Eligibility

Who is eligible? (See the official Marshall website for full details.)

• Wellesley College seniors who will obtain their bachelor’s degree before the start of their studies in the UK and Wellesley College graduates of the past two years (for the competition in summer/autumn 2024, your degree must have been awarded after April 2022);
• U.S. citizens; and
• Students and graduates with a cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.7.
• Note that applicants must also be proposing degree courses which meet the requirements of the official rules for candidates. (If in doubt about the course of study you hope to pursue, please book a Fellowships advising appointment via Handshake to talk things over with Kate, as early in the process as possible.)

What makes a strong applicant for this fellowship?

• The Marshall Scholarship seeks "candidates who have the potential to excel as scholars, as leaders and as contributors to improved UK-US understanding. Assessment will be based on academic merit, leadership potential and ambassadorial potential."
• Read helpful descriptions of the official selection criteria on the Marshall website (it's less intimidating than it may sound!).

How do I apply?

How do I apply?

All Wellesley College applicants for the Marshall Scholarship must undergo the Wellesley College campus review and nomination process in order to apply. Each fall, a faculty committee assembles to evaluate, interview and select our nominees for that year. While Wellesley can nominate up to 24 Marshall candidates, only the strongest applicants are sent forward. Interested applicants are warmly encouraged to book a Fellowships advising appointment to talk with Kate Dailinger, who did her own graduate work in the U.K. (Note that Fellowships advising appointments are available year-round, and via telephone and video chat, as well as in person. It’s wise to plan ahead: due to the number of late-summer/early fall deadlines and of Wellesley applicants for these awards, the advising calendar for August and September fills up quickly...  Cannot find an available appointment? Drop by in person or online to Fellowships Pop-Up Advising: no appointment required. See our Events listings for details.)

Application checklist

☐ Three letters of reference (at least two should be from faculty members who have taught you in classes/supervised academic research relevant to your proposed graduate study, and one letter should should "primarily address your leadership and ambassadorial potential, and this need not be provided by an academic"; at least 2 of the 3 letters must be written by people in the United States). Please do not request your letters via the official Marshall application system until your application has been selected for endorsement by Wellesley: instead, please give your recommenders the official Marshall advice to recommenders, as well as this link to allow them to submit their letters for the Wellesley committee, ideally by the campus application deadline; should they have any difficulty with the online form, please ask them to email their letters to fellowships@wellesley.edu. *Not sure whom to ask? Kate would love to help you strategize (simply book a Fellowships advising appointment to talk things over)!

*If you’re also applying for Wellesley’s nomination for the Rhodes, please let your recommenders know that the campus committee only needs one letter: it could be the letter for one of these scholarships, or a letter addressing both/all three of your applications, as the writer prefers.

Submit the following to the campus committee via the form found here:

☐  Copy of your completed official online application (found via the official Marshall website), with all essays, including:

• Personal statement essay (750 words max)
• Essay on proposed academic program (500 words)
• Essay describing "a situation in which [you] were working with a group of people and recognized and responded to a need for leadership․" (500 words)
• Essay related to “ambassadorial potential” (500 words)
• AND transcripts (Wellesley, study abroad and any other colleges/universities — note that unofficial copies are fine for the campus committee) Note, however, that if your application should be endorsed to go forward to the national competition, you will need copies of official transcripts: please see the official Marshall Scholarship application instructions and plan ahead, as it may take more time to gather these materials than you think--official transcripts, for example, from study abroad can take weeks to secure…
  *Please upload a single pdf or Word document with all the required official application components

☐ A copy of your resume/cv/list of activities and awards (not part of the official application, but helpful to the campus committee)

☐ Wellesley Fellowships office signature document (please print, sign & date this form, then submit a scanned pdf or other image of the signed document along with your application materials)

Application timeline

Spring/Summer before applying

• March 26, 2024: opt in to the Postgrad Fellowships Spring Prep, which includes customized timelines, reminders, and planning!
• Attend a postgraduate fellowship info session and book a Fellowships advising appointment with Kate Dailinger to discuss your interests, aspirations, and application plans.
• Visit www.marshallscholarship.org to learn more about the fellowship and the application process, as well as reading about the Wellesley application process here.
• Explore our fellowships roadmap, which includes timelines, links, and resources, for fellowships to support graduate and professional study.
• Discuss your thoughts about graduate school and the Marshall with faculty and other mentors, get their advice--and make asking for letters easier.
• Identify reference-writers and request three references (not via the official application system--see application checklist).
• Identify the universities, departments and degree programs in which you’d hope to enroll in the UK (check out the Marshall's search engine for degree courses and other helpful resources).
• Start writing! Writing and soliciting feedback on multiple drafts over the summer will ensure that the final product is truly your best work. Your future self will thank you if you submit drafts before the optional campus draft deadline in July!

May 1: opt-in to Postgraduate Fellowship Summer Support program by submitting this Getting Started worksheet to this form to help plan and build your applications - and gain access to additional check-ins to help you stay on-track and craft strong applications with minimal stress!

July 24: Optional Draft Deadline for postgraduate fellowships— if you’d like feedback on drafts before the campus application deadline, submit drafts of your application materials (however rough) by this deadline. Your drafts will be stronger by the campus application deadline and you’ll take priority in the scheduling of appointments in advance of deadlines for a number of major fellowships between August and early October. But why wait? Appointments are available all summer long, via telephone and video chat as well as in person: avoid the rush!

If you miss the draft deadline, we’ll fit you in if possible once folks who met the draft deadline have been fit into the advising calendar for feedback.

Mid August

• Follow up with your reference-writers to see if they'll be able to meet the campus application deadline (as long as you submit your materials before the deadline, letters can come in a bit later).
• Order any non-Wellesley transcript(s) if you have not done so already.

Campus application deadline: ​noon EST on August 21, 2024

• Submit the required application materials (see checklist above) to the campus committee via the form found here.
• Letters of reference for the campus committee should be submitted as close to this deadline as possible, thanks, and should be submitted by their writers via this link; should they have any difficulty with the online form, please ask them to email their letters to fellowships@wellesley.edu. .

Early September

Interviews with the campus Committee on Extramural Graduate Fellowships. Nominees are announced shortly thereafter.

Late September

Make final revisions to nominated applications and submit to Wellesley via the official application system in advance of the Marshall Scholarship national deadline (by which the Wellesley Fellowships Director will submit all materials via the official application).

Mid-October to mid-November

Marshall Scholarship finalists are invited to interview (dates vary by region)

Mid-November

National Marshall Scholarship interviews. Recipients typically announced late November/early December.

Questions?

Email fellowships@wellesley.edu or call Caitlin Roberts-Donovan at 781.283.2347.  Caitlin knows the campus application procedures and so much more--and she’s always glad to help! You can also book a Fellowships advising appointment via Handshake to talk with Kate Dailinger.  She did her own graduate work at Cambridge (in early medieval history), has worked with students and graduates from around the globe for more than 15 years, and would look forward to talking with you about what you’re hoping to do and why applying for fellowships can be valuable--whether or not you win an award.