with the following organizations:

- American Indian Graduate Center Scholars

- Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund

- Hispanic Scholarship Fund

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Value Proposition

The GMS Scholarship Award Provides:

Support for the cost of education by covering unmet need and self-help;

Renewable awards for Gates Scholars maintaining satisfactory academic progress;

Graduate School fellowships for continuing Gates Scholars in the areas of computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health and the sciences;

Leadership development programs with distinctive personal, academic and professional growth opportunities.

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Benefits of the Gates Millennium Scholars Scholarship

GMS Ambassador Program Leadership Development Conferences Revised scholarship awards (when necessary) Deferment Options Academic Empowerment Services Mentoring GMS Circles

Benefits

The GMS program is more than just a scholarship. The GMS program offers Gates Millennium Scholars with ACademic Empowerment (ACE) services to encourage academic excellence; mentoring services for academic and personal development; and an online resource center that provides internship, fellowship and scholarship information.

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Eligibility Criteria

African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American, and Hispanic American;

Citizen, legal permanent resident or national of the United States;

Cumulative GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (un-weighted) at the time of nomination or earned a GED;

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Eligibility Criteria (continued)

Degree-seeking freshman who will be entering an accredited college or university as full-time student

Has demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in community service, extracurricular or other activities; and

Meet the federal Pell Grant eligibility criteria (FAFSA forms available online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov)

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Nomination Process

Nomination process requires:

an educator who is familiar with the student’s academic background to complete the Nominator Form

a community member or individual who is aware of the student’s community service and leadership activities to complete the Recommender Form; and

a student to complete a comprehensive Nominee Personal Information Form.

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Nomination Process

A complete packet consists of: Nominee Personal Information form Nominator form Recommender form

Applications do not need to be submitted in the same format or at the same time Forms can be mailed or submitted online No attachments All forms must be submitted by the deadline

Application Process

Nominee Nominator Recommender Education Information Accomplishments such as awards Leadership Skills Nominee Questions

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Nominee Questions Enter your responses in the spaces provided. Attachments will not be considered.

19. Discuss the subjects in which you excel or have excelled. To what factors do you attribute your success? Use specific examples to illustrate how you succeeded.

20. Discuss the subjects with which you had difficulties. What factors do you believe contributed to your difficulties? How have you dealt with them so they will not cause problems for you again? In what areas have you experienced the greatest improvement? What problem areas remain? Explain how you identified your problems, and give examples of how you made or attempted to make improvements.

21. Briefly describe a situation in which you thought you or others were treated unfairly or were not given an opportunity you thought you deserved. Why do you think this happened? How did you respond? Did the situation improve as a result of your response? Explain why you thought the situation was unfair, why you thought your way of responding would make a difference and whether it did.

22. Discuss your short and long-term goals. Are some of them related? Which are priorities? Be specific in describing short and long-term goals you may have. Provide examples from any aspect of your life. In addition, if you have already accomplished some short or long-term goals you set for yourself in the past, you can discuss them.

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Nominee Questions 23. Discuss a leadership experience you have had in any area of your life: school, work, athletics, family,

church, community, etc. How and why did you become a leader in this area? How did this experience influence your goals? Do not simply repeat the listings you provided in the leadership section of this form. Instead, select the leadership experience you view as the most important, and provide more details about how it affected you.

24. Discuss your involvement in and contributions to a community near your home, school or elsewhere. Please select an experience different from the one you discussed in the previous question, even if this experience also involved leadership. What did you accomplish? How did this experience influence your goals? Be sure you explain how your involvement in these activities made a difference to others.

25. Other than through classes in school, in what areas (non-academic or academic) have you acquired knowledge or skills? How? If you have gained expertise in a non-academic skill (e.g., woodworking, sewing, automotive repair), explain how you became interested in and mastered that skill. If you have gained additional knowledge about an academic subject outside the classroom (e.g., internship at a lab, independent study, performance in a community orchestra), describe the experience(s).

26. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about personal characteristics, obstacles you have overcome, etc. that may help us evaluate your nomination? Please do not reiterate information you already have provided. This is your opportunity to state something about yourself that was not asked previously.

27. Describe those activities in which you have participated since completing high school (e.g., community service, leadership, employment) that you believe qualify you for this scholarship. (This question is only for Nominees who graduated from high school or earned their GED’s more than one year ago.) 13

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Scholarship Timeline

From August through mid January All online applications are processed when submitted All applications mailed by the deadline are scanned and loaded

into the Nomination database During the month of February

Independent readers completing an individualized reading and scoring assessment of each eligible Nominee in three major areas: academic achievement, community service, and leadership potential

From March through early April Every student that applied for the GMS scholarship is notified

of their status (Non-Select or Finalist) Finalist application information is verified including GPA,

citizenship status, and federal Pell grant eligibility 1,000 Gates Scholars are selected and notified

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Online Communities

http://www.gmsp.org – Click on Online Communities Students - Click Prospective Scholar

Students are sent targeted messages based on their grade level

Messages are to assist students in preparing for scholarships, specifically the GMS scholarship, and college applications

Parents - Click Prospective Parents/Guardians Sends Parents/Guardians targeted messages to help facilitate

discussions about applying for the scholarships and college Guidance Counselors

Provides Guidance Counselors with the targeted messages that are sent to students.

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Gates Millennium Scholars

The GMS scholarship offers: Access by providing last dollar funding to Pell

grant eligible students Choice of preferred college or university ,and

provides Support through leadership development

initiatives All applications must be submitted online before

January 11, 2010 11:59 p.m. EST or postmarked on or before January 11, 2010

www.gmsp.org

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Preparing for Scholarships

1. Research scholarship funding

2. Apply for many scholarships

3. Prepare a timeline

4. Market yourself

5. Plan and take action

6. Review the eligibility criteria

7. Choose your Recommender carefully

8. Prepare a checklist

9. Review materials prior to submitting

10. Submit materials before the deadline

My Tips

Print the application Work on the application After writing a response to the short essay

questions REVIEW & REVISE Have someone else read your short essay

response REVIEW & REVISE When everything is complete then submit

information electronically Make sure your Nominator & Recommender

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Life as a GMS Scholar

Financial stability Leadership skills such as GMS Ambassador Leadership Conference GMS Circle

Networking & creating long life friends

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Leaders for America’s Future™